So It Wasn't The Sprain, It Was The Saw Mill

Like I shouldn't have seen something coming, but this time pacing myself wouldn't have helped. Or maybe it would have? It seemed that I ended up getting bitchslapped my mother nature, and not much you can do there.

Ok, for you nonmetro folks the Sprain Brook Parkway and Saw Mill River Parkway are among two of the undersized, overcrowded parkways feeding through lower Westchester County into NYC. I take the Saw Mill into Yonkers on my daily commute. Yesterday as I exited from the NYS Thruway onto the Saw Mill, a torrential downpour unleashed itself. Within a matter of minutes, conditions were horrible with blinding rain pelting the windshield quicker than the wipers could keep up. The road began a downhill descent. It was at that moment I felt the drift, and knew I was quite fu*cked. No downshifting, brake pumping, wheel turning, or shouting diverted my Altima from its impending course with the center guardrail. And with a mighty BANG! I pinballed back into the lane, with steering control returned to me.

No airbag deployment, no funny sounds or scrapig/clumping/thudding. It was still pouring so I threw the four-ways on and got to the right lane, turned the radio off, and limped along into work. Despite the steady rain and wiper rhythm, there was a silence that wrapped me up like a big down comforter. Adrenaline buzz.

By the time I got to work, I had been through the eomtional rollercoaster: scared, relieved, near-crying, suddenly tired, and then shaky. I hesitated to get out and look. And this is where you'd expect a picture - but I'm embarrassed to put one up. I got damn lucky. One little buckle in the front quarter, one small dent in the door, and some stripey-scrapes down the side that don't really stand out, You do sort of have to look closely.

So should I buy a lottery ticket since I am such a lucky guy, or don't bother since all my luck has been used up?