MY Guaranteed is in the Present Tense....
drop-the-leash
Posts: 190
Just wanted to share this one with my brothers and sisters....
A few years ago, December 5th, 2007, to be precise; I was doing my usual thing at work in a resort located in remote Northern Territory Australia....
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 85278&z=10
....as a night auditor - the only person on duty in the entire resort. The work is pretty mundane, the resort small and isolated; so when at 2am, working away with Hard To Imagine literally blasting on the stereo, a screeching of tyres from an approaching vehicle had me expecting a ram raid! Before I could lock myself in a fellow employee bursts in the door yelling that Adam has had an accident....
I just went into autopilot; called the local nurse, alerted the emergency services, and drove down to the location of the crash so I could ensure everyone was well informed of the circumstances. The stretch of road has no lighting, and there was no moon that night, it was pitch black. Upon locating the vehicle off the side of the road, I drove directly at it so I could assess the damage. Three people had come across the car, but being so dark no one knew where Adam was. One of these people was Adam's girlfriend. I can still hear Sarah's scream as the headlights lit up Adam's body wedged half under the car....
Another person at the scene found a (false) pulse, and I immediately drove to the nurses station to update her on the potentially fatal situation. After informing her, I then notified the emergency services, and proceeded to alert our on-site rescue members....
What seemed like but a few minutes later I was quietly approached by one of the staffers and told not to wake any more people....see everyone lived in an accommodation block, quite cramped, and little more than 50m away there was nothing more that could be done for Adam.
I was still in auto-pilot, so I did what I could to comfort those who had arrived at the scene - I really was little use to anyone in all honesty.
Adam had died as a result of driving his work van from the bar back to his accommodation. A total distance of no more than 300m. He left the road at a 30 degree sweeping bend, over-corrected in the gravel, lost control, and rolled as the car hit a tiny embankment at the only angle that could possibly have cause the car to roll in that fashion. Adam wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
While we were not really close, everyone is close when the nearest "town" is 400km away. I was profoundly affected by that night, and the events often run through my mind. It was such a waste, and something that never should have happened.
We had a wake at the resort, and more people turned up to it than I had ever seen there in the year and a half I lived and worked there. I prepared a tribute DVD which was shown after the ceremony, highlighting Adam's time at the Canyon. He was much loved, and touched everyone in his time there.
While it was a guarantee that "True Blue" by John Williamson was featured (as this WAS Adam through and through), and HTI (as this became my unofficial dedication to him), I needed more songs. I turned to Into the Wild and after much deliberation, settled for Guaranteed. Little was I to know....
About a month later I returned to civilisation - just in time to catch the very last screening of Into the Wild in the Australian cinema. All I knew about the movie was that it was about a guy who traveled the US and up to Alaska, and that Eddie had recorded the soundtrack....I didn't need to know more to know this would be an amazing movie....
So just imagine when I find myself staring in disbelief as Chris lay on his death bed in the Magic Bus....I was dumbfounded. Bring on fade to credits.....fade in Guaranteed. Holy hell! It all came flooding back in a massive tsunami of emotion. I'm so glad I was saved by a darkened cinema and the fact I went alone!
I was amazed at the correlation between the two "events" in such a short time frame. I was pretty much numb for the next day or two.
I still think of Adam every now and then. I'm sure the memory will never fade. I try to use the experience as a positive, and to better myself and not take things for granted. It's slowly working, but mostly I'm still an unmotivated, uninspired loner....
Aaron
You can spend your time alone, re-digesting past regrets, oh
Or you can come to terms and realize
You're the only one who can't forgive yourself, oh
Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense
Have you ideas on how this life ends?
Checked your hands and studied the lines
Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light?
A few years ago, December 5th, 2007, to be precise; I was doing my usual thing at work in a resort located in remote Northern Territory Australia....
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 85278&z=10
....as a night auditor - the only person on duty in the entire resort. The work is pretty mundane, the resort small and isolated; so when at 2am, working away with Hard To Imagine literally blasting on the stereo, a screeching of tyres from an approaching vehicle had me expecting a ram raid! Before I could lock myself in a fellow employee bursts in the door yelling that Adam has had an accident....
I just went into autopilot; called the local nurse, alerted the emergency services, and drove down to the location of the crash so I could ensure everyone was well informed of the circumstances. The stretch of road has no lighting, and there was no moon that night, it was pitch black. Upon locating the vehicle off the side of the road, I drove directly at it so I could assess the damage. Three people had come across the car, but being so dark no one knew where Adam was. One of these people was Adam's girlfriend. I can still hear Sarah's scream as the headlights lit up Adam's body wedged half under the car....
Another person at the scene found a (false) pulse, and I immediately drove to the nurses station to update her on the potentially fatal situation. After informing her, I then notified the emergency services, and proceeded to alert our on-site rescue members....
What seemed like but a few minutes later I was quietly approached by one of the staffers and told not to wake any more people....see everyone lived in an accommodation block, quite cramped, and little more than 50m away there was nothing more that could be done for Adam.
I was still in auto-pilot, so I did what I could to comfort those who had arrived at the scene - I really was little use to anyone in all honesty.
Adam had died as a result of driving his work van from the bar back to his accommodation. A total distance of no more than 300m. He left the road at a 30 degree sweeping bend, over-corrected in the gravel, lost control, and rolled as the car hit a tiny embankment at the only angle that could possibly have cause the car to roll in that fashion. Adam wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
While we were not really close, everyone is close when the nearest "town" is 400km away. I was profoundly affected by that night, and the events often run through my mind. It was such a waste, and something that never should have happened.
We had a wake at the resort, and more people turned up to it than I had ever seen there in the year and a half I lived and worked there. I prepared a tribute DVD which was shown after the ceremony, highlighting Adam's time at the Canyon. He was much loved, and touched everyone in his time there.
While it was a guarantee that "True Blue" by John Williamson was featured (as this WAS Adam through and through), and HTI (as this became my unofficial dedication to him), I needed more songs. I turned to Into the Wild and after much deliberation, settled for Guaranteed. Little was I to know....
About a month later I returned to civilisation - just in time to catch the very last screening of Into the Wild in the Australian cinema. All I knew about the movie was that it was about a guy who traveled the US and up to Alaska, and that Eddie had recorded the soundtrack....I didn't need to know more to know this would be an amazing movie....
So just imagine when I find myself staring in disbelief as Chris lay on his death bed in the Magic Bus....I was dumbfounded. Bring on fade to credits.....fade in Guaranteed. Holy hell! It all came flooding back in a massive tsunami of emotion. I'm so glad I was saved by a darkened cinema and the fact I went alone!
I was amazed at the correlation between the two "events" in such a short time frame. I was pretty much numb for the next day or two.
I still think of Adam every now and then. I'm sure the memory will never fade. I try to use the experience as a positive, and to better myself and not take things for granted. It's slowly working, but mostly I'm still an unmotivated, uninspired loner....
Aaron
You can spend your time alone, re-digesting past regrets, oh
Or you can come to terms and realize
You're the only one who can't forgive yourself, oh
Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense
Have you ideas on how this life ends?
Checked your hands and studied the lines
Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
I think your just trying to live your life on your own terms. Good for you
Cheers,
S.