Summer Is flying by but where have I been?

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Missing Summer

The summer is passing quickly and I’ve had nothing to share! This is so unusual. What is going on?

It’s not noteworthy

Life is still going on around me but my back and hip issues continue to worsen so my usual activities are severely curtailed. It’s enough to get through the work week. The weekends seem to be grocery shopping, laundry and resting. Throw in a weekly visit to the chiropractor and there isn’t much time left for adventures. I’m trying to get my body ready for another Hawaii trip. This one will include a trip on a Lava Boat tour.

Stock photo

Lava Boat Trip

Speaking of the Lava Boat Tour did you hear about the one that got too close to the lava and got hit by a lava bomb? One passenger broke her leg and 22 people were injured. Witnesses say the captain violated the Coast Guard’s 200 meter safety limit. Because of that incident the safety zone is now 300 meters (328 yards). At least they didn’t suspend them. Scientists say that Kilauea could continue erupting for another 2 years but I don’t want to take a chance of missing this. It’s a once in a lifetime event.

Accidents Happen

Speaking of accidents, I had the misfortune to be in one. A young lady ran a stop sign and blinking red light to run her SUV into the side of mine. My car was tied up for exactly 30 days while the body shop waited for parts. Eventually I did get me car back good as new on the exact day that my rental allowance ran out! The police officers were super and even gave me a ride from the accident scene to my work.

What to do about my hip?

The hip problem is what is interfering with my posts. I just haven’t had the mobility to get out and do anything. I may be a “senior citizen” but I’m not ready to throw in the towel. More information should be coming as I have an appointment with a knee and hip surgeon. we”ll see what he has to say and go from there.

You can’t Escape Karma

Posted on January 28, 2014January 28, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The pictures from my phone camera finally got here so now I have a story to tell.

First, a little background. In a way I think it’s payback for something that happened 30-40 years ago. I had a chance to go to a seminar in Vancouver , BC and they let us bring a guest. I invited my mother.

Now my mother is a feisty little thing and when we were returning to the hotel one night she walked into a wall. Let me explain. The hotel had a large wall of glass. The doors were also glass and opened in the center. My Mom wears glasses and in the dark it was hard to see where the glass wall stopped and the glass door began. The doors opened for me but my Mom walked into the glass wall…and bounced! Like a cartoon character she bounced backward several steps. I should have said.. “Are you all right?” but instead I laughed. I laughed so hard I thought I’d cry. Bad daughter!

With that history I think the universe caught up to me on this San Diego trip.

As many of you know, New England had a “blizzard” Tuesday night. (It kind of fizzled but they still called it a blizzard). My Southwest flight was out of Providence on Wednesday morning. Not knowing what the driving would be like I left home very early for the 30 minute drive.

I witnessed a 3 car accident right in Providence but other than that the drive was uneventful. I was in the gate area by 9:30 am for an 11:30 flight which was then delayed to 12:15 and then 12:45 and then 1:15. About then the desk attendants began rebooking connections for Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Salt Lake City, Denver, every destination except San Diego.

When I was asked I was told the San Diego connection was running behind so I’d have 30 minutes to get to my gate after landing in Baltimore. No need to rebook a new connection.

Except when we landed in Baltimore I was being paged. I was the last passenger and they were holding my flight. I was stuck in a middle seat for a 5 hour plus flight. Just what I didn’t want. Luckily my seatmates were very nice and the flight passed pleasantly.

Arriving in San Diego I had to let everyone off ahead of me before I could make it to the rear of the plane for my carry-on. Finally, Back pack on and carry-on in front of me I made my way down the aisle and out the plane door to the jetway except something snagged my backpack and I was stopped dead. My momentum wanted to carry me forward and as I tried to catch myself my foot slammed into the crack between the plane and the jetway and it was all over.

I landed flat on my face.

Southwest employees came running. One had my sneaker, one had my arm and helped me sit down. They wanted to know if I’d hit my head, was I hurt and so on. I’m sure they saw lawsuit floating above my head. All I wanted to do was get on my way.

When the dust settled and I recovered from my embarrassment and took stock of my injuries I did have a bump on my head, floor burns and bruises on my left arm and right knee, a wrenched back and a groin pull. Walking was quite a challenge for a few days.

I’m happy to report that I am on the mend and moving a bit better. And I feel this should have paid off any bad karma for laughing at my mother’s mishap all those years ago.

The Insurance Jungle

Posted on January 25, 2014January 25, 2014 by Dusty Roads

About a week ago we had the 2013 wrap up meeting in Somerville at the main Boston Office. What that means is I get to drive 51 miles each way to hear how we did and hope for some insights on what’s to come in 2014. Being a work from home employee, my attendance is optional but I am a nosy employee. I want to hear from the horses mouth what’s projected for the coming year. I don’t want to hear all the speculation and innuendo when the meeting results gets rehashed over the email water cooler.

So as a dutiful, nosey employee I made my way (1.5 hours) to the Somerville office via the central artery, the expressway, the “distressway” , Route 93, or any and all of the above, They are all names for the same stretch of highway H_ _ L.

Following the meeting and a nice lunch (I really go for the free food)

I headed back to repeat the process. It was about 2:15-2:30 when I left. That’s slightly ahead of rush hour. (in theory) . Traffic wasn’t too bad as I entered the tunnel to the southern side of the artery but it was filling in fast. I’d almost made it to what they call the Braintree Split when it happened.

I have no idea what actually triggered the accident.

There was a large truck to my right with a brown SUV behind it. I was in the next lane, a travel lane with cars in front and in back and the next lane to my left was also filled with cars.

Traffic was moving probably 30-40 miles per hour. A good clip for the volume. A lot of jockeying goes on here as the right hand lanes try to get to the left side for RT 3 and those on the left try to cross to the right for Rt. 128.

Suddenly I heard things flying and then something shook my car. I didn’t know if I had damage or not but plastic stuff was still flying around so I pulled over. The Brown SUV had hit the left rear of the box truck and the force of that hit bounced him into my car. His SUV was a mess. The truck had only slight damage. My car has a superficial scrape and the passenger mirror was knocked off. It will still cost a bundle to be repainted.

I called 911 and the state police responded right away.

My car was drivable so after an exchange of insurance cards I was on my way, “collateral damage” to the main even between the SUV and the truck. Thus entering the INSURANCE JUNGLE.

My first call was to my insurance carrier to put them on notice. My intention was to go through the SUV’s carrier. First I got a call from the “adjuster” from my company. Then I got a call from the “Liability Adjuster” from my insurance carrier. He took a statement and told me they would pay the whole claim and to go ahead and get the ball rolling with the body shop.

The body shop said “Whoa, not so fast. They won’t pay the deductible.” I said yes, the adjuster said they would because it wasn’t my fault. Then I got another call from someone else …again from my company…who confirmed that they would pay the deductible and “subrogate” from the other carrier.

Today I took my car for an estimate. The body shop will send the estimate in to the company and then we’ll wait for approval to go forward. I still haven’t heard from the other insurance company. In the meantime, duct tape fixes anything. 🙂

That’s Close Enough!

Posted on November 16, 2013November 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Leaving Tanqueray behind I started back through the Mallory Building toward the Coliseum. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do next. The schedule was broken down by building and time and there was something going on every minute.

As I passed through the building I passed another ring. This one had the dirt floor and the horses were being ridden in this ring. This was a breed demonstration. I wish I could tell you which breed but I missed the announcement. The show was well underway when I stepped up to the fence. I stayed on the short end so I wouldn’t block anyone’s view. The bleacher seats were along the long sides. Several others stood by me. As I was snapping away one of horses came trotting toward me. I expected it to make the turn like the rest of the riders were doing but it came straight at me, bumped the fence and stuck it’s head right up against me! I know my mouth hit the floor. I looked at the rider with my mouth hanging open. She just shrugged and said “I guess he likes you”. I admit I was shocked both by the horse’s reaction to me and by the rider’s lack of control. But that was nothing compared to what was about to happen next.

Horse and rider back on track I went back to trying to get the exposure right in the low lighting. People were using flash but I was reluctant to try that. I was concerned about startling the horses. Clearly the riders in this ring were not the most experienced. Just as that thought was crossing my mind a flash went off right by the fence. A woman with a ton of camera gear was set up about half way down the long side. As soon as her camera flashed the horse nearest to her shied badly slamming into another horse and rider about to pass them.

Those two bounced toward the center of the ring blocking two more horses. These animals weren’t traveling at a walk. I had visions of a horse pile up like cars on the expressway. For a few moments the ring was in turmoil but eventually the riders got their mounts under control and it was back to circling the ring. The woman with her flash had disappeared. She probably got better pictures than I did but at least I can’t be blamed for causing a possible serious accident.