wrecked
from urban santa cruz to suburban watsonville highway one is a narrow two lane freeway slithering south along the monterey bay. it's not unusual for this stretch to be clogged with stop and go traffic, especially on a sunny summer weekend when san jose drivers descend in droves on the beaches around santa cruz. i was in santa cruz for a quick overnight visit to see my son, who recently graduated from the university of california. i drove up to campus to look at the slug apparel in the bay tree bookstore, but didn't see what i wanted, so i jumped on the freeway southbound to go shopping in aptos before returning to my son's house. actually, the ulterior motive for my errands was to charge my cell phone bettery. everything was great, the phone was charging, traffic was a bit thick, but it was a beautiful day.
i was in the left lane, accellerating to thirty, slowing to a stop, waiting a bit, idling forward, speeding up, slowing down. you know the routine. unfortunately, disaster struck. the truck in front of me braked to a stop. i braked to a stop. no harm, no foul. suddenly, wham! i didn't see the car behind me as it slammed into me. i was thrown up off my seat. then bam! my car was pushed into the truck in front. shattering glass and plastic followed the loud wham-bam like a scattering of applause. the truck in front pulled forward and the driver got out. i pulled what was left of my car left against the center divider but still in the fast lane. now the two lanes of traffic were really plugged up. at first glance my smashed front end showed a nearly horizontal radiator dripping above a big puddle of coolant.
2:25:31 PM 
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