Traffic Whoa's

I have bitched about the traffic on here so much that one may be inclined to think that is all that I ever bitch about. Not true. There is just such an abundance of stupid people on the road here that I could, literally, base this entire blog on them alone. I refuse to do that however, because I don't like to limit myself or my creative abilities. (Or lack there of, which ever you choose) That doesn't mean that there will not be the occasional traffic post, though. I drive at least 30 minutes to and from work Monday thru Friday, and some of the things I see happen almost daily would be enough to stand the hair up on the back of your neck.

For example, yesterday, the hubby and I carpooled. We do this a lot to save gas and mileage on his car. Really, I don't mind. For one, my truck does do way better on gas than the 'stang does. For another, my truck absolutely refuses to be driven like a sports car, therefore taming down hubby's driving "skills". I work directly across the freeway from him, so when we carpool, we turn left on Paseo, when I would normally go strait when alone. When exiting onto Paseo, there are 2 left hand turn only lanes, a middle lane that can go forward or turn left as well, 1 forward only lane, and then 2 right hand turn only lanes. Hubby's work is on the right hand side of the road, when heading West on Paseo. Meaning we were turning left (to go onto Paseo) but we were in the middle lane. (Look back, remember I said you could go forward or turn left in that lane.) Sitting directly to our left was an elderly couple in a Cadillac with California plates. The Hubby, just joking around, I'm sure, said "I hope this lady knows that's a left turn only lane". Then we proceeded to have a lengthly discussion during the red light about how the road and lanes really are not marked that well and what the city should do to fix it. The light turns green and sure enough as we start to make the left hand turn, the old lady in the caddy tries to go strait. Time slowed down. I could clearly see the face of the old dude in the passenger front seat of the caddy and he looks as if he is going to need to change his depends. My headlights were heading right for his door and I could see every wrinkle, every crease, every little bead of sweat that seemed to magically appear on his terrified bald head. The Hubby mashed the breaks while at the same time applying the same amount of pressure to my horn, all the time swearing at the old folks. We somehow manage to squeeze past them, while avoiding getting hit from behind because of the brake mashing and then the old Lady gets past the intersection and stops, right there on the off ramp going onto I-25. *blinks* I don't know if we scared her so bad that she had to regain her composure before continuing on their trip, if she had to wipe up her husbands side of the seat, or if she was waiting for us to come start some shit with her. Either way it was a stupid move, compounded by the fact that a stupid move put her there in the first place.

I did state that the off ramp was not marked that well, however it was marked. There is a HUGE sign, just as you go up the off ramp that tells you which lane is which, then when you get to the top of the exit ramp, there is a couple more signs marking which lanes go where. There is no excuse for not paying attention when you are driving. If nothing else, the line of left handed blinkers, furiously blinking away, in the lane to her right would have been a good clue.

Basically, what it boils down to, is people lost in their own little world, not paying attention to what is going on around them. I see this type of thing way too often on the freeway. When my 30 minute commute turns into an hour or longer because a couple of ass hats decided to trade paint while doing 70 mph, yeah, I tend to get a little pissed. Especially when temps here are reaching the very high 90's and I have no a/c in the truck, other than the air flow I get when I can keep moving. But if the freeway turns into a 4 lane parking lot, well, I'm just fucked.

I see people change lanes with out even looking. I have seen people squeeze into a space between moving vehicles that is barely a car length, causing all the cars behind them to slam on their brakes, only so that one person could get one more spot. Ohhh. Aren't you special! I mean one more fucking spot, when none of us are fucking moving. Give that guy the Asshole of the Day award. I have seen people slam on their brakes, and I mean literally, the car's front end is diving forward, only to change lanes. TO CHANGE LANES IN MOVING TRAFFIC! I don't think I will ever understand that one. I have seen people shoot across 3 lanes of traffic to exit. I have seen people come to almost a complete stop on the fastest part of the freeway, because they want to exit and are in the wrong lane. I have seen people have to swing into the median to avoid hitting the person they were JUST tailgating. Yeah, leave a little space to allow for reaction time.

Speaking of tail gating, I'm sure all of you know the rule of thumb when judging your distance from the vehicle in front of you. 1 car length for every 10 mph, right? Wrong. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what they teach you in drivers education classes, however have any of you ever watched Motor Week or any other shows that test cars? It takes 100 feet or more to stop a vehicle. The average car is 20 feet or longer!! Some do better than others, granted, but most do way worse than that. When looking at your next potential car, don't just look at the 0 to 60 time. Also check out the 60-0 time and measurement, if available. Its quite shocking how long it takes for the average car to make a complete stop. Think about how good your brakes are next time your riding some one's ass. Chances are, unless you are paying attention very closely, you are going to tag that person, next time traffic crawls to a halt. And believe me, it will. Either that, or the person your tailgating might just decide to stop, right there on the freeway, for no other reason than to allow you to jam your hood up his ass so he/she can sue the pants off of you.

Well, it's now 4 pm here and I have to go battle it out on the freeway in about 30 minutes. Sigh. I enjoy my commute, I really do. Especially when I have my GoGear. In the morning, it gives me time to prepare my list-o-things to do for the day. At night, I enjoy being able to go over the days events in my head. What didn't I get taken care of, is it possible that I may have pissed some one off today, and if so, do I really give a skinny rats ass? The only time I don't like commuting is when deranged, clueless, I-am-the-only-person-on-the-road cock bastards try to take me out. That's when I get a little stressed. Thank goodness my application for a concealed weapon hasn't come thru yet, or else the population of the Duke City would be significantly less. ha. I fucking wish..