Well… I had a rare visual treat the other day….. a motorcycle “crotch rocket” that was actually pulled over by a cop. No, I’m not kidding here! I had to rub my eyes a few times and even pinched myself but, yep, it was still there.
MUST have been a rookie….. BOTH cop and motorcyclist. Everybody knows those damn “crotch rockets” go, what, 400 MPH through the highways and cops, apparently, know to not even bother chasing them. Seriously, have you EVER seen a cop chase down a “crotch rocket”? Well, not me in my ENTIRE life.
Now going back to my “to each his own” philosophy, I partly don’t have a problem with someone wanting to try and make themselves a grease spot on a highway BUT I do have a problem with those boneheads not concerned that they might take an innocent life with them while making said hall of shame grease spot on a highway. This is where having a desert nearby handy. These dumb shits can go there and have at it. Go make a hall of shame grease spot out there!
Occasionally you get to see one of these smashed ALL over the highway or even see pictures on the net with the pieces of motorcycle and human. That’s when I just say….. “Welp, one down, several million to go….”

Yup, I’m back up North.

I was reminded of that this morning.

You see, I was just down South for vacation, Tennessee and then North Carolina.
Driving down there is such a pleasure, it really is. The entire time I was down there, I only encountered 2 asshole drivers. HA! That’s a normal DAY in the North!

This morning I had 4 asshole drivers!
2 that cut me off.
1 with high beams on behind me
1 that didn’t even BOTHER to stop at a three-way stop…..

Yup, I’m back up North.

I don’t know why they even bother putting up Yield signs. Most don’t even bother to do such.

Traffic lights?? Oh boy…. Whenever I think of that subject, I remember a story that my sis told me about a book she read about some guy from a parallel Earth that was amazed that there were no police at any of the traffic lights because on his world, if there were no police around then people just ignored the lights.
I swear, it would NOT surprise me when there is a time that will actually happen here on our Earth.
I love the idea of the traffic cameras. The North would most benefit from these, especially New York and New Jersey.
There was a report that was done about the worst states of bad drivers.
Worst state? New York
2nd worst state? New Jersey
So with that report I say…. NO F***IN S**T!!

http://hubpages.com/hub/Worst_Drivers_In_America

http://jalopnik.com/5278609/new-york-new-jersey-top-list-of-dumbest-driver-states?skyline=true&s=x

I put some of the blame on the police. They’re too busy with their “I-enforce-the-law-therefore-I-am” attitude. Well, I can’t say that all of them are but it just seems that when there is a bad area of drivers, no police to be found. Nope, too busy going 90 MPH on Interstate 95 themselves.
EVERYBODY has said “Where is the police when you need them?” Oh well, it would be nice if there was enough budget in each town to hire more police then maybe…..

There was only one time that I actually saw a dumbass get busted on ignoring the traffic lights. It was at an intersection that had the opposing traffic go first with a green arrow while we sat and waited for our light to change green. Of course, once their green arrow goes away, we’ll get to go. Well, that one day I was the second car back from the intersection with a police car in front. Our light turned green and off we went except the police car had to slam on his brakes before hitting an idiot that decided to ignore the fact that his green arrow was long gone. The police car made a hard right and flipped on his lights and chased after him! HA! My son and I had SUCH a great laugh over that!

Complaining about traffic is nothing new. You would have to go back a LONG way to see no traffic complaints. It just seems that over all these years, a-hole drivers are common now.
I would just love to install a video camera on my dashboard and do a recording of a typical day. I would do it for two reasons. One would be to see just what I could catch and the second reason is that, as my luck would have it, once I start recording…. Not one a-hole driver will be found. That’s my luck, no lie. Sorta the ol saying that when I send my car to the mechanic, the car runs fine but when I get it home, it runs like crap. Sigh.
Anyways, I often wonder just low legal is it to record a-hole drivers and even turn such recording in to the police….. duh…

Yea, make me King, right?? Yea, right.

Then there are the roads themselves. You can just look at the mess that they call roads in New York and Philthydelphia. At times you can just look at it and go “Man, the only solution is to just nuke it and start over.” Those roads can make ANYBODY pissed. 18th century roads for 21st century traffic. Yea…..
Actually, wouldn’t it be nice if they can just redo cities like you can in SimCity??

Welp, it’s great to be home and be reminded of why I vacation down South.

My next car? A Tank….

So, I had to drive from New Jersey to Massachusetts and back again the next day. Of course this means I have to go through New York. Oh how I hate driving there. There and Philthydelphia. Well going up was actually not bad, then again I was going though it about 10:00am. Coming back? Oh boy…

Not fun coming back.

I rented a car from Hertz and got the Neverlost with it. The Neverlost (aka Everlost, aka Alwayslost) is their version of the GPS. Man, don’t count on this thing for long distance driving or cramped citied like NY and Philthydelphia.

Before I left I had already mapped out my routes, going to and from Massachusetts and everywhere in between. I thought I would get the Neverlost for a backup in case I got off my route by accident or stupidity. I made my routes by using Mapquest. Mapquest is good for long distance driving but the problem I see with Mapquest is the exact location of the final destination. Where it points out the location and where it’s actually located at could very well be at totally different ends of the street. Anyways, thanks to Mapquest I took my trip up through the George Washington bridge. I know that bridge can be a mess but I knew I would be going through it around 10:00a. Sure enough, it was good to go. Going up was great.

Now coming back from Massachusetts…. I knew I would hit that bridge around 6:15p and that didn’t settle with me too well. That bridge at 6 and in the dark… nope.  I knew the Neverlost was itching for me to go a different route so I thought, why not, lets see where she takes me. BAD IDEA….

So, I get off I 95 somewhere in NY. After doing a few turns here and there and going straight on some road, she tells me to make a right…. Ok, I made a right… she then tells me to stay to the right and exit to another ramp…. WRONG! I looked at the ramp she told me but it was BLOCKED OFF with those median concrete dividers. Apparently she didn’t know the ramp she wanted me to go was for another road! Well, the trip went downhill from there. Every time you go off the trail that these GPS give you, they remap the trip from where you are at the time. The problem is (which was mine at the time) the further away from the destination, the longer it takes to remap! So here I am, having ABSOLUTELY no freakin clue as to where the hell I was, I gotta wait until she tells me which way to go and where I was, there are no shoulders to go sit and wait!! This remapping was done a few times because once she FINALLY had a new trip, she would tell me like to go left in 0.1 mile while I was all the way to the right hand lane!! Yup, too late and yup, remap… again. Meanwhile I would find myself in the left lane and then she would tell me go right in 0.1 mile!! ARG! Folks I’m NOT kidding here!! So here’s this redneck COUNTRY boy trying to drive in New Fucking York!! God help me! Again, I have NO clue as to where I was… couldn’t even tell ya…. But the roads there! Oh my freakin God! The roads were …. were ….. beyond terrible. These roads made you BEG for terrible roads. The lanes were JUST wide enough for your car. The honking? Oh my the honking, it’s true. Everybody was honking at everybody else and we were going about 5 MPH!!

Funny thing here though. Usually every time I’m forced into driving in or near NY, I think of Rob and his stories he told me when his father made him drive NY. He said if you can drive in NY, you can drive anywhere. You know what? He so damn right! Anyways, here I’m thinking about the stories again and (I’m not making this stuff up folks) Rob calls me! Did he get his spidey tingling? A disturbance in the force? He asks me where I was and I replied, just as I said before, “I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE”. I told him the latest road that she and I FINALLY were able to agree on by being on the same side of the road, and he assured me that I was going just fine but…. don’t get lost in Stanton Island. HA! Thanks Rob, just tell HER that! I ending up in Long Island taking the Verrazano Bridge, which I have actually taken a few times this year already so I was finally in familiar territory.

So getting back to those damn roads. I can NOW understand why NY people are pissed all the time! Those damn roads!! My God! A Nuke is the only thing that will straighten those damn things up. As for driving in NY… I don’t recommend it. Like Rob told me, you have to either be raised there or do it often enough to where you get used to it. Well, since I was not born there nor will I drive there often (I avoid NY and Philthydelphia like the plague they are) I don’t see myself getting any better.

Here is what I’ve noticed about driving:

Turn Signals – Just rip that signal lever out! Don’t even bother. Hell THEY don’t!

1)      If they want that tiny space in front of you, they TAKE it! No turn signal. Nope. But even if they do (or maybe an outsider like I was).. which takes me to #2.

2)      They don’t pay ANY attention to them.

So, just rip the freaking turn signal lever out of your car. Forget about it.

Rear View Mirror – Rip that out too.

1)      They sure as hell don’t bother looking behind them when merging.

2)      You wouldn’t like what you would see in it anyways. Really! I finally gave up.

Again, remove it.

Side View Mirrors – Take them out before they get knocked off. I’m TELLIN ya, some of those roads were JUST wide enough for a car and there were THREE lane roads!

Horn – Boy, I bet they’re glad this is under warranty. It gets used a LOT there. There was honking in front of me, beside me, and behind me! How do those people know who is honking to WHO? I gave up quickly wondering if it was me getting a honk or not.

So, that was my fun time in NY. Woo Hoo. Let’s NOT do it again sometime.

As for the Neverlost, Mapquest does a better job in making a trip route for you. She got me lost but again she did get me out of it. Was it her fault about the blocked ramp? Who knows. Mapquest doesn’t talk to you while she will tell you the turns to do (if you’re at the right place at the right time) so she wins there. Oh yea, she does have a nice voice and there is a repeat last statement button so if you either forgot the last statement she told you or you just want to hear to talk to ya, just press the repeat button.

OK, I’m outta here. As for New York? You people can KEEP it!!

<Insert song: Alabama – I’m in a Hurry>

OK, there… that’ll set up what I’ll be talking about today.

Yes, it seems there are more and more people in a freakin hurry anymore.

Traffic has always been one those hot topics with me. I swear I think I could write a book…. But I won’t….. maybe….. well, let’s see how big this post will be.

There’s a few types of drivers that just need to be chained.

There’s the Lane Weaver. These are the ones that weave in and out of lanes so to go faster and further. These types don’t care that they come oh so close to your bumper.

There’s the Tailgater.  OH BOY!! This is a pet peeve of mine. I SO hate tailgaters. I have no problem with slamming my brakes against these assholes. Sometimes I even do a quick pull on my emergency brake lever. That usually makes the tailgater stay back a few yards, about 70% of the time I’d say.

These cause road rage. They eventually cut in front of or tailgate someone that does not appreciate it and will go in great length to show it. Of course how it ends is either verbal or physical assault. The physical assault is the one that gets the eyes from the police, which, hopefully, catch the assailant, but my problem is that we seem to just look at half the problem. Sure punish the Road Rager but why the hell aren’t we questioning the Lane Weaver or Tailgater?? They too need to be placed in jail for quite some time, have their license tagged for first time road rage initiator, which then the next time will have their license revoked. What most people forget is that the driver’s license is a privilege not a right and if you abuse that privilege then you shouldn’t have it, just like ANY privilege.

OH wait… here’s the chorus line playing again (you know, the song we’re suppose to have been playing while I’ve been writing this and you reading it). It’s so true…

I’m in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life’s no fun

All I really got to do is live and die

But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why

Me? Yea, I’ve done some road rage but mine is just verbal with some “sign language”. There are people that take the high road and just let it go. God bless them, they are indeed better than me. I know I could learn from these people. I do sometimes just let it go but there are some that just seem to beg for me to “show my displeasure”. I figure these either 1) Need to be shown that what they are doing is incorrect or 2) Really don’t give a shit. Either way I do my “duty” and then it’s over with. The jerk will just continue on and maybe finally find that “one”, the one that will take it to the next level.

The big question is… Why ARE we in a hurry?? It seems to come down to we’re always trying to be better than the next person but absolutely doing it the wrong way! We have to be in front, we have to be faster, we have to get to point B first.

It seems driving is taken for granted. What these jerks need is to WALK 60 miles. After that, it sure would make a nice DRIVE 60 miles much better.

We need to place doing-kindness-while-driving up much more.

You Lane Weavers, knock it off and just stay in your lane. Yes, I understand that there are some drivers out there that like to drive 20 MPH slower than the speed limit. Keep in mind that these are good people, they like to take their time. You can either learn from these people or do a nice level headed pass. Use that rarely used option in vehicles called a turn signal, look in your mirrors and over your shoulders for any other vehicles in the lane you wish to use to pass the slower moving vehicle, when clear of being too close to someone’s bumper or possibly causing an accident, simply move to the other lane, go around the slower moving vehicle and return back to the previous lane once clear of any other vehicles in the lane.

See? Isn’t that simple. It should be…

You Tailgaters… oh boy…. (must resist telling these people where they CAN go and HOW to get there)

Anyways, staying back a few yards further would not hurt. Getting on someone’s bumper will not make you get there faster, heck more than likely that person will just slow down. If you need to get to point B in a certain time, then make sure you give yourself extra time.

Oh! We’re now nearing the end of the song…

Oh, I hear a voice

That says I’m running behind

Better pick up my pace

It’s a race and there ain’t no room for someone in second place

People need to do more acts of kindness….

If someone needs to get in your lane AND they’re using turn signals, just let them over

If someone needs to get onto the road you’re on and you’re going slow anyways, let them in.

Those kinds of things….

Just a couple of days ago (which got me into thinking all of this), I was on a road called Street Road (yea, laugh if you must, it’s a funny name to me). It’s a four-lane highway north of Philadelphia. Anyways it goes over a minor road called Route 13 and a major road called I 95. Getting on and off Route 13 is quite easy in reference to Street Road with the nice flowing ramps. Going on or off I 95 North in reference to Street Road is somewhat easy, these ramps are not simple flowing but they do have traffic lights. Now to get to the getting off or on I 95 South, oh boy, again, no nice flowing ramps AND no traffic lights. These poor people are in the mercy of finding the right time to exit or enter these ramps by either a break in traffic or other people leaving room for them to do such. This is beyond ridiculous because this is I 95 for goodness sakes!! For them to not make a traffic light for the ramps from/to I 95 South is just embarrassing I believe. Embarrassing for Pennsylvania.

Well, there I was going east on Street Road, noticing the traffic light for the I 95 North ramps was red for me and there were these poor folks going west on Street Road looking to get onto I 95 South. Someone on the one lane was stopped to allow a break in their lane at least, but no one on my lane was stopping. The folks in my lane were mostly making their easy turn to I 95 South or just continuing on to the red light just a few yards down. Well I decide to stop and make a break for these poor people on the westbound Street Road as well. There was only a 16-wheeler and 4 cars waiting to get onto the I 95 South ramp and just ahead for me was a red light so why not help these poor people out??!? Well, wouldn’t you know it, I had one of these jerks behind me honking his horn. Seems me doing the act of kindness to allow the unfortunate souls to get to the ramp was blocking his rushing need to get on the ramp (which, like I said is very easy for the eastbound Street Road people). I mean, this asshole just couldn’t wait for a handful of seconds so to allow a break in the road for others. Yea, he was pissed. He was so close to my bumper (I guess that was suppose to make me shutter and run off. He was honking his horn (I guess that was suppose to make me bow to his need and run off). He then gets out of his car to call me … wait for it… a douchebag. WOW! What an insult! Oh man I was so nervous! I mean there were tears in my eyes!! Oh sorry… those were tears of laughter. I mean here is a rushing jerkoff and all he can think of is … oh man I love this… douchebag. Needless to say, I didn’t move. Once all the cars were clear and my eyes were clear from all the tears, I continued on.

I’m never embarrassed for my acts of kindness. Thankfully it’s in my personality. It’s something I preach to my kids about. Now am I perfect? Nope. But I make sure to try to teach my kids to be better than me.

Again, why ARE we in a rush??!?

I understand some people could be late for class, practice, speech, work, date, … drug deal…. But is it worth taking the chance to hurt or even kill someone or yourself over it? If the rushing only causes your death and no one else gets hurt, then by all means, go kill yourself but it’s not worth the life of an innocent driver or bystander………

I guess I could write a book….

Oh boy… there’s an epidemic going around. This one involves in getting your car rear-ended. I have seen two now, the first one was Amy and now Vicki. The bigger problem is the phrase that tragedies comes in threes… I mean the accidents themselves involved three cars each. There’s the idiot that slams into one car and then that car hits the one in front of it. Amy was the poor one in the middle of her, uh, three-way accident. Vicki was the one all the way up front in her’s. So will there come a third set of rear-ended three-way? (hhmmmmm. That doesn’t sound right does it?…) And will THAT person be the one that’s all the way in the back which causes the accident?? So anyways folks, watch out, we have to see who gets the third….. and how…. crap, now I’m nervous…..