Snow Days And Accelerators: Hindsight Is Always 20-20

I'm supposed to be down-East "on-call" today (my current assignment has me on a three-weeks "on"/one week "off" 24/7 hospital call schedule). Already delayed by the nasty weather, I was all loaded up this morning and ready to head out by 1 PM.

But I cannot get out of my neighborhood (on Asheboro's Dave's Mountain). The only road leading up and out boasts a giant hill that tends to become a solid sheet of ice in bad weather (which the local neighborhood kids treat like a ski-slope). There are now a couple of vehicles stuck on the side of the hill.

One of those vehicles is my house-sitter's car. She ventured out about an hour before I was set to leave. About half-way up the hill, she just started sliding backwards - and lost all control of the vehicle (it's happened to me once before after an ice storm - but I was able to "doughnut" around and point the car back downhill, and then get home). Now, the back end of her car is hanging off the side of a ravine (there are no guardrails) . . . a place where tow trucks and EMS will not currently go.

The sledders and skiers have actually complained that the car is in their way.

It's a state-maintained road (well, at least to the bottom of the hill - but that a whole nuther crooked story that I'm shortly gonna start hammering on some more). But DOT (well aware of the problems with this particular hill) did not salt or sand. My house-sitter (one of the YaYas) can nearly careen over a ravine, but HEY, let's get every single spec of snow out of Skippy Alson's way.

Like I said at Joe's, I'm just not feeling the love. I think you've got to have priorities.

My YaYa was not hurt. A young man on a four-wheeler brought her back home.

She should not have even tried to get out. Hindsight is always 20-20.

I made the decision to stay put (rather than head back down East) before the storm . . . reasoning that I did not want to get caught up in the crazy "pre-storm" traffic (especially around Raleigh) . . . and if icy badness did come, and trees started falling, and power went out/freezers started melting, I wanted to be at home with "with my ship", rather than in an apartment four hours away worrying about it sinking. Moreover, it was all originally forecasted to be over by Saturday night - and warming up. I could get out Sunday afternoon - or this afternoon at the latest. A colleague agreed to cover until I could get back.

I'm now feeling bad that it's gonna take at least an extra day (even though I do plan to pay my colleague back for her time). Hindsight is always 20-20. But I'm also way past the age and mindset where I have to prove my worth to anyone . . . or risk life, limb and auto for a job. I've done more than my fair share of covering for other people. Once in a very great while, other people can do it for me.

Even with a brand-new set of tires, I'm also erring on the side of caution these days . . . because my 2007 Camry is one of the models recalled for that pesky accelerator problem.

I bet Toyota is wishing it had exercised some hindsight now. The New York Times has a scathing story up today on that debacle - a real "Tylenol moment" for the company. Ignoring and poo-pooing a problem until people die (because it might cut into your incredibly profitable market share) is just criminal.

But the CEO is sorry. So that makes it okay.

You can already smell the lawyers. This time I might actually root for them.

I knew it wasn't the mats. And I've always thought it was an electrical/computer problem - as opposed to a mechanical one.

You see, shortly after I first bought the car (my second Camry), while I was working the graveyard shifts at LeBonhuer in Memphis, I experienced the accelerator problem. My car would speed up and slow down or even stall for no reason . . . and it nearly got me killed at intersections on a least two occasions (Memphis traffic being a whole lot more tricky to navigate than the wide open spaces in Eastern North Carolina).

I took the car in to a dealership there, raised a whole lotta hell and it got fixed. They changed out some computer chips and did some tinkering. I've had no problems since.

But I'm driving very carefully and gingerly these days . . . until I'm officially re-called in for the as-yet-unannounced "fix".

And I ain't getting on any ice for nobody.

Late Evening Update(s): (1) The accelerator fix is in . . . alas, it will be weeks before I can get my car to the shop for the repair, (2) Earlier this evening, the sledders and skiers helped get my YaYa's car back on the road, turned around and down the hill, and it is now safely parked in the driveway, and (3) another friend with a four-wheel-drive took pity on me and bought/brought me a copy of "The Politician" (I'm already half-way through the book).

11:40 PM Update: Just finished reading "The Politician". Most of the "meat" of the book had already been divulged in the press, but digesting all of the hubris in narrative form remained mind-numbing nonetheless. Taking the book at face value, both Edwardes plowed through people's lives and psyches like users looking for their next fix (the bits about the campaign's manipulation of the Internet & blogosphere, while poorly fleshed out, are fairly priceless given that some of us were skeptical all along - and got excoriated for it by the Edwardian groupies).

I actually felt sorry for billionairess, Bunny Mellon . . . and that's a pretty neat trick.

The book certainly gives the term "malignant narcissist" a whole new meaning;)

2/1 Update: Maybe the fix isn't in???