Terrible Analogies

While inching my way home this afternoon on a busy local freeway I noticed a man standing in the median between the slow lane and a crowded onramp hold both arms extended with thumbs up.  Desperate for a ride, his squinting eyes furtively scanned the faces of each driver as they passed by, hoping his desperate, animated pleas for a ride would convince a good citizen to stop and pick him up.

As I slowly approached this roadside apparition, two cop cars sped by me in the emergency lane with lights flashing and sirens wailing before finally coming to a screeching halt in front of the hitchhiker.  They quickly emerged from their vehicles with guns drawn and began barking orders.  In my rearview mirror I could see the man on his stomach with both cops pinning him to the ground.

I’m unsure if this guy had just committed a crime and was trying to get away, but that was an unusual and highly dangerous location to be thumbing a ride from.

If nothing else, it was a surreal way to end a busy work day

Strange Encounter, cars cars, Strange Encounter

While driving home this afternoon I witnessed a car accident on the freeway.  I was traveling 70mph in the number two lane.  A white BMW passed me going roughly 75 and was now about 30 feet in front of me in the fast (left hand) lane.  Ahead of us was an ocean of red brake lights.  Seeing this, everyone began to put on their brakes, slowing down to 55.  From my left a white Pontiac Grand Prix screamed past easily doing 90mph+, and slammed right into the rear end of the BMW like a computer-guided three ton sidewinder missile.  I didn’t see any hint of this Pontiac slowing down, nor hear any squeal from its tires.

It’s amazing what a car crash sounds like up close.  It’s difficult to appreciate the subtle nuances of the entire violent act without intimate firsthand experience.  The ugly crunch of metal, the spray of glass, the slowing down of time…it’s almost surrealistic, like you’re watching a movie; it seems strangely removed and far too real to be real.

I’m no stranger to shocking misfortunes.  I myself have been in a horrible car crash, and nearly lost my life rock climbing in Joshua Tree during a winter snowstorm, but these are distant memories.  I’d forgotten how the mind processes traumatic events.

The front of the Pontiac was crushed like a dirty pair of jeans balled up on the bathroom floor, paint flaked off the hood in large sheets exposing the dull metal beneath, and the front tires were splayed out like a tawdry centerfold pose.  The front windshield looked like somebody took an angry baseball bat to it.  I could see a smooth splash of blood on the opposite side of the glass.  From the impact, the BMW was thrust straight forward about 200 feet, but surprisingly it didn’t suffer nearly the amount of damage that the Pontiac has sustained.  The back bumper was pushed into the trunk, and something was leaking out from underneath, leaving behind a jagged liquid trail on the grooved pavement.

If I had left work a minute sooner (or later), and had chosen the fast lane instead of the number two lane, that BMW could have been me.  It’s crazy how fate/destiny/luck works.  With so many possible “what ifs”, one could go loopy thinking about such things.

Strange Encounter, cars cars, Strange Encounter

The parents-in-law, who reside in Wisconsin, bought us a brand new Craftsman tool chest last week, sending us a note that we can pick it up at our local Sears.  Taken aback by this unexpected gift (for which I really can’t thank you enough), I took a few minutes to look up the dimensions of this massive hunk of hardware and, after running the numbers, convinced myself that it would fit in Karin’s car.

This past weekend we drove down to Sears, made our way to the ‘Pick-Up’ warehouse, and turned in our claim ticket.  A few minutes later two guys emerged pushing dollies with our new storage solution.  The smaller top box easily fit into our truck, but the larger bottom piece wouldn’t quite fit into the back seat even after removing it from the box.  We were stumped, unsure what our next move was going to be.  Then, quite unexpectedly,  I heard a voice behind me say, “How far away do you live?”

Turning around I saw a man in his 60’s standing in the bed of his Ford F-150, with what I assumed was his grandson standing alongside him.  ”We’re about ten minutes away,” I said.  ”Well, load it on up here.  I’ll be more than happy to follow you home,” he replied with a smile.  After a couple of minutes of chat to size the guy up to see where his intentions lied, we decided to take him up on his offer.  Sure enough, he followed us home, then shook our hands and refused any sort of payment.  We even tried to get his address to send him a Christmas card, but he said that wasn’t necessary.  ”Well then, I’ll pay it forward,” I told him.  With that and a final wave he drove away.

With this one unselfish act my faith in humanity has been restored.  Thanks to the kindness of one individual, I’ve been reassured that not everybody out there is in it strictly for themselves.  Thank you, kind stranger.

Personal, Strange Encounter Personal, Strange Encounter

The wife and I recently had the distinct displeasure of volunteering our services to dog sit for a neighbor who was traveling out of state.  As we were being walked though the daily routine of two of the most coddled and pampered animals this side of a PeTA afternoon luncheon, my mind began to go numb as the requirements of these two dogs became more maniacal and obtuse than the assembly instructions for the Large Hadron Collider.  As the tour of house and home came to a close we were handed three pages of hand written instructions, a portion of which reads as follows (with the emphases typed in as written):

• Margee gets fed at 8am and 5pm sharp.  Her food bowls can be found in the laundry room.  Margee gets one part dry & one part wet food.  Cut and mix in tripe found in the fridge.
• Margee likes to be talked to while she eats.  You can talk about anything, but speak softly.
• Angee gets fed at 7:30am and 4:30pm sharp!  I can’t emphasis this enough!  Angee gets extremely jealous if she sees Margee eating before her.  Margee’s bowls are under the coffee table in the living room. 
• Angee gets two parts wet and one part dry food.  Pour in a half cup of chicken stock, which can be found in the refrigerator door.  Angee tends to get overexcited and pees when she sees you preparing her food.  Just clean up after her with the paper towels under the sink.
• Walk both dogs at 11am.  Again, I can’t stress this enough!  A walk around the neighborhood is the perfect distance.  When you get back home, Angee will not walk back into the house.  You’ll have to pick her up and carry her to her bed.  Do not put her down on the floor!  Put her down in her bed!
• Playtime is at 3pm.  Again, Angee tends to get excited when it’s playtime.  Again, just clean up after her with the paper towels.
• Angee plays with the tug-o-rope.  Never let her lose or you’ll have a sad dog on your hands!
• Margee plays with the rubber ring.  Don’t let Angee play with the rubber ring or Margee will bite you.
• Put Angee and Margee in their kennels at 8pm.  Margee gets the blue blanket, Angee the green.
• Wash the blankets on Mon/Wed/Fri.  Use the special fabric softener in the laundry room.
• Turn on the radio.  It’s tuned to a station that both Angee and Margee like.  Do not change the station!  If you change it then Angee and Margee will toss and turn all night.

Blah blah blah blah…this went on and on for pages.   For Gawd’s sake, these are dogs, not children.  Dogs live to please their master, not the other way around.  Honestly, this was more trouble than it was worth.  There was no way I was going to baby these animals, cooing to them while they ate and congratulating them for piddling on my shoes whenever I walked through the door.  

On the fourth day we simply fed them dry dog food, played catch with them in the back yard, and made sure they had fresh water.  And you know what, they were fine and appeared to enjoy themselves like dogs are supposed to.  This experience really gave me a window into my neighbor’s soul that I rather wish would have remained shuttered.

Man, some people have their priorities all out of whack and fail to understand when simple dog ownership becomes a target for misplaced emotions.  And people wonder why I’m a cat person.

Which reminds me, don’t get me started on cat people…

Rant, Strange Encounter Rant, Strange Encounter

Whelp, it looks like Edgar Mitchell, pilot of Apollo 14 and record holder for the longest moon walk, is set to talk about his UFO experiences at this week’s X-Conference 2009.

I point this out to shamelessly segue way into my own personal “encounter” I had many years ago.

To preface this a bit, let me tell you that I am not a loon, nutter, or whackjob.  I believe the vast majority of people who know me will testify to that belief.  I’m a levelheaded individual that walks with a debunker’s gait, and I’m not easily swayed by the latest hype.  With that being said…

Fifteen (has it been that long?!) years ago I was in my parent’s backyard with my 10″ Dobsonian telescope checking out the Orion Nebula when I saw what I was sure was a satellite slowly tracking across a backdrop of stars.  I watched with interest as this solid point of light steadily arched its way through the sky when suddenly and without warning it changed direction ninety degrees and shot off in a streak of white light, disappearing behind the silhouette of a neighbor’s house.  

My immediate reaction was a cool, “Well, that’s odd.”

And that’s my story.  Fascinating, I know.  I’m still not sure what I saw that night, but I’ve ruled out satellites, planes, meteors, space debris, hallucination, fireworks, and swamp gas from a weather balloon that was trapped in a thermal pocket which refracted light from Venus.

I’m still not sure what it could have been, but I’ve not seen it’s kind since.  I often go camping at Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego and am quite used to being under an intimidating curtain of stars.  I know what satellites and airplanes look like as they cleave paths through the heavens.  I’ve witnessed my fair share of meteor showers.  Heck, I’ve even seen a plane accident at an air show.  But I’ve never, ever seen anything like what I saw that night many years ago.

Strange Encounter, Unusual Sightings Strange Encounter, Unusual Sightings