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FONDL

A SLIGHT DIGRESSION<br />
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We're getting close to the denouement, ladies and gentlemen, but before we do a slight digression is in order.&nbsp; This may seem totally irrelevant but it's relevance will eventually be made clear.&nbsp; I also warn you, dear reader, that we get a little weird at this point,<br />
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Our story resumes with FONDL at age 17.&nbsp; At this tender young age&nbsp;he had a serious girl friend and he was in lust.&nbsp;&nbsp;He&nbsp;resided in a small town in a very rural area, and she lived in a separate and even smaller town about 10 miles away,.&nbsp;Their towns were connected by a series of narrow country roads, the final stretch of which was a slighly downhill straightaway about a mile in length.&nbsp;One night&nbsp;he was returning home very late (actully it was very early the next day, probably around 5 am) from a date, and as was his wont,&nbsp; when he hit the home stretch he floored his father's Packard (you older gentlemen will remember those) in order to see how fast it would go.&nbsp; Usually this stretch of road was deserted at this hour, but on this particular morning a milk truck slowely lumbered ahead (for you younger folk, dairies delivered milk to your door in those days.)&nbsp; Not giving it much thought he moved over into the left lane at that point - he was doing about 110 mph.&nbsp; And then the unthinkable happened - the milk truck slowly began to turn left in front of him into a lane.&nbsp; Obviously the driver of the milk truck hadn't bothered to check his rear-view mirror at that hour of the day.&nbsp; FONDL&nbsp;had nowhere to go and it was impossible to stop at that point.&nbsp; So he gripped&nbsp;the wheel&nbsp;as tight as&nbsp;he could and closed his eyes in preparation for&nbsp;the fatal crash.<br />
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The next quarter second lasted a very long time because everything stopped, time stood still.&nbsp; And when FONDL next opened his eyes a decade or so later, he was past the milk truck and nothing bad had happened.&nbsp; Or more precisely the impossible had happened.&nbsp; He coasted to the end of the straightaway and came to a stop.&nbsp; And sat shaking for a very long time.&nbsp; And too this day he is&nbsp;one of the slowest drivers on the road.&nbsp; Lesson learned.&nbsp;<br />
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This episode is one of&nbsp;my clearest memories, I can recall it as if it happened yesterday, and&nbsp;I&nbsp;think it about often.&nbsp; How did the impossible happen?&nbsp; I still don't know.&nbsp; The only explanation that I've&nbsp;been able to come up with&nbsp;is that&nbsp;a miracle occurred, for whatever reason I was spared, it wasn't my time, and for a brief moment I passed into an alternative universe where our concepts&nbsp;of space and time don't hold true.&nbsp; I have trouble believing that such places exist.&nbsp; Except that&nbsp;I've been there.&nbsp; Twice.&nbsp; Tomorrow I'll tell you about the second time.<br />
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