Day after crash, etc.

I felt better the day after the crash.  I felt better than I expected considering how hard I was hit. And today, two days later, I am feeling even better.

In the light of the next day I found the only damage to my bicycle was my slightly bent left side of the handlebar, and my seat was crooked. I wasn't able to completely bend the handlebar all the way back to level.  For now it is acceptable.  The bicycle rides true; I am able to ride the bicycle with no hands as it tracks nicely.

I got three more loads of free dirt on Wednesday.  I am done hauling dirt now as I have filled in most areas that could use a little more dirt.

Area near where I got the dirt.

Each time I got dirt the dirt owner and I got to talking about this and that, and one time we talked about our fathers.  In the end he gave me, for my wood stove, this box of kindling his late father had made.  Apparently there is much more kindling his father had made in his spare time.

The dirt owner did have one mishap when loading dirt in my pickup.  He was in a hurry and something slipped and loader's bucket hit the top of the side of my pickup bed denting it.  It's unfortunate, but oh well... what can I do, what's another dent?


I am glad I am done getting dirt and hay and can take a break from driving among Flathead's crazy drivers.  On Wednesday when hauling dirt I saw the aftermath of a wreck.  A pickup was facing north in the southbound lane's ditch.  A goose-neck dump style trailer was in the ditch with its end on the highway's shoulder.  I didn't notice any other vehicles.  A fire truck was hosing the wreck down.  Four highway patrol cars were parked there.

Then as I drove the car (male with Flathead plates) ahead of me turned off the highway onto a road.  While the highway's shoulder was as wide as a traffic lane the driver slowed way down and I had break while hoping the vehicles behind me stopped also.  Highway speed at the time was 65 mph.  This driver turned at a slower speed than the woman who turned the previous night and hit me.

Since four highway patrol cars were at the crash site (when only one was needed), most everyone was driving faster.  Continuing on back at highway speed a car came zooming up weaving both lanes behind me.  Traffic was going 70 mph and the BMW driver must have been driving 100 mph.  He had specialty Montana plates.

I had two cars ahead of me in both lanes, both Flathead drivers. The woman in the car ahead of me overlapped the back of the car in the other lane.  The BMW driver couldn't pass so he tailgated really close to the car in the other lane. The woman ahead of me should have kept the gap closed as the BMW driver would cut in front of her the minute he thought there would be room.  The woman didn't, a gap opened and the BMW darted in front of her with feet to spare.  The BMW driver zipped in and out in very small spaces between vehicles and was quickly gone.

Crazy stupid.

Then at the junction of Hwy 2 and Hwy 40 where Hwy 2 merges with Hwy 40, the woman who had let the BMW through, stopped when the road was designed to merge without stopping.  Stupid!  Both I and the person behind me were paying attention and we also stopped, so no accident occurred.

There was more stupid driving, but you get the point: I wanted to be done driving and off the road.

Today I helped my neighbor Curtis.  He bought a damaged Subaru with a good motor to go with the good Subaru with a bad motor he bought a few weeks ago.  He needed someone to drive his pickup as he drove the damaged Subaru home from Bigfork.  Thankfully the crazies took time off and we made it home without incident.