I have never been the the brightest light bulb around, also I am as sharp as a box of wet hair. Christmas day I was to drive back from Moore, OK where I was visiting my family to my home in Dallas, TX. There was a winter blast that came through the area and I was not going to miss work due to a snow storm. While driving home through the Arbuckle mountains (they really are more like hills), I got kind of lazy on the snow and ice and started to travel in the 40mph zone which I found out was too fast for certain places. I was hit by a wind gust and my truck started to spin and I did what I could do to save it but wound up on the wrong side of a ditch along the highway. Usually I have pictures of my misfortunes but somehow I also lost my phone during this learning experience so I just stole a couple of pictures off the inter-web that portray how the scene looked. The picture above is kind of like the way I was, turned the wrong direction on the backside of a hill going into a creek, just not hitting anything. The fence line, trees, grass, and snow is about right for the scene.
The first thing I did was call my brother and let him know exactly where I was and how I was doing. Then I called Allstate roadside assistance to send a wrecker to my location because the ditch was pretty darn deep even if I did get my truck to move. Roadside assistance is really awesome for anyone to get, the cost is like 130 a year and you get basically a concierge person to do all the work for you once things are wrong and all you have to do is think about what kind of idiot you are. Once roadside assistance let me know of who was coming and when I took a look around my truck to assess the damage and to my surprise there were no dents, dings, or flat tires. So I got in the truck and started her up and realized my street tires were not going to move unless I get some assistance. You all know how I am prepared for the zombie attack in my truck so there is always a full size axe, hatchet, and loppers in my truck with all sorts of snacks, and survival gear. So I decided to cut down the trees along the highway and put the branches under the back tires for traction and after 30 minutes of chopping and making a limb road I was un-stuck and just needed to find a place to cross over the ditch and onto the highway. I drove about a half mile and found the best spot to cross and with a running start I was back on the road with only my diabetes and two hands to assist me.
I was thinking about everything that happened during Christmas and thought of how my old scoutmaster told the boys once about how a storm blew through while he was driving once and that all traffic had to stop and everyone just waited in their cars for the storm to blow over for several hours except one guy who got out of his truck and went down to the shoulder of the highway and started a fire and built a shelter and just camped out until it was clear to drive again. My scoutmaster later let me know he made up the story and that this was more of a "what would I do in this situation" and from that story to my Christmas adventure I took the same approach and if I could not have got my truck to move was planning on starting a fire with the trees I cut down because I always keep tender and matches in the truck along with food, clothes, water, coats, and a chair. The whole time I was never mad or upset about anything and just kept cool and came up with a game plan. Being prepared and staying calm during times like this are the best ways to survive and I was glad that first my truck was not damaged, second I was prepared for a situation like this, third how I was calm and collected and willing to accept the fact I might have to be here for a while so making camp would be a good way to relax and enjoy the side of a highway. Once I was on the road I did suddenly realize my phone was not on me and it probably was left behind and that was when a bit of panic hit me because there was no way in diabetes hell I was going back to get it. I consider the cell phone a price to pay for being dumb.
