Things that go bump in the night

There hasn't been a whole lot of excitement in my life worth documenting, thus the gap between entries to this blog, until last night.....

I had just finished a late shift at the Riley Farm, where I am currently employed, and was driving out of Oak Glen, losing elevation as I descended down a country lane. The time was around 9:45 pm and being in the country, with no lights to molest the view, the black sky was filled with a zillion stars. I had looked into the sky to locate a few constellations before leaving the farm, and was wishing that I could pick out a few more as I drove down this two-lane road.

Suddenly, a figure jumped into the beam of my headlights, probably a coyote. I quickly swerved to the right in order to miss the critter, not realizing in the dark of night that the road was about to swerve sharply to the left. I slammed on the brakes but it was too late. The truck slid off the road to the right and bounced around in the dirt. Sliding in the turn, yet plunging carelessly ahead, the truck was out of control.

I tried to bring the truck around to the left and back onto the road, but the momentum would have flipped the truck. Continuing in the dirt with my foot slammed on the brake, the next thing I knew there appeared in the beam of the headlights a drainage culvert, coming rapidly toward me. My heart sank as I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to convince the truck to swerve around that culvert… and then CRUNCH! The truck smashed right into one of the low, concrete walls. The forward momentum of the truck was still enough to carry the truck over the back side of the culvert, giving me a slim glimmer of hope that I was going to get out of that mess….but what in the world was this balloon thing doing flapping around in front of my face, blocking my view of what was ahead?

The truck came to a screeching halt, still in the dirt with the right tires partly in a ditch. I sat there in the seat catching my breath, watching a blasted airbag slowly deflate at the steering wheel. I do not even recall having that bag inflate. Suddenly it was just there in front of me, getting in my way while I tossed around with the chaotic motion of the truck. Sitting in the seat, and before opening the door, I looked around behind me hoping to get a glimpse of whatever critter it was that popped into my lights and initiated that insane ride of mine. All I saw was the blackness of night behind me and I am sure that to the critter, I am nothing more than another notch on its hiking stick.

There I sat in my truck, a black truck in the blackness of the night, out in the middle of the countryside. I turned on the hazard lights and got out to inspect the damages. Hmm, the first thing I saw as I exited the truck was the front, left tire sitting flat on the ground. Now I am not mechanically inclined by any stretch of imagination, but looking at that wheel, I knew that something was not right. Continuing around the truck, the only other damage I noticed was the front bumper bent lengthwise. Not a pretty sight in and of itself.

To round out this story, a deputy arrived on the scene from the city of Yucaipa to take my report. A tow truck came by to haul my truck away. As the front end of my truck was lifted up, and the front, left wheel hung limply to the side, we saw that the only remaining connection between the wheel and the truck was the brake line. Sheesh! For some time now I have thought about getting another vehicle. It's beginning to look like the time is approaching faster than I had anticipated.