was a terrible day. Actually it was the fourth day of a terrible week. After recovering from a significant computer accident on Monday (FYI the disk icon in word doesn't always save your document) and working in circles on an assignment all day Wednesday I figured I deserved some 'personal time' to go meet my cousins new baby. The afternoon started out with getting lost thanks to some horrible mapquest directions, then once I finally found the road I needed to get to Hagersville it was closed. Little did I know the road I wanted to take lead directly through the Grand River Territory Reserve which is home to the
Six Nations group protesting the development of land in the town of Caledonia. Apparently the protest had turned rather ugly the previous night hence half the OPP force from the province was patrolling the area while closing off 2 major highways through the reserve and through the town. The detour route was on a hilly, shoulderless secondary country road which was the worst type of road one could have car trouble on. So as white smoke billowed from my parent's TDI half way up a hill I realized that I was in a bit of a pickle. Due to the amount of traffic passing the car, I was barely able to get out of the vehicle and since there was absolutely no where I could pull the car off the road I was a little panicked. To top it all off, I was out of time on my cell phone. A good Samaritan in the form of a nice lady pulled over and let me use her phone (to phone my mom in tears) and offered to take me into Caledonia to phone a tow truck since we had no numbers with us. I didn't want to leave the vehicle (half way up a hill on a busy road), but considered it the best option since every other driver was either honking or giving me obscene gestures while attempting to pass the car. So into Caledonia I headed with a complete stranger. After a conversation with CAA (which included me unsuccessfully begging them to get the car off the road ASAP with or without me there in order to prevent an accident), I headed back to the abandon car (thanks to the strangers who stopped to help) to meet the tow truck. It was a complete shock to get back to where I had left the car to find it gone. Hmm. Not sure where it went. Maybe it was stolen? Maybe the whole conundrum was a figment of my imagination? About half an hour after reporting my missing car to the police, my nice Samaritan lady that picked me up received a phone call from a rather angry tow truck driver. I was happy to find out where the car was, but rather annoyed to find out that I would have to pay $125 to get it back. Apparently a police officer who was responding to an emergency call was flying down the detour road passing vehicles (are they suppose to do that?) and almost had a head-on collision with my car which came close to forcing his cruiser into a deep ditch. Needless to say he was a little peeved and phoned to have the car removed immediately. Anyways, the conclusion to the whole story is that the turbo charger in my parent car is shot (which apparently is no fault of my own) and 5 hours later than my expected arrival time I was able to meet the most beautiful baby I have ever known. Although the day was crazy and stressful, it was totally worth it to meet little 'Ella Katherine May'. Welcome to the world little girl!
