Car Accidents...

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Nothing good ever comes of a phone call at four in the morning and the vibration from Holly’s cell phone by the side of our bed proved to be no acceptation.   Jack was calling to say he had been in an accident on his way to the gym.  He goes there for a two-hour workout before going to work each day.

I changed quickly and drove the short distance to the gym.  It sickened me to see his Jeep, smashed and horn blowing, and the other car turned sideways and equally crumpled, in the middle of Wilson Mills.  I parked quickly and walked to where he was standing.

“I’m okay, dad.  I don’t know what happened…I don’t think she had her lights on.  I never saw her,” he said.

We spent the next half hour going through the things you need to do at an accident scene and eventually went home to try and get some sleep before work.  Blame was undetermined at the scene since Jack had turned into her path, but she appeared to have been driving without her headlights on.  She, too, was uninjured except from the impact of the air bag.

Jason had been driving our second Jeep Cherokee, having switched cars with Savannah for the summer to allow her to drive his Buick, which got 30 miles to the gallon; a much better equation for someone driving to Avon Lake each day.  When I saw his name pop up on my phone, I quickly answered, thinking he was checking on Jack.  He wasn't.

"Some lady just rear-ended me.  There's not too much damage and she was at fault," he said.

I laughed.  "Real funny.  So...I'm guessing you heard Jack totaled the Jeep this morning?"

"Dad...what?  No...I didn't hear about Jack and I did just get rear-ended," he said.

I realized he wasn't kidding, told him the story and hung up the phone wondering what the odds were of having two cars in separate accidents on the same day...two identical Jeeps, to boot.  

My stomach continued to bother me throughout the day, but I didn’t let it stop me from exercising.  John joined me for another ride and we did the same one we’d done last week a hair faster.  He isn’t riding much and the rolling hills of the Waite Hill course provide quite a challenge.  After the ride, I made a smoothie for us and ate some cold chicken.  It was about all my stomach wanted to handle.

Bike duration:  One hour and 54 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  1600.