It has rained on and off all day, and while I don’t like driving in the rain because of the bad drainage on many major roads and the inability of too many people to drive in the rain, I needed to check out the last two stores in town that might have the particular type of mop that my Mother prefers.

So I was stopped at a light and got hit from the back. The young woman who was driving almost avoided the accident. When she realized her car wasn’t going to stop in time she attempted to steer into a parking lot, If she had started just a foot earlier there would have been no accident.

The Honda looked almost undamaged, but the angle of contact was obviously bad for the Neon, as, in addition to the front bumper the hood bent and some of the supports looked out of whack.

I had no injuries of any kind, and the Honda didn’t move at all, as the rear bumper worked as designed and absorbed the force. The amount of force was so slight that no one’s air bags deployed, but the two people in the Neon had some bumps and were really upset.

We pulled into the parking lot to free up the major road we were on, and the wait began.

It turns out that if it had happened on the intersecting road, the Sheriff’s deputy who arrived in minutes could have taken the report, but since it happened on the main road we had to wait an hour for the Florida Highway Patrol. I fail to see the logic.

Nate Monroe of the Daily Comet [local Louisiana newspaper] tells us that an Oil blowout causes evacuations

PAINCOURTVILLE — A blown-out well in Assumption Parish was spewing oil and gas nearly 200 feet into the air Wednesday, and it could be 10 days before crews can cap it, officials said.

Assumption Parish sheriff’s deputies responded to a 3:30 a.m. complaint Wednesday of oil and gas spewing onto the road, said Assumption Sheriff Mike Waguespack.

Waguespack said no one was injured in the blowout, and State Police are investigating.
…

Mantle Oil and Gas of Friendswood, Texas, is the well operator, and Cajun Well Services of Breaux Bridge was contracted to finish the well, which began drilling in June.

It was on dry land, surrounded by sugar cane fields and [this is the totally unbelievable part] a number of knowledgeable people are saying the blowout preventer failed! I mean when is that last time anyone heard of a blowout preventer failing? There hasn’t been a failure reported in nearly… well… four months.

But people want to encourage this sort of thing.