So my car got jacked several weeks back.  Fortunately that was recovered and claimed a swift 3 days later.  About a week later, I get a legitimate parking ticket because I forgot to put more change in the parking meter and between the 20min when it expired and the time I realized it and went back to the car, I got slapped a $30 fine.  Fine.

But none of that even holds a candle to what happened to me last night.  What could top all of this? you might ask.

Getting run over by a car.

*This image is for illustrative purposes only.  This is NOT how it happened in my case….fortunately.

You heard me.  I don’t think it could get much worse than this…..except maybe going down in a plane or something. (Knock on wood.)  Vancouver must love my guts or something….especially when such an event had to go down under pouring rain.

So I come home from downtown after putting in a few 4 hours for Shinno-sensei.  On the way home, I picked up some Zildjian drumsticks from Tom Lee off of Granville.  Set me back $13ish, but they are well worth it for my hobby…and they were nice and light, hopefully it will help from keeping my weak arms from getting tired doing those stupid hi-hat rolls while doing crossover when playing Drummania.  Anyways, end of digression.

Jon was messaging me while I was working, saying we’d probably go pretty early to Rush tonight.  So from the time I got home until the time we were going to go out, that gave everyone 1hr to have dinner.  I already had a quick bite from A&W on my way to Tom Lee but I figured I’d have a little something before going out so I wouldn’t get hungry late at night like I always do.  So I had to go for my Shin-ramyun meal….which I HAVE to have w/ an egg mixed in with.  Unfortunately my roommate took the last egg in our fridge that I was considering using this morning but didn’t have time to have, for her french toast dinner.  Since she apparantly doesn’t eat breakfast, but LOVES french toast, when else is she going to eat it?  At any rate, the two dozen eggs I bought several weeks back are now finally gone T_T so I had to go out and get another dozen somewhere quick.  I only had half-an-hour before DM time.

So I rush out to London Drugs….but even though they carry Hâagen-Dazs ice cream, refridgerated drinks, and milk….they don’t carry EGGS.  So I had no choice but to head across the street to 7-11 to get some (I’ve made an egg run there once before.)  The pedestrian light on the north crosswalk of Victoria and 41st just switched to the flashing hand, so I had to make a run for it so I can clear the intersection in time.  However, I was a bit too late for this blind Chinese dude making a left turn on a yellow light..

*BAM!*

Rewinding a little bit, I am not sure what made me turn to see the car approaching me from about a few feet away and closing in fast, but perhaps my noticing gave me enough time to instinctively react appropriately, Jack Bauer-style.  Whatever the case, either I reacted right or not, my back was soon on the hood of the car, legs up in the air, and we were cruising a good 10m or so, before inertia slid me off the car, and onto the pavement, landing on my front.  I lost my right slipper sometime during impact, whereas the other one came off after I landed on the ground.  A guy on the other side of the road shouted through his open window to inform me where my cellphone landed.  For a moment I was wondering if the perpetrator would split, ie. a hit-and-run, or what.  But after about 5 sec he cleared the street and pulled over to the side.  A witness on that side of the road asked me if I was okay.  I just got hit by a car….what am I going to say?  Fortunately I was wearing all long-sleeves and had socks (thanks to the weather) so I didn’t get any major scrapes.  And surprisingly, I could walk perfectly fine.  Though having been in car accidents before (albeit while being INSIDE the car), I was perfectly aware that I could have more serious damage than what my nerves are telling me, so I took it easy walking to the sidewalk while the oncoming traffic from the light that just turned green slowed down for me.

The lady who saw it asked if I was okay and all that (witness #1), while the driver got out of his car.  Shortly later, the bus that was waiting across the street let out another lady at the stop who served as a second witness.  We all exchanged information, I got the guy’s license plate and all 3 of their phone numbers.  The guy tried to pin the blame on me at first, claiming I was jaywalking.  WTH.  Unfortunately witness #1 did not really notice exactly where I was hit but I cited that there was a bus waiting at the intersection that I walked in front of in order to cross the street, therefore I was off the hook there, since I could always call Vancouver Transit to figure out who the driver of that bus was.  I wasn’t going to counter him back with accusations though, maybe because of the shock and unbelievability of the situation, but probably more so because I was not sure what my case would be crossing on a yellow light.  At any rate I think I have the side of the witnesses, so I don’t think anything should happen on that end.

Anyways when everything calmed down and my other sandal was claimed, witness #1 convinced me that I should be taken to the hospital right away by the very man who hit me, saying it was his responsibility and all.  Of course I had to call someone about this, and before that night, I didn’t even know my own roommates’ numbers, so ended up calling Jon.  Before the man took me to the hospital, I had to go back to the apt to let my roommate know where I ran off to.  When I did that, I was also talking with the man’s daughter on his cellphone periodically, maybe due to communication problems or something, but after that I suppose it clarified the situation a bit.  Anyways after my roommate came down to the main floor I explained briefly the situation and then said I’d call later with an update (now that I finally had gotten her number there).

St. Joseph’s emergency ward just closed when we got there, so we got diverted to VGH.  Since I was pretty non-critical, I had to wait a long time there…..from the waiting room to triage, from the wheelchair to the stretcher with a headboard…to the treatment room.  After all the waiting, they treat my minor scrapes that I got beneath my clothing, gave me a tetanus shot as a precaution, and I finally get outta there at 10:30….3hr after the accident, and maybe at least 2hr if not more at the hospital.  About 45min before I was discharged, the man told me he was getting hungry and asked if he could go.  It’s not like he could run now that I have his info, so I figured whatever.  He gave me $20 for the taxi so I guess it was ok….but still.  WTH.  Not sticking until the end.

Anyways, I call up Jon to update him…and of course he was already at Rush w/ the usual crew and were just about to leave.  After asking bus info, I walk down to Broadway and bus back home, pocketing the compensation $.  After going home, getting my brand-new sticks, updating my roommate on the night’s happenings, and taking off to Rush (I *had* to try out these sticks no matter what!  As if some dumb car hitting me is gonna stop that despite the inevitable whiplash), I find out that the Rush crew was all still there waiting for me.  Played some drums, got an ice capp, then headed back while the rest went home so I could get used to my sticks……….

Unfortunately the late night ice capp followed by a large fountain Coke later on did not aid very well to my sleep.  Hence this early morning blog entry.  Surprisingly, even now I’m still not sleepy enough to warrant going to bed (believe me, I’ve already tried) but I’m sure a sudden craving to nap will hit me some time during the day.  Good thing I’m not working today or anything.

So, that concludes the end of my “Car Curse” legacy….or does it?? I’ve still yet to follow up on all this, and need to find out where to go from here.  Go to the cops?  Talk to a lawyer?  Not like I have any major injuries to warrant a lawsuit — How do you quantify damages caused by a 4hr delay in night plans to go to play Drummania anyways? LOL….