This afternoon I was driving slowly along a farm road trying to get a glimpse of my robot through the vegetation to see if I could tie into an existing control point.?ÿ I passed a possible spot, so put the truck in reverse and backed slowly, peering intently toward the gun.?ÿ Apparently someone snuck up behind me and planted a 12" concrete-filled pipe bollard behind my truck, which I found with my bumper.?ÿ As though the rude interruption of my work wasn't bad enough, the impact rendered my tailgate unopenable.?ÿ Unable to stow my equipment properly -- or even access my tennis shoes -- I loaded everything up as best I could and headed to the local body shop.?ÿ Some deft work with a sledghammer by someone who knows what he's doing had me back in business in short order, but I decided to have the bumper replaced anyway so I wouldn't constantly be reminded of my error.?ÿ A good used one is on order, and should be here in a day or two.?ÿ Parts and labor will be about $700.00.
After the incident:
?ÿ
After the expert massage:
It happens!
Look at it this way, the bumper DID ITS JOB perfectly. Just think what the bill would have been had it not been there.
P.S. watch were you're going next time ? ?ÿ(some of us old guys need a spotter)
Loyal
?ÿ(some of us old guys need a spotter)
Loyal
Umm..... just saying..... when we get to this point of needing a spotter, should we even be driving? ??ÿ
I had to replace the passenger side rearview mirror on my Tundra because a pine tree jumped out in front (behind?) it as I was backing my camper into a camping spot.?ÿ Trying to watch two mirrors and a spotter CAN be a distraction.?ÿ Now we have a small motorhome with a backup camera so I have even more to watch.
Andy
20 years ago I was backing out of a spot at the grocery store and side swiped a bollard in the wore out company suburban.?ÿ It made a really impressive dent in the rear drivers side door.?ÿ I was asked if it jumped out in front of me.
Some trees can grow from a seed to 15 inches in diameter in less than 10 minutes. ?ÿOh, yes they can! ?ÿBelieve me! ?ÿPlease!
We had a resourceful party chief who figured out how to avoid this type of thing by leaving?ÿthe?ÿhatch up for better visibility backing up.?ÿ As it turns out, guy wires?ÿcan be high?ÿenough not to show through the opening and yet low enough to tear off a hatch that is up.?ÿ
This afternoon I was driving slowly along a farm road trying to get a glimpse of my robot through the vegetation to see if I could tie into an existing control point.?ÿ I passed a possible spot, so put the truck in reverse and backed slowly, peering intently toward the gun.?ÿ
I'm guessing in the world of driving that Backing slowly in Calif is still slightly faster than the rest of the world, save, maybe Kuwait or the Kingdom. ?ÿ 😉 ?ÿ That's an unfortunate reminder of the SA lesson for the week I suppose. ?ÿ
I have a similar "kiss" on my previously virgin bumper from the same insipid species of invisible concrete filled bollards that I slowly backed into whilst navigating to an air pedestal at the grocery store gas station.?ÿ I was able to cover it up with a bumper sticker from the local market to obfuscate my lack of SA that day. ?ÿ
I'm reminded of an experience in my youth while working in Saudi that still causes me to grin, though the story could have ended very differently. It was late in the day and the sun was low as I was driving a Land Rover back to camp at high speed through the desert, in reverse. The featureless terrain was as flat as proverbial piss on a plate and there wasn't a thing in sight so I figured I would high tail it back, occasionally glancing over my shoulder to make sure there were no surprises and proceeded to floor it. I gone along like this for several miles, feeling very proud of myself for my unconventional approach and with a large grin plastered across my face, when I decided it was time for a new check on my chosen path, when out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, materialized a bedouin, and I was about to run him over. I remember his eyes being as big as dinner plates as I slammed on the brakes creating a cloud of dust that would block out the sun that completely enveloped this poor soul, stopping only 20' or so short of running him over. I have never, or likely will ever be, cursed out like that again. Thankfully my Arabic was too poor to understand the full extent of the curses he heaped upon me, but I caught his drift. I apologized profusely and made the rest of my return trip, driving forward and thanking my stars that I had turned in time to see him.?ÿ
I'm reminded of an experience in my youth while working in Saudi that still causes me to grin, though the story could have ended very differently. It was late in the day and the sun was low as I was driving a Land Rover back to camp at high speed through the desert, in reverse. The featureless terrain was as flat as proverbial piss on a plate and there wasn't a thing in sight so I figured I would high tail it back, occasionally glancing over my shoulder to make sure there were no surprises and proceeded to floor it. I gone along like this for several miles, feeling very proud of myself for my unconventional approach and with a large grin plastered across my face, when I decided it was time for a new check on my chosen path, when out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, materialized a bedouin, and I was about to run him over. I remember his eyes being as big as dinner plates. I slammed on the brakes creating a cloud of dust that would block out the sun that completely enveloped this poor soul, stopping only 20' or so short of running him over. I have never, or likely will ever be, cursed out like that again. Thankfully my Arabic was too poor to understand the full extent to the curses he heaped upon me, but I caught his drift. I apologized profusely and made the rest of my return trip, driving forward and thanking my stars that I had turned in time to see him.?ÿ
Its likely they would have never found your body.....fun story for sure. "Thank you, I apologize, God Willing, Straight, left, right, STOP,....etc" were all in my lexicon immediately, as was " Where is the bathroom?" when I arrived in Kuwait.?ÿ
Situational Awareness.?ÿ It's real.
"Park it with the back against the hedge and blame it on the other crew"
