The drive home

[donkeychomp]

As some of you know darn sarf we had one hell of a lightning show last night...this is what happened when I tried to get home.

Left girlfriends place at 10.50pm, M2 then M25 back to Staines, maybe 40 mins tops that time of night. All went well for, oh, 2 miles when the first crackle of lightning appeared, almost overhead, and on this section of road there were no lights so this made everything look like day. Kinda liking it as my headlights are feeble at best...then the first spot of rain, wipers on, but window still down (summer doors on the truck so tricky to zip the windows up on the move, then heavier rain, then rain so intense I couldn't see a thing. Wipers now on double time, then 'ping' I heard my door mirror fall off. No idea if I was clipped by another car, couldn't see anything. So now I'm doing 20mph, hazards on, soaked on my right side and whoosh, my drivers side wiper flies off into the ether. Driving now trying to look out of my door window I think I see a police layby up ahead and pull in. Close the zipped window, truck immediately steams up, heater on, find torch and peer behind me to see if I can spot any headlights coming. Nada so I slowly step out as a juggernaut drives through a small lake and now I am totally drenched. And lucky to be alive.

I sit back down and have a ciggy, then go outside to take off the other wiper and swap it over. Job done then the wiper motor stops working. Deep breaths, go have a look. Aha it's stuck a little, free it up and with my one remaining wiper being used carefully, ie almost never, I set off again.

By now it's clear to me I am following the storm, and perhaps I should have pulled over to let it pass but how long will that take and it's now midnight and I have done maybe 10 miles out of 50. Gingerly I press on, max of 30mph and the roads so soaked it was hard to make out any dividing lines. Watching in horror as lunatics thundered by me at 80+, rooster tails drowning my truck and my one remaining blade still clinging on to the windscreen. I knew any minute now there will be a horrendous accident but will it involve some idiot ploughing into me?

By now I'm on the M25 and the road is lit by lights as well as the non stop lightning, and a little Fiat500 tootles past doing maybe 40. Then indicates left, it rejoins the slow lane and starts to pull away from me...then it happened...the Fiat seemed to jiggle a bit then WHAM it slid into the Armco by the side of the road. I managed to stop in time and got behind it, hazards still on. Checking nothing was coming I jumped out to find a young couple, airbags in faces but both fine, if shocked. I called an ambulance and police, told them I would wait with them but they were getting a little chirpier and said they'll be fine. I gave them my number just in case and one once again, head off on the river that used to be the M25. Cars still screaming past me I settled into a kind of nervous trance, and even my car was aquaplaning now. Driving even slower I reached Staines to find the roads were now lakes and I seemed to be the only car out there. Not surprising at 1.30am. I drove down roads using both lanes to avoid the deeper ravines and trenches to come home to a phone with 6 messages on it and more on my mobile. Rang the girlfriend to tell her my tale.

Alex

[ROBBIE]

Sounds fun, but you are starting too make me think about if LJ ownership is a good thing

[donkeychomp]

To be fair to the LJ I let her down really Robbie. The wipers I knew about, brand new but a bit loose and the headlights are awful. New wipers glued on and a halogen conversion kit ordered. I'm doing the trip again this weekend!

[ROBBIE]

Somfar the only thing that spoils it is lack of cash