Day twenty four
Everyone has pet peeves. Some of my biggest ones come in the area of driving and drivers. Probably the only one that would fall into the realm of normal would be my disdain for people who don't use their turn signals. I'm not talking about lane changing on the highway or turning out of a driveway, but rather when you're sitting at an intersection waiting for traffic and some numb skull turns ahead of you without his/her blinker. The wasted time alone is enough to cause steam to vent from an otherwise serene driver. I mean, really; would it could kill you to take a half-second of your precious time to flip a lever?
My latest peeves are a little more on the odd side. The first is high beams, or rather the lack of their usage. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's deer season. The deer are horny, there are hunters in the woods, and all the baby bambi's are grown up now. In other words, they are everywhere and they will be crossing roads. The best prevention from hitting one of them is early detection. Unless you're in the middle of a city, or there's no one in front of you or driving towards you..... pay attention now......... --- TURN --- YOUR --- HIGH --- BEAMS --- ON ---!!! These animals are large and can do major damage to a vehicle or the people inside. Turn your high beams on and save a life, whether it be the deer's or yours. Please.
The other one I've had increasing anxiety over lately is tailgaters. And I don't just mean those people that are in a hurry to go nowhere or somewhere and are riding your bumper and waiting for the first chance to pass. No, I'm referring to those jack-holes who follow close for no other reason than that's the way they drive. They make no attempts to pass if you go slow, and follow right along with you if you go fast. They simply think their on-your-butt style is correct. The accident that scarred my family forever was a rear-end-collision, so I'm a bit testy about people who don't know how to observe proper gapping and spacing. If you have no plans on passing me, then back the _ _ _ _ up!
My latest peeves are a little more on the odd side. The first is high beams, or rather the lack of their usage. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's deer season. The deer are horny, there are hunters in the woods, and all the baby bambi's are grown up now. In other words, they are everywhere and they will be crossing roads. The best prevention from hitting one of them is early detection. Unless you're in the middle of a city, or there's no one in front of you or driving towards you..... pay attention now......... --- TURN --- YOUR --- HIGH --- BEAMS --- ON ---!!! These animals are large and can do major damage to a vehicle or the people inside. Turn your high beams on and save a life, whether it be the deer's or yours. Please.
The other one I've had increasing anxiety over lately is tailgaters. And I don't just mean those people that are in a hurry to go nowhere or somewhere and are riding your bumper and waiting for the first chance to pass. No, I'm referring to those jack-holes who follow close for no other reason than that's the way they drive. They make no attempts to pass if you go slow, and follow right along with you if you go fast. They simply think their on-your-butt style is correct. The accident that scarred my family forever was a rear-end-collision, so I'm a bit testy about people who don't know how to observe proper gapping and spacing. If you have no plans on passing me, then back the _ _ _ _ up!
posted by Sam at 9:47 AM
6 Comments:
It is like reading my own mind! I am a very verbal driver, and unfortunately my kids have been learning by example. At only 6, and 4 they are definitely back seat drivers - I am working on that. I have discovered that turn signals are reserved for the highly intelligent. Although, on rare occasion the average driver may be allowed to use them as well. As for tailgaters, they too drive me nuts - especially on the highway or other higher speed traffic areas.
A tip I learned on "the deer in the headlights"...If a deer is in the road the best way to get him to move out of the way is to turn your lights off then back on (rather than flipping your high beams). Flipping your high beams will actually "blind" the deer, so that he can't see, and will be less inclined to move. If you turn your lights off and then back on, the deer will me more likely to notice the vehicle moving toward it (and will still be able to see)and move out of the way. This method will also work if you are driving with your high beams on.
I've noticed women hit deer and deer hit men.
I am one of those women who have knocked a deer around and done a bit of damage to my car while at it. It was scary. In my defense, I only hit one of the 8 or 10 that were grazing on potatoes in the highway.
However, I always use my turn signal, I am very attached to my brights(in other words, I've blinded a few drivers in my day) and I only tailgate if you tick me off.
My dad once watched a deer dance around in front of the car in front of him for what seemed like ages...finally the girl driver slammed into the deer ending up in the ditch - she never even hit the brakes. When he approached her to see if she was okay, she said, "Oh my gosh...I have no idea what happened...I saw the deer and I just closed my eyes and held on!"
He advised her that it is usually best to keep your eyes open and try to slow down the vehicle.
The accident that scarred me when I was 19 was when a mosquito got in the car with me, and just after I killed it, I realized I'd been watching the mosquito and not the road at all, and proceeded to flip the car 3 1/2 times. So, I hate when bugs feel as though they belong in the car with humans...it's just not right!
Also, I hate when people are waiting at a light to turn left, but they don't pull up at all to let anyone behind them past...and they wait, and wait, and wait. Or, if they pull to the right to wait to turn left. Seriously, why is that even an option in people's minds??
Oh, and while I'm here, what are your thoughts on Thanksgiving? We could DEFINITELY use you guys, and would also LOVE to spend the day with you - so let me know! We'll put you right to work!
Our entire Thanksgiving day is devoted to the Austin plan to bop the man. Wait, that's something else. Anyway, we are there.
I have a Jonism for you. When I talked to him last week about coming to do Thanksgiving with you, he said no need for help unless we were handy with cooking. It was then that I reminded him my wife runs a cafe and ran a bakery for six years before that. If someone could get a duh smack over the phone, his head was hurting. He apologized for forgetting and we had a good laugh.
So yeah, you tell us times and locations for the prepping, and we'll be there. I'm not sure if using Jon's cell is the best way to get ahold of you, so we can use this to communicate unless you say otherwise.
If I haven't said it before, thanks for allowing us to join you in this wonderful expression of being Jesus.
Man, I wish I could be there with all of you, but Thanksgiving, I'll be hunched over and relaxing after my bash on Wednesday. I'll miss you all!
Wish you could be there, too, Carla. But, of course, we understand. You're doing awesome stuff at the Way Station!
Sam, you can email me if you think that's better, so that everyone reading your blog doesn't have to hear all the details. My email is novembermom2b@yahoo.com
I'm assuming Jon and I and some other will be at the church pretty much all day starting around 9ish - setting up, cooking, etc. The pick up in Youngstown is at 1:30 and we could REALLY use help with that...how many vehicles can you get ahold of?? :) What are your thoughts on food? Any contributions will be helpful, or if you want to just help with what we have planned that would be fine, too (although we'd hate to waste those professional cooking skills that you and Laura have!). Just let me know your thoughts.
And, we're happy to share this time with you and Laura. I know God led us to do this for a reason, and I'm excited to see how He works!
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