I will say I technically totally my mother's car in high school, but I was told that just meant that repairing it would cost more than the value of the car -- I drove up on a curb and fucked up the alignment or whatever. It was not a bad accident, aside from not being able to drive the car away.

And now I don't drive, so there you go!

I wish they showed San Francisco.

I do too, although it is not a big city by any definition.

ETA: I have no idea how Paris could top the list. It is very comparable to NY. And nowhere near London.

Yeah, I had that bad wreck in Sedona. Totaled both cars, the mechanic said that as bad as the damage was, we should have been killed. It shook up the SO worse than me, I think, since I was on the side of the impact. Hit so hard that it knocked my glasses off, which then hit the SO. And I dropped my smoothie, which made exciting Dexter splatter patterns on the window, but did not, in fact, turn out to be brain matter. I only had seatbelt bruises and whiplash, though, and the SO was pretty much completely unhurt. Our pocketbooks weren't, though, because our insurance had lapsed unbeknownst to us while we were on the road and we are still paying for the other person's car.

I don't think it changed my life, necessarily, but it was definitely a sharp reminder of our frailty.

My sister had an experience in Africa where they were shot at, at point blank range, but were unharmed. That's the one that's mindfuckery to me.

it is not a big city by any definition.

It is if the definition of big city = Awesome!

::whimper::

How I love this dress. Love the color and the reverse print lining-- it's just so adorably springlike.

Why did it have to have cap sleeves? I can't wear cap sleeves. They make me look like a linebacker.

::pouts::

I don't believe I've had a near-death experience. I've been in a few car accidents, but none of them were serious enough that I feared for my life.

This weekend I'll be getting a haircut and hiking on some local trails behind a botanical garden to see if the trout lilies are out yet.

How I love this dress. Love the color and the reverse print lining-- it's just so adorably springlike.

Oh, that's gorgeous.

That is a fabulous dress, Barb. Could you alter the sleeves?

Ooh, sounds great Calli. I need to get out and do some hiking.

Dear Barb -

If you buy me that dress, I will carry out the vengence wish of your choice.

Yours in love with that dress,
Aims

I was in a car accident that totaled the car when I was 23. I was driving, ran a red light (by mistake, lost in a new city), and got hit on the driver's side by a pickup truck. The impact was at the rear wheel; if it had been 4-6 feet more to the front of the car I probably would have been seriously hurt, but as it was I just had a seatbelt bruise. I distinctly recall seeing the truck coming and knowing he was going to hit me - it was like time slowed down - and I stepped on the gas, and that's what kept me from being hurt. Long-term effects? I still don't drive. I don't appreciate life any more, though.

I was also held up at gunpoint when I was 25. I think the risk of fatal injury was rather less there. My grandfather asked me if I was going to stop voting democratic, on the theory that "a Republican is a Democrat who's been mugged," but, nope.