Quoted: Had a ticket for Flight 77 on 9/11.  Rescheduled last minute for almost no reason.  Saved my life.

ThankGod. I had a similar experience years ago. i was driving to work and for some reason I felt like I needed to go on a route that I rarely ever used. Later when I got to work I learned about a multi car pileup on the route that i usually take. Figuring the time that it happend with the time that I would have been through there tells me that I could have been in that.

well similar but not as bad.

Glad you are alive.

walking into hospital (on docters orders) to have heart bypass I didn't expect much.Had not given up,but I wasn't covering any bets.Faceing your own mortality tends to give you a new outlook on life.

Driving along a curvy section around some lakes.  It had just started drizzling so the oil was up on the highway - Florida ice.  I was a poor kid who couldn't afford new tires and the light rear end/bald tires of my Mustang let loose.  I over corrected and slid sideways into a telephone pole - right into the driver' side.  I somehow laid down across the passenger seat.  At the very last instant I yanked my left hand off the wheel as the door was crushed into the steering wheel.  It actually scratched my left hand.

A friend of the girl who would become my wife saw my car being towed recognized it as mine, and thought I had been killed.

Another time I was driving in the left lane of a divided highway and going over a crest in the road.  Something told me to get over in the right lane.  I did immediately.  As I passed over the crest at 60mph another car was headed south in the northbound lane at about 60mph.  If I had not moved over it would have been a head on collision.

God has sure been gracious to me.  There are probably other occasions that I just don't know about.

My junior  year I had to take defensive driving class for doing 60 in a 25 and one of the kids from my class asked if I wanted to go out for a "hell run".  I figured sure, why not?  I have never been so scared in a vehicle in my life.  The next day he was on another hell run with another kid from my highschool, went off a small cliff and killed the passenger.  I've always thought I was just one day away from being killed.

On another day two different guys almost shot me with .22's in an effort to kill some jackrabbits that were running straight for me.  I know it was only a .22 but watching the bullets hit the dirt at 30', 20', 10', at my feet, then 5' past me and so on was a little nerve racking.

Not the most exciting but that's all I've got.

Oh yeah, I also fell asleep at the wheel in a 1 ton van with 3 tons of plywood, sign transformers, and plexiglass in it.  What woke me up at 75mph in the middle of the night was hitting a dead deer in the road.  I would have been dead for sure if I hit anything more substantial.

1. I was flying a Beech Duchess at about 6500 ft, southwest, at about 145kts. I began a right bank to 20*, and when I looked left and up, I saw a Piper Tomahawk. It was pointed right at my head. It was soo close that all I saw was the prop, and the eyes (blue) of the pilot. Luckily, he was already banking and pitching hard to avoid. I didnt have time to react other than saying "holy shit."  That was close, about 50 ft too close.

2. I was in IMC decending thru 3k feet, with a little ice on my wings when I bent a pushrod in my Arrow. My engine was shaking horribly, and made shit power. It was dark, I was alone, I thought I was going to fucking die. Luckily, I was close enough to LGB to land nice and safe. Fucking pushrod

14 y/o old.   got wrapped up underwater in the solar cover on the pool.


out of air, more I struggled, worse it got.

finally realized the game was over, gave up and accepted the End.  


cover parted, I came up and filled my aching lungs with fresh air.

Quoted: Had a ticket for Flight 77 on 9/11.  Rescheduled last minute for almost no reason.  Saved my life.

Always follow that sort of "intuition"

Quoted:

Had a gyro  failure in a cessna 172 while in IFR with the weather at 200' and less then 1/2 mile vis.  For the  other pilots out there:  Partial panel practice is one thing, reality is another.



Been there, done that. I had a vac pump die my my 172 on an IFR Xcountry. Luckily, it wasnt bad IMC, just kinda crappy. I know what you mean tho. Post-It notes are one thing, shit breaking is another.

Crazy shit!

I had two close calls in one camping trip.  I was 21 and camping with some amatuer radio friends who brought people I didn't know real well.  A small group but all ages.  The first incident I was walking with a real dumbshit who liked shooting birds and other small game.  I was standing beside him when I took a foot forward to start moving again and he quickly put him .22 mag up to shoot a bird on a cactus.  The barrel was inches from my head when he shot.  I almost got it in the temple big time.  He acted like it was nothing.

Then later that night, my friend and this same dumbshit (who's mentally ill in Seattle now) were trying to put a gattling attachment on a 10/22.  I was up towards the front of the truck pissing when the .22 went off while they were fucking with it on the tailgate.  The bullet lodged in the frame between the windshield and door, and was in line with where I was standing by an inch or two.  My friend was to blame as anyone, but the dumbshit had handed it back to him telling him it was empty.

Smashed inbetween 2 cars, standing outside of them.  The van hit me door-edge first.  

Oddly enough, the first thing I remember wanting to say was not "Holy shit that hurt", it was "GODDAMNIT LADY, SHUT UP!!!" at the lady who was standing at the side and screeching and wailing and crying.  I was the one that got hit by the car, damnit.

2 aircraft accidents (one on video), a few near misses with other aircraft, a driveby shooting (15 bb's from a shotgun to the dome, and a few others that Id like to forget.  

i was coming home from school.

one bright-nice fall day, i was driving on a 2 way countryside rd going about 60mph.  very sporadic oncoming traffic. decided to change up the music so i was looking down at the radio, something told me to look up. when i did i was staring down a dodge shadow that was in my lane.

i swearved hard to the right, he came so close to my car i could feel the wind from his car hit mine. i got a close up of his face too. he was just staring straight ahead, no expression and no flailing arms on the wheel attempting to avoid me.

had i been a second off from looking up, i'd be worm food.

fucking scary and weird.

Background: I am from a liberal family and never held, or fired a gun in my life until a friend of mine took me to a gun show (Roanoke) and then shooting afterwards.

I don't know, but I found it fascinating and decided to go to another one on my own. I ended up WINNING a Springfield XD sub-compact 9mm.

I took the carry class.

Less than 6 weeks after getting my CCW permit, I decided to visit my family in Richmond. I normally check my guns securely at home if I visit my parents figuring they're anti-gun.

Well it was Reagan's funeral so PD offices, campus security, etc. were closed. So, I get in the car the next day with the gun (loaded) and drove off to Richmond.

I stopped at a gas station to fill up and go take a piss. Bathroom was really busy so I go on to a 2nd gas station. After using their outdoors bathroom (outhouse sort of thing), I open the door and a large gentleman was in the doorway and wouldn't move.

I tried to squeeze by and he pushed me against the back wall and demanded money. I couldn't move very much with him crowding me but I gave him my wallet. When he saw I had no cash, he just exploded and said that I should die for not getting him a fix.

I pressed hard against him and called for help. I distracted him enough that I could get my gun out and I pressed it hard against his chest.

He immediately backed down and said I was crazy.

To make a long story short, cops didn't care, filed a Police Report anyway, and now carry everywhere I can.

I know my sob story sounds a bit like a cliche but I continue to feel the need to talk about and have since seen a psych. mainly because I continue to have dreams that my mercy on the guy may lead to someone innocent dying - that if the perp kills someone I had in my hand to prevent that future crime.

Nonetheless, I'd probably be feeling pretty shitty if I had shot him. hinking.gif

Edited for spelling.

Oh yeah, and don't even get me started on how many times I had dipshit customers (usually cops) point loaded firearms at me when I worked at the gunshop.

25 years ago, I was at a party and some guy was beating on his woman.  I told him it wasn't cool, and he stuck a gun in my face.

20 years ago I had bald tires on my old POS.  Came off of a freeway onramp in the rain and went spinning across 3 lanes of traffic during rush hour.  Totally missed everybody.

10 years ago, I hit some anti-freeze getting off the freeway on my motorcycle and crashed.  Got all jacked up and spent 1 week in ICU.

2 years ago, I was wheeling my rig on the Rubicon, and almost tipped and went off of a cliff.

Last month, I was riding my motorcycle on the freeway and hit a huge "pothole" on an interchange.  I nearly hit a guard rail, but managed to save it by inches.

I am sure there are others, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Second grade - I was running through the woods on my way home before mom went to work. Tripped on a stick and landed with my hands outstretched. Looked down and saw my wrist bleeding. Looked at the ground and saw a piece of bloody glass. The cut was about 3mm from an artery. I look at the scar to remember I have a purpose here.

3 Months Ago - while working at the dispatch center, my GF stops in to talk. She wants to go get a soda at the gas station down the street, but for some reason I kept her talking to me. A minute later i took a call for an armed robbery at the gas station. If i had not kept her talking to me she would have been in the store when the robbery went down.

During Op Just Cause, had a grenade go off about 20 feet from me. Medic pulled 2 pieces of shrapnel from my chin and left eyebrow.
Looked at my squad mates and all I could say was "Wow". Couldn't hear their response, I was deafened for a few days.

This will be removed after 10 minutes

Quote from my therapy journal, train-of-thought, bad-spelling, punctuation and all.  

Deleted by author

But I'm better, now...

While living in Colombia, May of 2000-taken off a bus traveling from Cucuta to Pamplona-bus stopped by ELN.  All passengers taken off bus, searched at gun point, some taken into the jungle with the group that stopped the bus.

My best friend and I had no jobs or worries during high school, so we would just ride around town until curfew every evening after school.  One particular night for whatever reason he and another friend of mine riding along were acting more stupid than normal, so for whatever reason I got them to drop me off at another friend's house, who really I was only an acquantance with (and who wasn't even home at the time, but I stayed to wait on him anyway).  

I got word after dark that my best friend had died right after dropping me off, lost control of the truck and went out the window, cutting him in half between the truck and a guard rail.  The other two guys with him survived (barely).

Fell down a hill...underneath a 4-wheeler......

got caught in a gasoline explosion. Interesting experience. I wouldn't recommend it.

recently took up skydiving.

enjoy swimming in the ocean...once found myself isolated from the boat by a barracuda when i was a small (bite-sized) child.

several near-incidents (robberies) averted by the presence of  not-so-concealed weapons.

totalled 4 cars...2 head-on, 2 rollovers.

got caught in a very nasty winter storm once in a small boat. several miles from shore. Dumb idea.


Yes, I should be dead now.

Quoted: Had a ticket for Flight 77 on 9/11.  Rescheduled last minute for almost no reason.  Saved my life.

You win!

Lets see,

When I was six was in a friends parents car when they stopped quick. I went from the middle of the back seat to the front window, and back real fast. Starred the front window, but don't remember it actually happening.

20 years ago was in a head on collision, wrecked my parents big Ford station wagon. No injuries, was belted in the drivers seat.

About 10 years ago, broke my ankle while out hiking alone. Was able to call 911 on a cell phone, but couldn't get coverage after the first call.

More recently was missed by a large piece of shrapnel launched by some tannerite. (See 1gunrunner's truck for the damage...)

Quote from 82ndAbn:

You had a Beretta 20+ years ago?

Yes, not military issue.  I packed a Browning P35 in the field.  

The Beretta 92 was produced starting in 1976, and we got 92 SB-Fs for beta field-testing in 1983.  Adopted by the Army as the M9 in 1985.

The Armorer insisted I carry the 92 SB-F instead of my P35 and the situation went FUBAR once at the objective.

edit

Thank you, Palo.  Thanks for honoring my feelings which are still strong to this day.

We field tested many types of weapon systems...some adopted, some not.

1. 50 ft from a Kaytusha rocket impact. +1 on being  a REAL Bell Ringer !

2. Almost got personal with an APU drive shaft, Amazing how something turning 6000+ RPM looks like it isn't moving ! Noise deprevation (sp.) thing, luckly someone grabbed my arm !

3. Was lifting a 8'x6' x1" steel plate with overhead crane with 4x nylon lifting straps with 3" steel hooks, used one hook like idiot on an eye bolt on plate edge and left the other 3 hanging, one of the unused hooks caught on edge of plate stretched the strap and let loose deflecting the 3" steel hook of my forehead ! stumbled around dazed and confused for awhile after that one !

Going 60 down the high way in the rain.
Guess I hit A patch of water or something but next thing I know is that i'm looking at head lights instead of tail lights.
My car just spun A 180 & came to A total stop...In the middle of the high way.
The thing I remember most clearly tho is the expression on the drivers face of the now ONCOMING traffic.
It was most likely the same one I had on my face.
Ya know the "Oh shit...I'm going to die." look

Quoted: Background: I am from a liberal family and never held, or fired a gun in my life until a friend of mine took me to a gun show (Roanoke) and then shooting afterwards. I don't know, but I found it fascinating and decided to go to another one on my own. I ended up WINNING a Springfield XD sub-compact 9mm. I took the carry class. Less than 6 weeks after getting my CCW permit, I decided to visit my family in Richmond. I normally check my guns securely at home if I visit my parents figuring they're anti-gun. Well it was Reagan's funeral so PD offices, campus security, etc. were closed. So, I get in the car the next day with the gun (loaded) and drove off to Richmond. I stopped at a gas station to fill up and go take a piss. Bathroom was really busy so I go on to a 2nd gas station. After using their outdoors bathroom (outhouse sort of thing), I open the door and a large gentleman was in the doorway and wouldn't move. I tried to squeeze by and he pushed me against the back wall and demanded money. I couldn't move very much with him crowding me but I gave him my wallet. When he saw I had no cash, he just exploded and said that I should die for not getting him a fix. I pressed hard against him and called for help. I distracted him enough that I could get my gun out and I pressed it hard against his chest. He immediately backed down and said I was crazy. To make a long story short, cops didn't care, filed a Police Report anyway, and no carry everywhere I can. I know my sob story sounds a bit like a cliche but I continue to feel the need to talk about and have since seen a psych. mainly because I continue to have dreams that my mercy on the guy may lead to someone innocent dying - that if the perp kills someone I had in my hand to prevent that future crime. Nonetheless, I'd probably be feeling pretty shitty if I had shot him. Edited for spelling.

Nice Control in a bad situation.

I almost had to kill a motherfucker when I was in college, who kicked my door in and threatend to cut my throat with the broken beer bottle he was holding. This occurred at 3am, and I was sound asleep. Turns out it was the cracked out boyfriend of the Crack Ho Bitch that lived under me, and she'd been filling his head full of all kinds of bullshit. Funny thing was, he reacted much like your fella did: The sight of a stainless 6"  .357 muzzle pointed at his chest suddenly made the beer bottle seem a bit wimpy.  Didn't want to, but if he'd have taken ONE MORE step toward me, I'da killed the motherfucker, and  I think I'da slept like a baby after the shock wore off. He put himself there, not me.

You probably would've, too, after the inital shock. wore off.

The cops, to their credit not only cuffed and stuffed his ass (breaking and entering,  criminal tresspass, attempted something or other) but they also got the bitch for accessory to something he did and both of 'em cause thy had enough crack and weed to get nailed for intent to distribute.

Anyhoo, good job. and amazing self control in a bad situation.

SG

Quoted: Thank you, Palo.  Thanks for honoring my feelings which are still strong to this day. We field tested many types of weapon systems...some adopted, some not.

Guess I missed your original post.  What happened even though i missed your 10 minuite frame.  If you wouldnt mind sayin

I was in a truck that broke down in the middle of the night, in the middle of Safwan, Iraq about 5 days after the war started. The night before and the night after there had been several RPG attacks.

When I was 12 my step father tried to shoot me in the face with a Lorcin .380, but didn't have a round chambered.

Quoted: When I was 12 my step father tried to shoot me in the face with a Lorcin .380, but didn't have a round chambered.

what a guy

I almost got runover by a train when I was 12.  Me and my buddies used to walk along the RR tracks when we were kids to shoot birds and stuff with our BB guns.  One day we were in the middle of a train bridge about 70 feet off the ground and a train came around the corner!  We ran like hell to get off the bridge and barely made it.

Was cool sealing the top of a 40ft grain bin. Stepped in a spot I had already gone over and fell off. I landed 2ft away from the concrete that was around it. I was 15 at the time and somehow I didnt break a bone but I couldnt hardly move for about 4 days.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Thank you, Palo.  Thanks for honoring my feelings which are still strong to this day. We field tested many types of weapon systems...some adopted, some not. Guess I missed your original post.  What happened even though i missed your 10 minuite frame.  If you wouldnt mind sayin It was a stream of consciousness account of a mission that went bad. Fucking intense read.  I still have a lump in my throat. uxb - lemme know if you want me to shut my mouth.  If you do, I'll remove this.

thanks, uxb gave me the fill.  nuff said.

Doublefeed, you're fine.  Just no specifics.  General is okay.

Thanks for asking...
uxb

Quoted: Quoted: Had a ticket for Flight 77 on 9/11.  Rescheduled last minute for almost no reason.  Saved my life. You win!

It seems to run in my family -- in 1969, my parents were overseas in Denmark visiting my father's family and my mom fell ill with the Hong Kong Flu.  She wound up in the hospital and they missed their flight home.  That flight (SAS 933) wound up crashing into the Pacific Ocean just short of Los Angeles, killing a third of the people on board.

When I bought my first 4WD truck, a 1983 S10, I was driving myself and my GF at the time home in a snowstorm (this is while I still lived in St. Louis) and I was feeling sorta God-like because I was getting shitloads of traction and was driving along like it was a fine spring day. I hadn't yet realized that 4WD gives great traction BUT DOES LITTLE OR NOTHING TO SLOW YOU DOWN (except in 4 low, but I was in 4 high). I came to an intersection, the light turned yellow and then red, I hit the brakes and when into a spin that took me flashing past an oncoming tractor-trailer going the other way through the intersection. Yep, got my scared ass chewed royally. Now when I drive in bad weather in 4WD I drive like Granny. It'll take me a while but I WILL GET THERE.

Just this past Friday I was going through an intersection-light green in my direction-and some assclown getting off the highway, talking on his cellphone, blows through the red in his direction and zips past in front of me, I missed him by 15-20 feet.

Too many incidents while abalone diving in northern PRK where the water and surf were just fine when we got in, changed to horrible while we were out. Risked a couple of bashings off the shore rocks and once we had to swim about 3/4 mile down the shoreline to get out safely. Needless to say, after 4 or 5 of these incidents I gave up on abalone diving. They don't taste THAT good.

Had a blowout on a rear tire of my 1990 Jeep Wrangler and when I tried to brake to slow down the tire locked up, I went sideways and then rolled two times. Bad, huh? NOT the worst. Where this happened was traveling south on Hwy. 1 in northern PRK, south of Pacifica, CA in a stretch of road called "Devil's Slide". No shoulders on either side, the east side of the highway is a rock wall and the west side of the highway is a 2ft high guardrail then a 300 foot drop to the ocean. I ended up on the east side of the highway. Walked away without a fucking scratch.

Was riding in a boat with a roommate of mine in San Francisco Bay, foggy as hell morning. Visibility about 35-40 YARDS. We'd put in at South San Francisco and were headed up to Sausalito and points beyond. (Let me point out at this time we had no compass and were navigating by the dim glow of the sun and whatever shoreline we could see. Yes, we were making terrible time) I'd driven his boat carefully for about an hour, no problem. We stopped to piss and he took over the helm and immediately started going too fast for my liking, but it was his boat. We're humming along at about 35-40, I'm bullshitting with another friend of ours in the back seat when suddenly the driver/owner says, "Shit! Land!" and cuts the wheel hard to port. I though, "Oh shiiiiit" and hunkered down and held onto the seat. We skidded ashore at good speed, ripped off the outdrive, went over a few 1 1/2 to 2' rocks, ripped open the hull real good, but again, walked away without a scratch.

Nowadays, I NEVER let someone do something like that against my better judgement.

Quoted: I drive the Los Angeles freeways nearly daily.

Try driving the Baltimore and DC beltways twice daily!

Quoted: Had a ticket for Flight 77 on 9/11.  Rescheduled last minute for almost no reason.  Saved my life.

Quoted: Going 60 down the high way in the rain. Guess I hit A patch of water or something but next thing I know is that i'm looking at head lights instead of tail lights. My car just spun A 180 & came to A total stop...In the middle of the high way. The thing I remember most clearly tho is the expression on the drivers face of the now ONCOMING traffic. It was most likely the same one I had on my face. Ya know the "Oh shit...I'm going to die." look

Went through the exact same thing, except I spun out because some retard decided to come in my lane nearly hit me, so I hit the brakes and turned at the same time, overcorrected, and spun out.  I remember seeing headlights instead of taillights and immediately thought that I was going to die.

Flat tire and a fucked up rim....other than that, the car was fine.  And this was across four lanes of traffic.

I managed to pull to the shoulder and call my boyfriend since he was closer than my parents.  When he got to where I was and opened my door, I don't think I've ever cried harder in my life.

Tag.

Trying to figure out which was the most lethal situation.

when I was a kid, I had a tree fall down around me.  Oh, and I shot my leg one time...by accident.

Quoted: Tag. Trying to figure out which was the most lethal situation.

I'm going to vote for Lady Liberty, because we all know damn well that if she had boarded that plane...well, she wouldn't be posting about it.