The hand of Krishna

I had my first experience at a major business convention. I’ll post some of my feelings and experiences. And more than a few pictures.

First off, The Trip. Worst driving ever. It started raining before I even left the house, and there was the obligatory lake outside my front step, as water doesn’t drain well from the parking lot. It rained pretty heavily for the first hour and a half, but then lightened up to a drizzle. At least I could put the wipers on intermittant. I put in one of my favorite driving tapes (yes, my car doesn’t even have a CD player!), Chant And Be Happy, a collection of Hindu chant and repeat songs that Krishna Vas has since become famous for. After about half an hour the rain started up again, coming down pretty hard. I didn’t care, I was singing Hare Krishna. However, I did still have to start concentrating more on my driving since it was a bit slick. Sure enough, without any real warning, I was hydroplaning in a circle from the left lane of the highway. I didn’t strike the left guard rail. I didn’t get hit by any cars behind me. There was a gradual grassy slope down to the service drive, and the ground was pretty well soaked by the days rain. So, when I hit the verge, I went down, and didn’t flip, and the tires simply made deep furrows instead of being torqued and bent. There was no traffic on the service drive and I ended up on it, facing the same way I had been going. I first thought I’d done at least a 360, but now I wonder if I hadn’t started spinning in one direction, and then, over-corrected and spun back the way I came. I really don’t remember. I turned off the car. Sat for a minute, and got out to survey the dammage. My first fear was for the radiator, then the tires. It wasn’t smoking, and the tires were all there and appearing straight. The only obvious result of the adventure was mud and grass clods in all the wheel wells, and the gascap door had popped open. The car restarted fine, and seemed to run ok. There was even a re-entrance to the freeway a quarter mile along. But something like that makes you think and you’ve got to wonder. I was singing, technically, hymns praising Krishna. Over my passenger visor, I have hanging a Buddhist charm for safe travel that a friend brought back from Japan. Or was is some other guardian angel, Kami, ghost, or deity? All in all I was most thankfull that Wife was not with me, and that she would never find out about it. The constant rain even erased the grass and mud from every part of the car.
But the trip got worse.

Almost to Dallas, not long after the spin-out, as bad as the rain had been, it got worse. The sky turned dark as night. It looked like 8pm instead of Noon. I couldn’t see 20 yards down the freeway, even if the wipers could keep up with the water. I’d been in rain this hard or harder, but it was in rural Tenn., on familiar highway. This was new terrain, and in heavy traffic, with me paranoid about hydroplaning again (still a problem I was dealing with, and being more conscious of).
There were a couple of places I felt sure that I’d missed my turnoff. The first from the interstate to the ring around Dallas, the 635(First time thru, I decided to take the easy route, and not the fastest). But I figured that if I missed it, well, I’d just be taking the more complex route thru the city center, so I just kept on, but eventually came to my exit after I’d given up hope of seeing it; it was just further along than I’d thought. The next was on the ring (which, while I knew was longer and a bit out of the way, took FOREVER when you’re crawling along at 35mph and can’t see the exit signs from all the rain and road spray). I was on I-635, and was looking for 45 down to Houston. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a sign that looks like it says that I’m on I-20! Ok, either I read that wrong, or I missed a turn-off and am now going ‘somewhere else’. So I’m franticly looking for another sign to tell me where I am. But sure, enough, the next sign is the exit for I-45 next right. I’m fine (on the way back, I realize that I-635 becomes I-20 for that little stretch. Thank you Texas). After the Hell that was Dallas, the rain again lightened up to a mere downpour, I could turn my wipers down to the Low setting. I was somewhat surprised by the Texas I found going down to Houston. The stretch from Dallas was very similar to central Illinois. Flat, rolling, somewhat green, occasionally tree lined, very boring to drive thru. However, on towards Houston, the landscape changed and became quite a bit like northern Michigan (northern lower Michigan, not the U.P.), very forested, and hilly. I could almost find myself liking it, if it weren’t Texas. By the time I got to Houston, the rain had lightened up enough to turn the wipers to intermittant, so I was able to find the directions to the Hotel and Convention center easily (despite some missing street signs. Ya wanna look into that, Houston?)

But over the whole trip, I noticed that cars and trucks kicked up a LOT more spray than up north, in rainier climes. I suppose it could have been just the sheer volume of water, but I personally don’t think that the highways are sloped right, or whatever, to slough off the water from the surface. That’s my working theory, and I’m sticking with it.

It’s easier to believe in than divine intervention.