Two Near Misses

I have had an interesting week since returning from Wisconsin.

There were two incidents that were potentially dangerous, but I realized the mistake quickly, made corrections and continued on.

She first was after meeting with new clients.  The couple have a hunting lodge on the fringe of town, a fifteen mile ride from my office. They want to add to the master bathroom and closet. On the way back to work, I was speeding down I-10. No car passed me for the entire way but I did notice a white VW Passat gaining on me as I approached a car to pass. Going 75 mph, I checked my mirrors and began the lane change when I noticed this car exactly where I was going. We got close. It surprised me but I got back in my lane easily. I looked at the entire lane when passing on the remainder of the ride.

The second was this morning. I went over to our new duplex to mow and clean up the yard. I needed to go to Home Depot for some things and got Rocket out of the garage for the trip. We have an old wood gate separating the back yard, where the garage is located, from the front. I have rigged a bungee strap to hold the two gate leaves closed.  On this passing, I bumped Rocket's front tire against the operable gate leaf to push it open, then rode quickly through to get past before it closed. When doing this, the hook on the free end of the bungee caught on the left mirror. It stretched greatly and would have brought us down, but I sensed the danger and hit the brakes. The bungee was stretched to the max, but we escaped unscathed.

Counting my blessings today.