I'm alive

I was rear ended by a big rig hauling an empty trailer Tuesday afternoon as I was headed home to drink beer with some fellow Marines for our Marine Corps Birthday. I never made it to the festivities and ended up in the ER. I got knocked into next week I think. Whiplash, muscle spasms, lower back pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, and head aches... All the symptoms of being hit by a big truck. I've never felt force like that in my life and I've taken some pretty good licks. Van is totaled. 2006 Dodge Caravan with 394,000 miles on it, and absolutely nothing wrong with it. Paid for, minimal operating expenses, and in very good shape. I'm pretty sure I got the last good dodge caravan ever made and it is now ruined. Figures I'd be forced into a new car note. Just what I wanted, more financial hemorrhaging...

I got very lucky. The driver dodged off to the right at the last second and clipped me with his front left bumper, pushing it into his front left tire, which absorbed a lot of the impact. I was sitting completely still and looked up at the last second to see him sliding toward me with smoke rolling out from under his rig. If he had been any more square in line with the frame / front bumper tie in, he would have pushed me straight forward into several cars until he stopped. Luckily, the bumper folded on his truck at the right spot and I did not feel the full effect of the truck force moving at 50 mph. It was still brutal. It knocked me plain stupid for a few seconds. 

Since I'm under heavy medication to block these nerve synapses, I will be working very light today and tomorrow. I feel like I had a coke machine dropped on me… BUT I’M STILL ALIVE!!! 

It’s gonna take more than that to take this old Marine out...