it really irks me

I don't know if it's because I'm in Columbus, Ohio right now or just something that's been on my mind. It just really irks me when we spend thousands of dollars (in taxes) for road repairs and they can't make a level road! I mean those speed lump-type corrections? What is up with that? We can launch a space probe from here and send it millions of miles in the span of years and hit our mark but when it comes to leveling out the asphalt we miss? There's got to be a way to fix that! Come on! Really.
Ugh, I think it's Columbus. I hate this fricking place!!!!

nellyville

I'm on the side of the defendant. Me, I experience road rage at least once a day sometimes more. And this story is proof of why I don't think I should own a gun. Hey, nothing says "speed up!" like a few well-placed rounds in the back of the car. Still, it's not that they didn't negotiate a turn fast enough but rather a total lack of concern for everyone else. Say you're making a right turn onto a street from a one-lane road. Now the one-lane road speed limit is 40MPH and you can safely make this turn at about 20MPH. Is it really necessary to make the turn at 5MPH? Yes, the safety of your family is paramount, but you can take the turn faster and remain safe, or you can take it really slow (which is the safest) and risk having the next four cars behind you plow into you at 40+ MPH. And what about the people behind you? You think where they're going is any less important than where you're going? And yes, I try to put the welfare of others before my own. On my way home from work everyday I have to execute a U-turn right at the entrance of my apartment complex. It's actually the highlight of my day. I've seen people make the same turn I make at less than 5MPH, darn near causing accidents (these people tend to swing out like a tractor-trailer making a turn). As I'm approaching the U-turn I speed up to give myself a little room behind me, down-shift, brake, and execute the turn. Yes, I'm safe, I look to see if there is any traffic where I'm turning ahead of time. I do it partly because I'm trying not to impede others in their journey, but also because it's fun as hell!

What gets me is the daycare comes equipped with bulletproof glass. Yeah... that can't be a good sign can it? Nah, I understand the need for bullet-resistant glass, it doesn't break when you toss a ball against it. Yeah, nothing is really "bulletproof" but bullet-resistant.

unknown.

Well, let's start off with I called the guy back. He answered, he was sober and he hung up on me. Bastard. I'll wait till later to give him a call back. This should be more interesting. Maybe I'll claim to have him mom.

In other news, three students are dead the results of a bus crash in Alabama. Now it's never cool to have children die. Apparently there was a car involved too. The driver was a fellow student, the teen says that 'something went wrong' with the car that caused it to veer into bus' lane and caused the bus to ride along the concrete side before falling over.
There's so many things wrong with that, so many things that could've been done to minimize the damage. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I'll break it down.

1. The driver of the Celica was 17 years old. Probably has the average driving experience of a 17 year old. That's where better drivers' ed comes into play. I've been through the defensive/offensive driving courses. You learn cool techniques on how to disable a vehicle you're following or one that's following you. How to evade a car, S-turns, J-turns and U-turns.
2. The driver of the bus veered away from the Celica. That's basic instincts, but the classes above teach you to do the opposite. Me, I veer towards them. It's all about control. Plus, when driving a mass transit vehicle your responsibility falls to the others in your vehicle. I'd rather be charged with one count of involuntary vehicular manslaughter than 3 counts of involuntary manslaughter. That's just me.
3. The story provided by the teen is flimsy at best. He/She probably doesn't want to admit to goofing off or showboating as the cause of the accident. Something went wrong, yeah you were trying to cut off a bus but lacked the necessary skills to do it. Great, now three people are dead and fifteen are in the hospital.

Again, hindsight is 20/20. I can't say for sure that I'd do anything different but I can say that I have been taught differently. I know the limitations of myself and my vehicle. If it came down to saving 20 lives (plus myself) and killing one, or killing an unknown amount and saving one, I'd have to say killing one is an acceptable loss.

Wow

So much happened over the weekend that I don't even know where to start. Let's start with World News.
Saddam Hussein will be receiving the death penalty in his issuing the killing of 148 Shiites in 1982. "Oh my!" So before you think that this is a conspiracy to re-elect the incumbent Republicans, the verdict is going up before the appellations court. Plus, that's only one case out of many for the last thirty years. We're going for the trifecta, all death sentences by different methods simultaneously which is topped off by life in prison.
OK, so we got the major news out of the way. Now for a little ranting about my weekend. As many of you know I play soldier one weekend a month as a Army Reservist. The drill (or battle assembly) went as scheduled, I helped inventory a roomful of equipment, loaded tents into a container and started a fire. Actually, I started several fires. Three to be exact. Doesn't sound bad does it? It gets worse. The first one is in a small metal garbage can but I've got a lot to burn so I change locations and cans. Did I mention that I'm burning stuff of a sensitive nature? Yeah, I guess that'd help explain why I'm starting fires. Well, now I've got me one of them big metal trash cans and I'm pouring in paper, stirring it around and dumping in more paper. After all of the paper is burnt, ashed and extinguished, I go ahead and mix in water and stir some more. I let it cool off for awhile and I get some help to dump all of this. Now here's the fire I didn't mean to start. I dumped the ashes in the big dumpster, no big deal right? Wrong. Apparently someone had raked up alot of leaves and also put them in the same dumpster. See where I'm going with this? Hot ashes + dry leaves = ??? Derr, fire! FIRE!
Now I'm trying to get water to douse the flames, it takes several gallons to put out this substantial fire. There were also cardboard boxes and manuals inside too that also like to catch fire.
Everyone's looking around to see who to blame, "Who's bright idea was this?" And you know what I did? I shot my hand up and spoke up, "Mine!" I said proudly. I guess it's the opposite of the boy who cried wolf because now we have a decent size rock in our unit that has "I Are Rock" written on it to identify those soldiers that are deserving of 'special' recognition by everyone. You'd think starting a fire in the dumpster would qualify for the rock, but because I take responsibility for everything else no one really believes me whenever it is actually my fault. Sweet.
Speaking of military acts of stupidity, we have this new program going on. People that are overweight or failed a PT test (both of which I excelled at) had to do remedial PT. I've done it before, not a problem. I need it and sometimes enjoy it. I have a problem with stupidity though. Sunday at 1600hrs (4pm for you non-military people) we do PT for an hour as a company. Great, I'm all for that. Then we have sign-out formation (again, something I'm not against) and at 1715 (5:15pm) they have the brilliant idea of having remedial PT. Do you see a problem with that? Let's see, do PT for an hour and then do it again a mere fifteen minutes later for the people that have trouble doing PT. Uh, wow, that's stupid. For me to do it is even more stupid. I have a three hour trip (at 80mph) back home afterwards. I wake up at 0400 (4am) to go to drill and I don't get home until 8 or 9 that night. It's already a tough drive just for being up that long, but add in the physical exhaustion from all that stupidity? Hmm, Stacy versus a tractor/trailer or a cement median. Stacy and I lose. So to prevent this I don't do the stupidity on Sunday after work.

couldn't say it better

Weight Gain Means Lower Gas Mileage

Finally, an article after my own heart!

rain, rain

Maybe I'm just crazy but why does rain affect traffic so much? Look, it's water falling from the sky. That's it. It's not molten hot lava, although if it was I bet people would drive a lot faster. Oh, the road is slick, so I have to go slower in case I have to brake. No, people behind you have to brake because they're expecting you to be doing at least the speed limit but you're not. If you do drive slow, then don't stay in the fast lane. Don't try to pass someone else that's going slower than you because you face the same risks you do if you pull out into the lane that's doing 70mph at 40mph. Just don't be stupid! "What if I hydroplane?" Honestly, it takes a lot of either water or speed. Now I go slow when the water is up about an inch. Small amounts of both don't make you spin out. Unless you've got racing slick tires you're not going to slide around as you're making a turn. If you do, then you need new tires. Stop being so cheap and get some new tires.
I'm not asking people to drive faster in the rain, but drive normal. Sure your windshield wipers are on but that's not an excuse. It's not the end of the world people, drive, get to work, get paid, and go home.
To highlight this rant, just remember this. Water falling from the sky, natural. People falling from the sky, unnatural. Drive slow if it's unnatural, drive normal if it's natural.

murphy's law

I can't catch a break. Usually I run my car until it's nearly empty and then fuel up. This is to try to boost up my MPG but it's also because I'm lazy. I fuel up less, therefore have to make less trips. Between Indiana and Ohio there's usually at least a five cent difference in the price of gas. So I try to time my fuelings with my days that I have to drill in Ohio. This morning when I was leaving Springfield and going to drill I saw that the price was $1.96! Well, I didn't need to fuel up but I was planning on it on my return trip. So of course when I'm coming back I stop at a Marathon about three miles from the highway, $1.96 so I pumped the gas, paid, and left. About a mile down the road I saw another gas station. $1.94! Damnit! Why didn't I fill up there? I could've saved 14 cents on it. Argh! I can't catch a break! Either I have to fill up on an expensive day or I fill up at an expensive gas station. No in between for me.
To be fair though, Stacy takes Premium. She runs a lot better with it, better performance and mileage. She's worth it.

be warned

GOOD MORNING! Yes it's raining. Normally I would be kind of depressed about everything because of the weather but not today. No sir. The Rainex performed well in its first trial run. Except for the fact that I had to use the wipers once when I first started my car, the Rainex is as advertised. Beads of water formed on my windshield instead of the usual distorting coat of water. The only downside of the Rainex is that you need speed, at lower velocities the water doesn't do much except sit there in big beads. Around 35mph you start to see some movement. I can't wait for a high-speed test (whenever that may be) to really put the Rainex to good use. In fact, if I'm not working and it's raining then it's on like Donkey Kong. Don't know where I'll go to but the destination isn't as important as the journey.
Sadly though, I have to fess up to my hypocrisy. On my way home last night I received an email on my Blackberry. It was work-related but that's no excuse. So as I sat at a stop light I checked it, thinking that I had time. When I look up the car in front of me is almost fifty feet away and the light had turned green. Damnit, I've become one of them! I vow to not let that happen again.

what's that?

This morning I thought I actually ran out of things to rant about. Thank-you real life! Driving into work I was actually sitting at a stop light looking around. Most of the construction projects are finishing up in the area, can't complain there. Then I started looking at the other drivers with me at the stop light. The woman to my left was on her cell phone jabbering away. The guy to my right was on his cell phone too, though I doubt he was talking to the woman on my left. It also looked like the guy behind me was on his phone too. Damn, it must be a long light sequence. Oh, look, people passing perpendicular to me. One, two, three, four, five. All on their cell phones. I felt sorta left out because I wasn't on one of mine.
My friend M. won't even consider buying a car with a manual transmission because of the fact that he's on the phone at least half of the time he's in the car. He doesn't even know how to drive a manual.
I hate trying to drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Especially in cities because it already takes two hands to drive, the addition of the cell phone throws a wrench in the whole process. Yes, I do have a hands-free set but I only use it on my longer trips.
My gripe isn't with the cell phone, but what it makes people not do. Like pay attention to traffic, or lights, and accidental lane changes. That cell phone is a distraction. I've been the fifth car to turn and not made the turn because the first guy in line is on the phone. It's a 30-second light, that's enough time for ten cars or more. Instead it's only enough time for four cars. Now I've spent three minutes at a light because some jackass is talking instead of making out the difference between red and green.
Yes, your life is moving at Mach One. Just don't get in my way because I'm moving at Mach Two. One of these days I'm just going to buy an old, beat-up truck and drive around with the sole purpose of pushing these idiots into oncoming traffic. <-- Yes, it's pre-meditated.

rubber ducky, this is mack granddaddy

The Over-50 Crowd Takes To The Road in Paid Big-Rig Gigs
Crap. Old people behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler. Watch for continuous left-turn signal lights for the next 50 miles.
Yes there's a shortage of long-haul drivers, people just don't want to be away from home three weeks out of the month, I understand that but are old people the solution? Yes, old people drive RVs but that doesn't take a special license. You need a Class A license to run a tractor/trailer and bad-ass skills to negotiate metropolis traffic.
My buddy Darius drives a tractor/trailer, long-haul for a United agent. He loves the open road and the opportunities it provides. Sure he's away from the house 25-28 days in a month, but being a driver gives him the chance to visit family and friends scattered across the country. It may only be for a day or a meal, but he's getting paid to be there. Plus, his truck is pimped out (not like the show) he has internet, XM radio, a fridge, TV, stove, and a sink. He also takes his motorcycle with him so that if he's stopped somewhere, he can run to the store or see the sights relatively cheaply.
I'm just scared now that I know there are more and more old people truck drivers on the road. I drive a tiny car that is in a driver's blindspot for about 90% of the time when I pass them. And trust me, they wouldn't notice if they accidently ran over me, well maybe a little damage to the undercarriage but that's it.
Maybe it's time to look into taking public transportation...