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Front end fell off the Metro on I-90 - Date with fate post 84
This entry was posted on 12/15/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
In the fall of 1995 I decided to change the direction of life and try some college classes. I would be turning 40. One thing lead to another and eventually I was wading knee-deep in a Master's degree. None-the-less, when it all started, getting to the many classes could not be facilitated by a low mile per gallon pickup truck. This need facilitated the purchase of a used 1992 Geo Metro. That little blue car would be an integral part of my cheap mobility for the next 11 years. After 350 thousand miles, the front wheel assembly just up and fell off one day at an intersection a couple blocks from my newspaper job. Thank the deity of your choice I and car were not blasting down the Interstate.
Along the way during those 11 years I got very ill a couple times. A bad episode came after my Mom died. Just seven months after she passed away in early 2001, I had a battle with blood clots and heart malfunctions. Poetically, it was unsure if I would ever...., function again. After I came home from the hospital there were several weeks of shuffling around like a 110 year old man.
Finally getting out and about a bit more after my health malay, one day I was riding with Heide and we passed a rural house where a guy lived that tinkered with and then sold cars. At the end of his driveway sat a red 1994 Geo Metro. I asked Heide to pull in. Heide did not say a thing, just giving me a look of hopeful expectation as if my being interested in an old car might indicate a better health threshold may have just been achieved. Long story short, I bought the little beast for 1000 Bucks. At the time then, I had a small fleet consisting of two Geo Metros.
That red Metro mostly sat all those years. I used it occasionally when the blue Metro had a meltdown now and then. But the blue Geo was always my favorite.
Jump ahead to 2010. The blue Metro was long relegated to sitting in that gonna-fix'er-one-of-these-days spot by the garage door. Mom's 1990 Chevy Corsica - my work car - was in the shop. So, the red Metro got the call for one of my conjured-up journalistic forays to investigate a strip club up by Madison (I have Web pages dedicated to cultural venues regarding Wisconsin Friday fish frys, church dinners, and among other things..., strip clubs). My college training learn't me how to write about such colloquial genres.
One day I had the night off from my blue-collar "new norm" job from hell, so I jumped in said red Metro and headed north to Madison. I had made this journey many times over the previous 20 years. As far back as 1992 I had commuted from Janesville to Madison to work at a farm store.
About three-quarters of the way up to said strip club, it seemed like the little car was not taking the bumpy Interstate so very well. My teeth were shaking out of my head. Suddenly, there was a loud pop. The car violently pulled to the left. At 65 miles hour, I could see via the mirror on the driver's door, that sparks were flying from the undercarriage of the car.
The brain is an amazing thing. I knew immediately, I had a repeat of the blue Metro's epithet. But, this time the mishap was indeed on a busy Interstate just at the end of rush hour - a self-fulfilling prophecy was at hand.
Of course an 18-wheeler was trying to pass me at 80 miles per hour. And some Yuppie in a Beamer was hot on his ass. I spun the steering wheel to the right but the car kept going to the left into the 18-wheeler's passing lane.
For some reason, my little car's descent into the passing lane started to level out. Then, it slowly veered to the right. Once on the right shoulder, I shut'er down.
Somehow ol' truck driver dude missed wiping me out. The Beamer sped by me and the driver gave me a condescending dirty look.
Thank the deity of your choice yet again for Triple-A auto service and cell phones. They picked me and Metro up in short order. That stretch of highway is replete with cops from no less than a dozen agencies..., but this night in question not a Crown Vic would be seen. I am thinking any particular cop would not have been amused by my junky car's performance, or especially, facilitated from before my departure, the scent of three 16-once Miller Lites.
The red Metro now sits obediently in that gonna-fix'er-one-of-these-days spot by the garage door...,
....right next to the old blue favorite.
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 Specialist Alun Richard Howells, 20, Parlin, Colorado (his parents reside in Menomonie, Wisconsin), died on Monday, August 13, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was killed by direct enemy fire in combat. Specialist Howells was assigned to Company E, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The Web site iraq.pigstye.net using information from the Gunnison County Times out of Gunnison, Colorado, notes Alun Howells was a 2005 graduate of the Gunnison Valley School. He enlisted in the military with two friends not too long after they all graduated. Specialist Howells was serving as a combat engineer in Iraq and had been in the country since mid 2007. The site went on to mention Howells' parents are British citizens who spent many years living in Gunnison. They formerly owned and operated a motel and liquor store in the area. Howells' father is a former officer in the British military. Due to his connections to both Great Britain and the U.S., Alun Howells maintained dual citizenship.
The Web site fallenheroesproject.org notes that Alun Howells grew up in the small community of Parlin, east of Gunnison. The Gunnison Valley School Howells attended emphasizes experiential education. Alun was remembered as going on camping, climbing, and skiing trips with classmates. A posted obituary added fly-fishing, hiking, mountain biking, and snow boarding to his list of interests. He participated in 4-H when he was younger, working in that organization with horses and sheep; he also loved to fish, camp, and hike. The Web site went on to say Howells’ parents moved to Wisconsin after Alun graduated. Howells had aspirations to enroll in college to get a degree in sports medicine after his military obligation.
The San Francisco Chronicle noted on their Web site imgs.sfgate.com that Alun Howells spent much of his teenage years in the goth culture wearing dark and gloomy clothes and thick makeup. But, he changed to a more conventional style while still in high school.
The Web site iraqnam.blogspot.com quoting from the Rocky Mountain News notes that the Gunnison Valley School Howells attended was an alternative campus for about 35 students and there he found his niche. The article said, "He became a student leader who served as a mentor for other youngsters and he participated in community projects for the disadvantaged."
The Web site freedomremembered.com mentioned Alun Howells was born on January 25, 1987 in Germany in a British military hospital. The family lived at several military bases around the world and eventually settled in Gunnison, Colorado when Howells' father retired. The family had spent time in Germany, Brunei, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. Alun entered the Gunnison Valley School in his sophomore year. After graduating he did spend some time in Menomonie, Wisconsin, where his family had subsequently relocated to. He joined the Army in January 2006. His jobs in the military included being an Obstacle Sapper, an Armored Combat Earthmover, and a Small Emplacement Excavator. He deployed to Iraq in May of 2007. Some of Howells' military awards, medals, and certifications include Combat Life Saver and Mine Detector Operator; the Bronze Star Medal; the Purple Heart; the National Defense Service Medal; the Iraq Campaign Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the Army Service Ribbon; and, the Combat Action Badge.
At the time of his death Army Specialist Alun R. Howells was survived by his parents Gwyn and Jaena Howells; two brothers Dafydd and Paul Howells: and his sister Sian Howells.
Army Specialist Alun R. Howells is the 101st military service person that has been identified by Cool Dadio Media as having Wisconsin connections and that has died in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
104,047 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.
4,487 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1852 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
972 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,226 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
15,040 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
36 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
151 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
22 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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