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2024.05.19 01:46 JoeMorgue I got trapped on an Alpine Coaster for hours.
You guys know what an alpine coaster is? They are like a small roller coaster you find in the mountains. They are also called summer toboggans or mountain coasters and I think there’s some long German compound word they are called in parts of Europe. They are like a roller coaster, but with much smaller one or two person sleds you just sit on instead of multi-person cars you ride in, and instead of being built with like a scaffolding or a framework the tracks are just on the ground, using the elevation of the mountain. Basically it’s a coaster track on the side of a mountain where you ride a sled down.
They are pretty fun. Or at least I used to think so. They are more “personal” than roller coasters and although you get nowhere near the speed on them that you do on a good traditional roller coaster and they can’t do corkscrews or loops or anything like that the openness and simplicity of the ride gives an impression of a much greater speed. You’re just sitting there with nothing but a little plastic sled and the track between you and the ground as it goes zooming by. It’s like the difference between how fast a go-cart feels compared to how fast a sports car feels. You know the sports car goes faster but the open, simpleness of a go-cart feels a different kind of fast. There’s plenty of POV Youtube videos if you want to get the basic idea of what they are.
I used to love alpine coasters. Used to.
My family used to go to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and up and down the Smokey Mountains for vacations when I was a kid and they are common in that area and I’d always rode them every chance I got.
But as with so many things after I grew up and went to college they just became part of my childhood that slipped away. They aren’t exactly common once you get away from the mountains.
Until one cool spring afternoon in 2004. I was in my final year at college and I was driving back to campus in Tennessee after a short visit to my folks in North Carolina. It was only like a 4 or 5 hour drive via the most efficient route and I had no need to be back at campus early so instead of taking the freeway all the way I got off and took part of my trip through the mountains. The scenery was nicer and I admit I liked pushing my Camaro just a little faster than I should through the twisty mountain roads.
Just after lunchtime happened upon one of those little by-the-highway tourist towns deep somewhere in the Smoky Mountains near the Carolina/Tennessee border. Nothing fancy, a gas station/truck stop, a diner, a couple of places selling tourist merch nestled deep in the mountains. I pulled into the gas station. My tank was getting low and I needed to stretch my legs, maybe grab something to eat. It was still early and I only had another couple of hours. I could kill an hour or so and still make it back to campus at a decent hour.
I pulled into the gas station and was filling my tank when I happened to glance across the road and… well I’ll be damned. There it was. “The Blue Ridge Alpine Coaster.” Nestled on the side of the mountain was a building, a mockup of a red barn, where a single railed track that led up into the mountains, where it soon got lost in the greenery. Wooden hand painted standees of cartoon character bears dressed in stereotypical “Hillbilly” getup stood around, some of them holding signs showing the ride hours and ticket costs and other info. I had to admit, as silly as it was, it made me smile.I finished pumping my gas and, well, nostalgia is a helluva thing. I decided then and there I could waste a little time riding an Alpine Coaster again after all these years before getting back on the road.
I parked my car in a corner of the truck stop's parking lot, put my phone in the center console, this being the days before smart phones when people didn’t keep their phones with them 24/7 and I didn’t want my old Nokia brick phone to fall out during the ride, locked my car and walked across the mountain highway to the Alpine Coaster building.
Getting closer, the place was less inviting. The half hearted attempt at a whimsical faux-Americana kitsch was far less effective when it brushed up against the actual decaying, run down wooden building. Hell calling it a building was generous. It was a wood frame holding up a long roof that covered the area where you got on the sleds. The wood boards creaked under my footsteps.
The only real enclosed structure was a shack that held, what I assumed, was a ticket booth. A door on the side had both a single occupancy bathroom with an out of order sign on it. An old Pepsi machine buzzed and glowed next to it.
Still the place looked alive. Ahead of me a bored looking attendant was helping a mother and her young son into one of the sleds while in a bored monotone repeating the safety brief. A few people were waiting in line at the ticket booth. Up in the mountains the playful shouts of people on the ride echoed down. Fond memories of my own childhood rides flooded my mind.10 minutes and 15 dollars later I was settling into the hard plastic seat of a bright red sled sat atop a simple aluminum rail.
I couldn’t help but grin as the sled slowly climbed the track up the mountains, making click-clack ratcheting sounds that hit my nostalgia centers hard. I felt good. The air was cool and crisp and smelled of pine.Higher and higher in the mountains we went. I don’t know if this is my mind trying to make sense of it after the fact but when I remember these moments, the last good moments, I sometimes think I remember a very slight, very subtle pit of fear in my stomach. I honestly don’t know if I felt it at the time or not or it’s just how my mind tries to make sense of it looking back at.
But either way mostly I was enjoying myself. I smiled. I was a kid again. I could hear riders in front of me let out that initial yell of terrified glee you get at the first drop of any good ride.
It peaked. I glanced around. I could see for miles, rolling hills and mountains. I the sled tipped over and zoomed down the mountain and I let out the same happy yell I heard from the other passengers.The ride zoomed down the mountain, catching speed. The mountain forest floor zoomed past, only a few feet under me. Trees zoomed past. I gave out a happy whoop as the ride banked hard around a curve and then looped back under itself.Another dip, another curve. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the G-forces pulling me every which way.
There was no one exact single moment where things started to go “wrong.” The ride kept going. And going. At this point the first creeping thought entered my head.
The ride… was still going.
It just started to hit me… this ride was going on for a really long time. I had taken a dozen rides on various coasters of this type before that day and they topped out at about 5 minutes or so, and that was the long ones. Longer than a traditional roller coaster but not that long. This one had been going on for what felt like 10, maybe even 15 minutes.
I looked back over my shoulder and could only see trees, moving too fast to really get a bearing on where I was at in relation to anything.
I wasn't exactly really worried yet. Okay so I had found a particularly long alpine coaster. At the time I wasn’t 100% wasn't sure they didn’t exist or anything like that. I was a little… unnerved but nothing was happening that was impossible. Yet.
I was trying to talk myself back into just enjoying the ride and stop overthinking it, and halfway succeeded, when out of nowhere I suddenly banked hard, the track jutting out almost over a sheer cliffside. I gripped the sled more tightly as I was whipped around. The ride then dipped hard and picked up speed, barreling down the side of the mountain.
I was pushed back against the seat by the force of the drop. Jesus I didn’t remember them being this rough. I was feeling slightly nauseous. And where had this elevation drop come from I wondered? I was still in the foothills and I didn’t remember seeing anything but gentle rolling hills and light drops from looking at the ride’s route earlier. How the ride had managed such a long, steep drop in this area I didn’t know. . For the first time I hoped that the ride would be over soon. I had no idea then how much I would want that same hope to be true so much more as time went on.
With a whiplash motion I was whipped forward and then back as the ride leveled out on flat ground again, but by this point I was going fast, too fast. My neck hurt from the mild whiplash and I felt sour in my throat and for a moment the contents of my stomach threatened to come back up. For the first, but hardly the last time the ride felt unsafe. Alpine Coasters are tame affairs, much slower and gentler than full on roller coasters but this thing was throwing me around like no thrill ride I had ever been on.
I looked around. I mean I wasn’t that deep into the woods. I should have been able to see a glimpse of something; the highway, the gas station, the tourist shops, the Alpine Coaster office, something, anything. But nothing. Just trees.
I forced back some panic for the first time. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. The ride zoomed along. I counted to 60. I counted to 60 again. And again. Okay this was getting uncomfortably harder and harder to explain.
Suddenly I noticed that up ahead the track seemed to just end, for one brief, terrible moment I thought the track just ended but I was wrong. Almost without warning the track dipped in an almost vertical drop. I almost screamed as I plummeted for 20, maybe 30 seconds before flattening out again.
By this point the voice in my head that was telling me something was wrong was louder and I could no longer tell myself it was wrong. This ride could not have been this long. I tried to make sense of it, wondering if somehow I had gotten diverted onto some kind of maintenance track or, hell for one brief irrational moment even entertaining the idea that I had wound up on an actual train track somehow. But that was absurd. The rail below me was not a train track, it was still just the simple, aluminum rail of an alpine coaster and there had been no diversions or junctions in the track. I was still on the ride, as insane as that was starting to feel. Had the ride somehow looped? Again after having the thought I immediately dismissed it as crazy. There’s no way I could have missed the ride building where I got on. And what kind of ride loops over and over?
The sled zoomed through the forest, oddly never seeming to lose speed despite the relatively flat grade of the track. I cursed myself for leaving my phone in the car and not wearing a watch. I don’t know exactly how long I had been on the ride at that point but it felt like I had been on the ride for a half hour, maybe more. But time is a funny thing when you’re in a situation you’ve never been in. Could have been more, could have been less, at that point.
My pride finally failed me. I started to scream for help. I screamed out that the ride was broken, to stop it, that I needed help. I did that for about ten minutes or so I think. The ride kept going. Mostly flat, level track with occasional mild dips and turns. But the simple length of the ride grew more and more unnerving and unexplainable.
I thought about just bailing out. But the ride, impossibly, was still not slowing down and chunks of mountain rock and thick tree trunks were all around me. Bailing out without risking smashing into a rock or a tree seemed impossible.
The ride kept going.
Up ahead the forest was clearing out some, I could see the forest brightening, more sunlight making it through the canopy.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
The trees stopped and I had just enough time to take in a flat, open area of rock maybe 40, 50 yards at most before another sheer cliff. The tracks twisted and turned and then shot straight down. But that wasn’t the worst of it. For a moment, a very short moment, I had a clear view for miles and the landscape was, to be blunt, totally impossible. Any possibility that I had just stumbled on some incredibly long ride was blasted out of my head. Barren, volcanic looking rock stretched for miles. Jagged, black rocky outcroppings as far as the eye could see. I was in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. They don’t look like that.
I had a few moments for the terror of that view to settle in before the cart plunged into another horrifying drop. I gripped the handles of the cheap plastic sled until my knuckles turned white. The drop felt completely vertical, like I was falling at terminal velocity. I screamed. My stomach dropped and turned. I imagined the sled coming away from the track and me just plummeting screaming to my death on the rocks below. But somehow the ride still functioned. I closed my eyes tightly and just waited for whatever was going to happen. Eventually after several what felt like a full minute of steep plunging the track again leveled out, and I opened my eyes to see myself moving at breakneck speed over that black, rocky landscape.
Now that I was moving on a more or less flat horizontal track again I took a few deep breaths. I looked over the edge of the track. Nothing but that black, jagged rock, almost looking like obsidian, zooming past. I had no idea how fast the sled was moving now. Fast. Faster than a gravity powered sled should be moving. And the track was higher off the ground now. Alpine slides usually stick pretty close to the ground, but I was 20 feet or so in the air, the track suspended in the air, a simple metal tube tower like a power pylon every few yards.
Without any immediate threat and the sled moving fast but steadily and level I was able to think about my situation again, for all the good that did me. Ahead of me the track just continued to the horizon, nothing but the same rocky landscape as far as I could see. I craned my neck to look back over my shoulder and looked back behind me and it looked the same. Even the mountains were but distant specs on the horizon behind me.
This was insane. There’s not a giant seemingly endless field of black jagged rock in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. There’s no cliff faces tall and steep enough for a multi-minute vertical drop. And alpine coasters were small affairs, not major engineering projects that span miles with pylons and vertical tracks. It made no sense.
Sadly it wasn’t going to start making any more sense anytime soon.
The ride kept going.
I was on this rocky landscape for several hours. I feel comfortable saying this because I could actually notice the sun getting lower in the sky. And the sled wasn’t slowing down despite the grade of the track being flat. I was getting cramped from sitting and stretched my legs and twisted my back as best I could. Didn’t do much help. My eyes were starting to get irritated from the constant wind in them. Worst of all it was starting to get chilly. I only had on a light jacket, a windbreaker, just something to keep the breeze off me, no real insulation. I was cold, my joints were stiff, I was hungry and thirsty. My eyes watered and my throat was so dry it was sore.
But none of that was as bad as just how little sense this all made. There’s nothing like this place anywhere near the Smoky Mountains. This was like some volcanic rock landscape. The more I thought about it the less sense it made.
The ride kept going.
My mind didn’t even try to process this. Whatever I was experiencing simply couldn’t be possible. I was crazy. I was dreaming. The CIA had kidnapped me and dosed me with some new version of LSD and I was in a straightjacket in a padded room at Area 51.
The sled kept zooming along as the sky turned to dusk. Soon the bridge disappeared from my view and I continued on along the endless, rocky, featureless landscape.
I sat back against the sled, mentally and physically numb. I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was cramping up. I was hungry. I had to pee. I held it for as long as I could, then had no choice but just wet myself. I cried until I had no more tears left. Then I just sat there.
The ride kept going.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon my throat felt like sandpaper. I dug around in my jacket pockets hoping to find a stick of gum or piece of candy. Nothing. I checked again, having nothing else to do. Under a crumpled store receipt in the inner pocket of my jacket was a single old, forgotten cough drop. I unwrapped it from the paper and popped it in my mouth. Saliva flooded back into my mouth and I was overwhelmed by the methanol and medicine taste. It was something at least, although I knew it would be a brief and temporary fix at best.
I felt my eyes get heavy. It was getting colder. That mountain cold. That deep cold the mountains have even into the early spring when the sun goes down. That kind that just pulls the heat right out of you. I shivered. A terrible, horrible certainty came to me. I would ride until I passed out from exhaustion or the hypothermia set in. My body would tumble off the sled to fall and skip across the rocky ground like a stone skipping across a lake, my bones breaking as I tumbled until my body finally came to a stop. If I was lucky I would be killed and not have to lie for days, broken and bruised, on the ground until death took me.
The ride kept going. The ride kept going. The fucking ride kept going.
“Fuck you” I said to the ride, my voice a horse whisper. I pulled my jacket closer around me, for all the good it did. The cold wind was slowly but surely pulling my body heat away. My shivering got worse, crossing the line from a simple normal shiver into those deep, almost violent full body ones.. I wasn’t anything you could call an experienced outdoorsman, but I knew enough to know that wasn’t a good sign.
It was getting dark. There was a full moon at least so I wasn’t totally in the dark.
About then I noticed something. The landscape, what little I could see in the fading light, was changing. It was smoothing out, becoming less rocky and craggy. Up ahead an odd, shimmering light was starting to appear on the ground.
I was over it before I even realized what it was. The tracks were going over a smooth surface.
Water. It was a lake. The odd lights I had seen were the moon, reflected in ripples on the lake.
Within minutes I was out of the view of the land. After the nearly endless rocky landscape and everything else I had seen, it scared me how little I was shocked. I didn’t like how mentally numb I was getting. I leaned over. There was enough moonlight to see the water, 15 or 20 feet below the track. The pylons holding up the track went into the water, the light wasn’t good enough to even make a guess at how far they went down or how deep the water was.I leaned back in the sled. My eyes were red and bloodshot from the constant wind. I closed them. This was a mistake.I jerked awake. I don’t know if I dozed off for a split second or an hour. My weight had shifted and I caught myself as my center of gravity was in danger of sending me off the sled and into the water.
I screamed in anger. A deep primal scream. I hurt so bad. My joints felt like they were full of glass. My limbs were full of pins and needles. I glanced over at the water. For the first time on the very edges of my brain a tiny voice started to speak up, telling me that I could be all over if I just jumped. I shut the voice up, but it scared me still.
I sat there as the ride went on. It felt like hours. Eventually the lake ended in a rocky shore line. The damned ride. There was no safe place to bail out. If the ride slowed down, it was high in the air, if it moved toward the ground it sped up. Sharp rocks, big trees, nothing you could safely bail out into.
I kept having to force myself awake. I kept dozing off. Once I felt myself falling asleep and drove a vicious uppercut into my own nose to stave it off.
I seriously started to think about how much longer I could hang on. The voice came back again. This time I didn’t shut it up. I wasn’t admitting it to myself yet, but I was starting to think about the best way to land that would end it quickly if I needed to.
Something was ahead. The track seemed to dip into the ground. I was too tired, too beaten to even get scared. I was just resigned to whatever happened at this point.
With little warning the track took my sled into a tunnel in the ground. Everything went completely pitch black. After several moments even the dim moonlight was gone.
This was the worst part. The creepy forest, the immense rocky landscape, the eerie lake… those were bad. But this was just nothing. Nothing to look at, nothing to hear, nothing for reference or sense of where I was going. The walls of the tunnel felt like they were inches from me in every direction. The air felt thick, like there wasn’t enough oxygen.
With every moment I was in that tunnel I lost a little more hope. After a long, long time I made a decision. When I got out of this tunnel, I would jump. I didn’t care anymore. Hopefully there would be a spot where I could be certain the fall would instantly kill me. I was done. The ride had beaten me. I sat there, waiting for a chance to end this on my terms. That was all I had left.
Eventually up ahead, a tiny speck of light appeared. I gathered my strength, ready to end it. I sat up, getting my legs under me so I could jump as soon as we were clear. The sled burst out of the tunnel. The dim light of the full moon was enough to be momentarily blinding after the pitch black of the tunnel.. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust.
I was back in a normal looking Appalachian forest. Rolling hills, green trees. The air smelled of pine again. I heard an owl hoot off somewhere.
Slowly I lowered myself back into a setting position, in shock. At first I refused to believe it but the ride was slowing down. I held still, making sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but no, the cheap plastic sled that had been my world for what felt like an eternity was slowing down.
Up ahead, a structure was visible, peeking out from among the trees in the dim lighting as the sled moved down the track.
It was the Alpine Slide building. The crappy fake red barn where I had boarded this cursed ride so long ago. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, sure it was either my mind or the cursed ride playing tricks with me. But the building stayed there.
It grew closer and closer. The track leveled completely out. The sled slowed down more. Before I had the time to really come to terms with it I arrived back at the building.
The sled slowed to a stop, gently pumping against another sled parked on the track. I sat there for a few moments, gasping in great big gulping fear breaths, trying to assure myself the ride didn’t have one last trick of its sleeve.
I looked around. The place was empty, deserted. The overhead lights were still on and the old Pepsi machine still glowed and buzzed, but the ticket booth was dark and empty, a metal gate pulled down over the ticket window.
Suddenly it hit me that I was free and I practically leapt out of the sled and onto the platform. I immediately collapsed. My legs were jelly and my head was spinning. I tried to stand up again and doubled over, dry heaving. Have you ever been out on a boat for a day and have that weird reverse motion sickness when you’re back on solid land? It was like that times a hundred. My inner ear was literally pounding, all the motion had really done a number on it.
I laid there for a few moments and eventually forced myself to stand up on my two wobbling legs. I looked around, a horrible certainty creeping into my mind that there would be no exit, no way off the platform but to my relief an exit turnstyle, one of those full height ones, was set into the fence that surrounded the ride property.
I went through it and found myself back on the main road. The truckstop was still there, still open but far less busy. My car sat in the same corner of the parking lot I had left it.
I allowed myself one look back, just one quick one. The metal skeleton of the Alpine Slide track sat there, dark and quiet but otherwise normal.
I stumbled-ran back to my car, dug the keys out of my pocket, and collapsed inside. When the door shut I let out a primal scream, the tons of fear and confusion and anger all fusing into a single, raw emotion. I screamed again and again.
After a few moments I felt like I was emotionally at least back to a place where I could act, although I wasn’t sure yet what to do next. Not really knowing what to do I cranked the car. The A/C had been on low when I shut off the car and it came roaring back to life and cold air blowing on me almost sent me back into a full on panic attack. I fumbled with the climate controls until the air stopped blowing directly on me, then calmed down enough to turn the heat on, helping to get the chill out of my bones. There was a half full bottle of water in the center console cup holder and I grabbed it and chugged it. Nothing ever tasted as good before or sense as that few ounces of water.
That was when I noticed the clock on the radio head unit. It was 4:17 in the morning. It had been about one, one thirty or so in the afternoon when I got on the accursed ride.
Over 15 hours. I had been on the goddamn ride for over 15 hours. Over half a day.
I just sat there. Warming up. Calming down. I was exhausted. I was dehydrated. I can’t even describe how my head felt. I probably had at least a minor case of hypothermia. I thought about going into the gas station and asking for help but what would I even say, and more than anything I just wanted to get away from this place. And I just wanted to get away. I wanted to be nowhere near that damn ride.
I put the Camaro in gear and pulled into the street and in panic I immediately slammed on the brakes. I was lucky there was no traffic on the road at that moment. The feeling of accelerating to just normal surface street speeds made me sick to my stomach. I gathered myself and very slowly accelerated the car I usually treated with a very heavy foot up to 30 miles an hour. Every time I tried to accelerate at a pace faster than “Old Lady Going to Church, Uphill” I would have a panic attack. I was okay once I was up to speed, but accelerating freaked me out after being on that ride.
I drove about 30 minutes, putting some arbitrary amount of distance between myself and the coaster. Eventually I made it back to where the twisty mountain road met back up with a major road that would eventually meet back up with the highway. After a few more minutes of driving I saw the onramp for the highway. There was one of those big truckstop travel plazas and pulled in, parking right up at the door. I smelled like pee and I can only imagine how I looked, but I didn’t care.
I kept a couple of emergency 20s in the back of my wallet and spent it on the biggest bottle of water the store had, an overpriced bottle of eye drops, and a huge travel mug of coffee. The clerk looked at me as if he was expecting me to either drop dead or rob him the entire time.
Back in my car I downed the coffee. I put a few eye drops in each of my eyes and sat there as the caffeine took effect until I felt like I could make it back to my apartment. The sun was just coming up when I finally pulled out of the truck stop and got on the freeway. I slowly, very slowly, accelerated up to highway speed, put the Camaro in cruise control, and let the miles start to drift away. I turned on the radio, I needed to hear human voices. Every time my mind went back to what had just happened I turned the radio up louder, eventually drowning it out with painful levels of rock music. I wasn’t ready to think about it yet. Yes looking back I know I was just in denial. I finally made it back to the crappy little apartment I had off campus, a little two story walk up studio. I let myself in and collapsed on the cheap couch. I was asleep before I even had the time to decide whether or not to do anything else. I woke up later that afternoon. I took a shower and ate a meal and didn’t think about the ride. I washed the pee stained filthy clothes I had been wearing and didn’t think about the ride. I went back to class and didn’t think about the ride. Every time I thought about the ride I forced it out of my head. I’m sure this wasn’t the most mentally healthy thing to do but what can you say?
I didn’t forget about it, don’t be silly. This isn’t the kind of thing you forget. One day while looking up something else in the university’s library my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up the Alpine Slide. No website but a few Google Map and Yelp mentions. None of them mentioned anything weird, certainly nothing even remotely like what I experienced. Near as I can tell it closed sometimes in the winter of 2012.
Life went on. I mean, that’s what it does. The next day was a little better. And the day after that a little better. And the day after that a little better still. I met a nice girl. Graduated. Got married. Got a nice house in the suburbs. Got a dog. Had a daughter. Spent a lot of time happy and not thinking about being trapped on an endless alpine coaster.And that was my life for many, many years after that.
Until a few weeks back when as a very different person I found myself driving a boring and safe mid sized family SUV through those same mountains. My wife Carol, 5 months pregnant, sat in the passenger seat, our 6 year old daughter Emily in a booster seat in the back, and Max our mixed breed mutt next to her. It had been a nice pleasant trip, driving back from visiting her folks.
I hadn’t thought about that fucking ride in so long I barely registered that I was in the same general area until it was too late. Suddenly I realized that little mountain tourist trap town was only a few minutes down the road. I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel hard. Carol was looking out the window at the scenery and Emily was deep into some kid’s Youtube video on an iPad. I forced myself to keep my breath steady as we rounded the corner.The town was still there, sorta. Time had not been kind to it. The gas station was still there, at some point it had been bought out by Shell. The tourist trap shops were still there. One of them was now a vape shop. The diner was closed, the building looking like it sat unused for a long time.
But of course that’s not what I cared about. A looked over at the site where the Alpine Coaster once stood. It was gone. The kitschy fake barn was gone. The site was just a bare concrete slab with a chainlink fence around it. Faded “no trespassing” and “for sale” signs hung off the fence. A pile of old, decaying lumber that might have once long ago been part of the structure covered part of the old lot. No sign of the track remained outside of some old concrete support posts dotting the side of the mountain.
I exhaled out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding in. Soon the little town disappeared in my rear view mirror.
About a half hour later we stopped for gas. I pulled up to a gas pump across from a massive motorhome. Max stuck his head out the window and started barking at a little white dog, a toy breed of some kind, in the window of the motorhome. Carol and Emily immediately headed into the store to restock on snacks while I fueled up.
I stood there, a half smile on my lips as Max barked and wagged his tail in an attempt to attract the attention of the other dog while I filled up the tank, said dog doing an admirable job of ignoring him.
Right about the time I finished fueling up and cleaning the bugs off the windshield Carol returned from inside the store, Emily in tow, arms filled with two full sized bags of Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips and what looked to be a half dozen individually wrapped pickles.
I raised an eyebrow at the collection of food but knew better than to question a pregnant woman's snack choices.
“Should we take Max for a quick walk?” Carol asked. The travel plaza had a nice little gated dog walking area off to the side.
“Yeah probably not a bad idea, he’s been cooped up in the car for a few hours.” I said. Max, upon hearing his name and the word “walk” , forgot about the other dog and upgraded from wagging his tail to wagging his entire body while making whining sounds and staring right at me.
About this time I became half aware that the big motor home next to us was pulling away. I didn’t think much of it, outside of doing a quick automatic mental check to make sure Emily was well clear of the moving vehicle, but she was safely between me and our SUV, well out of the way.
But that was when Emily looked behind me and cheerfully yelled “Daddy look a roller coaster! Can I ride the coaster?”
It’s cliche as fuck I know but my blood went cold.
I turned around slowly, certain in my knowledge that terrible old decrepit Alpine Coaster would be there, having just popped into existence to trap me again.
That.. is not what I saw. Sure enough there was a coaster there, one I hadn’t noticed earlier because it had mostly been blocked by the motor home, but there it was. It was even an Alpine Coaster.
But it was not the same coaster I had encountered those years ago. That was immediately obvious. It was a small but modern and newish looking setup with neon lights and a bunch of people. There was an actual building where you bought tickets and a little snack stand.
“Daddy! Can we go on the coaster!” Emily asked again.
My mouth made motions but no words came out. I glanced over at Carol, hoping she’d say we didn’t have time but to my horror she smiled and said “You know what? That does sound like fun. Daddy will take you while I take Max for a walk.”
My mind raced, trying to think of a way to get out of it. But Emily was already dragging me across the parking lot to the entrance.
I patted my pocket, making sure my phone was in it. Every fiber of my being was screaming to run away. I slept walked through the line and the ticket booth while Emily bounced happily.
We got into a two seat plastic sled. This one was actually a lot nicer than the one my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about. It had two nice cushioned seats, big grab handles, even a nice rollbar.
The sled started up the track. I fought back the panic. I swerved my head around, keeping the building in my view. I was terrified of losing sight of it. We made it to the top and Emily did a happy squeal as we started down the side of the mountain.
My heart raced. Any second, any second my mind told me we’d lose sight of the building and then the ride would never end. The ride sped down the mountain. My mind tortured me with thoughts of not only going through it again, but seeing Emily go through it. The ride went around a big, banking turn. Emily kept shouting happily. How long before Carol reported us missing I wondered? Could I keep Emily calm? What if it lasted even longer this time? What if this time it never ended?
And then we were back at the start of the ride. The same attendant who had helped us into the sled was helping Emily out. I stepped out. The attendant gave me a brief look but said nothing. I guess I looked a little wild eyed.
I was fine. Emily was fine. It had been a perfectly normal, fun ride.
“That was fun Daddy! Thank you!” Emily said. I forced a smile back. “It was fun.” I responded, hoping like I sounded like I meant it.
I took Emily’s hand and we walked back to the car. Max saw us coming and barked happily. Carol looked up from the pint of Ben and Jerry’s she had somehow acquired and added to her snack collection while we were gone and smiled at us.
“Did you have fun?” she asked.
“It was so fun Mommy!” Emily said.
Carol smiled down at her, but then looked at me and frowned. “Are you okay?” Carol could read my face a lot better than the attendant could. “You’re pale.”
I smiled and this time the smile felt real. “Ya know what. Yeah, I think I am okay.”
Carol looked a little puzzled, but didn’t press it. We loaded Emily back in her booster seat, stopped Max from trying desperately to eat half a discarded gas station hot dog off the ground and got him back in the car. Carol and her small collection of snack food took her place in the passenger seat and I got in the driver's seat.I smiled. I cranked the car. I put it in gear. I pulled out of the gas station and back on the road, this time accelerating just a little faster than I had in years.
submitted by JoeMorgue to nosleep [link] [comments]
They are pretty fun. Or at least I used to think so. They are more “personal” than roller coasters and although you get nowhere near the speed on them that you do on a good traditional roller coaster and they can’t do corkscrews or loops or anything like that the openness and simplicity of the ride gives an impression of a much greater speed. You’re just sitting there with nothing but a little plastic sled and the track between you and the ground as it goes zooming by. It’s like the difference between how fast a go-cart feels compared to how fast a sports car feels. You know the sports car goes faster but the open, simpleness of a go-cart feels a different kind of fast. There’s plenty of POV Youtube videos if you want to get the basic idea of what they are.
I used to love alpine coasters. Used to.
My family used to go to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and up and down the Smokey Mountains for vacations when I was a kid and they are common in that area and I’d always rode them every chance I got.
But as with so many things after I grew up and went to college they just became part of my childhood that slipped away. They aren’t exactly common once you get away from the mountains.
Until one cool spring afternoon in 2004. I was in my final year at college and I was driving back to campus in Tennessee after a short visit to my folks in North Carolina. It was only like a 4 or 5 hour drive via the most efficient route and I had no need to be back at campus early so instead of taking the freeway all the way I got off and took part of my trip through the mountains. The scenery was nicer and I admit I liked pushing my Camaro just a little faster than I should through the twisty mountain roads.
Just after lunchtime happened upon one of those little by-the-highway tourist towns deep somewhere in the Smoky Mountains near the Carolina/Tennessee border. Nothing fancy, a gas station/truck stop, a diner, a couple of places selling tourist merch nestled deep in the mountains. I pulled into the gas station. My tank was getting low and I needed to stretch my legs, maybe grab something to eat. It was still early and I only had another couple of hours. I could kill an hour or so and still make it back to campus at a decent hour.
I pulled into the gas station and was filling my tank when I happened to glance across the road and… well I’ll be damned. There it was. “The Blue Ridge Alpine Coaster.” Nestled on the side of the mountain was a building, a mockup of a red barn, where a single railed track that led up into the mountains, where it soon got lost in the greenery. Wooden hand painted standees of cartoon character bears dressed in stereotypical “Hillbilly” getup stood around, some of them holding signs showing the ride hours and ticket costs and other info. I had to admit, as silly as it was, it made me smile.I finished pumping my gas and, well, nostalgia is a helluva thing. I decided then and there I could waste a little time riding an Alpine Coaster again after all these years before getting back on the road.
I parked my car in a corner of the truck stop's parking lot, put my phone in the center console, this being the days before smart phones when people didn’t keep their phones with them 24/7 and I didn’t want my old Nokia brick phone to fall out during the ride, locked my car and walked across the mountain highway to the Alpine Coaster building.
Getting closer, the place was less inviting. The half hearted attempt at a whimsical faux-Americana kitsch was far less effective when it brushed up against the actual decaying, run down wooden building. Hell calling it a building was generous. It was a wood frame holding up a long roof that covered the area where you got on the sleds. The wood boards creaked under my footsteps.
The only real enclosed structure was a shack that held, what I assumed, was a ticket booth. A door on the side had both a single occupancy bathroom with an out of order sign on it. An old Pepsi machine buzzed and glowed next to it.
Still the place looked alive. Ahead of me a bored looking attendant was helping a mother and her young son into one of the sleds while in a bored monotone repeating the safety brief. A few people were waiting in line at the ticket booth. Up in the mountains the playful shouts of people on the ride echoed down. Fond memories of my own childhood rides flooded my mind.10 minutes and 15 dollars later I was settling into the hard plastic seat of a bright red sled sat atop a simple aluminum rail.
I couldn’t help but grin as the sled slowly climbed the track up the mountains, making click-clack ratcheting sounds that hit my nostalgia centers hard. I felt good. The air was cool and crisp and smelled of pine.Higher and higher in the mountains we went. I don’t know if this is my mind trying to make sense of it after the fact but when I remember these moments, the last good moments, I sometimes think I remember a very slight, very subtle pit of fear in my stomach. I honestly don’t know if I felt it at the time or not or it’s just how my mind tries to make sense of it looking back at.
But either way mostly I was enjoying myself. I smiled. I was a kid again. I could hear riders in front of me let out that initial yell of terrified glee you get at the first drop of any good ride.
It peaked. I glanced around. I could see for miles, rolling hills and mountains. I the sled tipped over and zoomed down the mountain and I let out the same happy yell I heard from the other passengers.The ride zoomed down the mountain, catching speed. The mountain forest floor zoomed past, only a few feet under me. Trees zoomed past. I gave out a happy whoop as the ride banked hard around a curve and then looped back under itself.Another dip, another curve. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the G-forces pulling me every which way.
There was no one exact single moment where things started to go “wrong.” The ride kept going. And going. At this point the first creeping thought entered my head.
The ride… was still going.
It just started to hit me… this ride was going on for a really long time. I had taken a dozen rides on various coasters of this type before that day and they topped out at about 5 minutes or so, and that was the long ones. Longer than a traditional roller coaster but not that long. This one had been going on for what felt like 10, maybe even 15 minutes.
I looked back over my shoulder and could only see trees, moving too fast to really get a bearing on where I was at in relation to anything.
I wasn't exactly really worried yet. Okay so I had found a particularly long alpine coaster. At the time I wasn’t 100% wasn't sure they didn’t exist or anything like that. I was a little… unnerved but nothing was happening that was impossible. Yet.
I was trying to talk myself back into just enjoying the ride and stop overthinking it, and halfway succeeded, when out of nowhere I suddenly banked hard, the track jutting out almost over a sheer cliffside. I gripped the sled more tightly as I was whipped around. The ride then dipped hard and picked up speed, barreling down the side of the mountain.
I was pushed back against the seat by the force of the drop. Jesus I didn’t remember them being this rough. I was feeling slightly nauseous. And where had this elevation drop come from I wondered? I was still in the foothills and I didn’t remember seeing anything but gentle rolling hills and light drops from looking at the ride’s route earlier. How the ride had managed such a long, steep drop in this area I didn’t know. . For the first time I hoped that the ride would be over soon. I had no idea then how much I would want that same hope to be true so much more as time went on.
With a whiplash motion I was whipped forward and then back as the ride leveled out on flat ground again, but by this point I was going fast, too fast. My neck hurt from the mild whiplash and I felt sour in my throat and for a moment the contents of my stomach threatened to come back up. For the first, but hardly the last time the ride felt unsafe. Alpine Coasters are tame affairs, much slower and gentler than full on roller coasters but this thing was throwing me around like no thrill ride I had ever been on.
I looked around. I mean I wasn’t that deep into the woods. I should have been able to see a glimpse of something; the highway, the gas station, the tourist shops, the Alpine Coaster office, something, anything. But nothing. Just trees.
I forced back some panic for the first time. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. The ride zoomed along. I counted to 60. I counted to 60 again. And again. Okay this was getting uncomfortably harder and harder to explain.
Suddenly I noticed that up ahead the track seemed to just end, for one brief, terrible moment I thought the track just ended but I was wrong. Almost without warning the track dipped in an almost vertical drop. I almost screamed as I plummeted for 20, maybe 30 seconds before flattening out again.
By this point the voice in my head that was telling me something was wrong was louder and I could no longer tell myself it was wrong. This ride could not have been this long. I tried to make sense of it, wondering if somehow I had gotten diverted onto some kind of maintenance track or, hell for one brief irrational moment even entertaining the idea that I had wound up on an actual train track somehow. But that was absurd. The rail below me was not a train track, it was still just the simple, aluminum rail of an alpine coaster and there had been no diversions or junctions in the track. I was still on the ride, as insane as that was starting to feel. Had the ride somehow looped? Again after having the thought I immediately dismissed it as crazy. There’s no way I could have missed the ride building where I got on. And what kind of ride loops over and over?
The sled zoomed through the forest, oddly never seeming to lose speed despite the relatively flat grade of the track. I cursed myself for leaving my phone in the car and not wearing a watch. I don’t know exactly how long I had been on the ride at that point but it felt like I had been on the ride for a half hour, maybe more. But time is a funny thing when you’re in a situation you’ve never been in. Could have been more, could have been less, at that point.
My pride finally failed me. I started to scream for help. I screamed out that the ride was broken, to stop it, that I needed help. I did that for about ten minutes or so I think. The ride kept going. Mostly flat, level track with occasional mild dips and turns. But the simple length of the ride grew more and more unnerving and unexplainable.
I thought about just bailing out. But the ride, impossibly, was still not slowing down and chunks of mountain rock and thick tree trunks were all around me. Bailing out without risking smashing into a rock or a tree seemed impossible.
The ride kept going.
Up ahead the forest was clearing out some, I could see the forest brightening, more sunlight making it through the canopy.
I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
The trees stopped and I had just enough time to take in a flat, open area of rock maybe 40, 50 yards at most before another sheer cliff. The tracks twisted and turned and then shot straight down. But that wasn’t the worst of it. For a moment, a very short moment, I had a clear view for miles and the landscape was, to be blunt, totally impossible. Any possibility that I had just stumbled on some incredibly long ride was blasted out of my head. Barren, volcanic looking rock stretched for miles. Jagged, black rocky outcroppings as far as the eye could see. I was in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. They don’t look like that.
I had a few moments for the terror of that view to settle in before the cart plunged into another horrifying drop. I gripped the handles of the cheap plastic sled until my knuckles turned white. The drop felt completely vertical, like I was falling at terminal velocity. I screamed. My stomach dropped and turned. I imagined the sled coming away from the track and me just plummeting screaming to my death on the rocks below. But somehow the ride still functioned. I closed my eyes tightly and just waited for whatever was going to happen. Eventually after several what felt like a full minute of steep plunging the track again leveled out, and I opened my eyes to see myself moving at breakneck speed over that black, rocky landscape.
Now that I was moving on a more or less flat horizontal track again I took a few deep breaths. I looked over the edge of the track. Nothing but that black, jagged rock, almost looking like obsidian, zooming past. I had no idea how fast the sled was moving now. Fast. Faster than a gravity powered sled should be moving. And the track was higher off the ground now. Alpine slides usually stick pretty close to the ground, but I was 20 feet or so in the air, the track suspended in the air, a simple metal tube tower like a power pylon every few yards.
Without any immediate threat and the sled moving fast but steadily and level I was able to think about my situation again, for all the good that did me. Ahead of me the track just continued to the horizon, nothing but the same rocky landscape as far as I could see. I craned my neck to look back over my shoulder and looked back behind me and it looked the same. Even the mountains were but distant specs on the horizon behind me.
This was insane. There’s not a giant seemingly endless field of black jagged rock in the goddamn Smoky Mountains. There’s no cliff faces tall and steep enough for a multi-minute vertical drop. And alpine coasters were small affairs, not major engineering projects that span miles with pylons and vertical tracks. It made no sense.
Sadly it wasn’t going to start making any more sense anytime soon.
The ride kept going.
I was on this rocky landscape for several hours. I feel comfortable saying this because I could actually notice the sun getting lower in the sky. And the sled wasn’t slowing down despite the grade of the track being flat. I was getting cramped from sitting and stretched my legs and twisted my back as best I could. Didn’t do much help. My eyes were starting to get irritated from the constant wind in them. Worst of all it was starting to get chilly. I only had on a light jacket, a windbreaker, just something to keep the breeze off me, no real insulation. I was cold, my joints were stiff, I was hungry and thirsty. My eyes watered and my throat was so dry it was sore.
But none of that was as bad as just how little sense this all made. There’s nothing like this place anywhere near the Smoky Mountains. This was like some volcanic rock landscape. The more I thought about it the less sense it made.
The ride kept going.
My mind didn’t even try to process this. Whatever I was experiencing simply couldn’t be possible. I was crazy. I was dreaming. The CIA had kidnapped me and dosed me with some new version of LSD and I was in a straightjacket in a padded room at Area 51.
The sled kept zooming along as the sky turned to dusk. Soon the bridge disappeared from my view and I continued on along the endless, rocky, featureless landscape.
I sat back against the sled, mentally and physically numb. I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was cramping up. I was hungry. I had to pee. I held it for as long as I could, then had no choice but just wet myself. I cried until I had no more tears left. Then I just sat there.
The ride kept going.
By the time the sun dipped below the horizon my throat felt like sandpaper. I dug around in my jacket pockets hoping to find a stick of gum or piece of candy. Nothing. I checked again, having nothing else to do. Under a crumpled store receipt in the inner pocket of my jacket was a single old, forgotten cough drop. I unwrapped it from the paper and popped it in my mouth. Saliva flooded back into my mouth and I was overwhelmed by the methanol and medicine taste. It was something at least, although I knew it would be a brief and temporary fix at best.
I felt my eyes get heavy. It was getting colder. That mountain cold. That deep cold the mountains have even into the early spring when the sun goes down. That kind that just pulls the heat right out of you. I shivered. A terrible, horrible certainty came to me. I would ride until I passed out from exhaustion or the hypothermia set in. My body would tumble off the sled to fall and skip across the rocky ground like a stone skipping across a lake, my bones breaking as I tumbled until my body finally came to a stop. If I was lucky I would be killed and not have to lie for days, broken and bruised, on the ground until death took me.
The ride kept going. The ride kept going. The fucking ride kept going.
“Fuck you” I said to the ride, my voice a horse whisper. I pulled my jacket closer around me, for all the good it did. The cold wind was slowly but surely pulling my body heat away. My shivering got worse, crossing the line from a simple normal shiver into those deep, almost violent full body ones.. I wasn’t anything you could call an experienced outdoorsman, but I knew enough to know that wasn’t a good sign.
It was getting dark. There was a full moon at least so I wasn’t totally in the dark.
About then I noticed something. The landscape, what little I could see in the fading light, was changing. It was smoothing out, becoming less rocky and craggy. Up ahead an odd, shimmering light was starting to appear on the ground.
I was over it before I even realized what it was. The tracks were going over a smooth surface.
Water. It was a lake. The odd lights I had seen were the moon, reflected in ripples on the lake.
Within minutes I was out of the view of the land. After the nearly endless rocky landscape and everything else I had seen, it scared me how little I was shocked. I didn’t like how mentally numb I was getting. I leaned over. There was enough moonlight to see the water, 15 or 20 feet below the track. The pylons holding up the track went into the water, the light wasn’t good enough to even make a guess at how far they went down or how deep the water was.I leaned back in the sled. My eyes were red and bloodshot from the constant wind. I closed them. This was a mistake.I jerked awake. I don’t know if I dozed off for a split second or an hour. My weight had shifted and I caught myself as my center of gravity was in danger of sending me off the sled and into the water.
I screamed in anger. A deep primal scream. I hurt so bad. My joints felt like they were full of glass. My limbs were full of pins and needles. I glanced over at the water. For the first time on the very edges of my brain a tiny voice started to speak up, telling me that I could be all over if I just jumped. I shut the voice up, but it scared me still.
I sat there as the ride went on. It felt like hours. Eventually the lake ended in a rocky shore line. The damned ride. There was no safe place to bail out. If the ride slowed down, it was high in the air, if it moved toward the ground it sped up. Sharp rocks, big trees, nothing you could safely bail out into.
I kept having to force myself awake. I kept dozing off. Once I felt myself falling asleep and drove a vicious uppercut into my own nose to stave it off.
I seriously started to think about how much longer I could hang on. The voice came back again. This time I didn’t shut it up. I wasn’t admitting it to myself yet, but I was starting to think about the best way to land that would end it quickly if I needed to.
Something was ahead. The track seemed to dip into the ground. I was too tired, too beaten to even get scared. I was just resigned to whatever happened at this point.
With little warning the track took my sled into a tunnel in the ground. Everything went completely pitch black. After several moments even the dim moonlight was gone.
This was the worst part. The creepy forest, the immense rocky landscape, the eerie lake… those were bad. But this was just nothing. Nothing to look at, nothing to hear, nothing for reference or sense of where I was going. The walls of the tunnel felt like they were inches from me in every direction. The air felt thick, like there wasn’t enough oxygen.
With every moment I was in that tunnel I lost a little more hope. After a long, long time I made a decision. When I got out of this tunnel, I would jump. I didn’t care anymore. Hopefully there would be a spot where I could be certain the fall would instantly kill me. I was done. The ride had beaten me. I sat there, waiting for a chance to end this on my terms. That was all I had left.
Eventually up ahead, a tiny speck of light appeared. I gathered my strength, ready to end it. I sat up, getting my legs under me so I could jump as soon as we were clear. The sled burst out of the tunnel. The dim light of the full moon was enough to be momentarily blinding after the pitch black of the tunnel.. I gave my eyes a moment to adjust.
I was back in a normal looking Appalachian forest. Rolling hills, green trees. The air smelled of pine again. I heard an owl hoot off somewhere.
Slowly I lowered myself back into a setting position, in shock. At first I refused to believe it but the ride was slowing down. I held still, making sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me, but no, the cheap plastic sled that had been my world for what felt like an eternity was slowing down.
Up ahead, a structure was visible, peeking out from among the trees in the dim lighting as the sled moved down the track.
It was the Alpine Slide building. The crappy fake red barn where I had boarded this cursed ride so long ago. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, sure it was either my mind or the cursed ride playing tricks with me. But the building stayed there.
It grew closer and closer. The track leveled completely out. The sled slowed down more. Before I had the time to really come to terms with it I arrived back at the building.
The sled slowed to a stop, gently pumping against another sled parked on the track. I sat there for a few moments, gasping in great big gulping fear breaths, trying to assure myself the ride didn’t have one last trick of its sleeve.
I looked around. The place was empty, deserted. The overhead lights were still on and the old Pepsi machine still glowed and buzzed, but the ticket booth was dark and empty, a metal gate pulled down over the ticket window.
Suddenly it hit me that I was free and I practically leapt out of the sled and onto the platform. I immediately collapsed. My legs were jelly and my head was spinning. I tried to stand up again and doubled over, dry heaving. Have you ever been out on a boat for a day and have that weird reverse motion sickness when you’re back on solid land? It was like that times a hundred. My inner ear was literally pounding, all the motion had really done a number on it.
I laid there for a few moments and eventually forced myself to stand up on my two wobbling legs. I looked around, a horrible certainty creeping into my mind that there would be no exit, no way off the platform but to my relief an exit turnstyle, one of those full height ones, was set into the fence that surrounded the ride property.
I went through it and found myself back on the main road. The truckstop was still there, still open but far less busy. My car sat in the same corner of the parking lot I had left it.
I allowed myself one look back, just one quick one. The metal skeleton of the Alpine Slide track sat there, dark and quiet but otherwise normal.
I stumbled-ran back to my car, dug the keys out of my pocket, and collapsed inside. When the door shut I let out a primal scream, the tons of fear and confusion and anger all fusing into a single, raw emotion. I screamed again and again.
After a few moments I felt like I was emotionally at least back to a place where I could act, although I wasn’t sure yet what to do next. Not really knowing what to do I cranked the car. The A/C had been on low when I shut off the car and it came roaring back to life and cold air blowing on me almost sent me back into a full on panic attack. I fumbled with the climate controls until the air stopped blowing directly on me, then calmed down enough to turn the heat on, helping to get the chill out of my bones. There was a half full bottle of water in the center console cup holder and I grabbed it and chugged it. Nothing ever tasted as good before or sense as that few ounces of water.
That was when I noticed the clock on the radio head unit. It was 4:17 in the morning. It had been about one, one thirty or so in the afternoon when I got on the accursed ride.
Over 15 hours. I had been on the goddamn ride for over 15 hours. Over half a day.
I just sat there. Warming up. Calming down. I was exhausted. I was dehydrated. I can’t even describe how my head felt. I probably had at least a minor case of hypothermia. I thought about going into the gas station and asking for help but what would I even say, and more than anything I just wanted to get away from this place. And I just wanted to get away. I wanted to be nowhere near that damn ride.
I put the Camaro in gear and pulled into the street and in panic I immediately slammed on the brakes. I was lucky there was no traffic on the road at that moment. The feeling of accelerating to just normal surface street speeds made me sick to my stomach. I gathered myself and very slowly accelerated the car I usually treated with a very heavy foot up to 30 miles an hour. Every time I tried to accelerate at a pace faster than “Old Lady Going to Church, Uphill” I would have a panic attack. I was okay once I was up to speed, but accelerating freaked me out after being on that ride.
I drove about 30 minutes, putting some arbitrary amount of distance between myself and the coaster. Eventually I made it back to where the twisty mountain road met back up with a major road that would eventually meet back up with the highway. After a few more minutes of driving I saw the onramp for the highway. There was one of those big truckstop travel plazas and pulled in, parking right up at the door. I smelled like pee and I can only imagine how I looked, but I didn’t care.
I kept a couple of emergency 20s in the back of my wallet and spent it on the biggest bottle of water the store had, an overpriced bottle of eye drops, and a huge travel mug of coffee. The clerk looked at me as if he was expecting me to either drop dead or rob him the entire time.
Back in my car I downed the coffee. I put a few eye drops in each of my eyes and sat there as the caffeine took effect until I felt like I could make it back to my apartment. The sun was just coming up when I finally pulled out of the truck stop and got on the freeway. I slowly, very slowly, accelerated up to highway speed, put the Camaro in cruise control, and let the miles start to drift away. I turned on the radio, I needed to hear human voices. Every time my mind went back to what had just happened I turned the radio up louder, eventually drowning it out with painful levels of rock music. I wasn’t ready to think about it yet. Yes looking back I know I was just in denial. I finally made it back to the crappy little apartment I had off campus, a little two story walk up studio. I let myself in and collapsed on the cheap couch. I was asleep before I even had the time to decide whether or not to do anything else. I woke up later that afternoon. I took a shower and ate a meal and didn’t think about the ride. I washed the pee stained filthy clothes I had been wearing and didn’t think about the ride. I went back to class and didn’t think about the ride. Every time I thought about the ride I forced it out of my head. I’m sure this wasn’t the most mentally healthy thing to do but what can you say?
I didn’t forget about it, don’t be silly. This isn’t the kind of thing you forget. One day while looking up something else in the university’s library my curiosity got the better of me and I looked up the Alpine Slide. No website but a few Google Map and Yelp mentions. None of them mentioned anything weird, certainly nothing even remotely like what I experienced. Near as I can tell it closed sometimes in the winter of 2012.
Life went on. I mean, that’s what it does. The next day was a little better. And the day after that a little better. And the day after that a little better still. I met a nice girl. Graduated. Got married. Got a nice house in the suburbs. Got a dog. Had a daughter. Spent a lot of time happy and not thinking about being trapped on an endless alpine coaster.And that was my life for many, many years after that.
Until a few weeks back when as a very different person I found myself driving a boring and safe mid sized family SUV through those same mountains. My wife Carol, 5 months pregnant, sat in the passenger seat, our 6 year old daughter Emily in a booster seat in the back, and Max our mixed breed mutt next to her. It had been a nice pleasant trip, driving back from visiting her folks.
I hadn’t thought about that fucking ride in so long I barely registered that I was in the same general area until it was too late. Suddenly I realized that little mountain tourist trap town was only a few minutes down the road. I swallowed hard and gripped the steering wheel hard. Carol was looking out the window at the scenery and Emily was deep into some kid’s Youtube video on an iPad. I forced myself to keep my breath steady as we rounded the corner.The town was still there, sorta. Time had not been kind to it. The gas station was still there, at some point it had been bought out by Shell. The tourist trap shops were still there. One of them was now a vape shop. The diner was closed, the building looking like it sat unused for a long time.
But of course that’s not what I cared about. A looked over at the site where the Alpine Coaster once stood. It was gone. The kitschy fake barn was gone. The site was just a bare concrete slab with a chainlink fence around it. Faded “no trespassing” and “for sale” signs hung off the fence. A pile of old, decaying lumber that might have once long ago been part of the structure covered part of the old lot. No sign of the track remained outside of some old concrete support posts dotting the side of the mountain.
I exhaled out a breath I hadn’t even realized I had been holding in. Soon the little town disappeared in my rear view mirror.
About a half hour later we stopped for gas. I pulled up to a gas pump across from a massive motorhome. Max stuck his head out the window and started barking at a little white dog, a toy breed of some kind, in the window of the motorhome. Carol and Emily immediately headed into the store to restock on snacks while I fueled up.
I stood there, a half smile on my lips as Max barked and wagged his tail in an attempt to attract the attention of the other dog while I filled up the tank, said dog doing an admirable job of ignoring him.
Right about the time I finished fueling up and cleaning the bugs off the windshield Carol returned from inside the store, Emily in tow, arms filled with two full sized bags of Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips and what looked to be a half dozen individually wrapped pickles.
I raised an eyebrow at the collection of food but knew better than to question a pregnant woman's snack choices.
“Should we take Max for a quick walk?” Carol asked. The travel plaza had a nice little gated dog walking area off to the side.
“Yeah probably not a bad idea, he’s been cooped up in the car for a few hours.” I said. Max, upon hearing his name and the word “walk” , forgot about the other dog and upgraded from wagging his tail to wagging his entire body while making whining sounds and staring right at me.
About this time I became half aware that the big motor home next to us was pulling away. I didn’t think much of it, outside of doing a quick automatic mental check to make sure Emily was well clear of the moving vehicle, but she was safely between me and our SUV, well out of the way.
But that was when Emily looked behind me and cheerfully yelled “Daddy look a roller coaster! Can I ride the coaster?”
It’s cliche as fuck I know but my blood went cold.
I turned around slowly, certain in my knowledge that terrible old decrepit Alpine Coaster would be there, having just popped into existence to trap me again.
That.. is not what I saw. Sure enough there was a coaster there, one I hadn’t noticed earlier because it had mostly been blocked by the motor home, but there it was. It was even an Alpine Coaster.
But it was not the same coaster I had encountered those years ago. That was immediately obvious. It was a small but modern and newish looking setup with neon lights and a bunch of people. There was an actual building where you bought tickets and a little snack stand.
“Daddy! Can we go on the coaster!” Emily asked again.
My mouth made motions but no words came out. I glanced over at Carol, hoping she’d say we didn’t have time but to my horror she smiled and said “You know what? That does sound like fun. Daddy will take you while I take Max for a walk.”
My mind raced, trying to think of a way to get out of it. But Emily was already dragging me across the parking lot to the entrance.
I patted my pocket, making sure my phone was in it. Every fiber of my being was screaming to run away. I slept walked through the line and the ticket booth while Emily bounced happily.
We got into a two seat plastic sled. This one was actually a lot nicer than the one my mind wouldn’t stop thinking about. It had two nice cushioned seats, big grab handles, even a nice rollbar.
The sled started up the track. I fought back the panic. I swerved my head around, keeping the building in my view. I was terrified of losing sight of it. We made it to the top and Emily did a happy squeal as we started down the side of the mountain.
My heart raced. Any second, any second my mind told me we’d lose sight of the building and then the ride would never end. The ride sped down the mountain. My mind tortured me with thoughts of not only going through it again, but seeing Emily go through it. The ride went around a big, banking turn. Emily kept shouting happily. How long before Carol reported us missing I wondered? Could I keep Emily calm? What if it lasted even longer this time? What if this time it never ended?
And then we were back at the start of the ride. The same attendant who had helped us into the sled was helping Emily out. I stepped out. The attendant gave me a brief look but said nothing. I guess I looked a little wild eyed.
I was fine. Emily was fine. It had been a perfectly normal, fun ride.
“That was fun Daddy! Thank you!” Emily said. I forced a smile back. “It was fun.” I responded, hoping like I sounded like I meant it.
I took Emily’s hand and we walked back to the car. Max saw us coming and barked happily. Carol looked up from the pint of Ben and Jerry’s she had somehow acquired and added to her snack collection while we were gone and smiled at us.
“Did you have fun?” she asked.
“It was so fun Mommy!” Emily said.
Carol smiled down at her, but then looked at me and frowned. “Are you okay?” Carol could read my face a lot better than the attendant could. “You’re pale.”
I smiled and this time the smile felt real. “Ya know what. Yeah, I think I am okay.”
Carol looked a little puzzled, but didn’t press it. We loaded Emily back in her booster seat, stopped Max from trying desperately to eat half a discarded gas station hot dog off the ground and got him back in the car. Carol and her small collection of snack food took her place in the passenger seat and I got in the driver's seat.I smiled. I cranked the car. I put it in gear. I pulled out of the gas station and back on the road, this time accelerating just a little faster than I had in years.
2024.05.19 00:28 kinetyieas DMV help
Hello I have a bit of a weird situation. I bought an old truck about two years ago, we took it to the dmv, I signed the previous owners title and the vehicle is registered under my name. I pay the registration and everything. I did not get a new title for the truck under my name for some reason. I sold the truck today, transferred the liability through the dmv website, and I printed a bill of sale form which I signed before selling the vehicle, I gave the owner the liability form as well as submitting it online and gave him the bill of sale. My name is only on the previous title written on the back as well as the most recent registration forms. We transferred money and the keys already. I am unfamiliar with the process, am I missing something? Do I need to go to the DMV with him this week when it opens? Or is everything good? Thank you for the help I really don’t want to put the buyer in a bad situation.
I should add, it’s a project truck, I haven’t passed smog with it so maybe that’s why I haven’t received a title? I read online I may not have the ability to transfer it?? I just want this stress off my back, and I don’t want to screw over the new owner.
submitted by kinetyieas to Sacramento [link] [comments]
I should add, it’s a project truck, I haven’t passed smog with it so maybe that’s why I haven’t received a title? I read online I may not have the ability to transfer it?? I just want this stress off my back, and I don’t want to screw over the new owner.
2024.05.19 00:13 jesusishim decided to ask you all before i pull the trigger
 | should i get this squatted cart? love it ? hate it ? any opinions are welcome 👍🤝 submitted by jesusishim to ThriftStoreHauls [link] [comments] |
2024.05.19 00:03 kinetyieas Vehicle sell
Vehicle Sale*
Hello I have a bit of a weird situation. I bought an old truck about two years ago, we took it to the dmv, I signed the previous owners title and the vehicle is registered under my name. I pay the registration and everything. I did not get a new title for the truck under my name for some reason. I sold the truck today, transferred the liability through the dmv website, and I printed a bill of sale form which I signed before selling the vehicle, I gave the owner the liability form as well as submitting it online and gave him the bill of sale. My name is only on the previous title written on the back as well as the most recent registration forms. We transferred money and the keys already. I am unfamiliar with the process, am I missing something? Do I need to go to the DMV with him this week when it opens? Or is everything good? Thank you for the help I really don’t want to put the buyer in a bad situation.
I should add, it’s a project truck, I haven’t passed smog with it so maybe that’s why I haven’t received a title?
submitted by kinetyieas to DMV [link] [comments]
Hello I have a bit of a weird situation. I bought an old truck about two years ago, we took it to the dmv, I signed the previous owners title and the vehicle is registered under my name. I pay the registration and everything. I did not get a new title for the truck under my name for some reason. I sold the truck today, transferred the liability through the dmv website, and I printed a bill of sale form which I signed before selling the vehicle, I gave the owner the liability form as well as submitting it online and gave him the bill of sale. My name is only on the previous title written on the back as well as the most recent registration forms. We transferred money and the keys already. I am unfamiliar with the process, am I missing something? Do I need to go to the DMV with him this week when it opens? Or is everything good? Thank you for the help I really don’t want to put the buyer in a bad situation.
I should add, it’s a project truck, I haven’t passed smog with it so maybe that’s why I haven’t received a title?
2024.05.18 23:05 sunnetchi What is going on with Ignition Poker?
 | submitted by sunnetchi to poker [link] [comments] |
2024.05.18 21:05 Mizzno [H] Games [W] Cornucopia, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale, art of rally, Games (Listed Below), Steam Gift Cards
N.B.: I'm mainly looking for the games listed in the title and at the bottom of the thread. Feel free to post other offers, but if I haven't responded to your comment(s) by my next posting, I likely wasn't able to find a trade that interested me.
For sale (for Steam Gift Cards or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
For trade:
*signifies that a game is tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
WANT:
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/
submitted by Mizzno to indiegameswap [link] [comments]
For sale (for Steam Gift Cards or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
- Dark Souls™: Prepare To Die™ Edition (removed from Steam Store;
$350$400 or best offer) - Fall Guys (removed from Steam Store)
- Fall Guys - Dragon Hugger Pack (removed from Steam Store)
- Fall Guys - Icy Adventure Pack (removed from Steam Store)
Marvel's Avengers - The Definitive Edition (removed from Steam Store)Spec Ops: The Line (removed from Steam Store)
- Humble Hunie Sakura Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Australia Fire Relief Bundle or similar))
- Humble Sekai Project Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Stand with Ukraine Bundle or similar))
For trade:
*signifies that a game is tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
- Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- Scorn
- There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition
- Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition
- Gloomhaven - Solo Scenarios: Mercenary Challenges
- Small World
- Small World - A Spider's Web
- Small World - Be not Afraid...
- Small World - Cursed!
- Small World - Grand Dames
- Small World - Royal Bonus
- Splendor
- Splendor - The Cities
- Splendor - The Strongholds
- Splendor - The Trading Posts
- Terraforming Mars
- A Short Hike(?)
- A Story Beside(?)
- Aces & Adventures(?)
- Arcade Spirits(?)
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock(?)
- Beyond Blue(?)
- Cat Quest(?)
- Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!(?)
- EARTHLOCK(?)
- Harmony's Odyssey(?)
- Homeworld Remastered Collection(?)
- Lacuna – A Sci-Fi Noir Adventure(?)
- Minecraft: Java Edition - MCC Island Jingle Jam Rewards Pack(?)
- Monster Prom(?)
- Sifu Deluxe Cosmetic Pack(?)
- Spirit of the Island(?)
- SUPERHOT(?)
- Tinytopia(?)
- Toodee and Topdee(?)
- Train Valley 2(?)
- Turbo Golf Racing(?)
- Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story(?)
- Xenonauts(?)
- Back 4 Blood
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
- Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition
- Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition
- Batman™: Arkham Origins
- Injustice 2 Legendary Edition
- Mad Max
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Add-On Bundle
- Mortal Kombat XL
- Bionic Commando: Rearmed
- Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
- Lost Planet 3 - Complete
- Mega Man Legacy Collection
- STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®
- 112 Operator
- 911 Operator
- The Amazing American Circus
- Armello
- Backbone
- Calico
- Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Farming Simulator 17
- Ghostrunner
- Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
- Lust from Beyond: M Edition
- Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
- Orbital Racer
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
- PAYDAY 2
- Pilgrims
- Soulblight
- Space Crew: Legendary Edition
- Starfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo key) and Starfinder Adventure: Junker's Delight (Paizo key)
- Strange Brigade
- Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
- System Shock 2
- System Shock: Enhanced Edition
- Ticket to Ride
- XCOM® 2
- X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest
- Day of the Tentacle Remastered
- Grim Fandango Remastered
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- STAR WARS®: Knights of the Old Republic™ II
- Highway Blossoms
- HunieCam Studio
- KARAKARA
- Sunrider Academy
- Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition
- The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls
- ESO Vanity Pet: Bristlegut Piglet and 15 Days of ESO Plus
- Ame no Marginal -Rain Marginal-
- KARAKARA
- Memory's Dogma CODE:01
- Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project
- Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project - Season Pass
- A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met
- Sakura Angels
- Beach Bounce
- Beach Bounce - Soundtrack
- Blue Rose
- Lionessy Story
- My Personal Angel
- Natural - Beyond Nature -
- Postmen Of Horizon (removed from Steam Store)
- Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards]
- Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
- Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
- Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
- Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
- Guns of Icarus Alliance
- Guns of Icarus Online
- Impossible Creatures Steam Edition
- Lethal League
- Tempest: Pirate Action RPG
- Tempest - Treasure Lands
- Tempest - Original Soundtrack
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf
- Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
- Tenta Shooter
- Gun Gun Pixies
- DUSK
- For The King
- Book of Demons
- PlateUp!
- Kingdom Two Crowns
- White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
- Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
- Steel Rats™
- Hue
- Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (Epic key)
- Gal*Gun: Double Peace
- The Invisible Hours
- Synergia
- ROCKETRON
- Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
- Dead Age
- Spirit Hunter: NG
- Slain: Back from Hell(?)
- Cook, Serve, Delicious!
- Tower of Time
- Danger Scavenger
- Survive the Nights
- Valfaris
- Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
- This War of Mine
- 112 Operator
- 911 Operator
- Book of Demons
- Broken Age
- Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
- Crying Suns
- Crying Suns
- Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
- Driftland: The Magic Revival
- Liberated (GOG key)
- Moon Hunters
- Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
- Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG key)
- WARSAW
- X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC (I believe this redeems as the linked Complete Pack, minus the soundtrack)
- ΔV: Rings of Saturn(?)
- Arcade Paradise
- Calico
- Say No! More
- Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
- Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
- Phoenix Point: Year One Edition
- Deliver Us The Moon
- Morkredd
- Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
- Spirit Hunter: NG
- Survivalist: Invisible Strain
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
- ENDLESS™ Space 2
- Surviving the Aftermath
- The Long Dark
- Duck Game
- SCP: Secret Files
- WWE 2K23
- The Jackbox Party Pack
- Outward (redeems as the base game only, not the linked Definitive Edition)
- Outward - The Soroboreans
- Outward Soundtrack
- Blade Assault
- Founders' Fortune
- Hokko Life
- Monster Crown
- Othercide
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
- ScourgeBringer
- Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
- HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
- Sonic CD (removed from Steam Store)
- LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®
- Bionic Commando
- Full Metal Furies
- Ultra Street Fighter® IV
- Starbound
- Mafia III: Sign of the Times
- BioShock 2
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
- Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
- The Mean Greens - Plastic Warfare
- Crusaders of the Lost Idols Legendary Starter Pack
- Project CARS (removed from Steam Store)
WANT:
- 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel
- Astebreed: Definitive Edition
- Avernum: Escape from the Pit
- BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
- CrossCode
- Dead Rising 4
- Dungreed
- Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2
- Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection
- Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
- Myst (2021)
- NBA 2K23
- NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION
- Omensight: Definitive Edition
- OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition
- OPUS: Rocket of Whispers
- OPUS: The Day We Found Earth
- Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- RAGE
- Resident Evil Village
- The Jackbox Party Pack 5
- The Jackbox Party Pack 6
- The Jackbox Party Pack 7
- Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
- Zombie Army 4: Dead War
- any extra copies of WWE 2K23
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/
2024.05.18 20:20 hotballs Des Moines Metro Public Bodies Meetings/Agendas for week of May 20th - May 24th, 2024
Adel
submitted by hotballs to desmoines [link] [comments]
- City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
- Adel Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 14, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. AND every 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m., which appears to be their Work Session meetings. Agendas can be found here.
- Alleman Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
- Altoona Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Public Hearing for Development Plan for Blue Ridge Plat 3
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. with agendas available by EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here
- Ankeny Mayor and City Council
- You need to select Novus agenda and it takes you to a 3rd party website where you can then select the latest meeting type such as City Council, Action Planning, etc.
- City Council meetings can be viewed via Zoom, but only during the meeting. The City does not post the video of the Council meetings on either their website or YouTube.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Local Option Sales and Services Tax
- Amending provisions pertaining to stormwater management fees.
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
- Bondurant Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Approval of site plan for 2416 Robinson Avenue (LCI Distributing, LTD)
- Approving the site plan extension request for 2465 Robinson Avenue, NE (Skol Trucking)
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
- Carlisle Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. with the goal of having agendas posted no later than two business days prior to a meeting. Agenda Packets for 2024 can be found here and a collection of prior year agenda packets (2005+) and large construction set documents can be located here.
- Clive Mayor and City Council
- Latest City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 2, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd Mondays of every month and sometimes on the 4th Monday if needed at 7 p.m. They updated their website so in the new way to find their current agenda/packets is either on the front page of the website either under latest news in the center or to the right under upcoming events.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
- Dallas Center Mayor and City
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20 2024
- Items of interest:
- Discussion to evaluate potential city administrator candidates
- Items of interest:
- Dallas County Board of Supervisors meet every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Upcoming Supervisor Agenda Packets can be found here and Supervisor meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here.
- They do not post contact information for their three board of supervisors - Someone who lives in Dallas County please contact the County to post this information because it’s antithetical to an “open” government.
- Regular Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 21, 2024
- Items of interest:
- CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGETING
- Items of interest:
- If you work for Dallas County or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Supervisor agenda packets on the website.
- City Council meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. with agendas posted to the City website by the EOD Friday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here.
- De Soto Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 21, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Public Hearing for the sale of city lots; 324 & 326 Walnut Street
- Water and sewer rate amendments
- Adopt a resolution placing a proposal before the voters to increase the membership of the Board of Supervisors in Dallas County from three to five
- Set the date and time for a Public Hearing for the sale of city lot north of city hall; June 18, 2024 at 6:00pm.
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5 p.m. with agendas being available by 4:00 p.m. on the Thursday before the meeting. Agendas can be found here. I will only do my top 5 as the media generally covers DSM Council meetings and the big topics.
- Des Moines Mayor and City Council
- City Council does usually have Work Sessions on the morning of regular City Council meetings (Mondays) at 7:30 a.m.
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Conversion of an existing office building at 601 Locust Street to a 221-unit multi-family residential building
- Urbandale Avenue Resurfacing from 34th Street to Beaver Avenue
- Euclid Avenue 3-Lane Conversion (2nd Avenue to Des Moines River Bridge)
- Workforce Housing Tax Credit (WHTC) benefit applications
- Memorandum of Understanding and Business Associate Agreement with United Way of the Midlands for non-emergency transportation services.
- WORK SESSION IN MORNING at 7:30 a.m. - IMPACT Community Action Partnership Update, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 6 p.m. Agendas can be found here and Agenda Packets can located here (it seems like agendas are posted at a separate time compared to the full agenda packet.
- Elkhart does not provide contact information for their Mayor or City Council. If you live in Elkhart, please contact the City to ask that they put this information up on their website.
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- ADDING CHAPTER 47 TO PROVIDE PARK REGULATIONS
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here.
- Granger Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 23, 2024
- Items of interest:
- No agenda has been posted as of the time of this post.
- Items of interest:
- If you work for the City of Granger or know someone who works there, please tell the administration to include Council agenda packets on the website.
- City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 5:30 p.m. and they try to have agendas available to view for the public published 24 hours in advance of the meeting. They have dates listed on their website when they will not meet during the year listed here.
- Grimes Mayor and City Council
- agenda & meetings page/calendar this does include their upcoming and previous meetings with agendas/packets if you scroll up or down.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 14, 2024
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here.
- Indianola Mayor and City Council
- City Council does have study sessions on topics that are before the regular City Council meeting at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Approving the fee schedule
- Hearing in accordance with Chapter 56, Section 56.05 of the City Code concerning seizure, impoundment and disposition of vicious animals.
- Items of interest:
- Joint City Council and Warren County Supervisors Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Resolution authorizing the execution of a contract by and between the City of Indianola and Warren County
- City Council Study Session Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Risk insurance renewals
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 7 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here This takes you to a 3rd party website where there appears to be no separate web pages for each Council meeting.
- Johnston Mayor and City Council
- City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before regular City Council meetings at 6 p.m.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024 (On the desktop version, it is not a separate page from where the agendas are located so you have to click on meetings in the top right, find the Council meeting on the left, click view agenda, and then you can click on separate agenda items on the left to get more info)
- Items of interest:
- Council Work Session before City Council meeting - Discus Senate File 455 and the Applicable Text Amendments to the Johnston Code of Ordinances Which Originate From This Legislation
- Updating the City of Johnston Policy on Special Events
- Set a public hearing for June 3rd, 2024 at 7:00 P.M. to consider a text amendment to Section 176.13, Dwelling, Attached Two Unit (Twinhome), Section 177.03, Accessory Structure, Section 182.07, Screening, and Section 185.03, Building Materials, of the Johnston Zoning Code.
- Resolution No. 24-115 - Approving a Moratorium on Enforcement of the Amended Fire Sprinkler Threshold Requirements of Section 159.10.7 and 155.04.2.N of the City of Johnston Code of Ordinances
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
- Norwalk Mayor and City Council
- Tentative City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 16, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets for previous meetings can be found here but you have to select the particular meeting from a list under City Council Agendas (Their archive is not updated properly so you may need to contact staff at the city to fix this or request different agenda documents). Agendas for the upcoming City Council meeting can be located here on the left hand side of the web page.
- Pleasant Hill Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 14, 2024
- City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
- Polk City Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 13, 2024
- Polk County Board of Supervisors meet every other Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. The schedule for the rest of the year as well as agenda packets for upcoming and previous meetings can be found here They also typically have work sessions on Wednesday or Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m.
- Polk County Board of Supervisors (You have to click on each Supervisors “Bio” to get their contact information)
- Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Packet – May 21, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Resolution approving agreement with Des Moines University for provision of learning experiences.
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here on the right side of the website.
- Urbandale Mayor and City Council (On the left hand side of the webpage you have to select each person for their contact information)
- City Council does have Work Sessions that are open to the public that occur before City Council Meetings at 5:30 p.m. City Council also has Lunch and Learn meetings that are open to the public electronically on select Tuesdays at 11:45 a.m. (The public may access the conversation in person at Urbandale City Council Chambers the day of the meeting).
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 21, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Public Hearing and Consideration of Bids - Lions Park Improvements Phase 2
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m. Agendas can be found here
- Van Meter Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda – May 13, 2024
- Warren County Board of Supervisors meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at 9:30 a.m. Agendas can be found here
- Warren County Board of Supervisors
- Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda – May 7, 2024 They require you to download the agendas via PDF’s so there is no direct web link to the agendas
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Agendas can be found here AND the agenda packets can be located here
- Waukee Mayor and City Council
- City Council will have Work Sessions and Special Meetings that usually occur on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Water, Irrigation, stormwater, solid waste, and natural gas rates
- approval of a resolution approving revised site plan for Central Plaza II [1165 SE University Avenue]
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 5:30 p.m. Upcoming Council Agenda Packets can be found here (to see the packet for a meeting, click on the meeting under “Events” and then select one of the packet choices) and Council meetings prior to upcoming meetings can be located here
- West Des Moines Mayor and City Council
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Establish Public Hearings - Revenue Purpose Statements Regarding Use of Revenues Derived from Proposed Electric and Natural Gas Franchise Fees
- Modify Regulations Pertaining to the Sales and Storage of Fireworks
- Items of interest:
- City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. Agenda Packets can be found here
- Windsor Heights Mayor and City Council (You have to click on each person to get their contact information but you can fill out this form to send a message to the Mayor, the five city councilors, and the city administrator at once.
- They do have recaps of their City Council meetings which are located here
- City Council Meeting Agenda Packet – May 20, 2024
- Items of interest:
- Amending Chapter 136, Governing Sidewalk Regulations
- Amending Chapter 185, Governing Floodplain Management
- Approve Resolution 2024-38 A Resolution Setting a Public Hearing on the Plans, Specifications, Form of Contract and Estimate of Costs for the Windsor Heights CEC Solar Project
- Items of interest:
2024.05.18 19:34 Resident-Associate75 What do you guys think? $55kish OTD FOR 24 Tundra crewmax, hybrid, 5.5’ bed, limited? Brand new of course
 | What do you guys think? 2024 Toyota Tundra crewmax hybrid 4x4 limited for $55kish OTD. submitted by Resident-Associate75 to ToyotaTundra [link] [comments] What do you guys think of this deal? 2024 Toyota tundra max limited OTD $55k I have never owned or purchased a new pickup truck so I’m reaching out to the pros. I currently own a 24 Camry hybrid XSE but received an email yesterday I blew off initially. The email mentioned sale price on tundra which looked appealing so I went down the rabbit hole and reciebved this from the salesman. These are speculative of course as I haven’t been in yet. That being said, what do you guys think? The bottom line is $57k but my trade in should knock down $1500 so I’m thinking $55kish. This is a limited trim model with heated/ventilated seats, JBL 12 speaker, running boards, bed step, glove box safe, panoramic mirrors, 4x4, dash cam, cat converter shield, and the list goes on. Like I said I blew it off but that is a really good deal for a very loaded pickup. I asked the wife and she is ok with it but I told her I’m going to use this as practice and I can work over the salesman I’ll sign but if the sterns suck I’ll stick with the Camry. Sale deadline is june 1st. What do you think and wish me luck boys, and gals. Also I know the fuel mileage is not going to be great, It won’t be like a Camry vs Camry hybrid. |
2024.05.18 18:17 KFIjim Food truck in the Menard's lot - what's the financial arrangement?
There is a food truck on weekends at my Menards. Just wondering if they pay a set amount for renting the spot or if they pay a percentage of sales. Also, who makes the agreement, corporate or the local GM?
submitted by KFIjim to menards [link] [comments]
2024.05.18 18:05 Antique_Specific_254 32M Lost my job and now feel lost.
In Febuary I got a new $18/hr job at this small warehouse and everything seemed great for a bit, fast forward and my manager pretty much set me up to fail in a department I wasn't trained in and yesterday I was terminated. I should have seen this coming as out of all their Warehouse employees noone has stayed with them for more than 6 Months other than said Manager. Financially my Fiancé can cover everything for both of us as long as she needs to as she brings home around 60k a year and we have kept our bills pretty low. Thanks to her I have some time to figure some things out and she is so supportive of me doing that. Problem is, I am lost lol most of my experience is in Distribution Centers/Warehouses. I was a truck loader for 5 years before I left to pursue sales which I ended up not doing well in so I am stuck between just finding another warehouse job or looking into some sort of certificate that can lead to a stable job. Anyone have any advice on certs they pursued which helped them out? Or any shorter degree programs? I don't need to make a ton of money just wanna be above minimum wage in a stable job.
submitted by Antique_Specific_254 to findapath [link] [comments]
2024.05.18 16:49 Admirable-Flower-807 Concert Experience @ Bridger Brewing
I went to Josh Turner last night at Bridger Brewing and want to hear from anyone else who hasve seen a show at this venue.
Tickets. Affordable! They said they'd email them but instead texted them randomly a month or so before the show.
Schedule - original schedule was doors at 6, show at 7. So when I arrived at 655 to find out it gates weren't open yet it was a little frustrating. The wind was hellacious and def would have taken my time and avoided the extra time in the elements... Apparently they did send an email at 545 notifying everyone they were pusing back an hour but as I wasn't the one who purchased the tickets we did not get the memo.
The show was meant to start at 7 but started closer to 845. Almost 2 hours late. Granted, with the wind they had a lot of obstacles to overcome with the sound. The speakers had to stay on the ground for the opening band and standing by the sound booth we couldn't hear anything but bass and vocals. I think those poor guys were also freezing.
Parking - We purchased 2 parking passes for $5 each. There was no specific QR code or pass for parking - when we called and asked they said it would be an "honor system" of who paid or not. My sister arrived 15 minutes before us and they just sent them right into the further away lot. When we arrived they asked to scan our ticket QR and directed us to the closest lot. The difference in proximity to where we got to park was drastic! So... I guess don't bother paying for parking cuz they'll send you wherever anyway.
Food & Drink. I called in advance to ask if they would have food available inside the venue. I was told no, they would not be any food for sale inside so if you wanted to eat you have to eat at the restaurant before the show. Access to the restaurant during the show is not available. And, when we arrived there was actually a burger truck and a taco stand. Both were delicious, wait times were significant but if you're hungry enough you had options. Drink lines were never bad and accepted both cash and card.
Sound. They def stalled on starting the show on purpose and it worked out because by the time Josh took the stage they had raised the speakers and the wind was died down. The sound was great for him, I felt bad for the openers, it was just bad luck.
Bathrooms- plenty of porta pottys and very clean.
Water - available for free if you bring your own bottle in.
Seating - all GA (except VIP). People brought blankets and lawn chairs and posted up on the grass. Once the show started they opened up the 'pit" closer to the stage and it quickly filled in. There were a handful of people in the lawn who tried to tell people not to stand but... Sorry folks that's never gonna happen at a GA show.
Exiting - there are areas that could use more lighting for the walk back to the parking lot. Walking to your car felt a little unsafe as you have to walk between the stream of cars and there are some hidden ditches/ropes that are hard to see. I think safety is the biggest issue. Otherwisez the flow of traffic getting out was not bad at all. Also saw 3 people pulled over from 3 Forks back to Bozeman so...always have a DD people!
Overall, I think it was a good experience as a new venue. Some improvements since I saw the Dwellers there before. The elements will be the biggest battle for that venue. Similar to the Gorge, exposure to the wind is unrelenting and everyone (including the musicians) were pretty uncomfortable for the first few hours. I think several people had to leave before Josh even took the stage.
submitted by Admirable-Flower-807 to Bozeman [link] [comments]
Tickets. Affordable! They said they'd email them but instead texted them randomly a month or so before the show.
Schedule - original schedule was doors at 6, show at 7. So when I arrived at 655 to find out it gates weren't open yet it was a little frustrating. The wind was hellacious and def would have taken my time and avoided the extra time in the elements... Apparently they did send an email at 545 notifying everyone they were pusing back an hour but as I wasn't the one who purchased the tickets we did not get the memo.
The show was meant to start at 7 but started closer to 845. Almost 2 hours late. Granted, with the wind they had a lot of obstacles to overcome with the sound. The speakers had to stay on the ground for the opening band and standing by the sound booth we couldn't hear anything but bass and vocals. I think those poor guys were also freezing.
Parking - We purchased 2 parking passes for $5 each. There was no specific QR code or pass for parking - when we called and asked they said it would be an "honor system" of who paid or not. My sister arrived 15 minutes before us and they just sent them right into the further away lot. When we arrived they asked to scan our ticket QR and directed us to the closest lot. The difference in proximity to where we got to park was drastic! So... I guess don't bother paying for parking cuz they'll send you wherever anyway.
Food & Drink. I called in advance to ask if they would have food available inside the venue. I was told no, they would not be any food for sale inside so if you wanted to eat you have to eat at the restaurant before the show. Access to the restaurant during the show is not available. And, when we arrived there was actually a burger truck and a taco stand. Both were delicious, wait times were significant but if you're hungry enough you had options. Drink lines were never bad and accepted both cash and card.
Sound. They def stalled on starting the show on purpose and it worked out because by the time Josh took the stage they had raised the speakers and the wind was died down. The sound was great for him, I felt bad for the openers, it was just bad luck.
Bathrooms- plenty of porta pottys and very clean.
Water - available for free if you bring your own bottle in.
Seating - all GA (except VIP). People brought blankets and lawn chairs and posted up on the grass. Once the show started they opened up the 'pit" closer to the stage and it quickly filled in. There were a handful of people in the lawn who tried to tell people not to stand but... Sorry folks that's never gonna happen at a GA show.
Exiting - there are areas that could use more lighting for the walk back to the parking lot. Walking to your car felt a little unsafe as you have to walk between the stream of cars and there are some hidden ditches/ropes that are hard to see. I think safety is the biggest issue. Otherwisez the flow of traffic getting out was not bad at all. Also saw 3 people pulled over from 3 Forks back to Bozeman so...always have a DD people!
Overall, I think it was a good experience as a new venue. Some improvements since I saw the Dwellers there before. The elements will be the biggest battle for that venue. Similar to the Gorge, exposure to the wind is unrelenting and everyone (including the musicians) were pretty uncomfortable for the first few hours. I think several people had to leave before Josh even took the stage.
2024.05.18 15:47 DMWHeri Help with private sale of truck- FL
I am selling a vehicle for the first time. Are there any online resources you guys recommend looking at before?
I bought the truck from an auction and they are delivering the title to me via certified mail. The title will have the spot for who the transfer of title is intended to empty. Can I just leave it empty or should I transfer it to my name and then transfer it again or will I be doubling up on taxes that way?
All I need to do is print the bill of sale and fill it out during the sale and transfer the title at the DMV right? What do I do with it afterward?
What are acceptable payments for that sort of sale? Cash or wire? I want to avoid checks.
submitted by DMWHeri to askcarsales [link] [comments]
I bought the truck from an auction and they are delivering the title to me via certified mail. The title will have the spot for who the transfer of title is intended to empty. Can I just leave it empty or should I transfer it to my name and then transfer it again or will I be doubling up on taxes that way?
All I need to do is print the bill of sale and fill it out during the sale and transfer the title at the DMV right? What do I do with it afterward?
What are acceptable payments for that sort of sale? Cash or wire? I want to avoid checks.
2024.05.18 14:30 compressed_armrest Schedule changes and hours taken
My SM keeps changing my schedule. Back to back to back. Sometimes it’ll be a minimum of three times a day. A few days ago, I was scheduled to come in at 3. I was sitting in my garage around 11 am when my SM calls me. I’m thinking they’re asking me to come in early, I don’t pick up the call. Exactly five minutes later, they changes the schedule for me to work 12 to closing and then texts me “where are u, you were supposed to be here at 12?” ???? Hello? I’m sitting in my couch eating my breakfast.
Luckily I took screenshots and I ignored the rest of their calls and texts bc they change the schedule so often that I just go in when they tells me to. Our store is horrendous and I was there before my new SM was. Was there at 4-5 in the morning slaving away, pulling doubles, calling in on my off days and was always called one of the best workers and now I’m lucky if I get 20 hours a week.
My schedule has changed so much that I have went from 27 to 15 hours in the span 2-3 days. Just like every person she’s giving my hours to, I have bills to pay and a life to live outside work. I don’t call out unless it’s medical or i genuinely have no way to work. Again, I’m constantly told I’m one of the best. I do work that’s not even my job. Help with closing, help with plan-o-garms and receiving trucks and damaging out things, etc. the only thing u haven’t been asked to do is take the money to the bank (bc they’d get in trouble), attend meetings (bc Im a damn sales associate), and certain computer things.
I’m basically a key holder, but without the pay. I have the keys more than most of our new key holders do. I feel unappreciated, even if staff is nice bc they gave me hours when THEY needed it then take it away when they mess things up. I don’t know if this is something I can fix or if I should just leave it be bc I move in two weeks. I feel as if that was why they did it, but even then I told them I would let them know in advance the best I could the days I needed off and haven’t told them that I needed it but once just to be denied the off day. I want to get my job transferred but I can’t if I quit but they are really stressing me out. I’m there long enough to help but not long enough to make good money.
submitted by compressed_armrest to DollarGeneral [link] [comments]
Luckily I took screenshots and I ignored the rest of their calls and texts bc they change the schedule so often that I just go in when they tells me to. Our store is horrendous and I was there before my new SM was. Was there at 4-5 in the morning slaving away, pulling doubles, calling in on my off days and was always called one of the best workers and now I’m lucky if I get 20 hours a week.
My schedule has changed so much that I have went from 27 to 15 hours in the span 2-3 days. Just like every person she’s giving my hours to, I have bills to pay and a life to live outside work. I don’t call out unless it’s medical or i genuinely have no way to work. Again, I’m constantly told I’m one of the best. I do work that’s not even my job. Help with closing, help with plan-o-garms and receiving trucks and damaging out things, etc. the only thing u haven’t been asked to do is take the money to the bank (bc they’d get in trouble), attend meetings (bc Im a damn sales associate), and certain computer things.
I’m basically a key holder, but without the pay. I have the keys more than most of our new key holders do. I feel unappreciated, even if staff is nice bc they gave me hours when THEY needed it then take it away when they mess things up. I don’t know if this is something I can fix or if I should just leave it be bc I move in two weeks. I feel as if that was why they did it, but even then I told them I would let them know in advance the best I could the days I needed off and haven’t told them that I needed it but once just to be denied the off day. I want to get my job transferred but I can’t if I quit but they are really stressing me out. I’m there long enough to help but not long enough to make good money.
2024.05.18 13:24 jdjenensnddn What’s the real value
 | 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew CabZ71 LT Pickup 4D 6 1/2 ft 150,000 submitted by jdjenensnddn to Silverado [link] [comments] Found this truck for sale. Haven’t gone to crazy into my research yet. I know it’s bone stock except wheels and tires. Also needs a new front bumper but owner said they would have that fixed. |
2024.05.18 11:35 TrinketsInTerryfolds Is there a job for an account manager that specially handles corporate automotive contracts?
I have experience in sales, BD, account management etc. I know my skills are transferable and my strength is in building relationships.
I’m not super excited about any industry particularly but though managing the personal fleet for medium to large size businesses would be up my alley. For example, let’s say a general contracting company needs trucks for the field staff and foreman- who would be person managing the company’s vehicles and terms on those vehicles? Is there a decent amount of money in this industry, or am I too niche and won’t be paid well?
submitted by TrinketsInTerryfolds to careeradvice [link] [comments]
I’m not super excited about any industry particularly but though managing the personal fleet for medium to large size businesses would be up my alley. For example, let’s say a general contracting company needs trucks for the field staff and foreman- who would be person managing the company’s vehicles and terms on those vehicles? Is there a decent amount of money in this industry, or am I too niche and won’t be paid well?
2024.05.18 08:16 NickyD_ Should I get a new truck?
I am an owner of a construction business. I drive around doing estimates and doing a lot of b2c work. i’m the face of my 3 person company. I kinda have a mentor and a few other people in my life telling me that getting a new truck will be beneficial for sales and just keeping the company looking premium.
My focus has been on offering a higher quality service and I try to be as professional as possible from a-z. I take pride in my work and am really trying to make my company a reputable brand.
I bring this up because my mentor stressed over this. I met him just recently and he owned a lawncare business and has been telling me absolutely gold advice. He says that having a nice vehicle does make people want to work with you.
He says that they see a nice new vehicle and they feel like “you know what your doing” or that they are getting a more premium service since you come across as more premium yourself. He brings up how he used to have a crappy car for his gigs and when he even borrowed a nice car that he would get a lot more yes’s in general. He said from then on he never bought something outdated.
I cant help but agree with it and I do drive a truck that isnt the best but works mechanicslly, just has a lot of dents from previous owner. Ultimately it is a work truck.
I was going to find something somewhat used maybe 40k miles around the $20-40k range that is a newer year.
Not sure if this is a smart decision or if im just being emotional. I don’t want something top top of the line but something that looks like I mean business.
When it comes to financials I can pay maybe a little less than half as a down payment and wouldnt struggle to pay the payments. It will set me back a little on buying a home but that is mostly for next year anyways. I got approved at my bank for the vehicle loan and will probably pay off in full within a year or 2.
I plan on talking to my account for using it as depreciation for taxes and whatnot.
What are your thoughts and ideas?
submitted by NickyD_ to Entrepreneur [link] [comments]
My focus has been on offering a higher quality service and I try to be as professional as possible from a-z. I take pride in my work and am really trying to make my company a reputable brand.
I bring this up because my mentor stressed over this. I met him just recently and he owned a lawncare business and has been telling me absolutely gold advice. He says that having a nice vehicle does make people want to work with you.
He says that they see a nice new vehicle and they feel like “you know what your doing” or that they are getting a more premium service since you come across as more premium yourself. He brings up how he used to have a crappy car for his gigs and when he even borrowed a nice car that he would get a lot more yes’s in general. He said from then on he never bought something outdated.
I cant help but agree with it and I do drive a truck that isnt the best but works mechanicslly, just has a lot of dents from previous owner. Ultimately it is a work truck.
I was going to find something somewhat used maybe 40k miles around the $20-40k range that is a newer year.
Not sure if this is a smart decision or if im just being emotional. I don’t want something top top of the line but something that looks like I mean business.
When it comes to financials I can pay maybe a little less than half as a down payment and wouldnt struggle to pay the payments. It will set me back a little on buying a home but that is mostly for next year anyways. I got approved at my bank for the vehicle loan and will probably pay off in full within a year or 2.
I plan on talking to my account for using it as depreciation for taxes and whatnot.
What are your thoughts and ideas?
2024.05.18 08:03 queenbozzy22 How long does someone have to pay for a car??? (ALABAMA)
How long does someone have to “finish paying” for a vehicle? (Alabama)
A “friend” of ours was purchasing a used vehicle from us it’s a ‘72 model truck, and never finished paying for the truck. No bill of sale or payment receipts were ever exchanged between any party. It’s been sitting here for over 3 years and in the meantime, he’s stored several other personal vehicles, four wheelers, a grill, an RV camper, and more here for at least a year. Roughly 4 months ago I’d given him 30 day notice to come and get his items, and had a tow truck come and get his stuff after a while. He was threatening our family, his other truck was in someone else’s name, the original owner was looking for it and we have small children and didn’t want to be tied up in any of his legal mess so we called a wrecker to take it. Now he’s threatening lawyers and police over the vehicle he never paid off that he’s had zero interest in coming to get. He’s harassing my in-laws, threatening to put us in jail, etc., what can be done? I want to wash my hands of this situation completely but we’ve stored this vehicle here for over 3 years and haven’t received the full payment amount… what do we tell the police if/when they come? I’m on the verge of a restraining order and harassment charges because he’s threatening and harassing my entire family.
submitted by queenbozzy22 to askcarsales [link] [comments]
A “friend” of ours was purchasing a used vehicle from us it’s a ‘72 model truck, and never finished paying for the truck. No bill of sale or payment receipts were ever exchanged between any party. It’s been sitting here for over 3 years and in the meantime, he’s stored several other personal vehicles, four wheelers, a grill, an RV camper, and more here for at least a year. Roughly 4 months ago I’d given him 30 day notice to come and get his items, and had a tow truck come and get his stuff after a while. He was threatening our family, his other truck was in someone else’s name, the original owner was looking for it and we have small children and didn’t want to be tied up in any of his legal mess so we called a wrecker to take it. Now he’s threatening lawyers and police over the vehicle he never paid off that he’s had zero interest in coming to get. He’s harassing my in-laws, threatening to put us in jail, etc., what can be done? I want to wash my hands of this situation completely but we’ve stored this vehicle here for over 3 years and haven’t received the full payment amount… what do we tell the police if/when they come? I’m on the verge of a restraining order and harassment charges because he’s threatening and harassing my entire family.
2024.05.18 06:55 Mountainpwny To sell a car
 | submitted by Mountainpwny to therewasanattempt [link] [comments] |
2024.05.18 06:39 PossibleAstronaut420 Selling house and traveling. What to do with proceeds?
I plan to travel the country taking nursing contracts and living in rented housing after selling home. Should have 50(ish)k after sale to deposit after paying off mortgage and fees from sale. Plan to eventually use funds for down payment 1-3 years from now. Where can I park it to make a little extra at the end of my travels? CD? High yield savings? Would consider some higher risks on like 10k and safe for the remaining if anyone knows a good method. Obviously there is no 100% right answer but just what y'all would do if you were 30(F) 34(m) and not planning on having kids? I have 12k personal loan to pay off cc debts. And owe 20k truck payment 600ish a month. 50k Student loans combined roughly 500 a month. Combined income 197k yearly. After traveling will make around 130k yearly. Thanks!!!
submitted by PossibleAstronaut420 to Money [link] [comments]
2024.05.18 06:31 PossibleAstronaut420 Selling house and traveling. What to do with the proceeds of the sale.
I plan to travel the country taking nursing contracts and living in rented housing after selling home. Should have 50(ish)k after sale to deposit after paying off mortgage and fees from sale. Plan to eventually use funds for down payment 1-3 years from now. Where can I park it to make a little extra at the end of my travels? CD? High yield savings? Would consider some higher risks on like 10k and safe for the remaining if anyone knows a good method. Obviously there is no 100% right answer but just what y'all would do if you were 30(F) 34(m) and not planning on having kids? I have 12k personal loan to pay off cc debts. And owe 20k truck payment 600ish a month. 50k Student loans combined roughly 500 a month. Combined income 197k yearly. After traveling will make around 130k yearly. Thanks!!!
submitted by PossibleAstronaut420 to personalfinance [link] [comments]
2024.05.18 05:30 adavis1999 Question about 2013 Ram 1500 4.7 L
 | I am looking to buy my first Ram and have heard a multitude of problems about Ram in general but mainly about the 4.7 motor and transmission. I found a 2013 Ram 1500 for sale for a decent price. It has the 4.7 motor, 6 speed transmission. I am wondering everyone's thoughts and opinions on this year of this truck and about the transmission and motor. I have owned Ford and GM in the past. However, I want to switch it up and I have always liked the Ram look and wanted to get one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions are appreciated as well. submitted by adavis1999 to ram_trucks [link] [comments] I am looking to daily drive the truck, haul things from time to time. I do not need a ton of power or anything crazy towing wise. Decent gas mileage is always a plus but who buys a truck for it to be good on gas. I will only tow a small trailer sometimes but rarely. Will mainly use the bed for hunting supplies, furniture, dead deer, etc. I have attached photos and information about this truck to get a better opinion and understanding to those who will respond to this posting. |
2024.05.18 05:10 low-voltage-master Just acquired some rare pass-port elixir windows for mini truck, for sale
 | submitted by low-voltage-master to Datsun [link] [comments] |