failure to yield

So, I'm driving down the street after work, at this white van pulls out in front of me. One second the road was clear, the next there was a white van in front of me. Brakes. Skidding noises. For a brief moment, I think I'm going to be able to stop. A very brief moment. I come to the realization that I'm not going to be able to stop. I think, I'm going to hit this guy.

I hit him.

Everything went black for an instant. As I woke, the radio sounded distant and faint, and an acrid smell surrounded me. I notice that there is a deflated airbag coming out of my steering wheel. And out of the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. With the music now sounding so distant and low it seems like a dream. Then reality sets in. I reach for the knob and turn off the radio. I do a quick mental scan. I open the window to help air out the car.

Where is that van? What happened to him?

I get out of the car to see that he has tried to drive away, and is now 50 yards away in the grass median. He is not going to get away with this. I start running as fast as I can towards him while reaching for my phone to call 911. In the middle of this action, I notice that I am mobile and apparently okay and say a quiet thank you.

After some yelling and chasing the other driver stops and stumbles out of the vehicle. I tell the 911 operator what has just happened. The guy is drunk. Very, very drunk. He can't even speak without slurring and getting belligerent. My right forearm aches from the airbag deploying at 200 miles per hour.

Brent was in his truck directly behind me for the entire thing and is there with me, arguing with the drunk guy. My heart is pounding. I can hear the sirens in the distance. Hurry up. Brent is going to fight this guy if he doesn't stop running his mouth.

The firefighters arrive first. They do their cursory inspections on us. The other driver, almost falls over as he sits down. He's telling the firefighters that it's all my fault, despite them telling him they don't care and it's not their responsibility. I'm silent as I'm trying to collect myself and slow down my racing pulse. My heart is pounding. I sit down and focus on slow breathing. The police arrive.

After some interviews with the police, a signed report, and some small talk with the EMS guys, one of them tells me I'm a lucky man. They're surprised I'm not more seriously hurt. Thankfully I was wearing my seat belt and wasn't going any faster. My car is destroyed.

In the end, the other guy was processed for a DUI and was found at fault for "failure to yield." That's somewhat reassuring, but I am now out of a car that I'm still paying for, and was in fact the only working car that Erin and I have.

I'm immediately thankful that I am relatively okay. My head, shoulder, and neck all ache right now. But I have all my limbs attached to my body and the EMS guys didn't seem to think I had any critical injuries.

I'm thankful that everything turned out the way it did. Things will be alright in the long run. Not having a car may be challenging for awhile, but we'll find a way. I'm going to start with hugging Erin and Kai and Isaac extra tight and telling them how much I love them.

medicine

After noticing that Kai's congestion and coughing seemed to actually be getting worse, we decided that perhaps a professional opinion would be useful. Our pediatrician got Kai in that same afternoon that we called, and promptly discovered that Kai's cold had manifested into ear infections. Yes, plural, as in both ears at the same time. The poor kid has a perfectly good reason for being so crabby the last three days.

Anyways, they prescribed some antibiotics (here we go!) and Vick's Vapor Rub (to help with congestion) and we should be all better in a few days now. Oh the wonders of modern medicine...

cold turkey

The experiment has been temporarily called off, due to scheduling issues and Kai's cold. Yes, he has his first official cold. He probably caught it from me, since I just got over one. Which makes it all the more painful to see him ill.

Every cough breaks my heart. His constantly running nose is a reminder of his vulnerability. He is obviously weak and not in great spirits. This morning he woke from his nap wailing, and kept wailing for about 30 minutes straight, seemingly without taking a breath. He actually took an afternoon nap today, which is completely out of routine for him. Of course, I got a phone call at 1am from Erin while I was at work that Kai was now awake and fussy. It took me over 30 minutes to get him to go back to sleep once I got home from a busy night at the Restaurant.

So, while the Experiment is still planned, I'm going to wait until Kai is healthy again. I don't want to push another challenge on him right now. Right now, my little man needs to some chicken soup and his mommy. Going cold turkey on his toys while fighting a cold would be inhumane.

the experiment

About one week ago, I lost my voice. It started as an itchy throat, and quickly grew into a upper respiratory infection that caused me to lose my voice. It was frustrating, to say the least. I work in a noisy bar, and often have to speak loudly to communicate with my guests. I had to resort to body language and hand signals at times to get my point across.

The oddest thing, and this may be true for other people who have lost their voice, is that I couldn't tell. I would speak, and to me it sounded like I was speaking at a normal volume. I then realized I could have some fun with this at the bar, provided that my guests weren't lip-readers...

Today at the bookstore, I was watching Kai climb around the little stage and kid's reading area. The stage was largely empty, with several kid-sized benches lining the front of the stage. Kai was having a blast just crawling around the empty space. Which made me wonder, what would happen if Kai woke up and there were no toys in his play area? Or perhaps, what if there were only one simple toy, like a set of blocks?

Currently, his play room is littered with toys, most of which he rarely touches. What would he do though, if he were given some space? Would it spur his imagination? I told Erin about my idea, and we are going to try it one day. Just gather everything up while he's asleep and throw it in a closet and see what happens.

The Experiment is scheduled for tomorrow. Results to be posted after the initial observation period.

what i've learned...

another post in a series of random posts about life in general. thanks esquire.
by dad, bartender, life student...

- family restrooms are sanctuaries.
- always leave the house on a dry diaper.
- plans are always subject to change without notice when there's a baby involved.
- babies have the power to make life bend and fold to accommodate them.
- the camera is never ready in time.
- don't confuse needs and wants.
- just because you stayed up late doesn't mean your child will want to sleep in, too.
- going drinking on new year's eve is for amateurs.
- just like dinner at a fancy restaurant on valentine's day is.
- "labor models" are for businesses that don't want to pay for either of those two words.
- the apple store needs more geniuses for its genius bar.
- so does the rest of the world.
- figure out how to perform at one hundred percent on fifty percent sleep. That's the key that we're all looking for.

a simpler era

My entire body, it seems, is aching. Erin and I began a new, intense workout program that has left all the major muscles in my body aching. Chest? Yep. Back? You better believe it. Quads? Yes yes yes and yes. But it does feel good to know that we're back on our fitness routine. I took nearly the entire month of December off from the gym, due to my injured wrist, and it definitely showed at the gym.

We spent the better part of the day at the cathedral of modern consumerism, Ikea. As someone with more than a passing interest in all things design, I am continually impressed with Ikea. They seem to have thought of everything when it comes to the Ikea Experience. I've heard varying opinions on the quality of their products, but I think the dissenters have probably never stepped foot in a store to touch the merchandise. They've got stuff for every budget, and for the most part the stuff looks nice. And they have awesome Swedish meatballs and 50-cent hot dogs. What more do you need?

As I've been watching Kai develop, I'm beginning to form an opinion on the toys of childhood. I've noticed that more and more of the modern-day electronic toys are programmed to give some sort of instant gratification. Press this button, and a lullaby plays. Everything, it seems, makes some kind of annoying noise. And yet, we've found over time that some of Kai's favorite toys have been the ones that don't do anything. Wooden spoons, Tupperware, and teddy bears come to mind. What I'm beginning to believe is that the more we insert technology into our children's gadgets, the more we breed a generation that lives on instant gratification. More. Now. An entire generation of people that cannot wait. I remember reading a statistic that teenagers look at a web page for approximately 3 seconds before deciding whether or not to stay or click on to the next site.

Are our children's toys contributing to an overall attention deficit?

I'm not against all of those electronic, noise-making toys. My house has its fair share of them, in fact. However I do notice that Kai interacts differently with the more "rustic" toys. They hold his attention longer and seem to engage him differently. We just got him a wooden bead rollercoaster, which is fascinating to him and is something that requires him to figure it out. It's an active toy that develops an active imagination. It makes me wonder if all of these passive toys (and don't kid yourself, hitting a button to play a song is passive) are creating an attention-deficit-disorder epidemic that we all have to deal with.

I remember as a child one of my favorite things to do was play with my Legos. Some of you had blocks, Lincoln Logs, or Erector Sets, but they all accomplished the same thing. An interactive toy that required active participation and imagination and bred that essential virtue of patience.

I don't know if it's the right thing for everyone, but I think it might be a good idea if our kids learned to appreciate the toys of a simpler era.