my brother took me to the wrecker’s today to get any personal items out before it goes to a bodyshop for estimates and the insurance yard.
the bolts mounting the engine to the frame were completely sheared, and it looked to us like there wasn’t go to much they could salvage. you can see the radiator pushed back a fair bit there. why the headlamp casings are in one piece i have no idea.
the interior looked fine, except for the airbags of course.
I got my squeegee and sleeping bag out of the trunk, pulled the cd’s out of the disc changer (it still worked) and said goodbye to what was a practical, economical and fun ride.
damn.
this morning on my way to an appointment i got into a car accident. as i entered the intersection going west with a green light that had been green for at least 10 seconds, a northbound SUV suddenly appeared in front of me.
I t-boned it. Air bags deployed, car filled with smoke, I managed to pull off to the left.
A moment later someone came to my window to see if I was ok. I realized I was in a lot of pain in my upper back and chest, and asked for help in case there was a spinal injury. He called 911.
Then the other driver came up and yelled "SORRY BUDDY I TOTALLY RAN A RED LIGHT!". I said nothing but "unnnnnnhhhhh".
The rescue squad arrived quickly and the stabilized my neck during first aid. Then the paramedics came and got me out of the car and took me to hospital. On the way there, they cut up all my clothes to check for injuries.
After some oxygen, a couple of advil and chest xrays, the doctor said I'm going to need to take it easy for a few days since my upper torso muscles are a bit strained and torn. He suggested hot baths and rub a535.
I asked for a shirt and some pants since mine had been cut into rags. They brought me the one pictured and an old pair of baggy nike sweatpants. There's chunky yellow paint splotches on the front of the shirt. At least, I hope it's paint.
The car is totalled I think. I haven't seen it since, but it was pretty smooshed up from what I could see. Luckily my insurance will get me a rental car and I guess I'll have to get something new once the claim is settled.
went to science world today to see the plastination exhibit. no photography inside the exihibt, but i took a few exterior shots first.
As my friend mandroid put it, "you've entered the shooting flowers with a macro lens portion of your photographic journey". Here's a set that I took at Minter Gardens this past weekend, before and after a family Canadian Thanksgiving brunch. Mmmm... prawns, turkey and eggs benedict all on one plate.
Normally I wouldn't put the words "meat" and "factory outlet" together, but the Freybe Factory Outlet a few blocks away from my place dispels any reservations I may hold about bulk meat buying. It's one of those places I've driven by a thousand times, seen people inside through the protected glass windows lined up 6 deep at the counters and every time promised myself I'd stop by to check it out. But, their hours are limited as I learned after an attempt last week. Closed Sun-Mon, 10a - 2p Tue-Thu, and 9a - 5p Fri-Sat. However, today was my lucky day.
I could barely control my joy as I noticed the german flag on the sandwich board, and opening the door I was enveloped in the sweet smoky smell of a busy deli. To the left, a long sparkling glass and chrome display case with several white-coat clad women ready to take your order for any of a myriad of prepared and raw meats. To the right, cheeses, packaged meats, breads, chocolates... and ahead were shelves of sauerkraut, pickles, mustards and so many of those delicate condiments not found outside of such exotic places.
I grabbed a green plastic basket and set about to stock up for the coming winter... or at least the weekend. I found some lovely brie, a small thin foil wrapped packet of processed edam, packaged peppered salami on sale 3x200g for $2.50! sliced swiss cheese! dark german rye bread! my head started to spin, and I hadn't even finished the first aisle. perogies, cakes, cookies, oh... it was like a dream!
Then I saw what I had come for. Like a vision, I saw some thinly sliced pastrami, enough for 2 sandwiches, smiling at me from the butcher's case. and next to it... grandfather's ham. it's thinly sliced smokey sweet fatty ham that falls apart to the touch and melts in your mouth. I took as much as they had left. They only bring out so much for the day, and when it's gone it's gone.
I've sampled a lot of corned beef, pastrami, montreal smoked meat and whatever else you may call it in my travels around the globe, and Freybe's pastrami is my favorite for packaged meat. Now if I could only remember that deli in Montreal...
I realized I was hitting my $20 budget mark, so I zipped over to the cashier (the store was empty of customers except for myself and an older european couple) and she efficiently totalled my purchases. at 19.08, I added a couple of Rittersport Vollmilche minis for fifty cents each.
I'm going back tomorrow to stock up on smokies and sausages. I've been munching on ham and avocado wraps, eagerly awaiting tomorrow's lunch of steamed pastrami on sourdough spelt with whole seed german mustard.
my goopy greeting card and vice survivor wristbands arrived the other day from selfish causes .
I am beside myself with joy. see, that's me over there.
