I pulled into an intersection, with the light, when a car that was screened from me by a row of stopped cars ran the light and t-boned me at around 50 mph. The rolled two full times. It only quit rolling then because it bounced off the side of a van that was sitting on the other side of the intersection. It settled upright. I remember watching the world rotate in front of me and I remember my head bouncing off what would have been pavement if not for the curtain airbag blocking the shattered side window.

The outside of the car was completely shredded, but the passenger compartment was intact. Between that, and a full set of airbags, both I and my passenger came through it unhurt. Not even so much as a headache. The car was a 2016 Subaru Outback. I replaced it with a 2018 Subaru Outback. A couple years later my passenger replaced her car with a 2020 Subaru Outback. I don’t expect either of us will buy anything but Subaru for the rest of our lives.

The funny part of the incident was the immediate aftermath. We live in a very friendly large town where a lot of people walk. The car had barely stopped when we were surrounded by a crowd of people offering help. I had a nurse on my side and my passenger had a doctor on hers. They talked us through a basic evaluation. Less than two minutes after the impact, paramedics arrived in an ambulance and took over. (I wouldn’t have known the timing, except that the nurse had checked and mentioned it.) After more thorough evaluations we were released.

The guy who hit us did have some injuries, but none of them turned out to be too serious. He had a lot of bruises, a few cuts from broken glass, and a stiff neck. He was horrified at what he had done and took full responsibility when the police got our statements. Apparently he got distracted trying to find his turned and missed the light changing.

No one else was hurt. The light had been changing when it happened and everyone had, amazingly, stayed where they were. The van we bounced off of had some minor damage on the side we hit, but it was still perfectly drivable.

It was the worst situation I’ve ever seen that resolved so well.

You have much to be humble about.

I predict a dramatic increase in the number of suicides. Specifically among those desperately calling 911 for help.

I understand why you want to go out there, but it is scary and dangerous in all kinds of ways you don’t know how to deal with. Trust your human and stay inside where it’s safe unless they tell you otherwise.

Note to the owner: We got a pet stroller at a local thrift store. We take our cat on “walks” in it when we go out with the dogs. It has a fully enclosed mesh compartment that lets our cat see out without being able to run away.

I love those blue eyes!

And if he wants to be a fox, I’m not going to stand in his way.

That’s wonderful. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

My rather will appreciate it too.

Oh, good! Thank you.

I was born in South Carolina, but my parents moved to Iowa when I was four, rather than put me into that school system.

They tell me that whenever someone pointed out that their schools were 49th in the country, they would smile and say, “Thank God for Mississippi!”

He’s solved the unified field theory and is working out how to turn his solution into a graphic novel.

Be very careful about pets around plastic wrap. It’s too easy for them to suffocate if anything goes wrong.

That’s is an excellent summary.

I suspect most of what he does ends with with the phrase “in a vain attempt to not look like an incompetent asshole”.

This is why all of my cats have been trained by my dogs.

This is the correct answer.

I doubt I look at the time on my phone more than a couple of times per week. I have wall clocks all over the house and a watch on my wrist. Almost all of them, including my watch, automatically correct themselves using the WWV time signal from the National Bureau of Standards.

I don’t have anything against using my phone, but it’s easier to glance at the wall or my wrist than to get out my phone when I want to know the time.

Always remember that Microsoft literally means small and limp.

OnePlus is still my favorite, even though they’re nearly impossible to get in the US. I broke the screen on my 9 Pro (I fell and smashed it between my hip and a rock) and had to replace it with a Samsung. Two of my friends got 9 Pros and love them. Another friend got a 7 Pro in 2019 and is still happy with it. That something like 84 in phone years. :-)

I started out with Motorola phones and I suspect I’ll be going back the next time I buy. Unless I figure out a way to get a OnePlus at a reasonable cost.

I can’t say I’m shocked that this could have happened, but I am appalled. How does a court convict a man of multiple crimes without any evidence whatsoever? The username may have started that mess, but it should never have made it past the initial investigation into the man who was convicted.

Yes, it is! And the Dresden Files are high on my list of favorite series.

There are a lot of differences between the worlds, but stylistically they have a lot in common. They do have somewhat different pacing. Dresden is very much an ongoing story. Arcane Casebook has some larger story arcs, but to me it feels more episodic. On the other hand, that works nicely with the noir detective genre.

I’m working on the most recent book of Dan Willis’ Arcane Casebook series. I stumbled onto them and got hooked.

The series is noir detective set in the 30’s, but with magic. As specific as that niche is, it has been done before, but these have been well worth reading. The way magic works is well-defined and has a lot of built-in limits. That keeps it from overshadowing the detective stories that are at the heart of the books.

These also do a good job of acknowledging the common tropes of the genre, without accepting them as limitations. For instance, cops don’t generally like private detectives, but the specific relationships between cops and detectives are varied and interesting.

The worldbuilding often goes in unexpected directions. The implications of magic affect everything. A lot of the world looks very familiar, but there are some prominent differences between our world and theirs. It’s a fun place to learn about.

I’m looking forward to the next book.

Without reading the article, I assume the lower risk is for the parent, not the child.