Tales From a “GREEN” Minivan

This morning I awoke to my usual CBC Radio One Information Morning show.  I hit the snooze button as I do every morning to steal that extra 9 minutes of sleep and as I woke the second time, the story jolted me from a dead sleep almost hauntingly. As I was listening it brought tears to my eyes.  An off duty RCMP officer and his 5 year old daughter and almost 3 year old son died in a collision with a bus on NB’s Highway 7 between Fredericton and Saint John. Later one of the bus passengers was interviewed and revealed the location of the crash and this is what hit me the hardest, it was the exact same stretch of road I had an accident on almost 20 years ago.

I don’t talk about the accident a lot, and have never really written about it until now.  It tore me up inside for a long time, as I was the driver and also the only one not physically injured. I say physically, as emotionally I was a mess for a long time.  I credit my mom, with being so supportive and urging me to get behind the wheel right away and not turning her back on me.  The accident left her in limbo for many years financially while lawsuits were pending.

So it all happened on Thanksgiving Weekend 1989.  My friends, J1, D and I  decided to drive up to Fredericton to watch our boyfriends play football.  We had a great time at the game, stopped and had dinner and decided to follow one of our teachers (and coach of the team) back to SJ.  We also picked up another passenger J2, who decided at the last minute to drive with us. We all hopped in our 88 Toyota Corolla and headed back.  In 1988 shoulder seatbelts in the rear seats were just starting to emerge.  The middle seat only had a lapbelt.  I vaguely remember J2 asking where her seatbelt was and telling her it was there in the middle.

It was a fairly uneventful drive back, we listened to some music, joked about the weekend and at one point J1 decided to sit in the back with the other two.  This left me alone in the front seat.  It soon became dark and I was watching the road extra close for deer and moose.  This highway is dangerous plain and simple.  It’s a two lane highway and the only highway that connects NB’s two major cities Saint John and the capital, Fredericton. In recent years there has been a push to have deer and moose fencing installed, but the road itself is dark, and very twisty. Back in 1989 there was a few passing lane stretches (3 lanes) that you could take advantage of (there’s many more now), this is where things started to turn for the worse for us.

The Coach took advantage of one of these passing lanes to overtake a car that was driving very slow.  The driver of this car was in the passing lane so Coach had to pass him on the right hand lane. All signage posted says “Keep right except to pass” when I was quickly approaching him I tried to also pass him on the right hand side but the third lane was ending soon so I had to let off.  Most of these 3 lane passing stretches are in uphill areas of the highway.  We continued driving for a few more minutes closely following this car.  I remember it clearly it was a Hyundai Stellar, and it had seen better days.  The trunk latch was loose and bouncing a little as he drove.

I soon was given another opportunity to pass, this time though it was a dotted line on my side.  The road was clear and I down shifted to 4th gear to overtake this car.  There was a slight downgrade to the road, but I was unable to pass him.  It was almost like he was speeding up.  I was about three quarters past him when my dotted passing lane ended and turned into a double solid line.  The next thing I knew there was head lights coming at me in the lane I was in.  My first reaction was that it was a Transport Truck and I swerved quickly into the right lane and when I did my passenger side wheel hit the dirt shoulder and lost control flipping end to end and estimated seven times landing on it’s wheels.

My first reaction was to reach to the back seat to see how everyone was doing and I was horrified when the backseat was completely empty. The three girls in the back were all thrown from the vehicle as no one was wearing any seatbelts.  I was and did not move and inch, it locked the way it was supposed to and kept me seated right in the drivers seat.  Some studies were done after the crash and the results were inconclusive. It was difficult to determine if injuries would have been diminished or worse.  One thing that did come out is that if the middle lapbelt was worn it could have had a worse result that it did.

I won’t get into all of the details of their injuries, but they were all severe and have had lasting impacts on their lives to this day.  There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them all and have made it my personal mission to be as safe as I can while driving and this includes Child Passenger Safety (Car Seats included) and why I have tried to educate myself and others on keeping our kids safe as passengers.

I don’t know all the specifics of how these two little ones were restrained in their Toyota Corolla (yes the same make as I was driving), but I’m sure that it will hopefully make us all think twice when we buckle our kids in each day.

My heart goes out to this grieving mother and wife, I can only imagine what you are going through right now. See the CBC article on Constable Porter.

Now to the Government of NB it’s time to twin Highway 7.  How many more lives need to be lost? We deserve a 4 lane link between Fredericton and Saint John. Moose and deer fencing is not enough.  It’s time to bring our province into this millennium!

are away at Disney!  Just kidding gals,  the two of you certainly deserve this after everything you’ve done for CPO over the years! Be sure to check out Helen’s and Tracy’s Blog to find out what they’re up to down there!

So I’ve been working in my second home office a lot this week (my kitchen), and testing out some Slow Cooker Club recipes!  If you haven’t joined yet, what are you waiting for?

It’s amazing how productive I have been knowing that my dinner is already thought out and slowly cooking in the background.  The delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen greeting everyone as they come near my door.  Even yesterday, I think the postman was looking for an invite to dinner!

Today I made Slow Cooker Italian Wedding Soup

I love that I’ve been stepping outside of my food comfort zone!  During my weekly grocery store flyer browsing I noticed that Organic Baby Arugula was on sale.  I’ve never been a big fan of spinach, but after doing a little research online I read that Arugula has a slight peppery flavour..perfect for a soup!

The evening before I prepped the meatballs needed for the soup, I bought a package of ground chicken, and added, breadcrumbs, a finely grated carrot, grated fresh Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powder, and egg and salt & pepper.  I rolled them into mini meat balls and slightly baked them in the oven on a cookie sheet. I refrigerated them over night  Here’s one of the trays I made:

The next morning I diced up an onion and a little garlic and threw them in my Slow Cooker’s insert.  It can be used on the stove top (with a heat diffuser), which I think is an awesome feature to have as you don’t lose any of the flavours by transferring ingredients to another pot.

Next I added the broth and set the insert back in the Slow Cooker and set it for 8 hours.  I think you probably don’t need the full eight though!

I left it cook for about 4 hours and then added the Baby Arugula (stems removed and slightly chopped).  This next step is something I would definitely change, wait until closer to serving time to add the pasta!   I used Orzo for the first time ever and it looks like rice!  When I added it half way through it was too soon and the pasta got quite mushy and absorbed most of the soups broth. 

It was still quite tasty, and I will definitely make it again!  Here’s the final result we served it with toasted multigrain breadsticks.

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Yes, for the second time in 3 days my van is back on a tow truck!  Just as I was arriving at school to pick the kids up for an appointment Mackenzie had afterschool it died right in the parking lot.  Blocking people in at one of the busiest times at the school.  I got right on the phone and called the tow truck company I used a few days before, then asked the afterschool program if the could keep Liam for a few minutes until I got things sorted out.  I found Mackenzie and tried to call her a cab to get to her appt, but the doctor wouldn’t wait the extra 10 minutes!  GRRR! This is the third time we’ve had to reschedule this appt.

Next I called Andrew, he could hear the panic and frustration in my voice I’m sure.  He said he would pack up and head straight home to find a rental van. Phew. Then I realized that we would not all fit into the tow truck!  I then called my friend Joanne and she came and picked up Liam and Mackenzie and brought them home in her van.  All I have to say thankfully the little boys were at Andrew’s mom, otherwise I think I would gave broken down and lost it right in the parking lot at the school!

I had it towed straight back to the mechanic (and I use this term loosely) who “fixed”  it just 3 days ago by selling me a new battery.  I knew it was the stinking alternator all along, but would anyone listen to me?? Luckily we did not have to rent a van (not that we could find one), as mom mom came through and let me use her car until the van was fixed 2 days later.

OK rant over!  Ideally I’d like to keep this van, it is environmentally the right thing to do, but where do you draw the line financially and time wise?  I’ve wasted a lot of my precious time dealing with van related problems in the past few months.  Andrew finally got a taste of it over the Holidays when we went in for a quick oil change with all 4 kids and didn’t get out of there for almost 4 hours. Then I had to go back a week later after another part had to be ordered and installed!  I deal with all of the vehicle related things as it has to be dealt with while he’s at work and I have the flexibility in my schedule, but logistically I’m tired of it.

So we’re going to hold onto this “green”minivan a little while longer but also watch for something that will fit our needs and I have a huge wishlist!  I’m not going to just settle, and lets just hope I can find one that’s green in colour too!

Here’s my wishlist:

• The most possible LATCH/UAS and top tether anchors
• 8 Pax capability
• Remote keyless Entry- Remote opener even better
• Rear AC
• Roof racks
• multiple 12 v  outlets
• 1-2 years old with low kms (or miles)
• Preferably a Toyota or Honda

So am I asking for too much?  We won’t buy new ever again, our Mazda was only 2 years old and had 30,000 km on it when we bought it.  I’d seriously look at a Mazda again, but they stopped making them in 2006 and replaced it with one of the ridiculous Crossover SUV’s the CX-9.  Good job Mazda, as you’ve just alienated any family with more than one car seat from buying one of your vehicles.  I had looked into their Mazda 5, but there just isn’t enough cargo space for a family of 6.

Let me know what you have and what you like about it.  I’m sure this is going to be a long drawn out process!