interluge!

A slow slide to the inevitable halt….

Northern Alberta weather is an interesting mix of mild to the extreeme. We do have nasty , horrible, cold as well as bake-your-biscuts-in-the-bowl heat. But on average nothing is too bad. Even our winter storms tend to be the casual affair.

I have mocked BC drivers for not knowing how to handle the weather, and made fun of Toronto for calling in the army when they got less than 2 feet of snow in a day. Here at home I have passed the old car in the ditch with a puff of derision.

Lat night I got my payback. At the grand speed of 50km/h I lost control, in a nice relaxed way, and careened slowly to and fro until I ended in a ditch, thankfully full of snow, stuck so bad I had to call a tow truck, to my insane embarassment. My speed just before I hit the ditch ? Oh less than 20km/h. I had enough time to realise that a mild skid had turned into a careen , the a slalom, ending in a sideways dodge into the ditch. Enough time to realise I had lost it , and sort of relax a little as it was happening.

Funny thing, I was never upset, not while it was happening, not after it happened, not while I was calling the tow truck company. I was concerned that I may have hurt the poor thing but upon a closer inspection I noticed that it escaped much as me , covered in snow and stuck!

When I called the company the operator was jovial and amusing.

Me - I’m stuck in a ditch
Her - well don’t you feel like a loser?
Me- Ummm actually not until right now but thank you for asking
Her- ( laughs) oh dear I’m sorry , what kind of vehicle is it?
Me- 2008 ford ranger.
Her- 2 or 4 wheel drive?
Me- 2 wheel .
Her- well congratulations for lasting as long as you did.
Me- Thanks!
Her - You must have been on a bad stretch of road…
Me- Actually I was going too fast I think.
Her- Well good for you for taking responsibility .Are you safe and warm?
Me- Yup, the truck is still running.
Her- Full tank of gas?
Me- ( warily ) yup…
Her- Okay stay warm it’ll be 2 hours.
Me- really? Wow! Thank you .

It actually was only about half an hour, thankfully I went to school with the owner of the company.

The guy who came to pull me out ( with extreeme professionalism ) was someone I had tossed out of the bar a few times. My own red face kept me warm.