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Trip up to LI, accident, Fireworks
Jul. 5th, 2003 02:38 pmThis was written around 1600, 7/30/03, and backdated. :)
July 4th, 0930, left Manassas. I was having idling problems due to the increased engine load from the A/C compressor, recharged the day before--i.e., if I didn't keep the engine speed up a bit when I was in neutral, it would stall. Not that big a problem, right?
Well, I found myself traveling north on I-95, near the northern intersection with 695, and noticed an accident off on the left shoulder, already attended by some cops/equipment. Two vehicles ahead of me was some rescue equipment, which suddenly braked in order to join the party; I foresaw this and braked.. but in disengaging the clutch, my engine dropped to idle and stalled, removing power to my power brakes. Had I immediately engaged the clutch, it would've given that power back and I would've stopped coincident with the engine stalling. Instead, I tried pumping the brakes, which was insufficient, so I rear-ended the Nissan Maxima ahead of me at a few miles per hour. We pulled over, cop walked back, report was taken, insurance was to be contacted, their rear bumper and trunk were damaged (and the driver's response was "Ah, shit happens.. I hope I can get my luggage out of my trunk, though"), my truck was basically untouched. I was also cited for "Reckless driving / Failure to control vehicle" and fined $110. I've since not paid (a valid option) and been given an Oct10 court date, which I can attend and contest the charge (and possibly lose anyway, since I have no proof of vehicle failure), or just pay it by then. :P
Continued north, called my dad, our conversation included "Could be worse... Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" :D I later stopped at a rest station, pulled out a screwdriver, and increased my idle speed so it could take the A/C load at idle.
Some time later, I was tired, so I stopped for some food/snack--got TCBY, which was tasty, and woke me up. Got onto Long Island, called Melody from the previous visit's 20-minute point; 20 minutes later, I called to add 20 minutes due to traffic, all caused by one woman broken down in the left lane, standing by her convertible. Grr.
Arrived, had dinner of leftover chicken and potato salad and pasta salad. Met Grammie Wuerffel; Grandma Fassino had left in the morning, but left me a nice note. :)
We left around 8 to go see the fireworks, having decided on Jones Beach as a good location--as did the estimated attendance of 100K-300K people. Traffic actually didn't back up until we were inside the park, but they were major. Inched along, passing some very full huge parking lots, getting passed by lane-splitting motorcycles (not legal, but almost categorically overlooked, except one that got pulled over), until we got to the Pencil. Formerly designed as a water tower or lighthouse, failed, now just a monument in the middle of a large traffic circle at the convergence of parkways. Rather than try the equally-slow attached streets, we opted to circle the Pencil and head back out a mile or two, and park along the parkway in a not-too-busy field. Lounged in the truck until the fireworks started, conveniently directly behind my truck, so we popped the back and sat back there to watch, accompanied by the synchronized music from 97.5--mostly marches and patriotic, but some incongruous romantic music too. That wasn't the only show, either--there were plenty of illegal-but-impressive fireworks to be seen. The finale was wonderful, andnot just because of the fireworks. ;)
On the way back home, we stopped by Melody's high school and elementary school. Back home, we had more food--leftover Long John Silvers--then watched several episodes of Cowboy Bebop, another anime I like but had never seen before. Crystal and her boyfriendSteveStephe got home around 0230 (7/5), so we chatted with them a bit, watched some more CB, falling-asleepish, and went to bed around 5. (This time I was sleeping on the futon in the office, because grandma was in the basement room.)
Saturday, 7/5
I got up at 11ish, chatted with Melody's dad and Crystal, pet the bunny, and talked wines with her dad. (One of the things Melody picked up for my in SF was a box of wine reference cards. :D) Lounged about, got ready for day around 1400, and prepared for Crystal's grad party upcoming at 1600.
July 4th, 0930, left Manassas. I was having idling problems due to the increased engine load from the A/C compressor, recharged the day before--i.e., if I didn't keep the engine speed up a bit when I was in neutral, it would stall. Not that big a problem, right?
Well, I found myself traveling north on I-95, near the northern intersection with 695, and noticed an accident off on the left shoulder, already attended by some cops/equipment. Two vehicles ahead of me was some rescue equipment, which suddenly braked in order to join the party; I foresaw this and braked.. but in disengaging the clutch, my engine dropped to idle and stalled, removing power to my power brakes. Had I immediately engaged the clutch, it would've given that power back and I would've stopped coincident with the engine stalling. Instead, I tried pumping the brakes, which was insufficient, so I rear-ended the Nissan Maxima ahead of me at a few miles per hour. We pulled over, cop walked back, report was taken, insurance was to be contacted, their rear bumper and trunk were damaged (and the driver's response was "Ah, shit happens.. I hope I can get my luggage out of my trunk, though"), my truck was basically untouched. I was also cited for "Reckless driving / Failure to control vehicle" and fined $110. I've since not paid (a valid option) and been given an Oct10 court date, which I can attend and contest the charge (and possibly lose anyway, since I have no proof of vehicle failure), or just pay it by then. :P
Continued north, called my dad, our conversation included "Could be worse... Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" :D I later stopped at a rest station, pulled out a screwdriver, and increased my idle speed so it could take the A/C load at idle.
Some time later, I was tired, so I stopped for some food/snack--got TCBY, which was tasty, and woke me up. Got onto Long Island, called Melody from the previous visit's 20-minute point; 20 minutes later, I called to add 20 minutes due to traffic, all caused by one woman broken down in the left lane, standing by her convertible. Grr.
Arrived, had dinner of leftover chicken and potato salad and pasta salad. Met Grammie Wuerffel; Grandma Fassino had left in the morning, but left me a nice note. :)
We left around 8 to go see the fireworks, having decided on Jones Beach as a good location--as did the estimated attendance of 100K-300K people. Traffic actually didn't back up until we were inside the park, but they were major. Inched along, passing some very full huge parking lots, getting passed by lane-splitting motorcycles (not legal, but almost categorically overlooked, except one that got pulled over), until we got to the Pencil. Formerly designed as a water tower or lighthouse, failed, now just a monument in the middle of a large traffic circle at the convergence of parkways. Rather than try the equally-slow attached streets, we opted to circle the Pencil and head back out a mile or two, and park along the parkway in a not-too-busy field. Lounged in the truck until the fireworks started, conveniently directly behind my truck, so we popped the back and sat back there to watch, accompanied by the synchronized music from 97.5--mostly marches and patriotic, but some incongruous romantic music too. That wasn't the only show, either--there were plenty of illegal-but-impressive fireworks to be seen. The finale was wonderful, andnot just because of the fireworks. ;)
On the way back home, we stopped by Melody's high school and elementary school. Back home, we had more food--leftover Long John Silvers--then watched several episodes of Cowboy Bebop, another anime I like but had never seen before. Crystal and her boyfriend
Saturday, 7/5
I got up at 11ish, chatted with Melody's dad and Crystal, pet the bunny, and talked wines with her dad. (One of the things Melody picked up for my in SF was a box of wine reference cards. :D) Lounged about, got ready for day around 1400, and prepared for Crystal's grad party upcoming at 1600.
