One Last Dance and an Alert GoPro

I was thinking that because of our lingering winter it would likely be April before I'd be able to get up on the roof and take down our Christmas lights. One more day and it would've been! I'm glad to say that the job is nearly done thanks to some very welcomed mild temps earlier in the week. We've still got some lights buried under snow which needs to melt before I can get to them.  70º on Wednesday should make a good dent in whatever snow remains. This was the view Thursday morning after 7" of snow fell overnight. I got the snowblower out for (hopefully) one last workout before putting it away until next winter.

Rachel starts a new job in May working as a medical scribe at the People's Center in Minneapolis. From this link: "A medical scribe's primary duties are to follow a physician through his or her workday and chart patient encounters in real-time using a medical office's Electronic Health Record and existing templates."  It should be a nice addition to her resumé when she begins applying to PA schools in another year. It pays fairly well, too. We're really happy for her that she got this position. It's going to give her such a good experience, shadowing a doctor throughout the day and watching firsthand the doctor/patient interaction.

She's finishing up her last ballroom dance competition as I write this. She and her group are down in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the weekend. I got a text earlier today saying she and her partners are doing well: "Iowa dancesport classic, I placed 1st with Tim in bronze and silver level Latin. His first time doing the style against maybe 24 other couples. I got 2nd and 3rd in rhythm cha cha and swing with jimmy and made finals with the rest of my partners."

It's a little nostalgic for her considering it's the end of the line for her college ballroom experience; she's gotten a little teary-eyed at times she said. I do hope she finds a way to continue dancing. Maybe it'll take a few years before her life settles down enough for that to happen but I'm confident she'll find a way to keep alive this important part of who she is. I sure hope so!

I had an interesting ride on Friday afternoon. I took my Mukluk out into a stiff northwest wind toward Prior Lake, not sure how clear our roads would be after 7" of snow the night before. The roads were fine and I could've easily been on one of my road bikes but I didn't mind the extra weight of my fat-tire bike. I was waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Highway 13 and County Rd 42 with my head down checking my phone for messages when I heard a horn honk followed by the distinct sound of metal smashing into metal. I looked up just in time to see one of the vehicles involved rolling slowly to a stop. Sure enough, my GoPro was pointed right at the collision and I was sure it caught the entire incident (video embedded below).

I waited to be sure the intersection was clear before proceeding across and setting my bike aside before checking to see that both drivers were okay. They appeared to be fine although I'm sure they were both pretty rattled. I told them each that I didn't actually see the crash but that I was pretty sure my GoPro did. I gave them my email address so they could contact me later once I'd processed and uploaded the video. I planned to provide them both with a link. The driver of the truck never emailed me.

I was a little disappointed to see that nobody else was getting out of their vehicles to rush to the two people involved in the crash to check on their condition. No doubt calls were made to 911 but still, I would've expected a little more help from the people at the scene. The driver in the Hummer directly behind the Mazda that was hit didn't actually drive off as it appears from the video. She went to park her vehicle then came back to tell the police what she saw.

Two officers arrived on the scene in probably less than 5 minutes but it seemed to take much longer. One of the officers took my name and phone number. He would eventually call me a few times in the two days since getting information on the crash and the video. He said that in his 27 years of working as a cop he's never had something like the video I took to work with. I told him that I pretty much leave my camera roll all the time now when I'm out on the road. It may do nothing to save me but I figure it can't hurt.

The driver of the truck was at fault having blown through a red light. The woman who was hit was turning left on a green arrow. Both of them were adamant that they weren't to blame. I think the video shows it's pretty clear that one of them was mistaken.