White Lies & Alibis

A bit of a psycho, ‘5 full moons in a row’ week here on Guam. 

Tough week for me to get it all down on ...well, not paper, ..on iCloud server space I suppose. 
Several emergencies of note..CPR on a cat, acute abdomen in a Mastiff, and both walked out of the clinic (Yes, I’d rather be lucky than good), but I did have a fair bit of drama outside the world of vet med yesterday, so come with me, if you will, to a small stretch of 4 lane coral/asphalt hugging the edge of Guam like a barbed wire tattoo, the road known as Marine Corps Drive, or simply Route 1. 
It is the main roadway running north-south on the island, joining a dozen villages that are home to more than 75% of the islands population. Route 1 is THE main drag. 

So, there I was, minding my own business, driving south, back to base after lunch. I was doing oh, 45-ish, which is typically the speed of traffic, regardless of the fact that the speed limit here is 35mph. All of a sudden a semi-trailer truck, which was 8-10 car lengths in front of me, veered from the right lane, nearly smashing a tiny red boonie car that was in the left lane. 
(A boonie car is a more than 10 year old, mostly rust-colored, POS)
The truck continued slicing left, through the center turn lane, into and across the two Northbound (oncoming) traffic lanes, which were luckily, unoccupied, only coming to a stop when the laws of physics said so, in the form of the steel guardrail and concrete electrical wire pole.  A violent stop to be sure.

Instinctively I pulled my truck on to the shoulder, and dashed across the road. The driver’s side fender/light/quarter panel were all pulverized, and the truck had jackknifed, cab kissing the guardrail, trailer hitch in the traffic lane, and rear of the truck also against the rail. First on the scene I was glad to see the driver was up and about, already climbing down out of the cab. He was about 50, short and fluffy, maybe Chamorro, maybe Filipino. But he was conscious and alert and already had his flip phone out. I asked him his name and was he OK?, he said Yeah, Yeah. I figured he was calling the cops, but he was calling his trucking dispatcher to report the accident. After about a minute, he started having trouble breathing, and started pacing, then dropped to his knees. I tried to get him to keep still, stay in the shade, stop moving his head, but he it was like he was on pogo stick. Adrenaline high. Until he started to dry heave. 
I took a moment to look up into the cab of the truck, and, duh, no airbag. Just a giant steering wheel. A-ha! I did some light palpation and, yep, his sternum was ummm, not quite right. I finally got him to sit down and catch his breath, sort of, as he kept becoming tachypnic, randomly. He starting going on and on about the dog that jumped out, how he hit the brakes to avoid it, and how his brakes locked up and he couldn’t control the rig. Told me the story a bunch of times over and over, rambling. I called 911 for the crash and the driver with chest pain, and waited for the ‘real’ first responders to show. 

About 12 minutes after my call, a patrol car came by, but it was just coincidence, they were driving by and stopped for the crash and proceeded to direct traffic. The car that responded to my call came a few minutes later, the ambulance 5 minutes after that. 

In the meantime, since he was alert, the cops took the driver’s statement for the record..”dog on road, swerved, brakes locked..” only stopping to interject, “Hey, if there’s a dog in the road, just run him over next time”--- Thanks Officer Guerrero for that little peek into island culture. 

Then it came time for my statement. Honestly I just wanted the damn ambulance to get there. I said yeah, it went down like he said, brakes locked etc. Finally, midday sun beating down on my head, sweat dripping, I said my goodbyes as the ambulance arrived. The truck driver called me Bra, which is as good as it gets if you’re a haole like me. 

I made my way thru the backed up traffic on both sides of the road to get in my truck and drive on. Couldn’t help but be a tad bothered by the fact that I saw no dog, heard no squealing tires, so no puffs of smoke from the lock-up... just saw the truck go off course. My white lie bothered my slightly, but what I was really thinking about, what bothered...no, pissed me off, was that not one other person stopped to help. 

Nothing to see here...move along

Somehow, both of my previous blog posts now have alibis attached:

Addendum One:
Black & Tan dog. 
In the course of interviewing candidates for our civilian tech position this week, I was talking with a woman who works at a vet clinic is Asan. The spot where the nasty Black & Tan dog charged us was right behind the clinic where she works. So I figured I’d ask, hey what’s the deal with that evil mutt??..Oh, she says, he belongs to the Mayor’s Office (!)

First off, don’t go thinking that the Asan Mayor’s office is anything like City Hall or a Town Square, it looks like this.

Island bureaucracy. If you think this looks like the type of place where there's a water buffalo tied to a tree just out of frame, you'd be 100% right.

So, further reinforcing the ‘semi-owned’ feral dog scenario on this island, the Mayor is responsible for the most unreasonably aggressive dog I’ve dealt with in 10 years. 
OOG!!!

Addendum Two:
Jethro & The Chickens
The neighborhood chickens have heard the legend of the three-legged grim reaper and are avoiding his presence at all cost....no wait...I can’t back that up. 

Here look.

Avoid please the gravitationally challenged cherry tree awaiting transplant for a moment, but note the distance from the carport on the left to the pile of cinder blocks on the right. For your info, the front door of this residence is around the corner of the carport, so every time I walk the dogs, we come out this way.

So, who has decided to nest on her eggs in the cinder block condo? 

Getting the evil eye from my resident hen

Yeah, so that happened. Now, Jethro loses his shit 2x per day, every day, cause he can smell that chicken!!! But I won’t let him investigate. 
OOG!!!

*Ed Note: OOG= Only On Guam