Pickles & Dimes

Thank you for all of your comments about Jason’s accident. I’m really glad he had a doctor’s appointment that very day, so that in addition to the doctor telling him his cold/flu/virus would just have to run its course, he got checked out to make sure he really wasn’t hurt or had suffered a concussion or something. (He’s fine.)

Our insurance company (Liberty Mutual) has been outstanding. Their customer service is amazing, plus the money they’re giving us is enough to pay off the bank loan and put down a nice down payment on a new (to us) vehicle. If all goes well, we should have a new ride on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Jason and I bet each other on when all of the snow in our yard will finally be gone. The fact that our over/under date is in May depresses me, so I plan on “cheating” by stomping on all the snow piles and spreading them out so they melt faster. Because seriously, the piles by our mailbox? Are easily seven feet tall. That’s going to require a LOT of sunshine. Hence, the masthead. Until the sun (and temperatures consistently warmer than 10 degrees) decides to visit Minnesota with a little more regularity than “small glimpses this week,” I will live vicariously through illustrations.

How warm is it where you live right now?

After working 50+ hour weeks for months, and working for a good week with a cough more fitting for a 50-year smoker, Jason finally had the opportunity to go to the doctor. In recognition of his hard work, his boss told him to take off a few hours early so he could nap a bit before his appointment. Not 15 minutes later, I got a phone call.

I rolled the truck, Jason said.

He wasn’t kidding.

He was heading home on the freeway going well under the speed limit because it was snowing, when he went under a bridge underpass and started fishtailing. Instead of being able to correct itself, the truck fishtailed wider and wider until it made a couple of circles, hit a snow embankment and flipped over.

Onto its roof.

Jason hung upside down, held in place only by his seatbelt, as he watched three sets of feet approach. Someone immediately called 911 while an older gentleman wearing a Vietnam Vets hat tried to open the door. It was stuck. Jason got the window open and braced himself as the guy released the seatbelt and pulled him to safety.

The only injury he had was a slight headache from his head pressing against the caved-in roof and a small scrape on one of his hands.

It’s a miracle nothing else happened. No injuries, no other cars involved, nothing.

The truck is totaled: caved-in roof, busted windshield, three tires off their rims, fluids leaking everywhere, undercarriage a mess, bumpers gone, broken mirrors, detached cab cover, etc.

But one intact husband.

Thank God.