Why I Miss Bill Clinton (and other thoughts):

It's not every day that one can say, "I almost died" and mean it. Yesterday, on my way home from class, as I was driving down the cloverleaf from Snelling Ave to Hwy 36-West, the ball-bearing on my left front tire broke off. I managed to steer the car mostly off the ramp, but was still hanging slightly onto the ramp, which other cars continued to zoom around. After a tearful phone call to 911, a worker from MinDOT came to my rescue, with flashing lights and an arrow signaling to other drivers, "hey, go around this pitiful scene." I wish it also had a sign reading, "Gawk on penalty of death." Several minutes later, a state trooper joined the party. Finally, after about 30 minutes, a tow truck arrived to take my purple death-trap away.

The worker from MinDOT was very reassuring and helpful. She helped put things in perspective by letting me know that if I had been any further down the ramp or going any faster, I probably would have flipped the car in the middle of a lane of speeding traffic. I started thinking about that, and the fact that I had driven to and from Minnetonka earlier in the day, at freeway speeds, and realized that I had fared pretty well, all things considered. Still, it's more than a little unnerving to contemplate the "what ifs" in such a situation. Perhaps Someone thinks my continued presence on this earth is a good thing...