Kate

SnowBanks, Puddles, and a Parking Break

Only in Ontario does the government suck $200 out of you to get your full drivers license over the course of 5 years. No other provience in Canada has one written test then 2 road tests. Anyways this brings me to my point. Since I go to school in New Brunswick over the past 4 years I neglected to get my final graduated exiting license (know as your ‘G’).I scheduled it a couple months ago knowing I would be home for March break, because I received an “if you do not get your ‘G’ in before end of March then you loose your whole license” letter.

So March 9^th (day of 11 am of test) comes and the previous night I told my mom I wanted to be in Orillia (city of test) by 10am so that I could see the street conditions and such before my 11am test. So 10am comes Thursday morning and my mom is not even showered…. And my step-dad decides he is coming too… so this ticked me off, because I was now running late and it takes 20 minutes to get to Orillia… do the math and it equals not enough time.

Of course we have to add to this occasion busses are cancelled due to the fact that all roads are covered in sheets of ice from a flash freeze and there is a heavy fog over ‘everywhere I needed to drive’ today. This would be why I wanted to get there a bit early. Anyways we are late… I am ticked we get in the car. Now let me set the scenario for you …. I am driving, my mom is in the passenger seat, and my step-dad in the back… we head out on to the 4^th line (of the country side road) and I am going 60 km/hr on an 80… but as my mom says driving with attitude.

THIS IS THE PICTURE OF THE PUDDLE THAT THEN HAD A SHEET OF ICE UNDER IT... NOTE THE TELEPHONE POLE...

Now there is a big puddle ahead and my mom hates it when we drive the car through puddles when not needed. So I proceed to the other side of the road, where I hit a little ice and a rut in the snow… step-dad yells “holy s**t” in the back because he felt the car sliding which I did not even know of. I thought an animal or something was in the way I touched the breaks and within two mille-seconds fish-tailed. Noticing that touching the breaks and turning was not working, I gave it gas and turned it the other way only to propel us flying (actually airborne) over a 4 foot frozen snow bank missing the telephone pole. I cry, my mom laughs, Wayne is initially angry. Wow what a day. And only just past 10 am.

Only thing on my mind, get to driving test…. Call CAA get tow-truck. Call sister to come get me and my mom so we can get my grandma’s car so I can use that to do my test. My grandma was reluctant to let us use her car but we were going to anyways. The other two cars in our house hold are standards and although I can drive one I was not about to on my road test. So as we sit there waiting for my sister the car is steaming up inside so as to make it not look like we are ‘parked’ in a snow bank I role down my window and the one behind me so Wayne can yell to passer-by-ers that we are fine. As I do this and am on my cell phone with my sister, A half-tone truck comes by and remember that puddle I was going around… hits it and soaked the inside of our car. I was drenched the whole dash over to my mom was soaked, with muddy water Worst Day Ever. So my sister comes up, smirking, because our car seriously is on the other side of the bank, we actually went airborne and I am soaked.

THIS IS WHERE I WENT IN TAKEN TWO DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT... NOTE THE BROKEN GUARD RAIL... AND WE FLEW RIGHT TO THE TREE LINE

So we get to my grandma’s take her car. Get into Orillia. As we pull over to switch seats so I can drive. My mom tests the emergency break, which when we try to release it the handle comes off and the breaks are seriously stuck on. All we could do was laugh. All I can say is only me, only me…. So it is 10:50 am now and I have successfully debilitated not one but two cars. So my sister then drives my Papa to the car, where my mom and I are under it trying to pull on this wire my uncle is directing us too so we can release the breaks… we looked retarded and really dirty cause it was wet, now raining, and lots of fog.

This is when Wayne (step-dad, still with the ditched car) calls and tells me I went over a guard rail, broke two posts off and the tow-truck broke his wire trying to pull, so they had to call a flat bed to get it out because you can’t pull it back over the guard rail. All that ran through my mind was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. And I have none.

I went to the test place and explained all that had happened and that I have to get my test in before I go back, but I have no car and…. She smiled and said she would fit me in Friday at her lunch. Whoa, Amen something went right, although I had to pay another $75 to take it. One car is stranded in an Orillia parking lot and another no hung up in a snow bank half on a guard rail, and me with no road test yet. This all happened in the span of 75 minutes!!!!

End of badness… I went back Friday with a borrowed car from a friend, did the test and passed with no strikes against me. But our car still doesn’t work and I about $500 parts damage. New Rad needed, no A/C compressor, alignment needed, windshield washer fluid container and some hoses… :D and it only looks like someone took a sledge hammer to the bottom corner of the bumper.

When I have a Bad day… then everything goes bad… Guess I really was not meant to take my road test Thursday…

posted by Kate Patterson @ Saturday, March 11, 2006