One of those days...

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
26,368
Ever have one of those days? you know the kind, things seem to be going well and BAM an event happens that you dearly wish you could turn the clock back just a few seconds?

That was today, for me.

I started out with some normal routine things, empty the dehumidifier from our basement, head to town to ship a knife to a fellow, one out one in cycle kind of thing ;), then over to where I use to work to visit a guy at lunch for a quick catch up and sharpen one of his knives. Then over to the library to return a book and some videos. THEN off to the local mall to see my oldest daughter, she runs one of the stores there and also check out FYE for a blue ray movie I've been wanting.

SO, saw my friend, dropped off the library goods, saw my daughter, checked FYE, no luck and then out to the parking garage to head home. Today I was driving our new car, bought at the end of last year as our old car wouldn't pass inspection again, so a 2020 Elantra while my wife drives the 2014 Forester. As I as looking back over my right shoulder to back out, I didn't notice how close I was to this large 4' diameter concrete pillar I was parked next to....until my car came to a sudden stop and when I turned to my left to see what I had hit, the concrete pillar was staring me in the face. My heart sank! I pulled forward, straightened out and back out...again. I did not get out to check the damages as I was too sick to my stomach to even look. So, I drove the 20 miles home in pretty much a foul mood.

I pulled up behind my wife's car in our driveway and grimaced as she walked up to the car. I shook my head sadly and she smiled and said she'll open the garage and back out of the driveway so I can park the 'new' car back into the garage. We use her car for about everything so we can keep this new one as new as we can for as long as we can.

I pointed down to the side of the car and said look at that. She looked down and then back at me and said, uh? I rolled the window down and said, 'see the damage to the car?' again she says uh? so I get out of the car, and go to point to the damage and...there was NO damage, what so ever, even the dust wasn't smudged. I could NOT believe that there wasn't something terrible to look at. But, boy was I relieved!

I surmised that as I was turning my wheels to back out of the parking spot, the left front wheel stuck out far enough that IT bumped into the concrete pillar and that's what stopped the car! My good fortune and what a lesson learned !

A much much better ending to the trip than I had feared, it was a miserable drive home, going over in my head, how much this was going to cost, time to get it all done and will it end up being as new again. Lot of worry for nothing, but the relief was so great I am still happy about it.

I hope that everyone's close calls end up with as good a situation as this...

G2
 
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Lesson learned for sure, I knew if there was any damage, my wife would never let me forget it ;)
G2
 
thanks for sharing.
glad to know all is well!
unexplained miracles happen!
like the countless times
of surviving near miss knife accidents
which i m sure some others can attest too as divine intervention.
accidents?!
we prepared for the worst and hope
for the best.
and leave the rest to the almighty.
i've learnt not to get too emotional
with fender benders, btw.
with good credit level,
its nothing a bodyshop can't handle.
automobile collisions are a differwnt matter altogather though, that's really life and death....

Good Morning GIF - Good Morning Thank GIFs

Minions with angel wings.

Cloud 9 GIF - On Cloud Nine Sky GIFs

best wishes and drive safely in future :)
 
Thanks guys, it still surreal. The concrete column was on my left and behind me, so when I looked to the left I had plenty of clearance lol until I didn’t
It was like someone was standing along side and out of view. All I can think of how I missed something like that. The columns support the movie theaters above.
G2
 
Good idea, I was a Sonarman in the Navy so, there's that set of skills I'm not using at the moment ;)
G2
 
Screenshot_20210917-113927_Gallery.jpg
That was me 2 weeks ago, right before we went up to Camden for vacation...older lady (early in the morning) cut through three lanes to swipe me. Sure, not my fault, but having to pay deductible first plus all the BS and wasted time afterwards was enough to foul the mood.

Still, went up to maine, devoured 7-8 lobsters/rolls (lost count after the third), socialized with my bladeforums goons, sniffed some ocean breeze, bought a knife...life's good.

Thank you guys for existing.
 
Ugh wow that's terrible way to start off a trip but sounds like a great ending, which is what matters. Hopefully you can get it all sorted out fast and be back good as new soon !
G2

PS I related this to my neighbor across the street and he said my next door neighbor had a similar thing happen to his Brand new truck at the near by Walmart, parked in the handicap space, turned too tight to leave and ran into one of the upright posts that marks the spot, scraped up the side of his truck, haven't seen him yet but just hearing about it is bad enough, he's older than me and really likes his new fancy truck too :(
 
Good idea but it was a fairly slow bump so I don’t think it made much of an impact kind of like pulling up too far and contacting a concrete parking block
But I will keep it in mind to see if it pulls to one side it drove home without any handling issues
G2
 
Glad that worked out so well for you. Recently I was backing out our Pilot, right into our Jeep. I looked at wife, she just shook her head and off we went. I never bothered to look at the Pilot, didn’t really think about it. Fast forward a few weeks and we’re picking up our dog from a friends business. We had ordered a new 4Runner and the business owner is buying the Pilot. My wife points to a scrape an says “Thank Win for the only damage.” First time I bothered to look, duh! We’d given her a good price, below trade in, she was still happy.

The Jeep is lifted with heavy bumpers, not a mark. Glad the new vehicle has a backup camera. lol
 
Yikes you were as fortunate as me!
Glad it worked out well and the damage was minimal!
G2
 
One day a couple years ago on my way home from work, an ambulance came up behind with its lights and siren going. Was a pretty narrow street, and as I pulled over to let him by, I felt the crunch of my front rim into the curb. Was cursing myself the rest of the way home, but then when I checked, no damage! There was a rub mark on the tire, but nothing on the rim. Somehow I got close enough for only the slight bulge of the tire to scrape the curb. Literally talking mm's. Couldn't believe it.
 
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