Big, white, limousine gets stuck just beyond Ethan Berkowitz sign
Friday, November 5, 2010 at 11:41AM 
So there I was, yesterday afternoon, tooling down icy, twisty, hilly, Gail Drive at 99.105 miles per hour, listening to All Things Considered and sipping at the Metro Americano that I had just bought from Carmen when I glanced down a side road and saw this limousine, stuck in the snow just beyond the Ethan Berkowitz sign.
I instantly slowed down to 2 miles per hour and shot this image through the open window of the red Ford Escape as I zoomed by.
Three posts ago, I dedicated my entry to the signs being waved at motorists passing through "downtown" Wasilla on election eve and election morning. Most of those signs were for Joe Miller, some for Lisa Murkowski, a few for Sean Parnell, and a couple for Don Young - all Republicans. On the eve, I did see one sign for Young's opponent, democrat Harry Crawford, who went down to defeat. Crawford's sign was dark, was not held up by hands but by a platform, Joe Miller people were in front of it and it could hardly be seen at all.
The next morning, I did find one Scott McAdams sign, standing by itself at the roadside.
Other than that, I saw no Democratic signs in downtown Wasilla, and I saw not one individual holding a Democrat sign.
Subsequently, a few readers left comments to assure me that there were Democrat signs bravely planted in yards and alongside driveways here and there in Wasilla and that two individuals had been "downtown," waving their McAdams signs, apparently about half an hour before I passed by.
Now, here is proof that Democrat signs could be found in Wasilla.
It is too late, of course. The election is over, Sean Parnell remains governor. I have no idea what Berkowitz will do next, or what Diane Benson will do, or Scott McAdams. I believe they all want time to think about it.
Closer crop of the stuck limo.
As I drove on, I found myself facing a dilemma. When I see people get stuck, it has been my life-long practice to stop and try to help out. After I lost my right shoulder and got a new one, I could no longer help if it meant that I had to push, because my shoulder was just too fragile for that.
My shoulder is much stronger now, but still weak. Two nights ago, I filled a five gallon bucket with water that I had removed from one of my fish tanks so that I could replace it with fresh water. I absent-mindedly grabbed the bucket handle with my right hand, lifted it up and began to walk toward my office door.
I didn't get very far, because I suddenly felt the pain and stress in my shoulder and had to put the bucket down.
That was two nights ago.
I still feel the pain in my shoulder - not terribly, but it is there.
"Yes," I told myself, "but if I need to push, I can do it with my left."
And then I noticed the Americano that Carmen had prepared for me, sitting in the cup holder. I picked it up and took a sip. It was good, and hot. If I turned around, went back to the limo and got involved in something, it might be cold when I got back to it. It was nice, cozy and warm in the car, with All Things Considered playing on the radio.
Plus, that limo looked to be really stuck. It was going to take a lot more than me to get it unstuck. And it looked like all efforts to unstick it had come to halt for awhile, anyway. Maybe a big truck was coming to yank it out.
I decided something like that must be the case. I took another sip and drove on.
Reader Comments (12)
Good thinking, Bill! Take good care of yourself. We need you.
First, that's the craziest limo... I'm just shaking my head. Second, I don't think that's one you'll get pushed out. Good call not stopping for that one. I'm thinking a backhoe with a chain might get it out. Maybe...
Strange things you come upon in your travels. Really.
Ha ha, Bill, this looks like a redneck Mormon family pickup truck! LOL
Redneck Mormons. LOL.
Yeah, that is one strange limo.
Well, I have been very bad at addressing comments lately. When the day comes to its end, I just don't have the energy left to do it and when the next day begins, I just want to move on to other things. But comments are important to me, and I do want to answer them, so I will start here and try to catch up - at least far back as election day:
Grandma Nancy - Thank you. It's nice to feel needed.
Mikey - Crazy limo, yet pretty normal for Wasilla. You are right - I do run into strange things. Wandering around Arizona is also good for coming across strange things. Margie and I are determined to come down sometime this winter, although I don't know how.
Dave - I like that one!
Debby - For background, Dave and I spent two-and-half years as young teenage friends attending the same Mormon ward in Eureka, California, where we were sometimes hell raisers trouble makers - by Mormon standards.
We have not seen each other for three or four decades, but now we are Facebook friends.
I don't blame your cranky shoulder for protesting at a 5-gallon bucket of water. We used to carry those 5-gallon buckets of water to the chicken house from the windmill. It was a goodly distance. And it was no easy task. And you asked your cranky shoulder to cooperate???
You need to get a smaller bucket.
I saw your picture on the ADN website yesterday. I instantly felt cool because I already knew what the picture was before I ever clicked on the title. :)
This is why i wouldnt use anyone else but NYC limousine rental!
Thanks for the advice, Whitestone. Actually, all I need to do is switch to my left when I lift the bucket. I am fine then.
Rocksee - glad I gave you the jump on the Daily News. And I'm glad the daily news picked up on this. The extra exposure is nice.
Vance - normally, this would qualify as spam and would be screened out, but, given the context and the fact that you have a vital service to provide for us here in Wasilla, I pulled it from the screen. Come prom time, I suspect that you will have to send a fleet of limos to Wasilla. It's a long drive. You should start soon.
No wonder it's there, they painted only the stretch section...hmmm seems like the political endorsements didn't go too well.
I hope that wasn't a NYC limousine rental!
that is strange limo.