Marsden is Here

because I can put everything in one post.

Turned up to the SAGA board games briefly this afternoon (1 1/2 games of Settlers) before joining uaekiwi and friends for his birthday dinner at The Flying Burrito Brothers.

[burp]

Following which was a group trip to see "Dead Snow" at the Film Festival. There were sadistic Nazi Zombies, a lot of snow, splatter galore, moral lessons (the people who have inappropriate sex die first, always check your pockets, don't touch a zombie's jewels) and a serious overdose of shaky-cam.

~~~
Received a txt with an update on my brother, salient points are
- Waiting to have halo & vest fitted. To be worn for for 9-12 weeks.
- Has good use of arms and legs.
-'Jefferson fracture' of C1 & C2 vertebrae.
- Very lucky.
- May transfer[from Middlemore] in 48 hours

Blue baling twine, technically.

It didn't take long for me to determine that my gravel-driving skills are umpteen years rusty. So I was being careful! Not careful enough because I came out of a corner and either overcompensated or braked too hard or hit a piece of particularly slippery gravel ... anyway, found myself and the car sliding. After the 3rd failed attempt to get straightened up I opted to use my last vestiges of control to put the nose into the bank on the uphill side of the road rather than risk going over the edge on the downhill side.

Popped and cracked the bumper, sheared off the drivers-side parking light and a bit of plastic. The car was still drivable, although the interior of the wheel well had come loose and would rub a bit if turning left, so I slowly travelled the rest of the way way into my sister's. I was already out of cell phone range.

There my father (who knows more about such things than I) was able to pop the bumper back into shape a bit and securely tie the wheel well/mud flap back into place (piece of string #1).

I still wanted to be back in Christchurch, and so left a bit after 7 as planned and drove very carefully back out to the main road. Once there another problem revealed itself - at speed (70ish) the front of the underside, no longer held up by the bumper, would get dragged down by the wind and start rubbing on the road. I had however brought a spare piece of twine (piece of string #2) in case the existing one snapped and I was able to use this to tie the front up - essentially suspended from the bonnet-catch-bracket. I used a folded paper napkin from dinner to pad the bracket, because otherwise it looked like the metal corners would abrade through the string quite rapidly. This worked remarkably well.

So I drove from the Clarence Valley (north of Kaikoura) down that twisty coastal road and through the hills to Canterbury, in the dark, wit the possibility the the front of my car might fly apart at any time. I endeavoured to keep my speed no higher than 80kmph the entire way. On the plus side, if you have to do that trip at 80 then late at night with sod all traffic on the road is the time to do it. And it was great for fuel economy - 4.3L/100k for the trip.

Everything held together, rather surprisingly really, and I made it back about 11:45pm. I did stop in Kaikoura to purchase some stout cord and something to cut it with in case I had to redo the bindings.

Added such a trip to the list of things I never want to do again.

~~~
I wasn't hurt, at least not physically. I find myself unhappy with the whole affair on a level I can't quite identify. Possibly it's just residue from coming thisclose to plummeting to possible death, or maybe it's just another blow to my self confidence.

Today/tomorrow will be dealing with the insurance. I really hope my car can be repaired by the 28th, or driving to Dunedin is going to be ... a little bit tricky.