Guru
- Posts: 3648
- Joined: 20 Oct 2007, 11:47
- Location: Nottinghamshire: The Home of Robin Hood..... UK
I decided to take some timber to my allotment plot this morning ready to use it for making a gate with tomorrow, my plan when I got on the allotment site was to reverse along the grassy road that goes around the site, around the corner and park outside the entrance to my plot, which is only a couple of plots up, then unload the timber straight from the boot, which is standard practice for me when I have anything heavy or bulky to drop on site.......however things did not go quite to plan!
When reversing around the corner I misjudged where the edge of the road was and the rear drivers side wheel slipped off the road down an approximately six inch step into the freshly dug soil of the corner plot the sudden stop in momentum caused the drivers side front wheel to follow in the same direction and I ended up with the car half on the road and half on the corner plot. I wasn't to worried at this stage and even laughed at the situation, it can't be that bad, I hadn't been going fast, I'll just stick some wood under the wheels and drive straight back onto the road, hmmm nice plan - pity it didn't work! I tried going forwards, then backwards, then rocking to and fro, more timber under the wheels but the only result was I got more me more stuck with the wheels dug in deeper and deeper. At this stage I started to worry, I could no longer open or close the drivers side door it was too close to the ground because of the angle that the car was leaning at and because of how far the wheels had sank into the soil and when viewed from the outside the car had moved further off the road onto the soft soil of the corner plot! Oh poop! I had no choice but to call for assistance, so ten minutes later my son arrives at the scene, his first action? Yes or course take a photo to put on facebook!!! Did I laugh, did I heck, I was fatigued from all the digging, it was hammering it down with rain, I was soaked to the skin, covered in mud the car was covered in mud inside and out, perched at a precarious angle and stuck fast, (did I mention that the car is only 16 days old!) So I wasn't exactly in a laughing mood at that particular moment in time.
So he angles his car at the back of mine and attaches a lightweight tow rope (which is all we have) so here we go he pulls, I reverse, success? No - the tow rope breaks and we don't have a spare, time for the next phone call, bring on Chris the brother in law. Chris arrives says something to the effects of OMG how did you manage to put that there! By this time I am beyond even feeling embarrassment for my actions, I just want to retreat to my shed and put the towel over my head and wish for it to all go away! We fit a more substantial towing rope and after a couple of attempts........ I am out and back on the road. Yeh at last!
I survey the scene, there is a huge hole which we have just pulled the car out of, it must be four feet deep! I have also took out a few Brussel Sprout plants, gorged four deep track marks and scattered bits of wood every where! What a state! So before leaving I tidy up the mess that I have made, picking up all the wood and filling in the holes and ruts. To be fair it doesn't look too bad and thankfully apart from a few skid marks on the edges you would hardly be able to see that I had ever been there.
I have since phoned the plot holder and apologised to her, washed the car inside and out and thankfully no lasting damage appears to have been done - apart from the damage to my pride that is!
I have now learned the hard way that I need to be more careful when reversing and that the rear reversing/parking camera gives a different perspective to the one that I am used to with regard to the location of the back end of the car.
I hope things pick up for the rest of the year!
When reversing around the corner I misjudged where the edge of the road was and the rear drivers side wheel slipped off the road down an approximately six inch step into the freshly dug soil of the corner plot the sudden stop in momentum caused the drivers side front wheel to follow in the same direction and I ended up with the car half on the road and half on the corner plot. I wasn't to worried at this stage and even laughed at the situation, it can't be that bad, I hadn't been going fast, I'll just stick some wood under the wheels and drive straight back onto the road, hmmm nice plan - pity it didn't work! I tried going forwards, then backwards, then rocking to and fro, more timber under the wheels but the only result was I got more me more stuck with the wheels dug in deeper and deeper. At this stage I started to worry, I could no longer open or close the drivers side door it was too close to the ground because of the angle that the car was leaning at and because of how far the wheels had sank into the soil and when viewed from the outside the car had moved further off the road onto the soft soil of the corner plot! Oh poop! I had no choice but to call for assistance, so ten minutes later my son arrives at the scene, his first action? Yes or course take a photo to put on facebook!!! Did I laugh, did I heck, I was fatigued from all the digging, it was hammering it down with rain, I was soaked to the skin, covered in mud the car was covered in mud inside and out, perched at a precarious angle and stuck fast, (did I mention that the car is only 16 days old!) So I wasn't exactly in a laughing mood at that particular moment in time.
So he angles his car at the back of mine and attaches a lightweight tow rope (which is all we have) so here we go he pulls, I reverse, success? No - the tow rope breaks and we don't have a spare, time for the next phone call, bring on Chris the brother in law. Chris arrives says something to the effects of OMG how did you manage to put that there! By this time I am beyond even feeling embarrassment for my actions, I just want to retreat to my shed and put the towel over my head and wish for it to all go away! We fit a more substantial towing rope and after a couple of attempts........ I am out and back on the road. Yeh at last!
I survey the scene, there is a huge hole which we have just pulled the car out of, it must be four feet deep! I have also took out a few Brussel Sprout plants, gorged four deep track marks and scattered bits of wood every where! What a state! So before leaving I tidy up the mess that I have made, picking up all the wood and filling in the holes and ruts. To be fair it doesn't look too bad and thankfully apart from a few skid marks on the edges you would hardly be able to see that I had ever been there.
I have since phoned the plot holder and apologised to her, washed the car inside and out and thankfully no lasting damage appears to have been done - apart from the damage to my pride that is!
I have now learned the hard way that I need to be more careful when reversing and that the rear reversing/parking camera gives a different perspective to the one that I am used to with regard to the location of the back end of the car.
I hope things pick up for the rest of the year!