North, Truly

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A Mysterious Tale

Sunday, March 9, 2008 10:20:22 PM



late last night.

i'm in the kitchen finishing up a few things before bed. as i'm leaning forward to close the window i hear:

CLUNK< CLUNK>CLUNK...as of metal laboring, then scraping very loudly, then, CRASH..the sound of glass breaking....

me: shoot! that's a car accident.

i live just below a bend on a mountain pass, which is basically about 5 metres from my driveway. as i'm looking out of the dining room window to see if i can see anything i hear what sounds like a hubcap spinning and then quiet.

(please don't ask me to reveal just why i know what spinning hubcaps sound like, just trust that i am familiar with the sound)

grab the phone and into the car. as i pull out of the driveway i hear the sound of a car pull over and the sound of two men talking. it's a few minutes later and i see a flatbed trailer parked on the side of the road. making sure i'm safe, i ask the guy if he's ok. there are no marks on the truck, nothing is broken and he looks fine.

"yes" he replies, "i'm fine" and starts the truck and quickly pulls away.

*so what was all that noise?*

i have a quick look around and find a car in the ditch, a few metres from where the truck was parked. it's tires are deep in the mud and there is not a scratch on the car anywhere! mirrors are intact, hubcabs fine, nothing damaged. no broken windows. the car is locked up tight.

intriguing. off to the police station to make a report, because this is just too weird. i mean, i HEARD IT!

anyway, they took it from there..pulled the car out and took a statement.

so, what happened on the bend outside my house last night? any ideas from the Opera detectives?

First Do No Harm. Then Do Some Good!I Love My Mother!

Comments

Rippripp2002 Sunday, March 9, 2008 10:52:58 PM

Are you going to send pictures?

I would think the guy who went into the ditch had too much to drink a second car and the flatbed was a third vehicle involved. The first guy needed a ride and the second car took him. That way he didnt get in trouble with the popo's whistle the hub cap since you didnt see it was probably put back on the guys car so he didnt loose it.

devil

Martin Ouellettemartinouellette Monday, March 10, 2008 1:50:47 AM

wow... I'm SO curious now. smile
(how much is a plane ticket Ottawa - Cape Town?)

Jamesunlisted Monday, March 10, 2008 3:58:25 AM

Yeah, I'm with LC on this: the car in the ditch wasn't the one damaged in the accident. There might have been a third vehicle, or the truck was actually damaged. You probably only saw one side of the truck, right? Maybe it hit something else, and the car was just trying to dodge the truck.

Also, did you have a look around to see if there was any debris elsewhere? The car in the ditch was fine, so the hubcaps and glass had to come from something else. If the truck lost a hubcap, it wouldn't have been hard to put it back on. They could have done that before you got out there. Some glass, though, should still be around. Have you had another look?

Here's another thought: call the police in a couple days to see if they've figured it out.

Rippripp2002 Monday, March 10, 2008 4:08:41 AM

Ok, there shouldnt be a hub cap for the flatbed, you are talking larger flatbed right? Or is that the term for a regular truck over there.

A couple questions:

How much time went by between the time you heard the noise until you spoke with the guy in the flatbed?

Which direction was the flatbed going on the road?
Which direction was the car in the ditch facing?
Was there anyone else in the flatbed cab?
Was the flatbed loaded with anything?
Did you see any glass or just heard the sound of breaking glass?
Did you assume the vehicle in the ditch had no damage or did you walk around the vehicle on all sides and look?
What were you wearing when you went out there?
Did you have you hair in a ponytail?

devil

Jamesunlisted Monday, March 10, 2008 4:57:48 AM

Yo, LC, think about it: anybody can simulate the sounds of a car crash with a CB radio, a lighter, and two squirrels. The bad guys do it on Scooby-Doo ALL the time!

Does the word "duh" mean anything to you?

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 5:18:57 AM

i'm a scarily observant person. it would be hard to rival my ability to notice things! even small details. VERY small details.

there was no glass on the road or anywhere else, or any other debris. i have a very powerful torch and a headlamp, so i could see fairly well..for the middle of the night. about 7 minutes passed between when i heard the noise and reached the truck. it's a flatbed trailer..the kind that transport cars..this was a single car trailer..

the flatbed and truck were facing the same direction, both towards the bottom of the bend. there was only one guy in the trailer, but i didn't get too close, because i'm not stupid. i AM standing on a mountain pass at 12 a.m.!

i know what breaking glass sounds like. i examined that car about as well as i was prepared to do, at 12 a.m. i was wearing pyjamas and an attitude. as usual.

sure, i'll phone and ask, but i'm not THAT fussed about it..just curious.

bigsmile

Darkogdare Monday, March 10, 2008 5:42:53 AM

This is something to do with secret service left bigeyes You better try not to be too nosy.....
bigsmile

Adele BrandSittingFox Monday, March 10, 2008 10:05:49 AM

sherlock How mysterious! The car in the ditch - I wonder, they weren't trying to dump a stolen car? Perhaps one that had been involved in some crime or other...we sometimes get dumped cars in the quiet lanes around here. Teenagers joy-ride them and then sometimes set fire to them bigeyes

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 10:14:36 AM

darko> lol they could tell me but then they'd have to kill me?

adele> that was one of my theories. up and could explain why there was no damage to the car. i also thought that trailer guy for some reason braked sharply as he came round the bend and somehow the car came off, but it shouldn't had it been secured properly and it would have surely rolled and not been in such pristine condition!?

the second car i heard definitely came up behind the truck, not from the opposite side of the road..so i think he was also just asking if he could help. possibly HE saw it all.

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 10:23:42 AM

possibly it's as simple as drunk guy going off into the ditch and the second guy giving him a lift..while trailer guy got his bearings after coming up behind this little wobbly.

maybe the sounds i heard were just the trailer breaking sharply on the bend as he came up behind drunk guy doing the big stupid. i definitely heard glass though and metal.... i do hear cars and big trucks on that bend all the time..and this was definitely out of the ordinary...

i fully expected to find somebody hurt or at least damage to the car.. or i wouldn't have been there in the first place. but sound is amplified too on that little dip...so maybe it sounded worse than it was..hmm. i don't think so..

LC your theory is possible too.

Mad Scientistqlue Monday, March 10, 2008 10:27:22 AM

It is possible that the car had driven into the ditch at a earlier time. The 'flatbed' sounds like a recovery vehicle. What you heard may have been a failed attempt to remove the vehicle from the ditch. Chains can sound a lot like glass breaking at 00h00 and the hubcap could be any similar round disk like object that was dropped and presumeably picked up and placed on the passenger seat of the recovery vehicle. sherlock.

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 11:26:30 AM

could be i guess, but if you've ever heard glass breaking you'd know it doesn't actually sound like anything else. glass and metal make two very different sounds. who can mistake the sound of breaking glass?

a hubcap makes a very distinct sound due to it's very unique shape -once you've heard it you are unlikely to mistake it for anything else. unless an ashtray was rolling down the road.

guy has a smoke and a drink on the side of the road, smashes his whiskey bottle on the tar and rolls his ashtray down the hill. lol i wouldn't have admitted to that either.

lol

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 11:30:47 AM

flatbed trailer, in case anyone is confused by the terminology:

http://www.publiquip.com/photo/Alutrec-Trailer-lm.jpg -

Rippripp2002 Monday, March 10, 2008 11:00:20 PM

So semi truck flatbed, that is larger then what I had pictured in my mind. There was one car on that style flatbed?


what kind of car was in the ditch, nice, expensive, or shit old???

devil

You never told me about your ponytail either whistle

devil

MichelleCapegirl Monday, March 10, 2008 11:18:16 PM

yes this style, but single. nice car. not super-nice, but nice.

i was wearing a braid. devil and no i'm not too old for braids. and a headlamp. maybe i scared him!? ha ha p

Rippripp2002 Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:40:43 AM

Like actually a headlamp on your head. Now that is too funny. I need to see some pics of that. How about you take one in the mirror lol not in the dark either irked

Mining Michelle


devil

MichelleCapegirl Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:52:06 AM

yep. they're made by petzl and most conservationists have one...they're used when fighting fires at night, or various other activities happening at night..like frog hunting! yeah people sometimes laugh...then they follow you because you're the only one who can see, then they buy one HAHA! lol they light up to 45 m. here's a pic of one:

http://www.bentgear.com/images/PZL0009.jpg -

Rippripp2002 Tuesday, March 11, 2008 3:21:07 PM

I bet you are the picture of hottieness lol

I have one but am sure I dont look nearly as hot as you whistle

devil

Darkogdare Tuesday, March 11, 2008 6:28:11 PM

It is probably too hot in SA now whistle

Jamesunlisted Tuesday, March 11, 2008 6:34:09 PM

45 meters! That's damned impressive. How long does it last with a fresh set of batteries?

My headlamp is lower-powered than that one. It's still great for hiking AND reading!

I'm no closer to figuring out this did-a-car-crash-or-not conundrum. Like some others, methinks the car was in the ditch before the truck and trailer showed up. Those guys were just trying to retrieve the car and it didn't work.

Or worse, the car died, they drove up to haul it away, and it slid into the ditch.

Maybe?

Rippripp2002 Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:29:31 PM

doh what if the car ran away because the owner was abusive and didnt change its oil; but then when it was running up the hill its poor little heart couldnt take it and it died a lonely death in the ditch whistle


devil

MichelleCapegirl Thursday, March 13, 2008 2:31:57 PM

LOL, LC i'm sure neither of us look good in it! lol i'm pretty sure it was tragic like that..the car debacle..a motorised tragedy if ever there was one.

Darks...!!! lol

James..it lasts about 2 weeks-used approx 4/6 hours per night..i really don't know what happened, but it was most strange. something more than that happened, my ears say. the guy that stopped, just before i got there sounded concerned...

Deke Friday, March 14, 2008 1:35:27 AM

Definitely time to call the police and ask them if they've cracked the case...

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 14, 2008 1:37:11 AM

I dont know, if it is dark out and I am facing the person (with the light on); they might think I am a hottie whistle

devil

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 14, 2008 8:18:57 AM

Deke, ever phoned a South African police station!? left right
lol

LOL@LC!!! this is one case then where bright light is an aid rather than a hindrance!?

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 14, 2008 6:28:22 PM

lol of course, that might be the only way I can get a date whistle I usually take the woman for take out and eat in from of the truck using the headlights for romantic lighting.

devil

Darkogdare Friday, March 14, 2008 6:31:07 PM

and combustion gasses instead of flowers devil
lol

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 14, 2008 6:35:33 PM

bigeyes depending on dinner it could be just gas whistle

devil

Darkogdare Friday, March 14, 2008 6:37:30 PM

lol

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 14, 2008 7:27:29 PM

i'm a really cheap date then. i have my own headlamp.

lol

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 14, 2008 8:30:42 PM

yes, but I your headlamp would cancel out mine and you would run
whistle

devil

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 14, 2008 8:34:02 PM

maybe we'll be blinded and there'd be hope for both of us. devil

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 14, 2008 8:35:51 PM

blinded by the light, back it the olden days that was a great song lol

I dont think would be that lucky whistle

devil

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 14, 2008 9:25:47 PM

it WAS! a great song...i'm not lucky all that much..or maybe i am.it's hard to tell.

Deke Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:04:29 PM

Hey, you're alive aren't you?

How much luckier can you get? smile

MichelleCapegirl Wednesday, March 19, 2008 1:01:18 PM

i didn't say i didn't feel lucky did i? just that i wasn't generally lucky in the winning the grand prize fashion! i feel lucky all the time!

Deke Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:49:47 PM

I feel lucky in the 'Winning the same prize 3 times' stakes. I have now won 3 DAB radios, and I can only receive 17 DAB channels here. What's more over half those 17 are just relays of existing AM/FM stations and one of the remaining channels just plays birdsong, all day and all night...

MichelleCapegirl Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:26:15 PM

is it at least a nice bird? ha ha! maybe we're all luckier than we know..perhaps we walked through that door seconds before a hammer fell from a scaffold..or picked the sauce that didn't contain the botulism or...got the doctor who'd had some sleep before that surgery.. lol up that's what i meant by it's hard to tell.. smile

Jamesunlisted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:59:46 PM

A few years ago, an American radio station was getting repairs done during the evening shift. Every night from about 10:00 PM until the morning shift, they just broadcast ambient noise from the docks nearby: birds, boats, waves, wind, what have you.

That went on for a few weeks, until repairs were done. They started broadcasting music again, and the listeners were livid; they wanted the dockside sounds back on air again. The radio station relented and its audience increased.

Weird, huh?

MichelleCapegirl Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:12:35 PM

i'd be down with that up sounds great. cute story!

Dillon RobertsDillonRoberts Friday, March 21, 2008 4:23:57 AM

Hey, I finally browsed the comments and I have the EXACT same headlamp!
You've got damn good taste woman... The best part is the swivel.

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 21, 2008 10:57:45 AM

it is a nice one isn't it? we need to get you a red light, then together with the wheelchair you'll have your own ambulance. lol

Rippripp2002 Friday, March 21, 2008 2:47:27 PM

bigeyes

Dillon RobertsDillonRoberts Friday, March 21, 2008 3:30:29 PM

Damn.. I knew I should've pulled this from the Katrina wreckage when I had the chance.
http://files.myopera.com/NOLA_1977/files/Katrina%20Ambulance.jpg -
I could've charged exorbitant fees to folks this whole time with this in tow behind my antique wheelchair and flashing red petzl!

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 21, 2008 3:30:43 PM

visit D's Blog LC! This must be another one of my non-jokes! lol ha ha!

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 21, 2008 3:34:21 PM

ha ha Dillon! OH MY HECK!

Dillon RobertsDillonRoberts Friday, March 21, 2008 4:03:39 PM

"OH MY HECK!"

Have you been watching Partridge Family reruns again?

Naw, this modified shopping cart/chair was in the median of a trashed highway when I got back after the hurricane. It was really surreal. It's hard to believe someone actually went through the trouble to paint it up like an ambulance in the days of limbo following the flood. I can't imagine not having any real food or water for that long. (The victims did have an ample supply of dry snacks and liquor from the local convenience stores though, so having nothing but sugar, salt, and booze for 3 weeks could've easily led to the artistry known as the "9th Ward Ambulance".

MichelleCapegirl Friday, March 21, 2008 4:40:53 PM

LOL! yes. did somebody actually use it, perhaps? for carting all that anti- and pro-dehydration around? maybe they did. it's hard to believe any of that happened..when i see that footage on tv, it blows my mind to smithers every time, really. what is it feeling like over there, now?

Dillon RobertsDillonRoberts Friday, March 21, 2008 5:12:14 PM

Those that work and can afford to rebuild are and those that can't are homeless. There are only so many hand-outs to go around. There's a huge fuss about racism and inequality down here as far as financial aid goes, but New Orleans is a has always been a bastion of learned helplessness.

These folks (which just happen to be 98% black) lost everything and rather than pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and getting a job have been playing the race card for almost three years. I'm not racist. These are the facts. I lost everything as well but I'm not bitching about it. I've got bigger things to bitch about, like my ankle.... I started a business and now it's taking off like thousands of other small businesses in the city.

Two days ago, 2000 people waited in line for 572 Section 8 vouchers and were upset when they ran out.

The fact of the matter is that it's tough walking the streets here watching the eyes of those that are watching you. They automatically think I've had everything handed to me which couldn't be further from the truth. I've been on my own since I was sixteen and I wish a larger part of the population here would stop acting like children and get off the government tit.

Whew! Sorry about that. I had to get that off my chest. So, um, that's what's going on in New Orleans...

Mad Scientistqlue Friday, March 21, 2008 6:00:44 PM

Sounds like South Africa. whistle

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