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Date with fate post 51 - "Over the rail, you old fuck'n bastard!"
This entry was posted on 8/31/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
I was working at the old newspaper building in downtown Janesville. I took the job my last semester of grad school in 2005 hoping it might be a spring board into better things. Silly me, the economy dumped and, I learned the hard way I was already too old to be put to good use in this "New Norm" culture of perennial shitty jobs. But I digress early in this vignette.
The production plant, loading dock, and printing press room was on the side of the editorial building in those days. They later built a new production plant (where us expediters were ushered off to) on the east edge of town, but the old editorial building is still there and the writers, editors, radio station, Web page, and who-ever-people still work down town.
Every time I drive by that old building I think of the time that just trying to get there almost got me killed. The old building is only about three miles from my house. Trying to keep a good spirit in a rapidly deteriorating economy and city, I often rode my bicycle to work.
I could head right down the main artery of Milton Avenue to downtown which was about a three-mile jaunt; but, it was a tight, busy, and dangerous route for a bicycle. So, I would often divert down the quieter Black Bridge Road past the City Dump and connect to old Parker Dive - a straight shot to the old newspaper building.
By then, I was 50 years old.
Back in the early 1990s, I had bought two nice Trek bicycles. One for Heide, one for me. In the mid-2000s I still used mine as it was and still is a solid multi-purpose vehicle. I would cross Milton Avenue and shoot down Black Bridge. On the way to work it was all down hill heading toward the Rock River Valley which weaved through down town.
The only tight spot was my entrance to Parker Drive by the old Parker Pen building - another monument to jobs being sent to China - but I digress again. By Parker Pen, traffic clogged a bit as that was were Highway 51, an artery bringing traffic in from the north, became Parker Drive. Once I was past the Parker Pen building it was a rather comfortable ride right into work.
On the morning in question (we still worked days back then) I made the left turn onto Parker Drive at that point with two lanes in each direction; the traffic was busier than usual. To my left, going the same direction as me, an 18-Wheeler was in the lane near the center line and cars were whizzing past me on his right in my lane. To my right was a guard rail and a stony slope below heading down to houses along the river.
Some bone head slammed on her brakes in front of the 18-wheeler to turn left into the old Parker Pen lot - some small businesses were using the old building. The 18-wheeler slammed on his brakes to avoid a rear end collision, but his truck veered the the right into my lane. The car next to me then encroached on me to avoid being side-swiped by the truck and I could feel the side of the car on my leg. By then we were all going about 30 miles per hour.
Over the guard rail and down the rocky slope, I and my old reliable bicycle went.
I was so pissed off, I did not focus on still being alive and jumped up, flipped off every one concerned, and shouted every expletive in my repertoire. No one stopped to see if I was ok - eyes straight ahead, white knuckles clenching on steering wheels.
As I brushed myself off and checked my bicycle for damage it began to dawn on me that except for my bruised ego, both I and machine were none-the-worse-for-wear. For a moment I smiled at my little brush with fate.
Then I heard an old voice from a house below. It sounded like an old female voice, but strong and firm like maybe an old farm wife, or factory worker, or salty lake area soul. I turned and saw an old gray-haired woman leaning on a cane as she stood on her back porch and waved at me.
"Are you alright, sonny?"
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Sergeant Paul Jed Atim, 27, Green Bay, Wisconsin, was killed on Saturday, April 16, 2011 in Ahmad Khan, Nimroz province, Afghanistan. He was one of three soldiers killed when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). Atim was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, New York.
The Green Bay Press Gazette notes that Atim was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. He had joined the army in November, 2006; and, he his first deployment in the country was from April 2009 to April 2010.
The television station WLUK Fox 11 via their Web site said Atim came to Green Bay because of a personal relationship and to raise his son. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2005 and 2006. Paul Atim had come to the United States from Uganda in 2005. Shortly after arriving he joined the military. Compassion International sponsored Atim while he was a child beginning at 8 years old while in Uganda. It is a charitable organization that provides for children living in extreme poverty.
The WLUK story went on to note that Compassion International said Atim had four brothers. Their father had died. Atim had completed the program in 2005 and came to the United States not long afterward.
The University of Wisconsin Green Bay Web site said Atim had an outgoing personality and took part in International Student Orientation activities at the campus.
The Web site proko-wall.i-lived.com posted an obituary regarding Paul Atim and noted he was born in Kampala, Uganda on June 3, 1983. Paul Atim often went by "Atim." He played drums and guitar at Kampala Baptist Church. Atim graduated from secondary school at Makerere Higher College School in Kampala. As a young man he was a champion boxer, and worked as a DJ.
The proko-wall.i-lived.com went on to say Atim was active with the Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay. He was employed by FedEx and as a DJ at Club FiveSix. Atim's father had served in the Ugandan Army. Via his dad's experience Atim had planned to make the military his career.
Sergeant Atim's military awards and decorations include, but are not limited to: Two Army Achievement medals; the Meritorious Unit Commendation; the Army Good Conduct Medal; the National Defense Service Medal; the Army Commendation Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the Army Service Ribbon; and, the Overseas Service Ribbon. Atim also completed the army’s Warrior Leadership and Combat Life Savers courses.
At the time of his death Army Sergeant Paul Atim was survived by wife Kasey M. Atim; step-son Quency Wade; his son, Ethan C. Wall-Atim whose mother is Sara R. Wall; mother Ann Mary (Akiiki) Kababito; sister Mbabazi Veronica; four brothers, Francis Anyuru, Joseph Ikong, Dennis Omodo, and James Ochen; and, maternal grandmother, Abooki. Paul Atim was preceded in death by his father Genesios Omodo Anyuru.
Army Sergeant Paul J. Atim was the 30th Wisconsin military service person killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,298 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,477 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1749 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
944 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,175 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
13,447 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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