Hey all you RGruppers.
Just wanted to let y'all know that your old filmmaker buddy and MC of previous years' dinners at the RGruppe SPECTACULAR was planning on driving up this morning, but got TAGGED by an 82 year-old man who ran a red light in Burbank the other day.
He didn't even know what he had done. He did not hit the brakes, so there was no aural warning at all...just...SLAM!
At first, as my mind went into immediate over-drive, I thought, "Wow...someone just got tagged right next to me."
Then, as the car parts started flying over my hood (got slammed on the passenger side), I realized..."Hey...wait a minute...those are MY parts flying over my own hood."
Then it was brake and counter steer to avoid the traffic light pole and the 2 pedestrians on foot on the corner.
Luckily, I was NOT IN MY 72S!!
If I had been...it would be D-O-N-E. No doubt about it.
As it was, my 10 month old, looked like brand new Toyota Tacoma Dualie sustained $12K in damages. I wish to God they would just total it. But I think they're gonna fix it.
Oh yeah...did I mention that the old guy was driving a 1988 LINCOLN??!!
An actual freakin' TANK plowed into me!
So...no long drives up any coast for this GRupper this week. And definitely not in my ST seats in my 72, supportive though they may be.
My neck is killing me...but I'm gonna be fine. I've been a pain in the neck or ass to so many over the years as an indie film producer and director...it's only fair payback.
Plus, the Burbank Police and Paramedics and I all agreed that there was much to be thankful for. The cop said, "It's a good thing you were in that Toyota truck. They're tough."
I swear to God, that's exactly what he said. And I immediately started looking around, thinking that it was all just a set-up for a commercial and the whole thing was being filmed and that was the big pay-off tag line.
And then my Allstate guy, whose office was 2 blocks from the accident, was Johnny-On-The=Spot, at the scene in 2 minutes, standing helpful guard over me and my truck. That's when I was utterly confident that Allstate was ALSO filming a commercial there, with me and my truck as the "When bad things happen to good people" protagonists.
Then we all agreed that it was actually a blessing that the guy hit me and my truck, as he should not have been driving, was an accident just WAITING to happen, and that if he had hit some college kid in an old Civic, he could've killed somebody.
Lessoned learned: NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE 88 LINCOLN AND ITS ORIGINAL OWNER!!
The damn thing was bigger than my first New York City apartment!
And last...my other favorite moment was when I walked around the twisted metal that was my new truck, to check on the driver and the passenger of THE TANK, to find his passenger, with a collar bone broken by her seat belt, looking at me with a most hideous PLEADING look, and exclaiming, and I quote, " LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!!"
That was the moment when I realized that I had better find a witness and fast.
Okay all...have fun up there...be fast AND safe...and know that I miss y'all and all the 911s something fierce.
I'll do something special for ya' next year. Maybe Il'll make a COMPARISON VIDEO. I can compare what Porsche and German engineering were crafting in 1988...and...what Lincoln was making out of RETIRED BATTLE SHIPS in 1988!!
I'll see y'all on the R-oad.
Cain
RGruppe 212
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