|
|
Want to know what's up with Project 33? This area is updated
monthly to let you know where we're at with the project. The latest Articles are featured
in the What's New? area of this site and are in reverse
chronological order. To follow the build up from "day 1", go to the From the Start link and keep clicking on
"Next Article". To view Articles on a particular subject, use the Search option of this site with the area you wish to explore as your
keyword.
|
|
11/14/06
Update - JJ's Demise to Honda Heaven |
|
We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Every time we
send one of our children off on their own, I say a silent prayer for their safety. It's a
parent thing; you always wish you could be there to protect or comfort them but you have
to let them go. They'll always be my baby girls.
Our middle daughter attends college about 50
minutes from home. She has a job here in town and comes home every weekend to work.
Yesterday morning she said goodbye as always and trudged out to her car with her laundry
bag in tow, headed back to school. She always calls when she gets there but her call came
about ten minutes early. She was hysterical and the phone service kept breaking up
(Sprint, but not for long) and I was afraid I was going to lose the call before I found
out if she was alright and where she was.
She was all alone, about 40 miles south of home,
on a seldom traveled two lane road with her car upside down in the ditch. Between sobs she
said she was okay, told me roughly where she was located and that she'd dialed 911 and I
told her I was on my way. I was there in about 20 minutes. They had the road blocked and
she was being loaded into an ambulance. That was a terrible feeling. I followed the
ambulance to the hospital (boy do they drive slow ;) where she spent the rest of the day
undergoing spine and head x-rays.
Shortly after the crash, a nice couple that were
passing by stopped to help her. They gave her a coat, blankets and conversation to keep
her alert until the paramedics arrived. If our daughter hadn't been by the side of the
road, they may have never seen her car in the steep ditch and tall grass along the
side of the road. Other than bruises from her seat belt, she checked out fine. Not even a
cut or a scratch, although she's still a little sore. It was a miracle and a testament to
the use of seat belts. I'm so glad she listened to us about religiously wearing one.
The story, as I understand it, is that she was
going about 57 miles an hour and had just finished text messaging someone and was changing
a CD in the stereo (text messaging??!). She went onto the right shoulder, over-corrected,
over-corrected again, and ended up facing the opposite direction on the opposite side of
the road - upside-down. This was multitasking at it's worst!
It'll be a while before she drives again since
she doesn't have a car now. She can't afford one to replace it and her dad isn't prepared
to help put her back behind the wheel of a motor vehicle anytime soon. The deputy sheriff
noticed she had three red collision tags already hanging in her car as he put the forth
and final one in place. This is and has always been our accident-prone child. She's had
spatial awareness issues since she was a child. Even walking was brutal on her, with solid
objects to run into everywhere.
Someone above was definitely watching out for
her. Something like this makes you realize how quickly it all can change and to appreciate
the things in life that really matter. Anyway, here's what was once a car named
"JJ", may it rest in peace. Obviously it was JJ's time to go. The surrounding
grass wasn't disturbed. The car apparently flew and was dropped into place.
Like I said, we have a lot to be thankful for.
As far as the project goes...
The transmission has been back from Jay Egge
Automatic Transmission Service for about a week now and is still sitting next to the car.
I need to con or bribe about three able bodies to come over to help hoist it in place.
Egge's went over it again and dyno'ed it again to make sure it's perfect. Todd Egge, the
owner, thinks the new B&M converter will make a big difference in the way it runs and
drives. I'm optimistic that maybe the third time is "a charm" as they say.
|
|
Until next time, Keep the sunny side up and make
sure
your kids buckle up and keep their eye's on the road! |
Scooter
|
Past
Updates: |
|