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T[_5_]

In article >,
says...
> We've received word that a long-time friend was killed yesterday in a
> car wreck. She and her husband moved to Maine, her home state, after
> they retired from the university here a few years ago. They had a
> lovely, big house in a small town up there. Her husband was badly
> injured, but is expected to survive.
>
> She was an excellent cook. While she lived here, she hosted monthly
> "ladies who lunch" gatherings at her house and, less frequently,
> dinner parties for colleagues and friends. We didn't always agree
> culinarily -- she disliked chiles, for example, and was no fan of
> lobster even though she was a New Englander -- but our dinners
> together were always a treat. She was an especially gifted baker.
>
> She loved dishes and would buy a new set on impulse in spite of her
> native frugality in most matters. (She was the only person D and I
> ever heard of who saved money while working as a graduate assistant!)
> Her husband collected classical music recordings. She collected
> dinner plates and soup bowls.
>
> She was very intelligent and not just in an academic way. An
> excellent diarist, she kept in touch with friends down here via
> periodic long emails packed with telling observations about their
> lives up north. While she still lived here, she adopted a stray fox
> terrier. She trained it to do amazing tricks. While it's certainly
> true the dog was very smart, it was apparent it had an outstanding
> trainer, as well.
>
> The suddenness of her death has overwhelmed us. It can't be true that
> she is dead. With the painful loss of Christy, we were somewhat
> prepared by the duration of her hospitalization. With this new loss,
> we are left empty, uncertain what to do or say. Grief is a
> hollowness.
> --
>
> modom
>

Sorry to hear about your friends death. A car wreck sounds ghastly
enough.

The thought occured to me over the past week. I did a lot of driving,
approximately 2,500 miles worth including RI to NC and then around and
about in NC. Much of that was at speeds of 70MPH to 80MPH. I realized
that the small car we were in, a Chevrolet Cobalt and that speed would
pretty much mean instant death/maiming if we were to get involved in a
serious accident.

It didn't slow me down much. One of my rules of the road and one that
all drivers are taught is to leave one car length for every 10MPH of
speed. I always allow enough space for merging traffic, etc. I wish
everyone else did the same.

I did find while driving through New York that one could signal a lane
change but to make the change you had to nose into the next lane and
then a hole would open up.