What's up with the intersections last Saturday?!?

On Saturday, I felt like I lost one of my nine lives. Coming home from a leisurely trip to Jen's parent's in the Sunset District, I came to the intersection of Taraval and 19th. It was a very common experience for me to take Taraval to Laguada Honda to get over the hill. Easy peasy ... or so I thought.

I was in the left lane of east bound Taraval right behind a Toyota Corolla. When our light turned green he pulled up into the intersection, stopped, and turned on his left turn blinker. I HATE PEOPLE who don't indicate to show their intentions. Not knowing he was going to turn, I had pulled up behind him, fully stuck in the intersection. Well, Mr. Toyota didn't have it very easy and had to wait until the light turned red before the westbound traffic paused for him to go. That left me with a problem, I am stuck in the intersection and have a red light. My instinct was pull forward and go through the intersection. Well, 19th is very wide 6 lanes, center divider and some extra for parking. Before I even got to 3/4ths of 19th Ave, the northbound cars were already moving. Sh*t! The van in the farthest lane also gunned it putting him in a perfect trajectory to broadside my little "Island Girl" pickup truck. That instant I had to swerve nearly 15 feet around the path of the van to barely clear my pickup from an early demise, let alone save my own heath. After pulling though that ordeal the driver of the van, who is obviously at fault because my being in the intersection gave me the right of way, had the tenacity to still honk at me. Just thank goodness no one was hurt.

Later that same day... that overwhelming feeling that I lost another one of my nine lives came again. This time it happened in Oakland at my house that I'm currently selling. I was mowing my lawn when a crazy driver rounded a corner too fast and actually RAN INTO MY HOUSE!!! My house sits a little off to the right of a T-intersection and is uphill significantly from the street. This driver was speeding up the center stick of the T and made wide right that he could not control.

He ended up careening into the side of my stairs that leads up to the house.

The impact actually lifted up and broke a huge cement slab that was my walkway.
The idiot driver actually got out of his car looking all dazed and confused. I was gonna run and see if he was ok and check if there was anything I can do to help.
However, when he saw me standing there, he got into his car and just sped away...

leaving a trail of car fluids, tire marks from burning out,

car parts strewn about,

and of course, the damage to my house.

I seriously was in a state of shock and could not believe what happened but did my best to catch his license plate. Well, immediately after, Jen came out of the house and a salesman who was up the street and saw the whole accident came to the scene. The three of us could produced a partial license plate, the fact the car was a new model Chrysler or Dodge sedan, and that the driver was a 5'10"-6' black male with bald head light tee shirt and jeans. Jen hopped on the phone and told the cops everything we had. They said they'd be on there way. Well it took nearly two and half hours for the cops to show up to take our statement. But in that time, we did uncover a critical piece of evidence...


The idiot left his license plate behind.

This is gonna end up being an insurance claim and nothing more, but if you see a newish silver or green Dodge with frontal damage with the license plate 5QTD395, call the cops and give me a holler. I'd love to have a few words with that idiot.

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Culinary Word of the Day: Vermouth
A fortified wine that some historians date back to the time of Hippocrates, when it was used as a medicinal. The word "vermouth" comes from the German wermut or vermut ("wormwood") which, before it was declared poisonous, was the principal flavoring ingredient. Today's vermouths are flavored with a complex formula of myriad botanicals including herbs, spices, flowers and seeds, the exact recipe depending on the producer. There are two primary styles of vermouth-sweet (red) and dry (white). All vermouths are derived from white wines. Sweet vermouth was introduced in 1786 by Italian Antonio Benedetto Carpano. It has a slightly sweet flavor and a reddish-brown color from the addition of caramel. This Italian-style vermouth is served as an apéritif and used in slightly sweet cocktails like the americano. Dry vermouth, created by Frenchman Joseph Noilly in 1800, is also called French vermouth, although today it's also produced in other countries including Italy and the United States. Dry vermouth is served as an apéritif and used in dry cocktails like martinis. Drinks made with half sweet and half dry vermouth are referred to as "perfect," as in a perfect manhattan. A vermouth's flavor begins to dissipate as soon as it's opened so it should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 months. Source: Food Lover's Companion