Don't fool yourself, you are not immortal!

[Raincatcher]

We all love to fish or we wouldn't be on this forum, right? We all take the weather in stride since we live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, right? We are all pretty rough and rugged and believe we can withstand just about anything the Weather Gods throw at us, right? WRONG!! Well, mostly right, but there are weather conditions that kill. The storm that is brewing in California right now and taking aim for Oregon and Washington is not a user friendly storm. It is said to be one of the nastiest of the nasty ones to hit the area in a long time. You did hear about the tornado that hit Longview, WA. yesterday, right? Please check your Wild West ego and bravado at the door before venturing out during the storm. I have yet to meet a man or woman capable of surviving a huge tree squishing them like a bug. :sad: Please use your noggin and stay safe!

...Potential for strong wind this weekend for southwest Washington and northwest Oregon...
A low pressure system is forecast to develop well off the northern California coast Friday and move northeast toward the Oregon and Washington coast Friday night...and then move inland Saturday. There is the potential for high wind along the coast and windy conditions in the Willamette Valley and southwest Washington interior lowlands. There is still plenty of uncertainty regarding the strength and timing of this system. Should high winds occur...downed trees and power outages would be possible. At this time it looks like the strongest wind would occur late Saturday afternoon through the evening.
Visit www.Weather.Gov/Portland for updates.

 

[rogerdodger]

Good reminder, be aware, fish with care!

 

[ChezJfrey]

Not immortal? Pffffft. I have proven several times in my life that I must assuredly be immortal...it is the only logical determination I can make after having survived several instances I probably should have been dead...the running theme in my house is that I must be somehow indestructible. LOL

 

[montym]

Or a cat?

 

[Irishrover]

Barb I bet you remember October 12th 1962. Now that was a blow. Good advise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962

 

[ChezJfrey]

Or a cat?

Funny you should mention that. I carried the nickname El Gato for awhile. I used to ride my bike back/forth to work for about 7 years. One time, I was flying down the bike lane on 99W, when a car pulled a right directly in front of me. I plowed into their fender at speed, flipped over the hood, but neglected to let go of the bike with one of my hands, so carried it with me. Not a bright move, but didn't really do it consciously...probably more of a white-knuckled, death grip reactions. Anyway, I flipped over the hood of their car, bike in hand, and miraculously hit the ground with my feet and ran to a stop, with the bike beside me.

The guy gets out of his car and exclaims, "That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen! You are like a cat or something." Told my friends about it and they started calling me 'El Gato.'

But that was not one of the instances I count as the, "I should be dead..." I was, however, run down from behind while riding in a bike lane, that does count...dude was driving in the bike lane and mowed me down; I do count that as one of those times.

You're also probably right that I'm not really immortal, but merely counting down my 9 lives...LOL

 

[bass]

Thanks for the notice RC! I had not looked at the wind, just the rain forecast.

Hey ChezJfrey, I bike to work and had a similar incident occur to me on 143rd avenue. I held onto the bike and stayed clipped in even though the top tube tore in half. No lasting injuries, but I was pretty sore. Funniest part is that it was the day before Thanksgiving and when my wife got to the hospital the first thing she asked the ER doctor was, "Will he be OK to cook the turkey tomorrow". The doctor looked at her funny and she said, "Hey, we have a lot of people coming over tomorrow".

Sympathy does not run deep in our household Sure enough, I smoked the turkey on the grill and we had a great Thanksgiving.

I guess I was more bug-like than cat-like

 

[DrTheopolis]

Please check your Wild West ego and bravado at the door before venturing out during the storm. I have yet to meet a man or woman capable of surviving a huge tree squishing them like a bug.

Being indoors makes me immune to being squashed by a tree?

If I'm outside, I can see it coming. If any of the massive trees around the house let go, I likely won't. Thanks for the reminder that I should probably go fishing.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Thanks for the notice RC! I had not looked at the wind, just the rain forecast.

Hey ChezJfrey, I bike to work and had a similar incident occur to me on 143rd avenue. I held onto the bike and stayed clipped in even though the top tube tore in half. No lasting injuries, but I was pretty sore. Funniest part is that it was the day before Thanksgiving and when my wife got to the hospital the first thing she asked the ER doctor was, "Will he be OK to cook the turkey tomorrow". The doctor looked at her funny and she said, "Hey, we have a lot of people coming over tomorrow".

Sympathy does not run deep in our household Sure enough, I smoked the turkey on the grill and we had a great Thanksgiving.

I guess I was more bug-like than cat-like

LOL, I can totally relate...I swear I can almost hear words along those lines coming out of my wife's mouth.

At some point, early in the bike commute lifestyle, I think one has to reach a type of Zen mentality. Keep alert and your reactions sharp, but you are almost certain to get clipped at some point and ya gotta just let that go; I got hit more than those two episodes I mentioned above...I think about 5 total in the 7 years I rode, with quite a few close calls, but some good bike handling saved me. Only the one where I was mowed flat from behind was really scary...broke my acetubulum and warranted a 5 figure insurance payout for pain/suffering.

Good times, eh?

 

[TTFishon]

Sweet!!! Maybe I'll get some good OT!!!