Subj: My life flashed before my eyes and I said, 'That's it?"
Date: 3/16/2005

*First, I will state I am in no way trying to make light of a recent tragedy that befell a friend whom I think very highly of and hurt because of their loss.  I believe this person wishes to remain anonymous.  Our events are similar with one VERY important difference. I was lucky and survived...their loved one did not.  Because their loss happened only a day ago, I had mixed emotions writing my experience in "Larry" fashion, which is to deal with stress through humor. What will seem to others as just another Larry adventure...will very likely bring back the cold, dark side of reality, and there will be NOTHING humorous for them.  I pray they will recover from their loss.*

Now the Story.

I won't go as far as stating, "I'm going to start writing again," but I'm in a motel in York, Alabama, so why not.

This whole escapade started when learning that my son would be home from Iraq in the same condition he left.  Thanks in part to the many who included Craig's name into prayers to the Big General in the sky.  He will come back a changed man as he has had friends killed in his convoy due to car bombs.  He was knocked unconscious a couple of times from his turret, but luckily, no shrapnel injuries.

Learning he would be flying into Alexandria, LA near Fort Polk, I decided to take the NSX and drive down to be with him for a couple of days before continuing on to Arizona to see if Mark Basch could get my supercharger to work as well as it did at Texas Motor Speedway.

I departed home on 13 MAR 05 at 08:15 to make a leisurely 1300+ mile, two day drive, to Fort Polk.  The trip was going very well and I was making good time (for me) as I found myself passing through Birmingham, AL around 1830 (6:30PM CST).  There was no rain, so everything was a delight as I was cutting through what traffic could be had on I-20 on a Sunday night in rural Alabama.  Blasting 60's Rock music, singing with a voice that became famous to first class passengers heading to NSXPO in CA, I was watching lightning dance across the dark sky ahead in a very impressive light show.  The lightning was racing from cloud to cloud in an eerie fashion which reminded me of the time warp I drove through when headed for Roswell, New Mexi....never mind you wouldn't believe it, or knowing me...maybe it would answer a lot of questions.

Any woo (word spelling correction thanks to Miléd), there I was, life was great, when I decided to scan the local radio stations because I was at the end of my CD 6-pack and I didn't want to stop and load in the next magazine.  The radio was scanning through the lower FM band when it stopped on the frequency that correlated to TV channel 6.  They had stopped the program to announce a severe weather warning which included severe thunderstorms, strong winds, hail, and tornado warnings.  The hot spot seemed to be in central western Alabama, which I figured I was in. It wasn't the usual alert, one minute of weather alerts, then back to the local programing.  They continued reporting (at that time for about 20 minutes) on the location of the storm as it passed from town to town and advising people to seek shelter.

Most of the towns and counties mentioned were not familiar to me, other than Tuscaloosa, which was a location I was about to pass through.  As in times past when I have found myself in peril, I called Tony DeJoie for assistance.  Depending on my problem, my first greeting to him will be, "Hello, Telcordia Help Desk?" for a computer problem; "Hello, OnStar?" for a new route around a traffic tie-up or if I'm lost.  This time my greeting was going to be, "Hello, Flight Service?  I need a weather update!"  What I got was his voice mail telling me he wasn't available...GRRR.  I tried calling his cell phone; no answer there.  I tried calling Miléd in hopes he would still be available as I had spoken with him not long ago...no answer.  I called my sister in California, who I had just spoken with...no answer.  I decided to give Rachel a call...no answer.  Now I'm thinking the aliens have blocked all cell phone transmissions using electromagnetic interference (EMI).  I keep listening to the radio in hopes I might recognize some town names, but I don't, and now I am past Tuscaloosa headed for Meridian, MS. I can see towering cumulus clouds when the lightning lights up the night sky and I'm thinking that I should have put up for the night at one of the towns I passed through when I first started to hear the weather warnings.  The rain is starting to fall sporadically and at different intensities, but I believe that I may have beaten the storm through my present location as the rain is letting up and traffic speed is picking up.

Ahead, I see a long line of cars in the East bound lane (I'm heading west) which appear to be either stopped or going very slow.  I'm thinking it is probably a construction delay or maybe an accident.  As I look back into my lane I see wisps of fog which is normal after a storm passes through due to rapid temperature changes.  It was not dense, so I kept my speed at about 70 MPH.  Then I started to see white granular strips of something in the road.  It looked like maybe a truck had spilled some white crushed rock.  Then all of a sudden the granular substance was all over the road and about 4 inches high in some places. I started to brake because I didn't want rock damage.  The antilock brakes immediately started to pulsate; the NSX started to get squirrelly; and I wasn't slowing down one iota.  It was about 70 degrees out, but the road was completely cover with ice and the granular substance was mounds of ball bearing like hail!  I had my hands full  trying to slow the NSX without throwing it out of balance as the car pulled left and right as I hit the rutty piles of hail.  The fog was starting to get dense; I could see brake lights coming on in front of me; and then it happened...The fog immediately blocked my view to 5 feet in front of the car; I could no longer see the brake lights; I still wasn't slowing; and it looked like I was in a snow bowl as I could not see forward and the hail totally covered the lines in the road.  I was using all my talents just to keep the car on the road I could not see, headed in somewhat of a straight direction, all the while holding my breath for the impending multi-car collision that I was about to become part of.  To my amazement, nobody could stop either, so I guess everyone just slid at the same rate, whew! The fog was starting to get patchy as I could see the road and then I couldn't, but the momentary vision allowed me to steer the car into what appeared to be the middle of the interstate (no crowns to slide off of).  With no cars spinning in my path, (which was just pure bullshit luck!) I seemed to be gaining control and finally slowing.  I looked in the rear view mirror to see a semi-truck barreling down on my ass.  I thought how crazy can this guy be, when I realized he was probably fighting for control of a vehicle that was tremendously heavier than me and exhibiting Newton's Law of Motion.  That is, a body in motion tends to remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force...which was about to be me, as I was in the middle of the road and trying desperately to get to the edge (that I could now see) before impact.  He shot by me just missing my bumper, but was able to keep his tandem rig straight until finally slowing to a safe pace.

There were no more lights behind me and I could only see a few of the lights that were ahead of me.  I didn't see any cars off the road, but the fog was so thick, and I was VERY focused at the task at hand (yup, my singing stopped seconds ago), that they could have very well been scattered over the bank and I wouldn't have seen them.  The ice swath lasted maybe a mile and then the road was as clear as it was before.

Even though luck had more to do with me being alive than pure skill, I was still thankful for all my New England winter driving experience.  A couple minutes later the phone rang, it was Tony.  My greeting was something like, "Where the hell were you when I needed you?!"  His reply was, "I was using the vacuum and didn't hear the phone ring when you called."  I'm thinking, here I am fighting not to orphan my son and Tony is in a warm, safe, secure house, casually returning my call!  OK, how was he to know what was going on?  But no time for theatrics, I can see the lightning once again dancing in the sky ahead.  I give Tony a position report and he expertly pulls up the local weather, which obviously shows I must be on dope from my 60's Rock music, because there is no mention of adverse weather?  I tell him to look at a Doppler weather chart which DOES reflect all that I have been experiencing. Because of the intensity on the lightning (or alien interference) the cellular signal is breaking up and his voice sounds like an echo.  He says I sound like I'm in a garbage can.  I'm not sure if he is trying to make a clever attempt at "dissing" my car without me catching on, but again, I realize that death may be trying to win the second round, so I should stay focused.

Tony is reading his synopsis of the weather ahead, and although his transmission is coming in broken, it appears there is a large cell in my path at Meridian, MS, followed by another cell near Jackson.  He said, "Oh, it appears the red spot that is centered over the road I am on, is getting larger and a darker color than the darkest red for strong intensity."  "Oh great! I said, "I suppose there is golf ball size hail too!"  "Let me see," as he keeps reading, "golf ball size hail and strong winds..." His voice crackles but it sounds like he said 70 MPH winds.  I tell him he will need to keep repeating information as I can
only hear a few parts of what he is saying.  "Should I continue through Meridian or put up short?"  He continues playing forecaster and states that two storms growing in intensity are in my path, but he thinks they may just contain rain.  The other storms with hail appear to be moving to my north; where I do see heavy lightning.  I decide if rapid temperature changes produce fog and/or heavy rain pounds the surface, it will be wiser to seek a motel with a canopy...just in case of hail.  I stop at a motel in York, AL, that is about 8 miles short of Meridian, MS, which is where the thunderstorm cell is currently located.  I tell Tony I will call him back after I see if they have any rooms available. They do;  so after I check in, I call Tony to inform him that the receptionist said the storm had moved through (she was watching it on TV) and I was safe for the night.

Tony said, "Not according to the weather map.  The storm is gone now, but the cell front is on a 45 degree slant and it will hit you again." As I watch TV, the program is alerted by a severe weather warning for Hail County.  I call the receptionist and she states that Hail County is east of our location...not to worry, we are in Sutner County.  About 5 minutes later, another weather alert for the following Counties..."Sutner!"  Oh great, Tony was right.  After hearing a loud clap of thunder, I look outside to see horizontal rain streaming off the truck parked next to the NSX like smoke in a wind tunnel (Well, at least the car is getting clean).  I call Tony again to let him know that he is now my preferred forecaster and try to get an estimate as to when the second band of showers will be though.  I'm also keeping an eye on the weather, just in case the rain turns to hail, I will make a dash to the car and drive it underneath the covered area in front of the main entrance.  The rain is starting to let up, so I think, "After the rain stops, I can wash the remaining dirt off the car with my wash cloth, and then when the second cell comes through, it will get a final rinse!" What a deal!!  I decide that the rain will not dry off the road before I leave, so I probably shouldn't do anything, as it will be wasted effort.  So, while I'm waiting for the second cell to move through, I decide to write this story about cheating death (knock on wood) once again...which at this point, I have had many visits during my aviation career and life in general.

Larry G.