With a Rebel Yell

In a break from your regularly scheduled programming, I bring you an interesting observation.  Well, to be more accurate, an interesting observation from this very evening.  I know, I know, this is unprecedented to be posting on an event so close to the time it was observed.  The danger is you might get used to such velocity and become agitated and bitter when I get back to my current string of being what, like a year behind (ugh).  I promise I’ll work harder to get caught up.  Now that my main day’s task is out of the way (that being removing all Pearl Jam music from all my devices … I never forget), I can get back to the current scene I came across on my way home tonight

Quite unexpected.  This was taken near my house.  The bridge you see in the background has been out for like a year.  According to the county engineers, they bridge pillars were built on top of shale which not surprisingly is giving way.  Because of flooding over the years, the bridge has been closed.  They even put a sign on the bridge that says “Bridge Closed”.  That would be the sign that was hung from one of the two barricades that were placed in front of the bridge.  Oh, almost forgot, they also placed piles of rock in front of the bridge to insure no one actually tried to go around said barrier.  To round the thoroughness of the roadwork crew, there was another barricade with a warning that the bridge was out placed about 3 miles back as you turned onto this particular road.

Guessing you noticed something that looks out of place.  Just to set the scene, it had been snowing at the time and Linda mentioned it was blowing hard an hour or so earlier when she came through the same area – at that time there was nothing odd about the scene.  I could not imagine what an impact that must have been.  There were no skid marks in the snow and could only guess they hit it at full speed.  I went ahead and turned right (another road T’d into this road right before the bridge).  Concerned, I decided to see if help was needed.

Admittedly, I was apprehensive of what I might find.  The lights were off and there wasn’t any smoke coming from the exhaust so figured it had been a little while (but less than two hours per Linda’s passing) but that could be good news or bad news.  After peering into the windows confirmed it was good news – empty.  Then thoughts went to whether someone was possibly dazed and wandering around in the cold.  It was hard to tell if there were tracks away from the car – the wind had blown the light snow all over the place likely covering any light tracks.   I couldn’t tell if there were marks from opening the driver door which surprised me since that pile was probably 4 feet high – you can tell that from the fact the belly of the car was sitting on top of the gravel.  Another lady in a truck came by with equal concern and we decided it would be prudent to call the county Sheriff’s dept and let them know in case someone was in need of help.  This I did when I got home – they were not aware of any accident and were going to send someone out.

Just thought I’d share this intriguing scene.  On a pathetic note, the reason given as to why this bridge has been out so long and will not be fixed until sometime later in the year is “People are driving too efficient of vehicles and therefore the county is not getting enough money from the gas tax”.  Unbelievable!!!!  This current administration is pushing alternative energy (that would be the companies that keep going bankrupt) and as a result our infrastructure suffers.  Keep in mind this means our fire department and our county Sheriff’s dept require additional time to get to our house as they have to go well out of their way to make the detour.  My opinion on this matter will be actioned at the next voting opportunity.

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5 comments on “With a Rebel Yell

  1. Ron

    Wow, probably a good thing they put the 4 foot high gravel there–the car almost busted through as it was. The reason this was not reported was probably, IMO, because the driver was DUI. Wait, are there any plates on that car??

    Ron

  2. admin

    There were plates on the car. When I took the rear picture I purposely wanted the license plate so I could give it to the Sheriff’s office if they asked for it. Figured it was enough humiliation at that point and opted to shop out the actual license plate number before I posted it on the blog. I’ve kept my eye out while driving to see if I come across it, but like I said, this is probably someone not from around here since it such a pain you would likely even be aware if you were drunk!

  3. admin

    Oh, almost forgot AGAIN, my title was in reference to the General Lee. The first thing that came to mind was seeing the Dukes do one of their patented bridge out jumps .. you know, the ones where their car could defy physics and take off at a completely different angle (higher) than that of the hill up to the bridge.

  4. Ron

    I hadn’t noticed that angle difference when the General Lee took off. All I know is that if a car takes off from somewhere it will immediately nose-dive because of the weight of the engine in the front, and they have to put big weights in the trunk to get a car to arc at all.

    Ron

  5. admin

    You need to check out those old Duke’s of Hazard shows (there was actually a marathon on TV the last time we were in Iowa). When they are forced to make a car jump (and they are EVERY SINGLE EPISODE) you will notice the front of the car actually shoot upward contrary to what a normal person would assume – now Daisy.. there is another example of defying gravity hehehehe

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