Tag Archives: Driving

Mar12

Yeah, She Showed Me!

Posted on by
Yeah, She Showed Me!

I was off doing all kinds of errands today, and in between poking and prodding (medical tests, nothing unusual) and shopping, I decided to see if the CVS had an item that the KMart didn’t. I got stuck behind a very big, very slow truck on Hooper Avenue, and decided to pass it. On the left, signalling before pulling out, and again after pulling in front. Because the truck was so big, I hadn’t been able to see that there was another car in front of it, so I didn’t have too too much room to pull in between that one and the car I could see, and since the traffic in front of me was too slow and my turn came up before I could pass more than just the truck and the car in front of it, I pulled in front of the car I hadn’t seen and the one I did. Again, signalling before I did it, and with plenty of room to spare.

So, the car I pulled in behind hit her brakes suddenly. No problem, I figure it’s one of those old ladies braking in advance of the traffic light. I drop back. She hits the gas, but I don’t need to rush up behind her, because the CVS is at the next light, and it’s red. So what if there are about ten car lengths in front of her? I see her check her rear-view and hit the brakes again. I take my time, as I approach, she starts braking, inching forward, braking, inching forward. . .but it isn’t until I put my signal on to turn into the CVS and she stops completely, blocking the entrance, that I realize she’s trying to teach me a lesson! Holy cow! This stupid, stupid woman is playing a game, with an 18-wheeler behind two other cars, because she’s got some kind of bug up her ass! (Not meaning me, of course. Heh.) I mean, really – I didn’t pull up on her tail, I didn’t cut her off, I don’t know where she got the idea that she should be trying to make me rear-end her. AFAIK, she must have just happened to be looking in her mirror at the same time as I pulled behind her and thought that I was some kind of maniac speed demon trying to push her off the road or something. So I slowed down, came to a full stop a couple of car lengths behind her, and waited patiently until the other drivers started pulling around and in front of her (the light had long since turned green) and she got tired of playing. Yep, she sure showed me how a SAFE and CAUTIOUS driver handles a vehicle. She should be a driving instructor. One day she’ll show people what happens to people who play games with angry drivers, instead of contented ladies enjoying a lovely day of knocking things off their to-do lists.

Oct11

Time to Learn WordPress.

Posted on by
Time to Learn WordPress.

I was up visiting Gayle yesterday and today, and the blog had been attacked by yet another couple of spambots. Hubby has set up a wordpress account so we can play around and then move everything over. I’ll let everyone know when we’re switching.

Right now, my brain is a bit too fried to absorb too much information about the program. The drive home was long and stressful because of the rain. Why the heck are drivers so resistant to the idea of putting on their headlights when it’s raining? And for that matter, why are some drivers resistant to slowing down a bit when the roads are wet? Put those two together – the ones driving like they’re the only ones on a straight dry road, and the ones who are essentially invisible, and it makes for a really good adrenal gland workout. Idjits.

Sep9

Books and Bumps

Posted on by
Books and Bumps

Hubby’s car is still not ready to pick up, so I loaded up boxes of books into the car and headed up North. Got to Bloomfield right during lunchtime, so I got to not only deliver books to the school, but also chat with a bunch of the teachers. It was delightful to catch up with them.

Headed over to Ellen and Mike’s house to drop off some other things, and got there just as they were deciding where to go for lunch. We all went out to Michi together, spent lots of time chatting and catching up, then I headed to Montclair to see if I could get some store credit at Montclair Book Center.

With my back being what it is, I was looking for a spot close to the store so I wouldn’t have to carry the box of books too far. I lucked out and found one close and on the same side. I wanted to parallel park in the spot the right way, but in typical North Jersey fashion, some dude in a luxury car pulls right up on my tail. Hello, duh? See my turn signal? See the empty parking place on the side I’m signalling on? Back off. But no. I knew if I pulled past the space to back in, he’d be right on my bumper so I couldn’t, so I cut the wheel to the right to pull in forward, planning to straighten out after he was out of my way. Bad news, cut the wheel too soon, scraped the car behind my chosen spot.

The damage to both cars was pretty superficial, but I still felt awful. I left the owner a note with an apology and my phone numbers.

The bookstore took only a couple of books, and I didn’t get even enough credit to cover the full price of the books I bought. Oh, well. It was fun to wander around looking at books no matter what.

Got onto Bloomfield Ave. to head home. Did pretty well at remembering which lanes worked at which lights, where to stay left because of double parked cars, where to stay right because of people turning left, until I got into Bloomfield. I was coming up on a truck that was sticking out into the right lane. I saw that I had space, put on my left blinker, and started to go around the truck. Guy driving a black pickup speeds up to cut me off. Really speeds up. He was a good 3-4 car lengths back when I started to move, and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid being hit by him. As he drove by, I called out “thank you”. Well, his buddy in the passenger seat, looking like the NJ version of a good ol’ boy, down to the camo painter’s cap, starts yelling at me, sticking his upper body out the window so he can turn around and shout obscenities to my face. This is definitely one of the things I don’t miss from Bloomfield.

And, of course, my timing put me on the Parkway right at rush hour. An overturned car south of exit 98 caused a backup that completely eliminated the need to put my foot on the gas pedal all the way up to 109. It was during this that the owner of the car I scraped called. She was very sweet, we’re going to work things out with the repair costs, and I’m grateful for that.

So it’s a little after 9PM. I’m tired. I’m in my pajamas already. Tomorrow. . .off to get pond winterizing supplies, then beach and seafood festival with the family. Oh, and the 5AM alarm is getting turned off, too. Betcha I’ll sleep til 7 and think I’ve died and gone to heaven.