Thank you, Grand Island, Nebraska!

[InternalDialogue]

I just got home to Denver after a cross-country trip was cut short in an ice storm in central Nebraska. Long story short, my pickup truck lost traction on black ice just off an overpass, spun around, and left the road. It rolled at least one and a half times and came to a rest 20 feet down an embankment on the driver's-side door.

The stuff I had packed in the passenger seat prevented me from getting out myself, so I had to wait for help, but I didn't have to wait long.

Thank you to Steve (don't have any more information about him) who was driving a ways behind me and pulled over immedately and was down next to my vehicle in a matter of a minute or two.

Thank you to Doniphan QRT, a response team that arrived first on scene (within minutes -- soon enough that I wasn't even cold yet from resting on the snow) and got me out of my vehicle and into a medical truck.

Thank you to Grand Island Fire Department and especially Mike, who rode with me in the ambulance to the hospital and was calm and friendly and reassuring.

Thank you to the staff at St. Francis hospital, who checked me out quickly and efficiently and put me at ease.

I was lucky not to have been seriously hurt in the accident itself, which had a lot to do with the 14 inches of snow I rolled in. (Central Nebraskans, you might be sick and tired of the snow you've had for a couple weeks, but it probably saved me from serious injury.) But had I been hurt, it's a good feeling to know so many people were right there within a minute or so.

If you know anyone at these organizations, thank them for all their good work. They were all great people, everyone I came in contact with. I already thanked everyone who talked to me, but it couldn't hurt for more people to tell them they do a great job.

And if you live in Grand Island yourself, be proud that you've got a lot of competent, caring people working in your hospitals, public safety organizations, and as volunteers.

[fudge stripe cookays]

1. Glad you're OK!

:hi:

FSC

[InternalDialogue]

4. Thank you

I've always liked your username, FSC.

[DrGonzoLives]

2. Uh-oh

This kind of throws a wrench into the theory that "red-staters" are a bunch of evil, inbred hillbillies who hate everything. Damn!

[InternalDialogue]

5. "Red-staters" was going through my mind the whole time

And I was wearing my "NOT ME!" bracelet too, and I wondered who might ask what question if they saw it. It was under a long sleeve that no one ever had to roll up, so it never came up.

And of the people who helped, I doubt there's a Democrat in the bunch, much less a DUer, but maybe...

[tk2kewl]

3. Glad you are OK

I rolled a car on I80 in MT once. I think it was at least 2 1/2 times, ended upside-down. It's not fun.

[InternalDialogue]

6. Were you OK?

I've decided that my accident falls under the "freak" category, because I should have been hurt.

What happened to make you roll? Was it a pretty violent thing?

Amazing how, once it starts, it just goes. Nothing you can do about it. The world and physical laws have complete control over our wonderful, intelligent minds for the amount of time it takes to come to a stop.

[tk2kewl]

9. My friend and I walked away with nothing more than scratches

This was in '91. I had taken 3 months off to just travel the U.S.

I had a Renault Alliance which had a smashed in trunk when I began the trip and had sustained additional damage when I hit a mule deer in Utah about a month before the Montana thing.

The accident was a freak thing, but could have been avoided. The stretch of Interstate we were on had just been repaved with asphalt and there where no lines painted on it yet. I was traveling about 80-85 mph in the left lane(That car was great! I still got about 35mpg doing 80+mph).

I took my eyes off the road for a moment to put out a cigarette and drifted off the pavement onto the unpaved shoulder. I should have just slowed down, come to a stop and then got the car properly back onto the road. Unfortunately I tried to get back on while still moving with two wheels on the pavement and two off.

The car fish-tailed for a while and then spun. I was doing 70 or so backward, looking over my shoulder, trying to regain control. When the car started to head for the right shoulder, moving sideways, I knew what was coming next and just told my friend, "Here we go!"

The next thing I knew he was pulling me out of the car, whose windshield was now no more than one foot in height, the roof having been crushed. I didn't even remember what had happened until I looked back and saw my car upside-down with the wheels still spinning.

I bought a VW Bug from the tow truck driver for $200. The Bug had been Baha-ed with big tires in the back, engine exposed, lights on the roof and no brakes.

Needless to say, that trip was quite the adventure.

[InternalDialogue]

13. Good grief, I can't believe you walked away from it

Does this mean I have to buy a baha bug too?

[tk2kewl]

14. LOL

Thank goodness it was a flat stretch.

Are you going to get a decent sum from insurance? What are you thinking of buying?

[InternalDialogue]

21. I haven't gotten a definite number from insurance yet

Kelley Blue Book tells me my truck was worth around $3,000, but I knew that. It was a good vehicle. I bought it new and drove it less than 8,000 miles a year, always kept the engine running clean and serviced. This fall I put a new windshield on it, and just last week put new tires on it all round.

My best friend from college writes car reviews for Cars.com (good guy and great writer -- it's worth a read just for the entertainment), so I'm going to consult him on what to get. I can say right now that I'm going to feel uneasy driving a pickup for a while, especially in potentially icy weather. I'm leaning toward a wagon of some kind, something I can get lumber and home improvement materials into.

I work at home and rarely drive except on weekends and the occasional trip to see friends elsewhere in the country, so I'm lucky in that I can take some time and be picky.

Any recommendations?

[Lenape85]

18. Uh, I don't think I80 goes through Montana

I-80 goes through Cali, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and then South Dakota

The only interstates in MT are 15, 90, 94, and maybe a few spur routes.

[tk2kewl]

20. right it was 90

Big Timber

[StClone]

7. Good to hear you made it through the ordeal

Emergency always draw the best out of people.

My middle-of-no-place brother would have his tractor right up and pulled you out and his son would have taken you to the hospital.

But if you were to mention Unions, gay marriage and abortions you'd a got an earful. He gets complete union benefits for life -- what a nut.

[InternalDialogue]

17. I know a lot of people like your brother

My dad is from South Dakota originally, and I think that's what they have tractors for in the first place. He's just like everyone he grew up with. Republican to the core, but he'll work his ass off to lend a hand when someone needs help.

[huskerlaw]

8. Wow, glad you're ok

It's always great to hear a positive story about my state, though I'm not from Grand Island. There are many things I dislike about this state, but I have never heard complaints about our helpfulness or hospitality.

I'm very glad you're ok, and that your experience was as positive as it could be given the circumstances.

[InternalDialogue]

11. My two cats are native Huskers

Friends tease me about it all the time. They were rescued from a west Nebraskan farm in 1992 before I adopted them from the woman whose family found them abandoned in a barn. They're great cats, and so down-to-earth -- no real cattiness in either one of them. Everyone says they're really more like dogs than cats. I've always figured it's because they come from good, rural soil.

I went to college in Des Moines and have countless friends and relatives in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and both Dakotas. Politics aside, people from the Midwest and Plains states always have seemed to me to be the kindest and most natural in the country.

[Rainbowreflect]

10. Glad to hear you are okay.

There are a lot of good people here in Nebraska. They may disagree with your politics, but most don't care about that if you are in need. I've lived in Nebraska most of my life and even through I get frustrated with how conservative the majority are most of them are kind people.

[InternalDialogue]

12. Indeed

I'm thankful for them.

[WMliberal]

15. they have an island in Nebraska?

Wow, sounds like you got pretty lucky to run insto such nice folks. :hi:

[InternalDialogue]

16. It's not just an island...

... it's a grand island.

And yes, I found many good people there.

:thumbsup:

[SarahB]

19. Holy heck!

Doniphan is like the smallest town in the universe and that's where all my relatives on my mom's side live and I spent many a Summer as a wee little SarahBelle. Many nice people though. Just a funny coincidence. :wow:

Glad you're ok. :hug:

[InternalDialogue]

22. All your Mom's relatives in Doniphan?

They must make up half the town!

One of the coolest things about the ordeal was going down to Doniphan the day I left town to pick up my Gore-Tex coat that someone pulled from the accident for me, but which I never got my hands on before the ambulance took off for the hospital. As someone with small-town experience, you'll appreciate how it all worked out.

I called the hospital and Grand Island Fire Department to try and track it down when I realized it was the only personal item I couldn't find. The fire department was who told me that Doniphan QRT (quick response team?) was first on the scene, and they might either have the coat or have the best idea what happened to it. I deduced from the order in which things happened that it must have been one of them who helped me out and got the jacket in the first place.

The day I was to leave, a gentleman from Doniphan QRT woke me by phone at my hotel room to say he had gotten a message that I was looking for the coat. He said he had it and gave me directions to his office.

I drove there, expecting maybe a small dispatch office connected to a little fire station or medical clinic, maybe a tow company or something like that. I didn't see the "Aurora" sign he mentioned on my first drive through town, but on the second pass, I caught it, painted onto a propane tank in the dirt lot of what looked like a machine shop. I went into the front office to find three guys hanging out and shooting the breeze. I introduced myself, and one of the guys pointed to my jacket on a chair. I thanked them, asked them for any contact info from the guy who first stopped for me and then called 911. On the way out, I looked around and realized they just worked at a mechanic's co-op, not related to emergency services at all. God bless 'em, they were probably just volunteers who have emergency experience and equipment on the side. But when the call came in, they were up to I-80 within maybe 3 minutes.

[CornField]

23. A suggestion

Why not e-mail this as a letter to the editor of the Grand Island newspaper? Every so often we'd receive one like this when I was an editor -- it really makes everyone's day.

Midwest people are some of the most caring and genuine on the planet. Glad you are okay!

[InternalDialogue]

24. Good idea

Thanks for the suggestion.