karma (if you believe in that sort of thing (and i don't)) is a strange thing. on the walk to the bus yesterday from work it rained. hard. "torrential" might be a good word to describe it. i already had my gore-tex jacket, but i figured with the sideways rain i should beef it up with an umbrella. so, i borrowed one from a coworker's desk (thanks ryan!) on my way to the bus, i saw this poor woman, probably in her early 40s, and totally unprepared for the rain. soaking wet, hair a mess, etc. so, in a burst of inexplicable generosity, i gave her my (ryan's) umbrella. and then proceeded to get drenched on the walk to the bus. good deed for the day done, right?

so of course i'm in a car accident this morning.

i'm in my car, driving down a road that's 2 lanes each way. i'm tooling along in the right-hand lane, doing about 40. up ahead there was a small truck/van in the left lane, waiting to make a turn across traffic and down a side street, with about 3 or 4 cars backed up behind it. being a defensive driver, i'm watching that line of traffic for someone to make their move into my lane, but nobody does.

...until i'm just even with them.

this dope pulls over when i'm so close to her that it's not even like i'm going to rear-end her; i'm going to sideswipe her. everything is moving in super-slow motion, just like they say that it does. i make use of the only exit lane available to me; the sidewalk. swerve over, hit the curb hard, and start sliding down the grass and concrete, trying to manuver between a steel signpost on my left and a line of trees on my right (thank you, anti-lock brakes!). there's a loud *bang* and i figure i'm dead. no, wait. i'm still alive. and the airbag didn't even go off. whafuh?

i get out of my car (with all limbs attached in the correct position), and trot back to her car.

me: "you ok?" her: "yeah." me: "ok, why don't you pull up on the sidewalk in front of my car."

i walk back to my car and survey the damage. no damage to the body. none. both left tires were flat, and my sideview mirror's casing was cracked, and the mirror part of it had popped off and landed in my lap. the driver's side window had also been knocked off its track (presumably by the jolt of hitting the curb), but was in one piece. i went over and looked at her car; no damage. i hadn't even nudged her. some mighty fine driving on my part, if i do say so myself. i even had my wits about me enough to be laying on the horn the entire time i was swerving, braking, and cursing.

the woman was extremely apologetic, which was nice.

i wasn't nearly as shaken as i thought i would be, but it certainly woke me up. i did allow myself to think later on about what if someone had been on the sidewalk where i pulled off, but i'm pretty sure that since i had the sense to actually steer into the sidewalk and drive straight down it, it was probably because i had seen the exit lane and noted that it was clear. i'm just glad i didn't have to actually test that theory; seeing if i could make myself plow into the back of someone's car.

so, my car is at the dealership, and i hope to have it back very soon. we both have the same insurance company, which should speed things along mightily.