What’s your rush?

[El Camexican]

I was standing in a line to use a bank machine today and there were a have dozen people in front of me, each one more inept than the next when it came to using the ATM.

After a few purposefully exaggerated deep breaths and counting to 10 (I can get pretty high strung when I’m in a rush which is almost always) I remembered something that happened about 20 years back that I always try use as a reason to chill out and accept the pace of life around me.

The story goes that back when I was working on boats for a living. We also rented canoes, fishing boats, tents and trailer campers on weekends.
One particular three day weekend the guy in charge of rentals overbooked. By 6:00pm the last canoe was gone and a few minutes later a guy who was expecting to enjoy a weekend of canoeing showed up only to find that there were no more canoes or boats.

He went ballistic. Swearing, cursing, threatening to sue, you name it. As the guy continues to rant a customer pulls in with a canoe and says “Something came up, I can’t go camping, can I return the canoe?” Perfect! The guys unload the canoe from his car and put it on the other guys roof, he calms down, secures the canoe and both leave happy.

The following week we get the news. A few miles out of town a gust of wind got under the canoe and blew his car off the road. He was killed.
The moral of the story? Chill out, take life as it comes and accept that some things happen for a reason. For all the near misses I’ve had I should know better than to get pissed off at the pace of others, but still I do, that is why I try to always remember this event.

Just thought I’d share it.

[sledcrazyinCT]

real good advice!

[Jmoozy27]

I agree with that bro. At the same time I still get aggravated with the speed of life. Maybe it's not the speed that bothers me as much as the general disconnect of the mass public with life itself. For example, "subject A" is driving down a parish road doing 58 in a 55 when low and behold "degenerate B" rolls threw at a stop sign neck deep his flashy New Obama phone trying to send his latest Twitter post and has no idea that "A" is about to ram his @$$ and turn his sedan into a coupe all because he was more worried about what was going on in fantasy world rather than real life. I often times feel bad for slow people, but ignorant people get no love. You cannot teach speed and you cannot fix stupid. Woosa!!!

[El Camexican]

Funny you use that as an example Jmoozy. This is me after crossing a country highway while talking on the phone last year in TX. 100% on me, thank God no one got hurt. Had I been living life just one second slower, or had the trucker got loaded and on the road one second sooner I might not be typing this right now. One of my better near misses.:lol:
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[MIK6]

Not sure if this is the same but..
Ive been to every TF, has years go smooth and had years that were a struggle. 1 year I blew 6 trailer tires and had to turn around and go home. Bought a trailer the next day and went anyways. 3 years ago rented a trailer and blew a tire, had a fellow 3ww member (xowner) pick me up a 2nd spare and kept going. 2 years ago was a struggle to find a big enuff trailer, last min a relative stranger (who I now consider a VERY good friend) hooked me up, on way home lost shift cable on truck, got it in gear and kept going. Last year bought a huge new trailer and suffered the whole way there w sway issues, then on the way home blew a tire and then lost the sending unit on my trucks tank..
No matter the struggles to and from TF I have an incredible time each year.. the years where it was harder to make it made it more special once I got there and the years where I had it hard getting home I couldn't wait to go back!! The trip to and from is part of the experience! I enjoy my TF adventure from the week trailprotrailpro packing and planning till the week after unloading, cleaning and fixing..
Man.. after 13 trips from NY to haspin ive got alot of memories! Smiling just thinking about the TF adventures!!!

[El Camexican]

Not sure if this is the same but..
Ive been to every TF, has years go smooth and had years that were a struggle. 1 year I blew 6 trailer tires and had to turn around and go home. Bought a trailer the next day and went anyways. 3 years ago rented a trailer and blew a tire, had a fellow 3ww member (xowner) pick me up a 2nd spare and kept going. 2 years ago was a struggle to find a big enuff trailer, last min a relative stranger (who I now consider a VERY good friend) hooked me up, on way home lost shift cable on truck, got it in gear and kept going. Last year bought a huge new trailer and suffered the whole way there w sway issues, then on the way home blew a tire and then lost the sending unit on my trucks tank..
No matter the struggles to and from TF I have an incredible time each year.. the years where it was harder to make it made it more special once I got there and the years where I had it hard getting home I couldn't wait to go back!! The trip to and from is part of the experience! I enjoy my TF adventure from the week trailprotrailpro packing and planning till the week after unloading, cleaning and fixing..
Man.. after 13 trips from NY to haspin ive got alot of memories! Smiling just thinking about the TF adventures!!!

I'd put your experiences in the same pile as my little story. You never know which of those blowouts kept you from getting into a wreck further down the road, or who you wouldn't have met if not for them.

For better or worse there's no point to getting worked up over things we can't control.:beer

[atc007]

Funny you use that as an example Jmoozy. This is me after crossing a country highway while talking on the phone last year in TX. 100% on me, thank God no one got hurt. Had I been living life just one second slower, or had the trucker got loaded and on the road one second sooner I might not be typing this right now. One of my better near misses.:lol:
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I STILL stand by,,,with a lot of work,,,,that all woulda buffed right out. This thread is how I live my life. Spending FAR too much time in Dr offices waiting rooms. To HEAR these pee brained people in an uproar...WHY do they make appointments if they can't keep them! On and on and on,,WHINING> Welll,,,,The Dr is taking the time to care for the PT in there atm,,,would you like them to do the SAME for you and your family?? Kills me lol.

[Buck Snort]

Took me years to ease up. In my twenties and most of my thirties I really had no patience for people that I thought were slow at what ever task they were doing. I also would loose it at any little problem. Now in my mid forties I have settled down quite abit. What is the point of getting pissy. Although I have 20 year old daughter that seems to be able to fire me up.

[Caminofeld]

December 7th my fiancee and I were nearly killed while stopped for construction on I-83. We were rear-ended by a guy who was either texting or asleep at the wheel and doing 90mph. We were hit and thrown forward into a tractor trailer. I'm not driving yet, but while being driven to therapy and Dr appointments I have really started to pay attention to how many reckless and distracted driver there are out there...and in Baltimore there are a TON. All I keep thinking about is that if my son were with us (which he often is for that particular commute) that he would have been killed along with our two wonderful dogs in the back seat. The crazy thing is that the driver at fault was discharged from the hospital that night and is fine and we were both critically injured. I wish these idiots would realize how much potential damage they could do if they crashed and start paying attention and driving responsibly...and for the record; when we start driving again she is getting a full-size SUV...no more sub-compact cars to save gas!

http://www.shrewsburyfire.com/news/fullstory/newsid/215193

[El Camexican]

December 7th my fiancee and I were nearly killed while stopped for construction on I-83. We were rear-ended by a guy who was either texting or asleep at the wheel and doing 90mph. We were hit and thrown forward into a tractor trailer. I'm not driving yet, but while being driven to therapy and Dr appointments I have really started to pay attention to how many reckless and distracted driver there are out there...and in Baltimore there are a TON. All I keep thinking about is that if my son were with us (which he often is for that particular commute) that he would have been killed along with our two wonderful dogs in the back seat. The crazy thing is that the driver at fault was discharged from the hospital that night and is fine and we were both critically injured. I wish these idiots would realize how much potential damage they could do if they crashed and start paying attention and driving responsibly...and for the record; when we start driving again she is getting a full-size SUV...no more sub-compact cars to save gas!

http://www.shrewsburyfire.com/news/fullstory/newsid/215193

Crazy! Get well soon!:beer

[Jmoozy27]

Funny you use that as an example Jmoozy. This is me after crossing a country highway while talking on the phone last year in TX. 100% on me, thank God no one got hurt. Had I been living life just one second slower, or had the trucker got loaded and on the road one second sooner I might not be typing this right now. One of my better near misses.:lol:
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That is crazy el camexican, it's a miracle nobody got hurt. I work HSE in the oilfield mainly environmental clean-up and tank cleaning. I do a good bit of road travel as well as respond to roadside HazMat emergencies. Unlike the mass public I know what type of madness runs our roadways. It insane how close pedestrians come to death everyday. Most things you cannot control but one thing you can is your actions. I never had respect for big rigs until I was the guy holding the big wheel hauling the hazardous materials. It is just impossible to stop an 80,000 lb machine doing 65mph when a Ford escort cut it off and slams the brakes because he thought there was a squirrel run across the road but it was just debris. I like to have 100% control over anything in my bubble to avoid the one that cannot control theirs.

[bkm]

1995, I unload my 250r, set the helmet on the tailgate and take a few hot laps on my buddies homemade track. About the third lap I pass by the truck and look at my helmet sitting there. I can hear my old man 30 miles away losing his mind because I'm not wearing my lid, so I reluctantly put it on. 30 feet away from the truck, I clip a boulder with the right tire and the bike lands on the back of my head. Ambulance ride, crushed nose that requires reconstruction and 30 stitches. The helmet was smashed in two pieces, but I'm able to type this today because of it. Guardian Angel is all I can say.

[El Camexican]

That is crazy el camexican, it's a miracle nobody got hurt. I work HSE in the oilfield mainly environmental clean-up and tank cleaning. I do a good bit of road travel as well as respond to roadside HazMat emergencies. Unlike the mass public I know what type of madness runs our roadways. It insane how close pedestrians come to death everyday. Most things you cannot control but one thing you can is your actions. I never had respect for big rigs until I was the guy holding the big wheel hauling the hazardous materials. It is just impossible to stop an 80,000 lb machine doing 65mph when a Ford escort cut it off and slams the brakes because he thought there was a squirrel run across the road but it was just debris. I like to have 100% control over anything in my bubble to avoid the one that cannot control theirs.

What crazy is how your posts seem to keep tying to my wreck:lol: It was an oil patch truck that hit me! Full load of sand doing 75mph. He didn't even have time to tap his brakes. My little pick-up did 29K worth of damage to his tractor.

[El Camexican]

1995, I unload my 250r, set the helmet on the tailgate and take a few hot laps on my buddies homemade track. About the third lap I pass by the truck and look at my helmet sitting there. I can hear my old man 30 miles away losing his mind because I'm not wearing my lid, so I reluctantly put it on. 30 feet away from the truck, I clip a boulder with the right tire and the bike lands on the back of my head. Ambulance ride, crushed nose that requires reconstruction and 30 stitches. The helmet was smashed in two pieces, but I'm able to type this today because of it. Guardian Angel is all I can say.

Time to start a thread called "Close Calls... and the lucky SOB's that survived them" I think I'll do it now.

[redsox]

i'll spare the details, but i took a wicked shot in a chevy avalanche. ended up on its side. (i was not buckled, which i usually am). i chipped a tooth on the wheel and had a bruised arm but no real injuries to speak of. Truck was a life saver. they can take a hit.

[Caminofeld]

Crazy! Get well soon!:beer


Thanks El! We're looking at a few more months of therapy/rehab, but things are steadily improving. My memory seems to be back to normal, which was my biggest concern (in a coma for 2 weeks and still don't remember a thing from that period). Aside from that, our broken necks seem to be on the mend and we're both walking/balancing better every day. Unfortunately I still have vertigo and my Neurologist said no more MMA ever, which was a HUGE disappointment...but he didn't say anything about riding 3 wheelers:)

[slashfan7964]

I do have a problem with patience when I'm in a rush but it's probably because I'm young. I try to hold back my frustrations though.