Thank You, Airbag.
Yesterday afternoon I kissed my sweet husband goodbye for the evening. He was going with his band to play at a wedding at a golf course near Park City. The bridal party had reserved hotel rooms for the band members so they wouldn’t have to drive down the canyon after the reception, which was scheduled to go late.
The band drove in two cars – Steve with the guitar player Ben in Ben’s truck, and the other two band members in another vehicle. They all arrived at the Glenwild Golf Club around 3:30 to set up their gear and get sound-checked. By 4:00 they were finished, and went to chill in their hotel rooms and wait for the reception to start, when they’d head back up and play their set. Steve called me around 6:30 to say hello. He was just hanging out in the hotel watching TV, and the other band members were taking naps. Wild bunch, those guys. 
Around 7:30 they all hopped back into their vehicles to drive back up the long winding road to the golf club. Ben and Steve chatted lightly while driving up, just enjoying their time. When the road curved West, the sun was just setting. The sun was hanging just at the crest of the horizon – right in the perfect spot to blind any driver traveling west on that uphill road.
Ben had slowed to around 15-20 miles per hour, due to being so blinded by the sun. He squinted and could easily see the double yellow lines on the road about 20 feet ahead. He just couldn’t see them directly in front of the truck. So he kept his eyes on the yellow lines, and slowly traveled up the road, waiting for the next bend so he could see again.
Suddenly, they hit something. Steve had been watching the road too, and had no idea what they had hit. Neither of them had seen anything. Not a single thing. But suddenly, Steve felt his body fly forward, being stopped only by the force of his seat belt and a massive airbag smacking his face, and the entire front of his body.
By the time Steve realized that they’d been in an accident, the airbag was already deflating. The nose of the truck was about 8 feet in the air, the back tires still on the ground. His head was a high-pitched loud ringing, and he could hear the constant sound of a horn going off, stuck in the honking position. Steve sat, stunned, taking an assessment of the situation. Am I hurt? Can I feel my toes? Can I move my neck? What the hell just happened?!
Ben reacted differently. After about 5 seconds of being stunned and frozen, he opened his door and rolled out – falling a good 5-8 feet to the ground, landing on his knees. Then he saw some sort of fluid dripping out of the truck, and smoke. He immediately ran to the other side of the truck, and tried to open Steve’s passenger door.
The door wouldn’t open. It was stuck. It must have been adrenaline, but he pried the door open, and yelled to Steve. “Get out! Get out now!” Steve finally unfroze and ripped off his seat belt and jumped out of the car. As soon as he, too, saw the liquid draining from the truck, and all the smoke, he too ran to get far away from a truck that could be about to explode.
Thankfully, no fire or explosion happened. Turns out the fluid was some sort of fluid associated with the airbags deploying. But they still stood, aghast in what had happened. They had plowed directly into a giant stone pillar in the middle of the damn road.
It’s hard to tell from the photo how large these pillars are. They’re a good 10 feet tall, and Ben’s truck had driven right into and ONTO the one inconveniently placed there in the center of the road. Blinded by the sun, neither of them had seen it. AT ALL.
And once they looked around, it was obvious why. This was private property, owned by the HOA of Glenwild Country Club. They had taken the yellow line below the pillar, and jutted it out to the right. Then the yellow line abruptly stops, and begins again 10 feet to the left. If you’re driving up that road, and can only see the line about 20 feet in front of you, it’s guiding you directly into this stone pillar.
As you can see more clearly in this photo… the sun would absolutely BLIND anyone on this stretch of road when the sun is setting. And when that happens, you can’t see directly in front of you… you can squint and see about 20 feet ahead. Look at that yellow line down the road. If you follow that, you’ll drive right into this ridiculous obstruction. The yellow line just breaks – and jumps to the left. It’s a total hazard. It is absolutely infuriating.
Thankfully, Steve and Ben escaped with only minor injuries. They are 100% sure that the airbag saved both of their lives. The airbag, from the impact of Steve’s body, had broken the windshield in front of him. Without the airbag, he’d have gone sailing right through, or at the very least gotten a horrible head injury or worse.
The police came, and had an ambulance on the way, but canceled it once they checked the two of them out and found them to be okay. Steve got hurt the worst. His knees are both badly bruised and scraped up. His elbows are both badly bruised. His right forearm has a bad abrasion – almost like a rug burn from an airbag. His chin is scratched. But the worst is his left hand. It took the brunt of his impact, and he has a huge swollen bump on the back of his hand. It’s all bruised up, and he has a big cut that was bleeding a lot right after the crash. His left wrist is all cut up and swollen, too. His whole body aches. Every joint. His neck, his back, everything aches.
The police officers on the scene were really great. The band didn’t want to ruin the wedding reception, and were determined to make it up there and play, despite the grim circumstances. After about 15 minutes, they were finished with the police, and the truck was being towed away. The band all piled into the other vehicle, and drove up the rest of the way to the reception.
When they walked in, everyone cheered. They must have all been running on pure adrenaline – because they hopped on stage and played until about 2:00 in the morning. The wedding party had an amazing time, and the band put on a great show. Steve played the whole set with an injured hand, but said he didn’t care. After such a close call, he just stood on stage feeling blessed. Music sounded better. Life felt better. He had a true appreciation for the close call they’d just had. He is sure that the airbag saved his life.
Needless to say, the bridal party tipped the band very well at the end of the night.
Steve woke up this morning and his hand was swollen and blue – and he couldn’t move it. They elevated it and he took a bunch of Ibuprofin and pretty quickly the swelling went down and he’s able to move it – but it hurts.
I couldn’t WAIT to get him home and into my arms. Car accidents are so so so scary. I can’t even fathom losing him. I slept all night just having nightmares about having to sleep alone in my bed without him forever. It made me want to vomit. Now he’s home, upstairs sleeping off his aches and pains. I’m so thankful for that airbag. Without it, not only would his life have maybe been over last night, but mine would have been over too.
Early Birthday Gift
Last year Steve surprised me and got me the ultimate birthday gift, my DSLR camera. It still is, and will forever will be, the best birthday gift I’ll ever receive. It was way more than I deserved, for sure! I told Steve he was pretty much off the hook for gifts for a long time… no need to splurge ever again!
Little did I know that his gift last year was the beginning of a strange sort of addiction. I am now a photography gearhead. It starts with the DSLR camera. Then, you begin to learn about all the different lenses and flashes and the different things you can do with them. Then you realize lenses are just as expensive as the camera, if not more.
Over the past year I’ve saved up and invested in a few key lenses to add to my collection. It’s all about fast aperture… lenses with an aperture of 2.8 or less. But fast lenses don’t come cheap! I purchased a nice prime 35mm 1.8 lens. Then, a few months ago I splurged on a 70-200 2.8 lens, which will be ideal for portrait sessions and weddings. The lens that came with my DSLR was the 18-55mm 3.5-5 lens, which is a great lens for a “kit” lens, but the slower aperture just wasn’t cutting it. I’ve been wanting a fast 2.8 lens to cover the 18-50 focal range for a while. I feel like it will complete my lens repertoire for the most part. (Famous last words, I know.)
Nikon’s lenses in this range are over $2400. That is an obscene amount of money, and I can’t imagine justifying spending that kind of cash on anything other than purchasing a car, lasik eye surgery, or emergency vet bills. It just ain’t gonna happen. Probably ever.
Luckily, Sigma makes this same lens for much much much less. Thousands less, actually. You have to be careful with third-party lenses, though. So I read review after review after review of their newer 18-50 2.8 HSM Macro Lens, and all of them rated it at the very top of the class. “A must have for every serious photographer” was the general consensus. So I’ve been saving my pennies.
When Steve asked me a couple weeks ago what I wanted for my birthday this year, I jokingly said I wanted this lens. There wasn’t a shred of seriousness in the comment. I hardly expected a gift like this, especially after last year’s splurge. “Well, how about we go halfsies on it,” he proposed. I definitely didn’t expect this, since even half was still a splurge as far as birthday gifts go. But he was serious, and pretty much insisted. Wooo!
I checked the local camera shops, who had the lens on backorder. Then I checked Adorama & Amazon, who also had it on backorder. Finally, I found B&H Photo who still had a few in stock. This is a popular lens! I had to act quick if I didn’t want to wait for it for 4-6 weeks. Even though my birthday is still two weeks away, I ordered the lens immediately.
Today, it came.
Isn’t she pretty? Okay okay, only other photo gearheads will think so. It’s sturdy in your hand, heavy but not too heavy, nice and solid.
I tore the box open and snapped it onto my camera. Then Steve and I headed to the nearest park for it’s maiden voyage.
Steve insisted on actually EATING on our lunch break, even though I just wanted to take photos for an entire hour, so I only got a few photos. But the few I got make me very excited for the fun things I’m going to be able to do with this baby! I’m thinking it’ll live on my camera 90% of the time.
It has fabulous Macro abilities. I was able to capture this without even getting as close as this lens will allow, and while the wind was blowing:
It also can do wide angle, with a nice shallow depth of field. I had Steve brush the bagel crumbs off his mouth to test this nice feature:
I have a couple portrait sessions and a few wedding shoots coming up… and I absolutely can’t wait to use this lens in action. Not to mention, it’s finally SPRING and SUMMER and it’s time again to take some great Landscape photography. With it’s wide-angle capabilities (and my new polarizing filter) this lens is also perfect for Landscapes.
Thanks, Steve for this great gift! You outdid yourself. Again!
Encountered: Spaceship? Art Installation?
As we were driving home from work today we hit a patch of traffic on I-15. We were creeping along at about 10 – 15 miles per hour, which was faster than those in the lane next to us.
We passed a big obtrusive semi truck which was in the lane to the left of us, and once the Semi was no longer obstructing our view, we found ourselves in a the lane right next to this:
My jaw dropped. What in the world?! Spaceship? Art piece? Pile of junk? It was covered in solar panels, being towed by truck also covered in solar panels. The center of the “ship” had an area that looks like it was made for a person to be inside. It was covered in little metal trinket-type things. I think I see a colander in there, a pink flower… a pinwheel? There appears to be an oven mitt sticking out of a slot in on the left side. A green sticker with what looks like an alien head graphic is tuck to it. And best of all? There is a red flasher light stuck to it.
The truck had California plates. It was travelling South. Where was it going? Desert Rocks Music Fest? It’s too early for Burning Man, right?
All I know, is I want to see this baby running.
[UPDATE! Found it! One observant Flickr follower knew exactly what this baby is. It was a feature at the recent Live Green SLC Festival at Library Square. It's a solar and wind powered DJ booth built entirely from found and reclaimed materials! Looky here! And see the Solar Saucer website here!]
