February 16, 2007
Finished work today, and looked in my bedroom-to-be. It's early enough that I could do a significant amount of tile work tonight, but I just didn't have it in me. It is such a gorgeous night that I decided to pass some time out here on the deck with a fire in the chimnea. It feels practically like summer, and I even hear some sounds in the trees that I associate with the long days of summer. So what to write about? Hmmm... my brain is still a little groggy from my sister calling me at 3:00 am yesterday. I never seem to catch up on sleep. At any rate, what comes to mind is the increased frequency of frustration while driving.
I try not to let it get to me, especially when Annie is with me. My voice only has to get a little louder than normal speaking level, with that bite in my words that I get when I'm angry, and she says I'm yelling. If I get caught off guard, and curse, she tunes into it right away. "Why did you call them that?" Come to think of it, I had a girldfriend once who thought the same thing.
... bringing my mind back from when I had a girlfriend. I live on a road that is way up the side of a small mountain. There is a sign posted by the county near the top to remind people going down the hill that they have to yield to uphill traffic. I read it that way, but maybe it is written in a language that most people can't read. I believe it reads, "Yield to Uphill Traffic." This is especially important when it is the rainy season. The road is covered in redwood needles that are beginning to decay, become mixed with rain water draining off the mountain, and become nature's snot. Sorry, that's the best way to describe it. I have used the 4x4 feature of my truck more for driving up the freakin' road than I have for what is normally 4x4 terrain. The reason? The sign doesn't read, "Hey, butthead, pull over if you see a car or truck coming, or someone is going to shove you off the cliff in anger..." This has become more of a difficulty lately because of the ownership transfer of what has long been endearingly named "the Crack House." I believe a bunch of kids have pooled their resources and bought it. I couldn't care less about who owns it, except that it has no parking, so there are now five cars parked on the road at all times. No big deal? The road was barely wide enough for one full-sized vehicle before. Now there is absolutely no way that a vehicle and even a bicycle can fit through there. So, here I am innocently driving my truck up the road, and this lady comes rocketing down the road. She sees that there are a ton of cars on the side of the road, and my headlights are blaring at her from thirty yards away. Well, apparently she recognized that it was not her fault that the cars were parked there, so she continued her rapid descent from the mountain. Frankly, I was expecting it. It's been happening every durn day. I pulled over, and she zipped by me with inches to spare. By the way, if a passenger had gotten out of my truck right there, they would have fallen down the hill to end up on someone's deck fifty feet below. No wave. No apology. I shook my head and restarted my ascent. No dice. My back wheels continued to spin in Nature's Snot. I turned on the 4x4, got traction, and went on my merry way.
I guess it just irritates me that people never consider their impact on other people. In fact, when one does react politely to circumstance, it shocks the recipient of said politeness. Case in point: at the bottom of the hill, the road snakes among some redwoods before coming out at Highway 9. It's a tight squeeze, and out of my expectation that someone is going to run me into a tree, I often pull over if I see someone coming. I saw this car coming one day a couple of months ago, and pulled over. She stopped on the other side of the trees, and cautiously pulled forward when I flashed my lights. She pulled up next to me, and rolled her window down. I put the window down to hear, "I was just curious. I thought you had the right-of-way. Did I have it, or were you just being nice?" Actually, there is no right-of-way down there. But, she was just surprised that someone would be considerate.
School is the worst place for inconsiderate drivers. In the morning, it is not too bad, in my opinion. The ladies that move traffic keep it moving fairly well. Except for the people that park in the No Parking area, and force me to fold my side mirrors in to keep from scraping them, are the only problem. The lady typically on my side of the drop-off routine is a bulldog. I've seen her physically place herself in front of an SUV that was trying to go where they were not allowed, and was impressed with her calm delivery of instructions while the driver shouted at her, and ultimately almost drove over her to get where she wanted to go (the wrong way). Ok, there is another issue. Some parents refuse to let their kids out of the vehicle if they are not completely in front of the line. That's frustrating, too. Traffic on this street stops. I am fourth or fifth in line. The oncoming traffic in the intersection is turning into the bottleneck of a road that egresses all the hurried parents. The first car is letting their kids out. The second car is letting their kids out. Third and beyond is just waiting patiently. Finally, it is our turn. Let's go. Let's boogie. We pull forward and the car inside of me stops right before the turn to let kids out. What the freak!?!? Now we have to wait until the next cycle to save what are often kids that could do with some more exercise anyway from walking an extra forty feet or so.
Afternoons are the worst, actually. The guys that direct traffic then do not radiate an aura of confidence and control. I've learned to park farther away so as not to deal with it, but it took a few attempts to discover that necessity. My example: I got to school to pick up Annie and take her to horseback riding lessons. As always when I pickup or drop off, I parked on the side of the road, and walked to the classroom. As long as Annie will let me, I will hold her hand between the classroom and the truck. I don't figure I have much more time with that. We returned to the truck, and I pulled out into the line of vehicles leaving school. The vehicle I was following was allowed to go, but came to a stop. The guy directing traffic looked at the driver, shrugged his shoulders, and put up his hand to indicate we were stopped. A few minutes later, he tried to wave us forward. The little SUV in front of me didn't budge. He waited a little bit, and then blocked us again. I was losing my cool. I had ten minutes to make a fifteen minute drive. I was close to honking. We were pushing ten minutes when this fat lady got out of her vehicle to shout at her kids that were still on school grounds. The kids came running to the vehicle, she yelled at them as they loaded up, and I glared at her with daggers that would have given her a heart attack had she looked up at me. There wasn't a one of them that didn't need some exercise. She could have driven around the circuit a few times, but no. Biotch...
Anyway, I didn't lose my cool, and I'm proud of myself.
No gun rack, yet.
I try not to let it get to me, especially when Annie is with me. My voice only has to get a little louder than normal speaking level, with that bite in my words that I get when I'm angry, and she says I'm yelling. If I get caught off guard, and curse, she tunes into it right away. "Why did you call them that?" Come to think of it, I had a girldfriend once who thought the same thing.
... bringing my mind back from when I had a girlfriend. I live on a road that is way up the side of a small mountain. There is a sign posted by the county near the top to remind people going down the hill that they have to yield to uphill traffic. I read it that way, but maybe it is written in a language that most people can't read. I believe it reads, "Yield to Uphill Traffic." This is especially important when it is the rainy season. The road is covered in redwood needles that are beginning to decay, become mixed with rain water draining off the mountain, and become nature's snot. Sorry, that's the best way to describe it. I have used the 4x4 feature of my truck more for driving up the freakin' road than I have for what is normally 4x4 terrain. The reason? The sign doesn't read, "Hey, butthead, pull over if you see a car or truck coming, or someone is going to shove you off the cliff in anger..." This has become more of a difficulty lately because of the ownership transfer of what has long been endearingly named "the Crack House." I believe a bunch of kids have pooled their resources and bought it. I couldn't care less about who owns it, except that it has no parking, so there are now five cars parked on the road at all times. No big deal? The road was barely wide enough for one full-sized vehicle before. Now there is absolutely no way that a vehicle and even a bicycle can fit through there. So, here I am innocently driving my truck up the road, and this lady comes rocketing down the road. She sees that there are a ton of cars on the side of the road, and my headlights are blaring at her from thirty yards away. Well, apparently she recognized that it was not her fault that the cars were parked there, so she continued her rapid descent from the mountain. Frankly, I was expecting it. It's been happening every durn day. I pulled over, and she zipped by me with inches to spare. By the way, if a passenger had gotten out of my truck right there, they would have fallen down the hill to end up on someone's deck fifty feet below. No wave. No apology. I shook my head and restarted my ascent. No dice. My back wheels continued to spin in Nature's Snot. I turned on the 4x4, got traction, and went on my merry way.
I guess it just irritates me that people never consider their impact on other people. In fact, when one does react politely to circumstance, it shocks the recipient of said politeness. Case in point: at the bottom of the hill, the road snakes among some redwoods before coming out at Highway 9. It's a tight squeeze, and out of my expectation that someone is going to run me into a tree, I often pull over if I see someone coming. I saw this car coming one day a couple of months ago, and pulled over. She stopped on the other side of the trees, and cautiously pulled forward when I flashed my lights. She pulled up next to me, and rolled her window down. I put the window down to hear, "I was just curious. I thought you had the right-of-way. Did I have it, or were you just being nice?" Actually, there is no right-of-way down there. But, she was just surprised that someone would be considerate.
School is the worst place for inconsiderate drivers. In the morning, it is not too bad, in my opinion. The ladies that move traffic keep it moving fairly well. Except for the people that park in the No Parking area, and force me to fold my side mirrors in to keep from scraping them, are the only problem. The lady typically on my side of the drop-off routine is a bulldog. I've seen her physically place herself in front of an SUV that was trying to go where they were not allowed, and was impressed with her calm delivery of instructions while the driver shouted at her, and ultimately almost drove over her to get where she wanted to go (the wrong way). Ok, there is another issue. Some parents refuse to let their kids out of the vehicle if they are not completely in front of the line. That's frustrating, too. Traffic on this street stops. I am fourth or fifth in line. The oncoming traffic in the intersection is turning into the bottleneck of a road that egresses all the hurried parents. The first car is letting their kids out. The second car is letting their kids out. Third and beyond is just waiting patiently. Finally, it is our turn. Let's go. Let's boogie. We pull forward and the car inside of me stops right before the turn to let kids out. What the freak!?!? Now we have to wait until the next cycle to save what are often kids that could do with some more exercise anyway from walking an extra forty feet or so.
Afternoons are the worst, actually. The guys that direct traffic then do not radiate an aura of confidence and control. I've learned to park farther away so as not to deal with it, but it took a few attempts to discover that necessity. My example: I got to school to pick up Annie and take her to horseback riding lessons. As always when I pickup or drop off, I parked on the side of the road, and walked to the classroom. As long as Annie will let me, I will hold her hand between the classroom and the truck. I don't figure I have much more time with that. We returned to the truck, and I pulled out into the line of vehicles leaving school. The vehicle I was following was allowed to go, but came to a stop. The guy directing traffic looked at the driver, shrugged his shoulders, and put up his hand to indicate we were stopped. A few minutes later, he tried to wave us forward. The little SUV in front of me didn't budge. He waited a little bit, and then blocked us again. I was losing my cool. I had ten minutes to make a fifteen minute drive. I was close to honking. We were pushing ten minutes when this fat lady got out of her vehicle to shout at her kids that were still on school grounds. The kids came running to the vehicle, she yelled at them as they loaded up, and I glared at her with daggers that would have given her a heart attack had she looked up at me. There wasn't a one of them that didn't need some exercise. She could have driven around the circuit a few times, but no. Biotch...
Anyway, I didn't lose my cool, and I'm proud of myself.
No gun rack, yet.