Coming home tonight I was cut off yet again. A few days ago a big black Dodge pickup tried to share my lane with me. I was in the passing lane trying to go around him. Guess I did not go fast enough and perhaps I was in his blind spot. I don’t know. All I do know is he started coming over and would have smashed me against the concrete median had I not slammed on my brakes. Lucky for me nothing was behind me at least not tailgating me that is. So no accident.
Tonight I basically relived that experience. I’m on the highway in the right-hand lane when a black jeep in the passing lane decides it needs to exit. The driver can’t slow down and let me pass. No, She has to come over and try to take out my front end. I could not slow down quickly this time so I had to put up with her sharing my lane twice as she tried to push me out of her way so she could get to the exit. When She finally gets in front of me she drives half in our lane and half on the shoulder. Quite honestly I don’t think she knew how to drive. Someone needs to stop her before she hurts someone namely me! I am starting to think that all drivers should be required to pass a driver’s test every five years before they can have their license renewed.
I was on my way to work this morning when an impatient jerk just couldn’t wait for me to pass before coming across the road. I was driving the speed limit maybe even a little faster, which is 35 mph on that part of the road, she would not have had to wait more than two or three seconds for me to pass her. But no she had to pull out and come all the way across the other lane until her front bumper was almost against my driver side door.
Gees lady I don’t know about you but I don’t want to start out this new year dead. I don’t think I could have handled being nailed again so soon after our accident in November. My ribs aren’t healed yet nor is my psyche. Guess I am not being too cautious as these impatient jackasses are everywhere. The point has been made painfully obvious to me today!
Indian Jones LEGO sets have hit the shelves. In fact I found them at Toys R Us a few weeks before Christmas. They had them even before the LEGO store had them online. These are pretty cool. I like that LEGO has been jumping on some good properties since they started licensing sets. I don’t like their move to change the mini-figure. I hate the flesh toned mini-figs. It just isn’t right. They should have stayed yellow. I know they had to make it so they could do African-American characters too. The Lando Calrissian mini figure was the first to appear and soon there after they did the NBA figures then all licensed characters were made with skin tones both Caucasian and Afro-American. The tirade is over now. Suffice it to say I do not like the flesh tones and be done with it. The Indy sets are pretty sweet and a little more geared to adults than kids. I think it would be cool of LEGO to just sell the mini figs as I do not need all the bricks but really want all the figures! Oh and like the Star Wars LEGO before them there will also be Indy LEGO video games. Sweet!
Around seven o’clock I was driving down route 176 to go to my doctor to see why my hand is still hurting me. When I come across this ratty old pickup truck full of junk. The crap in the back of the truck wasn’t secured and certainly did not look safe. I have always had a fear of things flying off of trucks whether its a car or just a ladder I feel like it will come loose and cause an accident. This fear caused me to back off instead of trying to pass this jerk.
Well, my instincts were right. No sooner did I back off when all of the sudden a huge metal object the size of a large lawn chair came off the back of the truck and right at me. Thank god it went toward the empty passing lane first giving me enough time to swerve to The right escaping its path by riding on the shoulder.
The guy in the truck had to know he lost some thing if not by seeing it then by the shear noise of the thing rolling across the highway. Maybe he just did not care. He made no sign of stopping, not even of slowing down. After that I wasn’t chancing that anything else wouldn’t fly off that thing so I floored it and went around him. Looking in my rearview mirror, it didn’t look like anyone behind was hit by it. No cops around to stop this guy either. Sorry I did not get the plate number if you or your car were hurt by this guy’s careless actions.
Two massive stone haulers ganged up on me as I drove to work. It started as I entered the turnpike. As I pulled out of the tollbooth I wound up behind a slow moving car. The first dump truck flew up along side me and beeped at me because I was in his way. Well I could not drive through the car in front of me, now could I?
We get to the on ramp and this guy keeps pushing me. He was never further away from me than two or three feet always right on my bumper. Once we got on the highway he still stayed on my butt.
A few times he passed me only to go slower than me once ahead of me. Then when I passed him he rode my ass again. At one point I wound up between him and another driver who drove as aggressively as his co-worker.
Every time they were behind me all I could see was the grill and Peterbilt logo. That was all, nothing else. I am pretty sure they could not have seen my brake lights from their truck cabs. Someone should probably let the folks at Stephan and Son Trucking, Inc. of Westminster, MD know the drivers with the truck numbers of 6970 [plate #149 96] and 6186 [plate #13 305] are unsafe drivers out on The highways.
What makes these guys think they own the roads? What gives them the right wreck havoc on the highways and scare the pants off me?
Get off the freaking phone people! Why do people think their phone conversations are more important than their own safety and the safety of others? The dangers are everywhere from people driving while talking to walking out in front of moving vehicles.
Many states have already made it illegal to use your cell while driving. Wish they would include hands-free headset talking in those laws as well. Even though they are not holding the phone in their hands their brains are not on the driving. I see people driving too slow for traffic, swerving into other lanes and almost rear-ending other drivers all the time. I really hope that Pennsylvania enacts a no cell phone law soon.
I believe NY has even made it illegal to cross the street while using a cell phone. Not a bad idea. Heck, just the other day I was pulling out of my parking spot and out of nowhere this guy on his phone punches the back of my car. I had looked both directions and directly behind me before starting to back out. He should have seen my car was moving and the reverse lights before stepping behind my car. But the idiot was too busy talking on his phone to be aware of his surroundings and of what was going on. I am glad I did not actually hit him, but it would have served him right for not paying attention.
I even believe that our recent accident was caused by the other driver using his phone and not paying attention to what he was doing behind the wheel when he made that left hand turn right in front of us. If I could prove that I would be suing his ass.
Google is trying to take over the wikipedia market with their new Google KNOL [unit of knowledge] site. The new site seems to be a cross between wikipedia and about.com’s formats. It will contain numerous articles on topics written by experts on that topic. Unlike wikipedia the public at large will not be able to edit the information in the article only comment on it. This good news for us as it makes the information on the site more reliable than wiki’s. The author is now held responsible for what they write as they should be. Share your knowledge with the world but beware everyone else is too.
Which brings me to the big problem. Google will of course be ranking all these pages in their search engine so everyone and their brother will be writing half-assed articles to eat up the keywords. So while this might take something away from wiki I don’t think it will hurt About.com as the test their writers and actually hire them to do the writing with only one writer on one topic they control the potential onslaught that Google will be facing. As Rachel Luxemburg has said this is going to get ugly.
I already knew Fiskars made great scissors, but I did not know they also made gardening tools too. According to their website they are offering a grant to gardening groups to help with community beautification and education. The program is called Project Orange Thumb. (Get it? It is a cross between the company’s colors – black and orange — and having a green thumb. Get it now?) Only groups are eligible for this grant. So if you know of or are part of a gardening group and you have a project that is geared toward community involvement, horticultural education, sustainable agriculture, or neighborhood improvement you are invited to apply for the grant. No individuals are allowed to apply, as this is a grant for groups and not a sweepstakes. This is a great opportunity for schools, garden clubs, camps, youth groups, or other clubs.
Applying for this grant sounds almost as much fun as winning it. You have to completely describe your idea and goals for the project and what you hope to accomplish with your project. If you win you have to keep a journal, write in gardening blogs and photograph your group and project. (Sounds like a great way to get a bunch of bloggers out of the house and into a garden.)
So what do you win for all your hard work? Your group will get $1500 worth of Fiskars gardening equipment and $800 in garden-related materials. (I assume that means plants, seeds, soil, mulch, fertilizers and the like.)
So show the world how green you can be and go out and make your neighborhood more attractive. Who knows this could be you next year.
Right before Christmas I called my sister from the middle of the Target store to ask her if she needed another string of purple xmas lights. She did not need the extra lights but sent me off to the video game aisle for my niece who was getting a Wii for Christmas and they wanted to get the DDR [Dance Dance Revolution] game for the system and could not find it anywhere. Apparently it was as hard to find this year as the Wii system was.
So I walked up to the Wii games and found it right away. Needless to say I was instructed to pick it up for them. On Xmas day we all played they games she got with her Wii. I did must best even with my injuries, but did not go anywhere near her DDR game.
If she really loves the game I will have to tell my sister about the arcade style pads from DDRGames.com. They are really sweet. And if she doesn’t want to shell out the money for the arcade version she could at least buy a second Wii pad for my niece so she can go head to head with someone.
