[Pilot]

Well, it's official. The F-bodies are now trying to kill Kevin. So I'm sitting at home enjoying the blizzard warning when I get a call from Kevin. He's been viciously attacked by a V6 Firebird. He was crusing down the interstate when he saw the firebird in the slow lane lose it in the snow and come plowing towards him. After he sped up (brakes? in this snow? HAH!) to avoid her, he lost sight of her and then felt the clunk which threw the truck (a friggin 1 ton now traveling at close to 60 mph) sideways about 30 degrees.

So now he calls me, the nose of the Firebird is in his truck and he's following a rather nice looking 27ish, blonde dental hygienist to my apartment complex. Apparently she's my neighbor. I trudge out into the 4" of snow to join in the merriment. He hasn't seen the damage on his truck so I brought a flashlight. We pull the front of her car out of the truck while she's drying her eyes and plop it in front of her car. I distinctly remember hearing her say, "I hate this damn car. I was just about to trade it!" About this time we grab the light and go to inspect Kevin's truck. He could have sworn from the severity of the impact that she not only caved in the passenger side of his truck, but that she also pushed the truck into the jersey wall on the driver's side. Not going to be a fun day.

Well, as it turns out, Kevin needs a new rear passenger side tire. Maybe a wheel. It's at least scratched, possibly bent. The rest of the battle tank survived miraculously (damn. I love Chevy.) without a scratch. Apparently the driver's side impact was the tire becoming close friends with the recently plowed, compacted, frozen snowbank on the side of the road (Kevin's Ice Removal Service... Ice and Noses done while you wait!). Now, Kevin has his own, traveling version of the snowbank firmly packed in his wheel. That's going to be fun to get out.

Tally:

• 1 - 31" Bridgestone Duravis truck tire... $162.50
• 1 - 16 x 7" GM work truck, 8 lug steelie... $cheap
• 1 - new thong for blonde firebird driver... $fun
• 1 - '99 Firebird V6 nose for a wall ornament... $priceless

Update: New Title - "How to Find a New Dentist and Have a Smashing Good Time!" or

"Trackbird's High Impact Dating Service!"

[trackbird]

Hey, it's a hardcore way to get her phone number (and follow her home), but I've finally had to resort to whatever works I guess. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) .

I saw her lose it and I gave the gas a squeeze to try and get by her. However, there is not much acceleration on ice/sleet/slush/snow (a few inches worth) and I knew that hitting the brakes meant I'd likely have her hit in front of me and I'd try to drive through her drivers door. That sounded very dangerous and I didn't want to go there, so speeding up seemed like the right idea. The impact was much harder than I expected and when the truck spun the other way and I felt it hit, I was sure the drivers side rear had tagged the concrete retaining wall. Once I got stopped and got out, I didn't see any damage, none. I actually walked up and looked 3 times. When I first stopped, I looked in the rear view mirror and realized the entire nose was smashed off of her car and figured I had serious damage as well. So, I was expecting the worst. When I walked back to the car, she was sitting inside and was visibly shaking. She rolled down the window and I asked if she was ok, she said she was, but all she could see was my truck and she knew it was going to be bad. Amazingly, it wasn't bad. Her car took pretty signifigant damage, but the hit saved her from going head first into the wall at 45+ mph and I was probably a softer hit than what she was headed for. So, all things considered, it was as good as an accident can be...if that's possible.

I'm just amazed that nobody was hurt, very little damage was done to my truck and nobody else got tangled up with us while we were trying to get off of the side of the road. I didn't like standing out there with cars sliding by, no thanks.

I felt so bad for her, it was her birthday today and she wound up in an accident. I guess it could have been worse, she could have been hurt. I think my thought to speed up is what saved us both from a much worse situation, though it meant I was probably doing 60+ when we made contact (and she was probably around half of that). I'm still amazed at the whole thing and the complete difference in damage. I need a tire and maybe a wheel (I drove home on it though, so it holds air and all that) and she is probably close to being totaled. It was a 99 V6 Firebird with 150,000 miles on it. I'm still shocked.