for the record, my new tires seem to have quite good capabilities. especially with braking. in a short distance. quickly.

 

picked up paul's wife on our way to meet jeff for casino royale [memorable cr quote: "i'll keep my eyes on the money and off your perfectly formed ass." "so, you noticed." "yes, even accountants have imagination." why, yes, we do...]. the night is dark, the road is winding, the area is [sortof] wooded. you see where this is going, right?

 

out jumps one of the dumbest creatures in the world, meandering across the road, crossing the center line, out for a stroll, which is all lovely and fine, nature is beautiful, ho hum, except that I'M BEARING DOWN ON IT FOR THE LOVE CAN'T YOU SEE MY LIGHTS YOU STUPID ANIMAL? rush of adrenaline, slamming of brakes, swerving of car [terrible idea, but instinctive in the moment]..... luckily just a close call. a VERY close call.

 

"are you okay?" i ask.

 

"i can't believe we didn't hit that. good thing too, because i don't know how to field dress a deer."

 

um, i'll take that as a "yes."

 

i'm convinced we would have totally hit had we been riding on my old tires. in the last little while, my anti-lock brakes would start kicking in on random gravel patches and during the lightest of rainfalls. i can't imagine i could have gotten enough traction on those to stop as quickly as we did. although it wasn't that long ago that i was wondering how much i could get out of insurance for my car! but passengers change things. as do very large furry idiotic animals that can wreak massive damage to smallish cars upon impact.

 

at any rate... praise for perfect timing. seriously.