The Scion tC had a close call last night.

The scene began on Route 40, coming from Catonsville, heading towards Ellicott City. I was coming from VIP Billiards with Dana, if you live near here and know who Dana is.

Anyway, that section of RT 40 is up and down, lots of hills. Going down the last hill, where Rogers Avenue is at the bottom, this stupid driver in front of me braked too hard and too fast and his car wound up sideways, perpendicular to the lane. I was only roughly 20 feet behind him, with the nearest car 35 feet behind me (thank god for that), and the first thing I did was brake, felt the anti-lock brakes kick in and the car start to skate down the road.

So I let up on the brake and regain control of the car, BUT this means I am steadily approaching the car in front of me, sideways, blocking the lane. I steer to the right lane, and the act of going in that direction, without the use of gas or brakes, slowed the car down enough and I could brake slightly to stop the car.

My car stopped, halfway in the left and right lane, about a few feet from the car that started this mess. I am so glad that the cars behind me stopped at the peak of the hill, if they had gone down it, there would have been a massive pile-up. I would have been fine, the max speed any car was doing was 15mph, but that's plenty to total my car, my new scion tC.

So my sick ass driving skillz saved my car for another wintry day, and now it's only covered in a thick coat of rock salt.

BTW, George Carlin told me it's not a near miss it's a near hit.

Here's one they just made up... "Near Miss". When two planes almost collide, they call it a near miss. IT'S A NEAR HIT! A collision is a near miss. POOOF, look, they nearly missed. YES, BUT NOT QUITE!!! --George Carlin