"SCREW UPS"

Yesterday I was driving down an unfamiliar street in Oceanside heading towards the freeway. Just as I'm approaching the on ramp, I realize I'm not far enough to the left. Do I; (A) Cut over at the last moment, cutting off everyone who's in the correct lane waiting their turn? (B) Stop, turn on my blinker, block forward moving traffic, hoping someone will let me cut in front of them? (C) Continue on until I'm able to make a u turn? Wait for it...Sound of buzzer. The correct answer is, (C)! My screw up, mine to fix. Read and learn fellow drivers. I screwed up and I fixed it without bothering any other driver on the street! Imagine that. Simple solution that took a couple of extra minutes. No big deal. Then, the other situation of the day. I'm on the freeway. Traveling/passing in the number 1 lane. Traffic is moderate but, moving fairly quickly. Suddenly this stupid bitch apparently decides she needs to jump from number 2 lane over to the number 1. Problem is, she doesn't signal nor, look. Three guesses as to who was using the spot right then? That's right! Moi! Just as our cars are even I see her coming into my lane, millimeters from hitting me! Yikes! I lay on my horn and thank The Lord she was able to pull back into her own lane! Scared the heck out of me and life flashed quickly in front of my eyes! I think I had an angel sitting as my copilot. Moral of the story? When we miss our turns, etc..., let's fix our mistake in a way that doesn't inconvenience other drivers. Before we change lanes, let's ideally look and then signal. At the very least, LOOK TO MAKE SURE THE LANE IS CLEAR! The life and property we save may very well be our own! To the dumb ass who came so very close to hitting me? I hope you learned an important lesson that you never forget! If you didn't, do the rest of us a favor, cut up your license and use public transportation. You're dangerous and have no business driving a car!

"ON THE ROAD AGAIN"

Well I wasn't driving for about 6 months. Sad to say, not much has changed! just the other day, I'm in the number 3 lane, cruise control set to 70 and it happens. Some moron decides to cut over in front of me! Do they keep up the flow? No! Since they're traveling at a slower speed, I of course, must take off the cruise control and adjust my speed. The worst part, there was no one in front of them! How I wished at that moment I was driving a junk car. Can you imagine the look of shock on their face if I just slammed them like a bumper car? Bet they'd never pull that cut off $hit again! Hah! I think driving in a Demolition Derby would be the perfect hobby for me! Also WTH is up with drivers entering the freeway at city street speed? Come on people! It's common sense, get up to freeway speed before you merge in! For goodness sake, you aren't just putting yourself in jeopardy but, every driver around you. I tell you right now, if you caused me to wreck because of your stupidity, I'd probably be tempted to knock you into next year! If you're afraid of the freeway then please do the rest of us a favor, keep your ass on the city streets! We'll be okay really. **Sigh** I guess it goes to show, it's true, "Same old $hit, different day!" One thing that's undisputable, a vehicle and the ability to drive equals freedom! Public transportation might get you from point a to point b however, there's nothing like driving yourself! So even with all the morons out there, it's GREAT to be mobile again!

"DRIVING ETIQUETTE PART1"

Wow it's been a long time since my last post! One of my resolutions is to start working on this blog! If you happen to drive on California freeways, I'm sure you'll agree, there's plenty to write! Lol! Unfortunately there is no class on driving etiquette so I've decided to tackle the topic here. Let's begin with a statement I think we can all agree on, "My destination is my priority. Other drivers destinations aren't" However, I do want us all to arrive safely! An added bonus would be arriving with less stress. Some basic driving manners, I believe, could help. So I've come up with a list of actions and behaviors we can all practice. Imagine if even 50% made a change, we all benefit in the positive. So in no particular order; 1)TURN SIGNALS: I have caught myself getting lazy at times re: signaling. When it's obvious that I'm turning right or left, often times, I don't bother using it. Trouble is, after a few turns like that, a bad habit starts. That's why I've resolved to signal regardless. I'd rather over signal than be a pain in the ass driver! Here's just one scenario, you're making a left onto a busy street, a car is approaching from that direction, you patiently wait for it to pass, last second the driver makes a left onto your street! Jackass! Also, I'm more inclined to allow a driver to cut in when they signal. Shows manners. Most of all, by using the turn signal, when other drivers know what you're planning, they're less likely to hit your vehicle. After all, I doubt there are any mind readers out there. So let's all plan to signal more. 2)PARKING LOT BLOCKERS: Listen up douchebags! If you're shopping during peak hours, don't add to the extra stress by blocking the parking row so you can get a few feet closer to the door! A little bit of walking won't hurt you. From what I've seen people who make this a habit could benefit from a little exercise. So remember, instead of showing yourself to be a selfish piece of crap adding stress to people around you, walk yourself to better health. We'll all benefit through reduced stress at the store, bonus exercise, less temptation of ripping someone's head off and shoving it up their backsides! 3)CIGARETTES AND TRASH: I'm a smoker I freely admit it. However, there is one thing absolutely no one would ever see me doing, that's throwing a lit finished cigarette out a window! NEVER! First of all, I remember well the wildfires of 2003 and 2007. Even before those events, it doesn't take a college degree to understand that a lit cigarette is dangerous and a potential fire starter. Improper disposal by throwing one out of a car IMO is criminal! If you smoke and make a habit of tossing your butts, think about this. You toss your butt out the window. The breeze of the freeway pulls it to the car behind you. It's blown into an open window, lands on a child or a baby and burns them. That's not okay! Or during the dry season, it lands on a dried patch of weeds and starts a fire. Do you know how quickly fires get out of control in this state? As for tossing trash out of your car. Litterbugs SUCK and they're pigs! There's a reason God made trash cans! There's no excuse for acting like pigs! There's no excuse for littering. EVER! All it does is create an ugly, dirty environment. Hold on to your trash for proper disposal. Let's teach our children to respect the world. It will be theirs one day. 4)LAST MINUTE CUT OVERS/OFFS: IMO while driving you plan ahead. The route, travel time,etc... One would think this would include entering and exiting the freeway. However, there always seems to be one. For one reason or another, this driver waits till the last possible second to jump across lanes of traffic to make the exit. Although, it's not nice, I admit I'll mess up this driver whenever I safely can. Usually this amounts to maintaining the same speed in the lane next to them until we pass the exit. I know 2 wrongs don't make a right. Sometimes I can't rise above my naughty side :) Well that's all for now. This will be continued in the near future. :)

"IGNORANT OR JUST PLAIN AS$HOLE?"

I suspect unfortunately most times it's the second choice. Seems our vehicles provide a sense of anonymity that many times brings out the worst in us! After all, I think the majority wouldn't act so blatant in face to face interactions. For example, I've never been at the grocery store and seen someone just cut a person off in line. Something I've seen hundreds if not thousands of times while driving. For instance, drivers I call "merger maggots". Two lanes are merging, easy and simple in theory. Car A, car B, repeat. Until an as$hole human gets in the mix. Situations A: cars entering the freeway,"wait my turn? No way, I'm special! I'll cross the solid line and screw the process up for every driver around me, disrupt the flow of traffic. Who cares if they have the right of way?" Situation B: 3 or 4 signs warning drivers the lane is closed ahead, merge left or right. Sure enough here come the maggots, waiting till the last possible moment! "Screw the drivers they've just cut off! As long as they got that few extra feet. I tell you, there are times I can understand what causes freeway shootings. I don't condone it but, I can understand. I sometimes pretend the button of my emergency brake is a rocket launcher! Lol! It helps, sometimes. Then we have the turtles. The turtle drives 50-55 usually in the #3 lane which I don't have a problem with. I prefer the #1 or 2 myself. However, just the other day I had just entered the freeway, while working my way over, I was behind a turtle for a couple of minutes. Which was fine, I had one more lane change. My signals on, all clear, suddenly with no warning, the freaking turtle jumps the lane! Maintaining his speed! WTH?? So I jump into #1 in order to get away from this moving traffic barrier. I also blasted him and his car into dust! I mean really people, are you scared to keep up with the flow of traffic? That's okay, there's a solution, CITY STREETS! If you must use the freeway, stay to the right! Simple enough! Last but not least, lane leapers! My ex and I were on the freeway one night. Fairly moderate traffic. Things were flowing but, there were lots of cars. Traveling in the #3 lane which he prefers. To the right, cars are entering and exiting the freeway. To the left, fast approaching is a Mustang, leaping back and forth between lanes 1 and 2. Just as he came up parallel to us, he hit(or was hit)a vehicle in lane #2. The impact spun his car out and across four lanes of traffic, where it slammed into a compact that had just come onto the freeway! The poor driver, minding his own business, just trying to get up to freeway speed! In just seconds, his car was wrecked! Luckily, my ex had noticed this fool and was able to slow down enough that we weren't caught up in the crash. The Mustang was less than 100 yards away as it paseed right in front of our truck! I certainly prayed the guy in the compact walked away without any injuries that night. Aside from his car that is. I'm pretty sure his car was done. All because some As$hole was driving too fast in moderate conditions, cutting lanes and other cars!

"BRAKE LIGHT BINGO"

For nearly 10 years my commute for work was 48 miles round trip. Depending on factors such as; time of day/year, tourists in town, holidays, accidents, navy ships coming/going, etc... My commute ran anywhere from 30-60 mins. I realized early on that moving slowly is much, much better than continual stop and go. One afternoon while becoming almost hypnotized from the sea of red lights in front of me, I came up with a game. I call this game,"Brake Light Bingo". While traffic is moving, I allow a gap of approx. 100 yards(give or take)to open between my car and the one in front of me. It's inevitable that in a short while the reds will begin to blink on. In CA. there's never a shortage of drivers willing to ride your butt! Anyways, at this point I ease up on the gas into slow cruise mode. If it's done correctly, I don't use my brake, therefore I get a point! Weird, dorky, dumb? Maybe. Just a harmless activity I came up with to help me stay sane, pass the time, and to keep myself from ramming other cars as if it was demolition derby time on the freeway!(Just kidding. Maybe) Anyways, at first I tried for a low score of 5. As time passed I would aim higher. Overtime, it was a distraction. Most important, I never became a freeway sniper! Except in my imagination! Lol! Overall, I know my gas milage, brakes, overall wear and tear on the car was for the better. Most important, so was my mood once I finally arrived home!