July 19th, A day full of suprises

Today, as I drove to work I was involved in a car accident. I was going through a stoplight that I go through at least once a week when I was stopped by a blue Chevy truck attempting to make a left turn.

I will try to explain the events leading up to the crash with as much detail as I can. I was heading south on Summerfield Rd. approaching the intersection of Hwy 150. The speed limit in this area is 35 and though I cannot tell you my exact speed at the time I do know that I had just slowed down for both the school and a yard sale sign. I would estimate under 35 though.

As I approached the intersection I noticed a blue truck with it’s left ticker on, looked at the light , it was green, and continued. At this time the truck appeared to be stationary. About 1/8-1/4 through the intersection I notice the truck lurch foreword and I slammed my brakes.

I remember skidding and realizing I was about to hit. I also remember the front of the Suburu wrinkling like you see in a movie. I do not remember my airbag deploying but my next thought was “what is this in my face?” It was, of course, the airbag, I pushed it away releasing only what I can describe as nasty smelling baby powder into the air. Couphing from the powder, I exited my vehicle. The other driver was already out of his truck. I proceeded to ask him if he was alright to which he replied “this is your fault isn’t it?” I told him not to worry and asked again if he was alright. A truck passing asked if he needed to call the police and I gestured for him to do so. I asked the other driver again if he was alright and this time he responded saying his chest hurt a little. I pointed to the truck and asked him if he needed an ambulance, he said no.

Things started to calm down for me and then the other drive said “boy if I’d a known you was coming through I sure would have stayed were I was.” to which I replied “boy if I’d a known you where going to turn I sure would a stopped.” We said this to each other about 5 times throughout our conversation. The guy in the truck that called the police said that he had done so, I asked if he saw anything to which he replied “By the time I got here everything was said and done. The Fire Dept. was first on scene and asked everyone if they where alright. The wife of the other driver had also showed up.
I asked her if she had a cellphone which she did not. I then looked around for other people and everybody seemed to be too busy trying to get around the accident to care.

One woman who knew the other driver did stop and let me use her cell phone to call my grandmother. She was all exited and she is what the military would call the communications center of the family. I knew calling her would spread the word of my accident to the rest of the family including my wife who was at the doctors office getting her checkup for the baby. Luckily my Uncle was at my mother/grandmother’s house while his wife (Dovey) watched my nephew. My grandmother dispatched him to come and pick me up with directions that would have led him about 3-4 miles in the wrong direction, thankfully he knew the area and was able to come.

The police arrived shortly after the fire dept. and proceeded to make sure everybody was accounted for and that we where alright. He then started investigating the scene, marking the tires, measuring the distance of my skid marks, and so forth. I asked if it was alright to remove my computer and other electronics that I carry with me, he said that would be fine and then informed me that my car was not drivable and asked if I had a preference of a towing company I said that it didn’t matter but that Donnells’ Towing was probably the closest.

I removed my computer, switch, and PDA and put them in my uncle’s car. I also had my mom’s digital camera that I had borrowed for an event later in the day so I took several pictures of the accident they are below. The police officer asked me to come sit in his car and questioned me about the event, I told him everything I knew and then he asked me to make a written statement. I feel sorry for whoever has to read that thing as my hands where a bit shaky from the event. I even got my address wrong the first time I told him.

In the end I was ok save a sore knee and my family was a bit shook up. The other driver was found at fault and I was ready to call it a day.

But wait there’s more.

The reason I had my mom’s digital camera is that today was my wife’s second ultra sound and my first! I could not make out much from the picture she brought home from the last ultra-sound and I wanted to make sure we got some good ones this time. The appointment was at 2:45 and we got there at around 2:15. We did not have to wait long to be seen and the Ultra-sound was going good (I’ll repost some video later) until the operator said “Are you sure that the last technician said it was a girl?” we replied yes and she said “we’ll you see that? You are having a boy!” We where both shocked and yes we saw the wee-wee. So now the babies name will be Daniel Lynn Bates and he will no longer be miss-diagnosed as a girl, I will make sure of that

So you see what I mean by a day full of surprises, I thought you would agree.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures
David Bates

Upclose of the crunch	View from old store
Other side	The other driver is standing next to the old store.
Tail view of truck	That is not smoke. It is the drying powder the guy is throwing down.
View from back of my car. Almost made it

Oh, there?s more; Pregnancy in the fast lane:

On Wednesday, two weeks after my wife and I found out that we where pregnant we find that she is 28 weeks (7months) along! OMG! I have so much to get ready. We think that the baby will be a girl and that her name will be Chloé Lynn Bates. She is currently 2-3Lbs and is kicking up a storm! Atta girl. We are not buying anything Pink yet as the sex from the doctor is still undetermined but for about 3 seconds my wife and the nurse both thought they saw the female stuff. I was not present for the first ultra sound because we did not know that she would receive one that day, I am quite disappointed. Nevertheless, I will be there for the next one and I will have movies that I will post.

Other things in my life are life are going well, I just finished a change at work that required me to write over 4000 lines of code, I am enjoying school this term, and I am very busy on the home front preparing for Chloé.

The due date is set for September the 15th.

Oh, by the way have you seen how cool strollers are now. I never thought I would say this but that Jeep 3 wheeled thing looks awesome. Click Here for a look.

I will keep updating as things happen.
Thanks for reading
David Bates

Life’s changes

It has been awhile since I have posted? sorry.
I have been quite busy; let me catch you up to date.

I have finished my second term at ECPI and so far so good. I have tested out of six classes now and have accumulated 20 credit hours. I also still have a 4.0GPA YAY! I have decided that this term I will take one online course and one in class course? I needed a break, plus I have other news that influenced that decision.

MY WIFE IS PREGNANT!
Some have said ?Congrat?s. Right?? It is a very happy time indeed.
My wife and I have been married for 7 years come November (yeah I remember the date) and couldn?t be happier. We have not necessarily tried to have a baby but we sure have had fun, wink.
I cannot tell you how far along she is, as we do not know, we figure about three months though.
Boy am I excited! or Girl am I excited! As I don?t know that either.

We have already been thinking of names and the two that keeps coming to mind are Chloe for a girl Samuel Daniel for a boy. What do you think?

Have you seen the pictures of my sister?s graduation? If not go to my pictures and have a look. My sister graduated with honors from ECPI this year in the medical assisting field and I was part of the graduation ceremony as a Jr. Marshal; she has been employed for at least three month?s now and is loving it. I am so proud of her.

Well, I think that is it for now. I know the website is still not finished but I really haven?t had time to work on it. If there are any ideas you have for it let me know, as I am very open to discussion about what it should become.

Six Years Ago: The woman who changed my life

Six years ago, as I was driving my red-rusted Mustang to work never did it dawn on me that I might meet someone who would change my life. Now, I am not talking about someone who just changes a certain aspect of your life or even someone who points you down a career path. I mean someone who literally changed me as a person. Who could be such a person you may ask. Well my person was a woman, and not just any good-looking woman let me tell you this woman was drop dead gorgeous, and had a smile that would stop a train. This woman happens to be my wife. My wife and I have made a lot of memories together but the six months before we married where the most memorable.

Our first encounter was while I was stocking a shelf at the local grocery store. I had just finished unpacking and placing the last can of green giant. As I looked around for my next brown box of goods, I noticed this exquisite creature at the end of my isle. She had nice long legs, tight denim jeans, and chocolate brown hair. She had perfect form as she reached down to pick up a can of Campbell?s soup. I managed to look away and continue to work almost cutting myself while opening the next cardboard box. I tried so hard to keep busy that I missed her leaving the isle. I immediately dropped my box and went searching only to find that my friend had found an interest in her as well. I immediately starting whacking on the nearest thing resembling a box, whishing my friend would move so that I could see better. She walked right past me that day, toying with me, and I noticed the sweet smell of Patchouli.

It took several encounters like that to strike up enough nerve to speak with her. Everytime I smelled Patchouli I got excited, my hands would sweat, my feet wouldn?t move, and my heart beat so loud that I was afraid she could here it. In fact, once I did get to speak with her it seamed as if she was totally disinterested in me. So I did what any self-respecting man would do, I shaved, bought new clothes, and traded in my rust-bucket for a shiny new Dodge Neon. Thinking that the new look would cause her to notice me. Some of my friends would ask me why I made such a dramatic change. I just shrugged at their remarks and told them that I just ran into some money and wanted to look the part. The transformation took about a month and buy the end of it I was six thousand dollars in debt and she still acted as though I didn?t exist. She would talk to me while I put her groceries in her car but beyond that I was like any other guy in the county.

It was no big secret that every man within 10 miles knew her by name and wanted to spend some time with her. She has an intoxicating smile and a laugh that just made everything seem all right. My friends had her all to themselves, but little did we know that she had a crush on me. The flirting was so subtle that I mistook it for hostility at first and then just thought she was snobby.

Over time, we became friends, hung out together, and even went on friendly dates. Everything was going according to plan until she had to start dating Mike Coolihan, a ruthless, perverted, son of a bitch that I despised. Still somehow, he had gotten his grubby hands on my girl, what was I to do? Well, I come up with a plan that was ingenious. I invited her to dinner and brought my cousin along with me, we ate at a very fancy restaurant and I made her pay for the meal with the reason that I could only buy her dinner if we where dating. Later that night I took her to a blockbuster movie, again making her pay. I did not even let her sit beside me when she wanted to. She had to bribe my cousin into moving so she could sit near me, it was priceless. However, as with all evil plans it failed miserably. She took me seriously and only thought we were friends. I continued to allow her to believe we were just friends in order to stay closer to her. By the time that she invited me to her birthday party I had just had enough and told her that I was leaving the state to visit my mother. I did leave the state and even tried to look at other women but she constantly filled my thoughts. It was like she was in my head telling me to wait.

On August the 17th, I received a call from work that said Jess has been hurt at work they are taking her to the hospital. Immediately, I quit working at that moment, punched out, and went to the hospital. I stayed with her during the entire recovery process including an emergency drive to the hospital at 110 MPH. I can only describe the fear of losing her as someone pulling my heart out with a plastic fork. It was when she puked on me that everyone knew we were meant for each other. I married her 3 months after she was released from the hospital in fear that I might lose her forever. I have never regretted a single day since we were wed. When someone ask me how I got to where I am today I mention four people my mother who birthed me, my grandparents who taught me wrong from right, and my wife who made me a man.

Tried and Failed