By my calculations 27 seconds is very nearly exactly 1% of my commute every morning.
This morning that 27 seconds was a make-it-or-break-it 1%. Well maybe it isn’t as black and white as all that but I was certainly lucky that it wasn’t a break-it 1%.
The roads were bare (mostly) last night. The snow fell to the tune of 2 inches early in the morning. I thought I knew my limits. I thought I could control my car.
I thought wrong.As I approached the steepest part of the incline, leading to the main artery outside of Talbot’s neighborhood, I lost traction.
I pumped the breaks
__no good.
I caught traction
__overall confidence in my abilities soared, reaching all time highs.
I lost it again, this time for good
__overall confidence in my abilities crashed and burned, big time.
As the seconds expanded exponentially into minutes* I slid interminably through the stop sign, I thought about releasing the brakes and just turning with the road. Not sure if I ever did. If I did it didn’t work.
Whew, no cars coming in the near lane. (still sliding, approaching minute 18)
__ Whoa, that is a mighty large vehicle approaching in the far lane
__ OK, that mighty large vehicle is slightly smaller than a train
__ and is in fact a bus.
Minute 24. I come to a rest broadside against the lane of previously observed onrushing bus.
Minute 25. I consider just waiting it out, quickly reconsider and…
Minute 26. I throw it into reverse and amazingly, having much tractiones on the flat, well traveled artery, back “around the corner” facing the wrong way in the near lane.
Minute 27. The bus and his blue Volvo wingman pass my previously held position. All in a days work.
I am happy because
__ bus drivers tend not to over-drive conditions and
__ I was not 1% longer taking out the garbage this morning
__ I didn’t get to add PT (or any other more personal bits) to my ‘things I have broken’ category.
* This expansion of time during moments like these is utterly explainable. It is the balancing, conservation-of-energy-like, effect in direct opposition to ‘time flies when you are having fun‘. This was definitely not fun and therefore 27 seconds takes much much longer.
blief 
I had a similar experience going down the hill near the old Hazelwood school. I may have even let “Mommyyyy” pass my lips. Scary!
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I think adrenaline causes your reflexes to be much faster, and as a side-effect, your brain switches into high speed recording mode. When you play back the memory of the event, it seems to take much longer than it really did.
For example, in my memory, that flourescent light bulb Jeff knocked loose with the forklift took about 30 seconds to fall 25 feet to the top of the forklift cage. If it really took 30 seconds, he might have had time to jump out of the way before it hit. As it was, he just ducked his head.
Glad to hear your PT is OK. Maybe you should bring a bag of sand with you and stop just before that last steep grade, walk over and sprinkle a fresh couple of handfuls of sand on it. Then go back and bring the car down. If you start sliding down on your feet, just throw sand out in front of yourself.
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That idea about walking down ahead of your car and throwing out sand in front in case you start slipping, gave me an idea that may turn into an invention: How about a “sand dispenser” that would fling sand on the road way in front of you if/when you get into that embarassing and terror-striking situation in which you found yourself this morning?
I’ve been there myself — sliding down the last 50 or so feet of Lakeridge Drive onto Rainier Avenue one morning on my way to work. I know the feeling(s) you went through, Lief! And the interminable time-stretching effect — sort of prolongs the self-punishment doesn’t it?
Thank God you/your PT are all safe — and at least one of you, wiser.
Grumpy
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