29 years and counting

Phew! I've been around for 29 years now. 29 years, imagine that. God's been so good to me. As some of you might know, I almost did not make it to 29. For the first time in my 12 years of driving, I crashed my car. Fortunately no one was injured. In fact no other car was damaged. It was just me versus a concrete block.

It all started when I decided to head to a mall after work. Usually I do my shopping in the daytime and keep driving at night to a minimal. I should've stuck to my resolution. While trying to get onto the main road from a service road, I drove onto the filter lane and glanced over to check that there was no traffic. The next thing I knew, there in the middle of the filter lane was a concrete block the size of a washing machine! The road was dimly lit. There were no warning lights. The concrete block wasn't even brightly colored. By the time the honda's pissy headlights illuminated the concrete block it was too late. I had like an 18 word long expletive in my mind but as I slammed the brakes, I could only yell out "Wha.....". This was followed by a loud crash and the sickening crunching sound of car getting smashed up.

The impact felt like all my organs were pushing against my skin, almost bursting out. I also instinctively braced myself for the airbag to deploy but of course, my car did not have any airbags. Just as well I guess. The seat belts worked and left a nice deep bruise and abrasion on my shoulder and chest. The car stopped. I could taste blood in my mouth. Somehow, I managed to bite on my lower lip so hard it bled.

I was alive.

I got out of the car to inspect the damage. The bumper was cracked and twisted. The radiator was smashed up and there was radiator fluid all over the ground. The bonnet was bent and my fenders were pushed against the tyres. WHAT A STUPID PLACE TO PUT A CONCRETE BLOCK! I can't help but think that if I did not hit the brakes, and drove against the block (which did not move and inch) at full speed, I wouldn't be here typing now.

So here I am, car's in the workshop for at least the next 10 days I'm told. Not a good situation to be in but thank God I'm ok. 29 years old and still going strong.