Accident Part 2: The Scene of the Accident

Now that I'm feeling a bit better I can go into a little more detail about the accident.

I was on my way to work that morning and as I was going through an intersection a car in the left turn lane turned right in front of me and I full on nailed it. I had a green light so I think I had less than a couple seconds to hit my brakes and went head on into the side of her car and then bounced off and went into another car that was sitting at the red to go across the intersection. So I had the fun off two impacts.

When I hit the first car, the impact shoved the engine back into my car and so both of my knees went into the dash. That was probably the worst part, they hit the dash so hard that I couldn't feel them at first. I remember sitting in my car trying to stop hurting enough to move and all I could do was force myself to take shallow breaths. Scary.

One of the people driving behind me was an off duty EMT and he was the first one to come up to me after the accident and poked me hard in the middle of my chest telling me not to fall asleep because I was still stunned from the impact and wasn't moving. He happened to poke me right where my seat belt had come across my chest and boy did that wake me up. I sat up in my seat so quick that if I hadn't already hurt my neck I probably would have then. He had me sit back and take my seat belt off and asked me some questions about where I was hurting, if I could move my legs and get out of the car. I finally got some feeling back in my legs but by that point they were hurting so bad all I could do was wiggle them a bit. He reached around behind my neck to press on my spine and tell him if that hurt, it didn't. It was the muscles on the right side and my shoulder that hurt. The next day all I could figure was when I knew I was going to collide with the first car, I turned my face away and tensed up my shoulder and then when we hit I jarred them pretty good.

After he checked to make sure I didn't have any spine injuries he asked me if I knew my name, how old I was, standard questions because I had quite a bump on my head. I hadn't even realized there was anything wrong with my head by that point because I was still foggy, and when I reached up to lightly touch it I felt like I had a softball sticking out of the right side of my forehead. When I put my hand back down is when I noticed my left hand had been hurt pretty bad, it was bleeding quite a bit and I could only move my pinky and thumb.

At that point I was aware enough to do an injury count, I moved my right arm and that hurt my shoulder, my hand was hurting, I had some burns on my arm from the air bag, a few cuts from glass. I was shaking and my chest was really sore from the seat belt but nothing too serious, mostly though my knees were my focus, every thing else paled in comparison because they hurt the worst. All of this, from the time of impact to me finally regrouping enough to take in my aches and pains and surroundings was only a minute or so.

Strangely enough, my first reaction after I was able to think some what clearly was "I need to call work and tell them I can't make it in." When my uncle found out I called my work before the ambulance even arrived he commented that I better use that for incentive for a raise. I laughed.

After I got off the phone with my work I was still a bit disoriented and instead of calling my grandmother like I should have, I called my mom who lives in Florida. All I can remember thinking at that point was I need to talk to mom. I have no doubt that it was a comfort thing because my mom and I are super close and once she got on the phone and I told her what happened I broke down crying. I was hurting, disoriented, I didn't know if anyone else had been hurt, I was pretty sure my car was toast, and all I wanted was to talk to my mom so she could make it all okay.

Once I was showing I was fully aware of everything a lady who was on the phone with 911 handed me her cell. The dispatcher asked me some questions about my injuries and asked if I needed an ambulance and I said yes. After I handed the lady her phone back my mom was still on my cell and was also on her boyfriend's phone calling my uncle and my grandmother to see who could get to me first.

At this point things start to get a bit blurry, I can't remember if the ambulance or police arrived first, but I do remember an EMT coming over and checking my injuries and seeing how serious everything was. She checked my neck again because I had said the right side hurts and they made me put on a neck brace, which quite frankly was more irritating that my neck pain. What sticks out in my mind the most though is when she reached down to check my right knee and she pressed on it and I nearly broke down crying again because it hurt so bad I just blurted out "please stop touching me". So she had me move my legs again and try sliding them out of the car, which with some effort I could do, it just hurt like hell but by that point I knew nothing was broken so I managed to suck it up and do as she asked. The EMT walked away and a police officer came over and started asking me some questions about what happened, what direction was I driving in, how fast was I going, did I have a green light, was I wearing my seat belt, things like that.

I asked the police officer if the other two drivers were okay and he said there didn't seem to be anything too serious, we were all banged up and hurting but everyone would be okay. That was a sigh of relief.

After every one else had been packed up into an ambulance and taken away I was next and the EMT's had me see if I could get out of the car on my own. My left leg wasn't nearly as bad as my right so I was able to stand up and support my weight on that one but every time I tried to put weight on my right leg it kept trying to give out on me. So the EMT's supported me while I hobbled onto the gurney and they had me lay down. Once they got me into the back of the ambulance they took a better look at my knees and I couldn't help but laugh when the lady goes, "We're going to cut your pants off and don't freak out, they're already ripped and ruined anyway." She must have a lot of people complain about having their clothes cut off.

While I was laying there and they were asking me some more questions I saw the side door open out of the corner of my eye and I heard my uncle telling me he was here and that he was going to follow me to the hospital. He reached in and patted my shoulder and like a total girl I started to cry again because it was a relief to know he was there.

When the EMT's were done going over all of my injuries the lady hopped out and we headed for the hospital.

My uncle managed to get a picture of my car after I was on my way to the hospital.

If you click on it, the picture should expand.

Car Accident: Guardian Angel

Today, I totaled my car. Let me tell you something about a head on collision at 40 mph...It fucking HURTS.

Thankfully, I don't have anything too serious, a concussion (man you should see the knot on my head, I'll probably put a pic up soon), and some cuts, bruises and jammed appendages. But looking at my car it could have been so much worse. I'm not usually a religious person but when my mom said "you had a guardian angel watching over you," I found it a bit hard to argue.

One Dog For Sale

Anyone want to buy a dog? Name your price and she's yours! She's great with kids, has never bitten or shown aggression of any kind, loves being pet for hours and is a faithful companion on long walks. What's the catch, you say??? There's no catch, why would you think there's a catch? Did someone tell you there was a catch, who was it? Huh?! WHO TOLD YOU THERE WAS A CATCH????? Oh alright, here's the catch...SHE FUCKING CHEWS THROUGH EVERYTHING!

In the last two, almost three, months that I have had Coda she has chewed through my favorite pair of shoes, a cord for my only living room lamp, my ether-net cable, the battery charger for my camera, the charger for my cellphone, countless papers and napkins, the trash, a pair of jeans that fell out of my laundry basket, my dish sponge, not to mention Jesus' head and her bath towel.

But today was the last straw. She pushed me one step too far this morning. Usually in the morning, Coda and I have a routine. We wake up, I let her outside while I take my shower and get ready for work and by the time I'm done she's ready to come back in. This morning though, things deviated from our regular routine. My alarm went off and I got out of bed, but Coda didn't get up like she normally does so I figured she didn't have to go outside yet. I think nothing of it and hop in the shower and leave her to sleep some more. When I get out of the shower and change into my work clothes I see that Coda is up and about now so I ask her if she has to go outside and I get a tail wag in response so I know that's a yes. We head downstairs and that's when I see it.

Coda had chewed through the cord of my brand new vacuum. The brand new vacuum that I have used three, count them, one, two, THREE, times since I got it. And that was it, that was the last straw that broke the camels back. I saw red, and Coda new instantly that she was busted big time.

I was really quite disappointed that she had done that because I am not the type of person that likes to lock a dog up when I'm gone, growing up we always had dogs that roamed the house while we were gone and so I feel guilty when I leave and she has to be put in her cage. And with how well she had been doing the past month I was ready to give her that chance again, but then she blew it and now she has to stay locked up while I'm at work or taking a shower. Le sigh, why do I feel like the bad guy when she's the one that ruined my vacuum?? Dumb dog.

I'm Evil

Coda and I have been butting heads a lot lately, mostly with her trying to eat EVERYTHING she sees, including non-edible items. One of the things she does that I have been working very diligently of breaking her of is begging. I absolutely can not stand begging so I am very strict on that and never give her food while I'm eating and always drop it in her bowl when I do give it to her.

Today, I stopped by Sonic and got a Cherry-Limeade and while I was drinking it I noticed Coda was continually begging. So as an experiment I decided let her taste lime juice and see if that would deter her from begging at all. I pulled a lime out and when she reached for it I squirted the juice into her mouth.

I will say that it didn't stop her from begging but the face she made when she tasted the lime juice was hilarious. I didn't know dogs could make faces like that but she did.

Apparently I Missed the End of the World...

...Or so that's what the internet tells me. How is it the first I am hearing of this?! Man, that would have been the perfect excuse for a party. Oh well, I'm in luck since the world obviously didn't end and the date has been moved back. So save the date, party at my house, we can all get drunk and dance around to Lady Gaga. Sounds like a plan!

Shall I Tell You a Story?

I want to tell you a story, would you like that?

Imagine a day; a day like any other.

You wake up, get dressed, go to work, and walk miles in your well worn work shoes. You come home, do some of your daily house chores, play with the dog, change into street clothes and slip on your favorite pair of Converse that are just as worn as your work shoes with just as many miles but are so much more loved than they are. You run some errands, come home again, kick off your shoes, make some dinner, settle down for bed and begin to drift off for the night.

Only, something is amiss. What could it be? You toss and turn, no luck. You pause and listen. Do you hear it? That squeaking sound. Where is it coming from?

You sit up in bed, look around and listen some more. The sound is coming from under your bed. You draw up childhood memories of monsters under your bed, waiting for you to set one foot on the floor so they can bite it off.

You throw a pillow down first, just in case.

The squeaking stops.

You hold your breath and listen harder. You hear it again, squeak, squeak, squeak. It's a steady cadence of squeaks this time.

Completely befuddled, you throw off the blankets, climb out of bed and take two quick steps then freeze. That's when you spot it, at the end of your bed. Just there, do you see it? The source of the squeaking sound. Your eyes adjust to the darkness and to your horror you begin to take in such a terrible sight.

At the foot of your bed, a huddled black mass takes shape. Its fur is black as pitch, covering a well muscled body designed to pounce on its unsuspecting victims in the night. Its snout is long and pointed, filled with blindingly white teeth, so sharp they could chew through anything. But what terrifies you the most, is what you see gripped tightly between its dangerous claws.

You gasp!

The creature looks up at you without moving its head and continues to gnash its teeth. You're frozen in horror, because with every chomp of its jaws a high pitched squeak emerges.

"NO!" you yell, as you dive for that precious object held between the beast's hideous jaws. It dodges right. You dodge left and come up victorious, cradling your "precious" in your arms.

The beast looks up at you in confusion, and wags its tail.

In your arms you hold what was once the most beautiful, perfect, right-half of your favorite pair of aqua blue colored Converse shoes. Forever mangled and disfigured, you take a moment to mourn that shoe. You look down at that innocent size 9 and a single tear falls from the corner of your eye and travels down your cheek. The squeak you had heard was from the beast's teeth rubbing against the leather of the shoe. As if it were crying out in pain to be rescued from the heartless animal.

The tear dissolves and your anger filled eyes turn on the beast. It cowers, sensing that it has finally crossed a line and slinks toward its cage. You remind yourself that turning a dog into an area rug is illegal, no matter how nice of one it would make.

Don't fret my darlings, this story has a happy ending.

Out of your moment of defeat an idea emerges. You take to the internet like a woman possessed, scouring page after page of shoes until you find just the right ones. And there they are, one pair red and one pair black, but both as closely identical to the mangled one you hold in your hand as they can get without being the same shoe. You take the plunge, add them to your cart and check out.

Shipping takes two days, and you impatiently wait. You wait to see if your gamble is going to pay off. Was it possible to even come close to the perfection of those dearly departed pair of shoes? Could one pair, let alone two be as everlasting?

The shoes arrive.

You pull them out of the box, lace them up and take in that unmistakeable new shoe smell. You slip the first pair on, wiggle your toes, roll back on your heels and dare not hope. But that little voice in the back of your head whispers, "could it be?" You take them off and gently set them aside as you grab the second pair and put them on and follow the same process; toe wiggle, heel roll.

As you sit there and slowly take in the ramifications of what has just happened, Beethoven's Ode to Joy begins to play in the background. A miracle, a once in a lifetime shoe miracle, has just taken place! Both shoes fit perfectly, and both shoes are just as amazingly comfortable as the recently deceased pair! Oh, happy day!

The End


I told you it had a happy ending. And in case you were wondering, this and this are the shoes that I got.

Coda Vs. The Rake

Let me just say, the rake won.

The weather here has been really nice lately, sunny and warm with a slight breeze, perfect weather before it gets hotter than an oven the next two months. I had the last few days off so I took advantage of the wonderful weather to do some yard work. I was raking the yard trying to get some dead leaves from around the house and the dead grass when I noticed Coda kept avoiding the rake, she would skirt around to my other side placing me between herself and the rake. I held out the rake for her to investigate so she wouldn't be scared of it, she slowly inched up, sniffed the rake and relaxed a little.

As I continued raking Coda decided she wanted to play, she would bite and bark at the rake and then chase the leaves as I pushed them forward. It was cute and funny and we had a good time while I finished the yard up. By the time we headed back inside Coda was no longer afraid of the rake so I leaned it up against the side of the house and we settled down for the night.

This morning I let Coda out and went about my usual routine, my yard isn't completely fenced in so I use a tie-out, only I noticed Coda was being awfully quiet outside. Usually when she's out there I can hear her running after squirrels or barking at birds. I go outside to check on her and I find her cowering at the corner of my house. I tried to get her to come to me but for some reason she wouldn't move.

After a moment I notice that the rake is laying on the ground right on top of her tie-out leash. I forgot I had leaned against the side of the house and she must have knocked it over. Coda got up her courage and tried to move toward me but every time she moved, the rake would move too and she would get scared again. I was cracking up when I saw what was going on. It was one of those, awww-I-shouldn't-be-laughing-at-this-but-it's-really-funny-and-cute moments. So I rescued her from the evil rake and she bee-lined it for the door.

In the end the score was The Rake 1, Coda 0.

You know you had a good time when...

...you end the night getting kicked out of a bar.

:)

Good times.

A thought...

I feel a random questionnaire coming on, now if only I could find a good one. I haven't done one in at least a few months, it's definitely time to fix that.

Felt like updating...

...even though I really don't have anything to update about. Things have been keeping me busy so I haven't had the time I would like to write. And when I am writing I'm usually working on the half finished NaNoWriMo novel that I started waaay back in November. Yep, still writing that even though I've changed the ending about three different times. It's fun though, keeps the imagination sharp, you know? Do I pull a Joss Whedon? Kill off a major beloved character? Or a John Green? Bringing some ultimately profound life lesson into the mix? Or do I leave things open and loose with a few ends to continue writing if I need something to keep myself occupied? Who knows, I think it depends on my mood while I'm writing.

Things with Coda have been...challenging. I swear when she's not eating something she's not supposed to she's getting into other trouble. I'll elaborate more on that later this week if I have time.

Work has sucked donkey balls this past week. I think all of the fucking psychotic customers have come out of the wood work lately. The one that tops them all is this insane lady who accused me of stealing fifty dollars from her, told me to shut up when I explained to her that I didn't steal anything from her and then called me a bitch. She's lucky I needed my job more than I wanted to punch her in the face. Thankfully, my managers are on my side, they pulled the tapes and confirmed that I wasn't lying about not stealing money. That's probably what has pissed me the most off too, I don't care that she called me a bitch so much as I can't stand people who steal and accusing me of stealing just makes me that much more angry.

I finished watching Dollhouse finally. I can't remember why I stopped watching the 2nd season midway through, probably got busy with work or school but last week I had 3 days off in a row and decided to marathon season's 1 and 2. I also saw the King's Speech which I absolutely loved, I can see why it got so many awards.

I'm looking forward to Friday, a bunch of people from work are going out together and I think it's going to be a good time. I get along really well with everyone going, plus the place we're going to sells Long Islands in these mini trash can things. Yuuuuuummmm!

One of the girls that's going is really funny because we play really well off each other, we can get a conversation going and just keep it escalating with our ridiculousness. I think our latest funny/wrong conversation was about the weather and amount of murders taking place in the city lately. She mentioned something about how in the winter time everyone stays in doors and makes babies and the summer time everyone wanders around at night killing each other. And I said well at least it's a good form of population control because it all balances out so there's enough room for the babies. One of the other girls I work with looks at both of us with a face of horrified amusement and then punched me in the arm for what I said. I just think she was mad because I made her laugh at something so wrong. Sometimes that's the best kind of humor. It eases the tension about serious topics and helps relieve the stress about the fact that it's only going to be May and there have already been more than 20 murders in the city so far.

I just noticed my clock says 1:43am. I love you too clock! That's one of my favorite numbers. For as long as I remember that has been a little code between my mom, my brother and I. It's not a secret or anything, but I remember my mom using it when we were younger and didn't want to embarrass us in front of our friends by yelling "I love you sweetheart!" like you see in movies and such. She would always just say "one four three" and we would know and shout it back. We still use it to this day, I'll get a text with just 143 in it. One of my friends Kini asked me once why we didn't just say I love you and I didn't know the answer until I thought about it for a moment and told her it was because they mean the same thing. The number has become completely synonymous to the words for us.

Well, I think this post has rambled on enough and I've covered multiple topics that I wanted to talk about. So I shall say goodnight sweet world, 143!

Coda and the Stairs

The stairs in my house are really narrow and kind of steep. I mean so narrow and steep that when I was buying a bed I had to run home real quick to measure the stairs and make sure it would fit up them. I had to get a full instead of a queen because of that! And even then it took three delivery guys angling it just right to get it to fit. I don't even want to think about when I move out. As I said, narrow and steep.

When I first got her, Coda was afraid to go up and down the stairs, she would get her momentum going and not stop for anything. She still does this, only now instead of having to coax her up and down the stairs, she insists on climbing them with me. I'll be walking down the stairs when all of a sudden I hear this herd of elephants coming behind me and these lyrics pop into my head, "move bitch, get out the way, get out the way bitch, get out the way", so it's either make way or let her plow me over because she is not stopping.

So if you hear that I ended up in a full body cast from falling down the stairs it's because I didn't move out of the way fast enough and Coda took me out.

Coda's First Trip to the Vet

Coda went to the Vet today. She was such a good girl I couldn't believe it. I could see immediately that my training every day with her has started to sink in because she listened to me when I made her sit and behave around the other people and animals.

She only had to get two shots today, I wanted to have her tested for heartworm and get her last round of distemper shot taken care of. This was the first time I had ever been to this particular vet clinic, and I really liked the vet there so we will definitely be going back.

Next week though is going to be the big one. On Wednesday she's going in to be spayed. I know it's a routine procedure but I can't help but feel a little worried about the whole thing. I just worry that after the surgery, getting her to stay calm is going to be a challenge. She has so much energy and loves to play that I don't want her to go and pull any of her stitches. I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.

Michigan Weather

One thing about Michigan weather that everyone seems to forget is that it sucks. Just when you think summer time is on its way, Mother Nature hits you in the sweet spot and runs away laughing maniacally.

This morning I woke up around 6am to let Coda outside. I noticed it was a bit chilly and could see my breath but nothing really out of the ordinary for a Michigan spring morning. I let Coda back in and we both lay down for a little while longer, me in bed, Coda on her blanket next to my bed.

A couple hours later I'm disturbed from my dozing by a strange noise. As I lay in bed trying to figure out what that sound is, I decide to get up and look out my window because for all I know it could be someone breaking into my car or something. I pull back the curtains on my window and this is what I see:


A week ago Sunday it was 80 degrees outside and today it's snowing. Fuck you very much Mother Nature.

And now I'm going back to bed to sulk.

Coda ate Jesus

A few days ago I was awoken early by the lovely sound of someone knocking on my door. I groggily stumbled downstairs to see who it was. I opened the door and saw two women in there Sunday best and knew immediately what they wanted. Coda, forgetting her manners when greeting people, tried pushing through the door to lick them to death, but they didn't know that.

After eying Coda for a moment I could see they decided to make things short and sweet, stuck the pamphlet through the screen door inviting me to the service and hurried off. Pamphlet in my hand, I looked down at Coda with her ears perked up and tongue hanging out and decided she didn't look particularly ferocious. I shut the door and tossed the pamphlet down onto an end table because that was closer than the trash and I just wanted to go back to sleep.

Later that day as I was getting ready for work I saw something laying in the middle of the living room floor and when I picked it up this is what I found:

I couldn't help but laugh that the only thing Coda chewed off was the head. But of course chewing on things that are not her toys is bad so when I showed her the pamphlet she gave me this face:

How can you scold that? So she got away with that one and I have started calling her Hell Hound in the process.

Coda

Blog, meet Coda.
Coda is ridiculously hard to take pictures of because she is so black.

I couldn't get a picture of her standing up but Coda is a pretty big dog.

She likes to wait for you to rub her belly.

Coda likes playing fetch and eating snacks, especially her ham bone. She likes crawling under my bed and sniffing EVERYTHING. She's very nosy and must know what you are doing and what you might have in your hand. She is very smart and catches on quickly.

Coda does not like loud noises, walking with the leash (we're lead training right now and she does not appreciate not being able to pull all she wants), being told she can't get up on the furniture or jump up on you.

Since I brought her home last Friday, things have been going really well with Coda. Aside from a few puppy antics, Coda is incredibly well behaved. When I got Coda I knew she was supposed to be house broken but I took that with a grain of salt, luckily I need not have, she has yet to have any sort of accident in the house. I also figured I would have to crate Coda when I went to work and was astounded when I left her home alone for 7 hours straight (after I made sure there was absolutely nothing of value she could get into) just to see if she would get into anything and she didn't.

Day one with Coda was interesting. Obviously, she was a bit anxious not understanding what was going on and the excitement of leaving the Animal Control Center and meeting new people didn't help. But once we got home and it was just her and I she calmed down a little. She quietly explored the house, leaving no inch unsniffed. I put her crate together which she hated immediately and frankly, after living in a cage for the past few weeks, I can't blame her.

After a few hours I started to pick up on Coda's quirks. For some reason she likes crawling under my bed. I've never seen a dog do that before so I'm not sure what that's all about. I thought at first maybe she was scared and hiding from something, but when I got down on the ground to check on her she just laid under there, tongue out and tail wagging. Another thing that I can only guess Coda picked up from her previous owners is that she will not sleep anywhere but in front of the front door.

Something that surprised me though, once I got Coda home she barely barked. When I saw her at the control center she was barking up a storm in her cage and would get the other dogs barking too. I figured with some training I could teach her to stop but that wasn't necessary. The only time she does bark is when she thinks she hears something close to the house, which I am very grateful for since the neighborhood I live in is not the best, but it's not the worst either.

The first night was a long night because she would not settle down. I crated her thinking she would need it until I could figure out if she was going to destroy my house, it took a while but after a couple hours she fell asleep. I set my alarm to get up in the middle of the night and let her out, not knowing if she could hold it through the night or not yet. When I let her out I decided since it was pretty warm out I would sit on the back steps and make sure she went to the bathroom before I let her back in. I could hear a train passing by and Coda was wandering around the yard when all of a sudden the train blew it's horn and all four of Coda's paws came off the ground. I have never seen a dog jump so high from a flat standing position like that, and let me tell you it is really funny to see.

After I comforted her and stopped laughing Coda and I went back inside. When she still refused to go back into her cage I decided to just let her sleep where she wanted and see how she did the rest of the night. As I expected she slept in the living room where the front door was, but when I came down in the morning I found her in an arm chair after I told her she couldn't sleep on the couch, the brat.

The second day was interesting as well, on top of everything I also learned that Coda is a dominant dog. I kind of figured she would be, since she pulled on the leash so much and was quite adamant about not doing anything she didn't want, such as going back in her cage or giving up the ball in fetch (which I taught her to bring the ball back, now she just won't give it up). She made it quite obvious she wants to be the boss and I made it quite obvious that was not going to happen. Which is subsequently why she hates lead training. After the first time I took her for a walk and my hands and wrists ached from her pulling so hard I knew there was no way that was going to happen again and bought her a Halti collar. She fought it very hard at first but after about half an hour she was walking without pulling anymore.

Coda also decides when she wants to listen, she knows commands such as "sit" and "down" and "come here", but if there isn't any incentive for her to comply she pretends she doesn't hear you. We're working on that. With all that being said Coda is still a great dog. She's very social and loving and will sit in front of you all day if you just keep petting her. She made me laugh the first time she flopped down in front of me, belly up and feet in the air, waiting for me to scratch her stomach.

So far the things Coda and I are working on is:
-Lead training (going very well)
-Getting her to listen to and obey basic commands EVERY time not just when she wants
-And teaching her not to jump up on people (she doesn't jump up on me very often anymore but she gets very excited when visitors come over)

Coda and I will continue to work together and hopefully make some better progress.