glad to be here typing this

ok, i don't know what the deal is: march, it's a heart attack and april, it's a car accident. WTF?

well, today i was in the worst car accident i've ever been in. and considering the fact that my sister and i are both OK and that my car (gloria) isn't nearly as damaged as i thought she would be, we are really lucky. i mean REALLY lucky. thinking about how much worse it could have been, what if this and what if that, really makes me nauseous.

while i was driving in the middle lane of highway 17 in campbell, a white ford focus and a white mustang were passing me in the right lane at ~90 MPH (i guessed their speed based on the fact that i was going about 75 MPH). when the right lane slowed down, these two cars obviously had to slow down too. but the idiot in the mustang decided to try and move into my lane without looking. andrea screamed b/c this mustang was about to hit us on the right, and my immediate (and i can't help but think "stupid") instinct was to swerve out of the way. this is a bad thing to do when you are moving at 75 MPH.

so i started losing control. gloria was skidding and fishtailing between the middle lane and the left lane. i thought i was starting to gain control of the car until i spun, hitting the center divide 3 times. my dad figured that based on where my car was hit, i did two 270 degree spins. the final hit stopped my car, resulting in our final resting place in the large shoulder of the center divide, with my car facing oncoming traffic.

andrea was screaming, crying, shaking. i, on the other hand, was completely deadpan. no reaction, initially, which is really uncharacteristic of me in a situation like that. once we realized that we were both OK, we called the police and my dad. at this point, mr. mustang was long gone.

the highway patrol didn't seem to think it was a big deal. it was a single vehicle collision, no one hit us and we hit no one. they said a report would be pretty much pointless, and that the only issue was going to be between me and my insurance company. i guess i can see their point. but they didn't even bother to ask if i was drinking or on drugs (i obviously wasn't), what my name was, if i had proof of insurance or registration. nothing. i thought it was strange that they didn't even see it fit to ask.

when i think about it now, i guess the way it happened, since it happened, was in the best possible scenario. i'm thankful that:

1. we weren't hurt at all. just sore necks and backs at the moment.
2. no one else was involved. car accidents bring out the worst in people, from my experience.
3. it wasn't raining yet. the rain started about 30 minutes later.
4. that the accident didn't happen another 500 feet up the freeway, where there is no left center divide. if the accident happened there, my car probably would have ended up in the middle of the freeway as opposed to the center divide. and who KNOWS what would have happened then.
5. the damage to gloria is not as bad as the accident felt. it looks like only about $3000 worth of damage. once we stopped spinning, i thought my car was toast, but it only looks like the front and back bumpers will need to be replaced, and my hood realigned... ok, maybe $4000.

in spite of all that, i can't help but be bummed that i'm going to have to kiss my nice tax return goodbye. and the new laptop that i was planning on buying. i know, i know, it's not important. i know it's not. i just can't help thinking about it. i'm alive! andrea's alive! our lives are invaluable! that's important.