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THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

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  • #31
    Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

    1. Dirt bike riding at the Canadian River by myself (not very smart). Did a huge tank slapper in some giant sand whoops, crashed and was out. Don't know how long, but it sure drove home the fact that I should never ride by myself.

    2. Street riding 101 - Me on a 1993 DR650S I owned (a very cool bike by the way) I got a quick lesson about how you cannot just stuff a bike on the street into a corner like you can on the dirt. It's night, hauled butt into a corner, nailed the brakes, laid it over and the front washes out. I go down right in front of a car. Thankfully, the lady driving was paying attention and somehow missed me and the bike.

    I don't need any more.
    Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
    1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
    1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
    1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
    1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
    1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

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    • #32
      Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

      Our fascination with the tragedies of others reflects our culture of narcissism, says Joan Bakewell in A Point of View.

      just saw that on recent headlines today

      Our fascination with the grief of others reflects our culture of narcissism, says Joan Bakewell in A Point of View.

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      • #33
        Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

        I've had a couple of close calls.

        1) 8th grade, we had a huge snowfall and my buddy and I were doing flips from the deck on the 2nd story of my parents' house into a snow bank. Did a flip and a half, landed on my hand a rung my bell pretty good. Probably could have been in Christopher Reeves land if it had gone worse.

        2) Wasn't long after I got my license that I got t-boned by a Peterbilt dump truck loaded with scrap iron. Caught the bed of my S10, spun me around like a rag doll and shot my spare tire across the intersection and into someone's radiator. Came out with a hip bruise from the seatbelt.

        3) Summer after I had gotten my license my buddy thought it would be funny to pass me with his Trans Am going into a corner. He lost control, over-corrected, hit a motorcycle and killed two people and himself. The guy on the motorcycle had his head ripped off. I came away without a scratch, but it was f*cking close.

        4) I moved to Flint, MI to go to Kettering and I was there for all of three days before I was in traffic on Miller Rd and some guy in a Dodge Ram in front of me had his windshield blown out by a shotgun blast. Flint is a really nice town.

        5) Was headed to Vegas in March via DTW. Got about an hour outside of Vegas and we hit turbulence like I've never seen before and I fly a fair amount. It was bad enough that the flight crew buckled in. Overhead bins were opening, people were puking, it was brutal. After an hour of abuse, we get to Vegas and head in to land. The landing gear touched on the left rear, the plane hopped off the runway and I watched through the window as the left wing tip came within a few feet of the ground before the plane righted itself, bounced and finally settled down on the gear. I thought for sure that the wing was going to dig in and pinwheel us to our doom.

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        • #34
          Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

          Not much to compare with many of these.... and I thought I had a daredevil side.

          1.
          putting traction master bars on my first car (yea - I still have the bars) I had the car up on jackstands....
          UNDER THE AXLE.

          NOT smart- broke that last ubolt loose and the car came down.... a few more inches and it would have been really bad.

          My head was near the axle which didn't move, the fuel tank was resting on my chest, but not pushing hard.... thankfully my brother (who's never worked on a car before or since) was there and frantically got the car jacked back up again so I could get out.

          2.
          Got pulled off a single story roof by the TV antenna I was trying to throw off the roof - it snagged my glove and pulled me down with it, thankfully it was over grass, and I was able to push the antenna away as I was falling so I didn't get impaled.... I did end up with stiches in my hand where one of the rods did go into my hand through the glove that got snagged.

          Did lots of stuff in cars and on bicycles that was galactically stupid!
          There's always something new to learn.

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          • #35
            Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

            The closest I've been was 10 minutes according to the doctor. It was from carbon monoxide poisoning.

            In November of 86 I was 21 yrs old working 1st shift shipping and receiving loading trucks with an old propane powered lift truck. By first break I was feeling nauseous but thought I could work through it. By lunch I had a killer headache and thought food may help. By second break I felt really bad but the day was almost over. At 5PM I hit the cold November air to go home and things got worse, I found out later that sometimes fresh air accelerates the process. Ten minutes into the drive home my vision started to go and I couldn't see past the hood of my car by the time I got the car stopped I could not see the gauges on the dash.According to a guy I worked with I had run three cars off the road trying to get off the road. This was before cell phones and 911 but luckily I knew my route to and from work well. I pulled into a gas station that had an outdoor pay phone and dialing by touch I called my family for help. My brother dropped off my soon to be brother in law to take me home but realized something was seriously wrong and took me to the hospital. I blacked out on the way to the hospital and did not wake up until 2AM.

            I was told there was a lot of action during the 8-1/2 hours that I was out but I don't remember anything at all. Talking to the doctor the next day he said 10 more minutes would have been the end. Thankfully there was no damage or side affects from carbon monoxide and all I came away with was a story.

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            • #36
              Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

              dang guys, it's cool providence gave you more days. It is good to recount why we're here despite some of our best efforts to shorten our days.



              Doing it all wrong since 1966

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              • #37
                Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

                I was still in elementary school, and a snowstorm had hit Atlanta. My parents' house had a steep driveway and I decided to go sledding down it. On one run, a car appeared out of nowhere. I tried steering the sled away from it (this was a sort of sled where the runners can flex a bit), and somehow got the sled to make a 90 degree turn. Had the sled's handlebars scrape against the car's front wheels - most ominous sound I've heard in my life. If the sled had gone straight, I'd have been roadkill.

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                • #38
                  Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

                  A few years ago, heading back to school, it was sleeting, and I was on the highway. I was merging onto I-88 from I-294 near O'Hare and all of a sudden my truck shot hard left. I remember seeing out my driver side window the front end of a Lincoln Continental so close I could touch is.

                  I was then going across all 4 lanes of traffic, I yanked the wheel hard right to avoid the wall, the truck decided to do a 180 then. I thought the truck was going to flip it was leaning so much.

                  I opened my eyes and I was facing oncoming traffic with a semi's headlight aiming right at me(thankfully we were all going slow) and everyone slowed down to avoid me. I quickly threw the truck in reverse and backed down the on-ramp to get onto I-88 and pulled over onto the shoulder.... I then turned the truck off and just sat there for a bit... recovering my nerves. Thankfully a I-Dot guy came and stopped traffic so I could turn around otherwise I probably would have sat there all night.

                  That is the first one that pops to mind. I have had other close calls as well.
                  Ryan's Cars in Barns Blog
                  www.carsinbarns.blogspot.com

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                  • #39
                    Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

                    Ive got 2.

                    First I was about 17, We were walking into the woods to hunt. Guns were sopposed to be unloaded. My sister didn't listen, and was playing with the trigger. The gun went off right behind my head. Did I mention it was a 20 guage shotgun. Had 2 BB holes in my hat. The rest missed me.

                    Second, I was digging a shrub out of my backyard when the spade shovel split. I was falling and It flew up and hit my shoulder missing my face by 1/4 inch.
                    OH YEAH
                    Long haul 07. 08. 10, 11, and 13. Looking forward to 2014

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                    • #40
                      Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

                      there are quite literally hundreds if not thousands... but ones that spring to mind.

                      1) almost hit by an airplane that was landed on a closed runway strip while I was mowing it missed me by a couple feet.
                      2) cancer
                      3) hit by a Buick a couple years ago on my bike, I was going 30+, she turned into me (I was in a bike lane in bright clothes) - only God kept me from going down... she never stopped.
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                      • #41
                        Re: THE CLOSEST YOU'VE EVER CAME TO DEATH!

                        As said above. I reckon we're ALL lucky to be able to tell near-death stories. Sometimes we may not even KNOW we were close to death - the wreck that happened behind us, etc. You can pretty well drive yourself crazy thinking about it, if you dwell on it.

                        For me, the most vivid thing was at work. On a lift truck. I drove through a puddle of water on the shipping dock and at that point, the tires are no good. I was going off into the railroad tracks, about a 4-foot drop, and by the trajectory I was going to impact the coupling for a railcar that was sitting there. I even had time to calculate it - off the dock, the lift truck rotates on the way down, and I'm impaled on the railcar coupling. Dead, dead, dead. DRT (dead right there).

                        It was like slow motion, which is what lots of folks say in near-death. It really was like a slow-motion movie. It was amazing - I was watching every frame - amazed - I'm about to die, and it was amazing, watching it...

                        I got the lift stopped about a quarter inch from going into the hole...



                        Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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