--- Ronn Blankenship wrote:
> At 03:41 AM 7/13/02, you wrote:
> >--- Ronn Blankenship wrote:
> ><snip>
> > > Actually, the last time I had what could have
> been
> > > classed as a "muscle
> > > car" (a '67 Chevy with the 327-c.i. engine and a
> > > 4-bbl. carb, though it
> > > could go 95 mph uphill with the A.C. running on
> only
> > > 2 barrels...
<snip>
>I wish I currently
> > > had another "muscle car" like it: as Julia has
> also
> > > mentioned, the problem
> > > is all too often that someone comes bearing down
> on
> > > you out of nowhere and
> > > the only way to avoid an accident is to be able
> to
> > > punch the gas and have
> > > the car respond immediately . . .
> ><snip>
> > > Yes, given the way other people drive, I
> > > would much rather be in a
> > > "main battle tank" or a "land yacht" with an
> engine
> > > that gives me the
> > > ability to get out of the way of an accident or
> with
> > > some solid iron around
> > > me (and my family--though I was alone in the car
> all
> > > these times) in case
> > > there is no way out.
> >
> >When I lived in Dallas, I was driving home one
> night
> >from a friend's and noticed headlights coming up
> fast
> >behind me. I flared my brake lights, thinking that
> >the driver didn't see me -- he _accelerated_ and
> >rammed my car. Cursing furiously, I started to pull
> >over into the far right lane (I'd been in the
> center
> >lane) when I realized that I was being paced on
> either
> >side by two _more_ cars. The tapeworm behind me
> >rammed again.
> >
> >By now I knew that if I was run off the road on
> that
> >dark stretch of interstate, I probably wouldn't be
> >found alive. I punched the old Thunderbird ("Go,
> >Taran, go!") up to 90+mph, praying that a state
> >trooper was in the vicinity. One wasn't, but that
> V-8
> >left the bloody pricks far behind...
> >
> >Hoo-boy, hadn't thought about that incident in ten
> >years - raised my heart rate just now, I must say.
> By
> >the time I got home that night I was incoherent
> with
> >fear - but I did get safely home.
> >
> >Ton-And-A-Half-Of-Pig-Iron Maru
>
>
>
> Debbi, I'm glad to hear that you got out of that
> situation safely.
>
> I must admit that the sticky situations *I* was
> thinking about where you
> need extra power were more along the lines of
> waiting at a stop sign until
> everything looked clear, then starting across the
> intersection, only to
> have a truck appear from around a curve going so
> fast there was no way for
> him to stop, so the only way out would be to punch
> the gas and get across
> before the truck arrived to occupy the space I was
> currently occupying.
>
> The best way to prepare for a situation like the one
> Debbi described is
> probably to have a 327 under the hood and a .357
> under the seat . . .
>
I wasn't armed at the time, but now I never take long
trips without packing (a .38; and yes, I trained -
with a former Army Ranger, and I target-shoot at least
once a year to keep in practice). Not a pleasant
thing to contemplate, yet I relish even less the
prospect of being tortured or killed because I was
unable to defend myself.
But I think I'll pass on the Hum-Vee!
Debbi
"No one wants to make a terrible choice-
On the price of being free-
I don't want to face the killer instinct-
Face it in you or me-
So we keep it under lock and key..."
(from 'Killer Instinct,' by Rush)
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