Sleep Study Failed, Semi-Trailer Prevailed

Last night I was supposed to be doing an at-home sleep study with the device pictured here:

But it was not to be.  (And yes, it's a little annoying wearing the device, but from what my Mom tells me it's a lot more comfortable than the sleep study they do at a sleep center, with multiple wires/leads hooked up all over you.)  As I lay down to sleep, I pushed the tiny "ON" button to start the device.  I heard a woman's voice say, "Unicorder is ON."  Great, I thought; I'm on my  way to finding out if I have obstructive sleep apnea.  But the nice lady's voice continued:  "Call tech support.  Internal check failed.  Study cannot be performed.  Code 5."  I called tech support.  I got an automated system.  There were numbers to push for Code 1, Code 6, and other general alarms, but nothing for Code 5.  After two more tries at starting the thing up, I removed it from my head and went to sleep.  I took the machine back to my doctor today, and my sleep study will be re-scheduled for whenever my doctor's office can get the little device fixed.

On my way home from returning the WM Ares Unicorder, I thought it would be nice to get my kids some junk food/fast food for lunch, a treat they don't usually get.  So I pulled through the drive-through at our nearest Wendy's, which is adjacent to our Walmart.  Fast food: got it.  I pulled out the access road from the Walmart parking lot, and stopped at a red light.  I was on the phone with my sister-in-law Esther (It's not illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving in GA.  Maybe it should be, but nevertheless....) and I saw a Walmart tractor-trailer turning in front of me into the entrance road on which I sat.  I was commenting to Esther that the semi seemed HUGE, when I suddenly realized that  he was not going to make the turn but was in fact going to hit my van in some manner.  My words to Esther went something like this:

"Are they making semis bigger than ever, because this truck seems enormous....he's taking the turn REALLY tight and awfully fast....I think he's going to hit me!  He's going to hit me!  HE'S HITTING ME!  HE'S HITTING ME!  Aaaaaaaahhhhhh! (screaming like a little girl)  Oh, okay, he's stopped!  THANK GOD!!!! He stopped!!!!"  Poor Esther.  Here is my little diagram of how the accident looked:

He stopped just before his back wheels were going to hit the front of my van.  Thank God he stopped!!!

So, to make a long story short:  I called the cops, they came, they wrote up a report, it wasn't my fault, the officer in charge was really nice and told me there was nothing I could have done without backing into the pickup truck that was behind me, and I am okay physically although rather shaken up emotionally.  There was actually a split second there where I thought that I might die.  It ran through my mind that it would be pretty terrible for Esther if I died while I was on the phone with her.  It also ran through my mind that I really don't want to die yet.  

Here is what our van looks like now.  It's really not that bad considering what could have happened.

Isn't it nice of God to give me some interesting things to write about now that I've determined to get back into blogging?  I'm only kidding.  I did learn some patience today through the sleep-study delay, and I learned once again that God is in control and has complete charge over our lives.  I'm grateful to be alive.