TGIF

Last night was a bit of a trial.  I had to go to Bloomfield and the roads were a mess in every direction, north,  south, east and west, I-84, I-91, Route 2.  It was raining and eventually sleeting and snowing (in OCTOBER!!!!!!???!!!!).  And yet, except for a few minor irritations (such as the store I was going to having gone out of business) it was not as annoying as this morning's commute.

To the driver of the VW with CT plate 438 XTH who was near Ace Hardware in Middletown at 7:14 this morning:  Turn signals are not optional.   Try using it.  It's the lever to the left of your steering wheel.  And to the driver of the convertible with CT plate 937 VAU who missed their turn off of High Street in Portland:  Backing up to turn into the street you apparently missed when there are cars coming down the street behind you?  Not such a good idea.  Go around the block next time.

Heck, it's only 9:25am....but at least I'm headed straight home after work today.  And if you're driving on Main Street in Portland between 4 and 7 this evening, please watch out.  It's time for "Trick or Treat on Main Street" and there will be literally hundreds of kids out collecting candy.  Don't let your carelessness ruin what has been a really great town wide event.

Drinking, Driving and Just Plain Stupidity

My friend Beth and I were driving on Route 151 in East Haddam on Tuesday following a blue GMC Sierra, CT plate 4CL 331.  If he wasn't drunk, someone should take away his keys just on general principle.  He was moseying along as one is apt to do on those back country roads when we came to a cross street, no stop sign or stop light, and he slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason.  It was only as we began moving again that we figured out why.  There was a state police car waiting to make a left turn which would have required him to cross our line of traffic.  Apparently the mere sight of this car which had no flashing lights or sense of urgency struck fear into this guy's heart.  There could only be a couple of reasons for this.
1) He had a dead body in the back of the truck.
2) He was an illegal alien or escaped felon and/or was driving an unregistered vehicle.
3) He'd had a few pops at the local bar and his reactions were more than a little off.
I vote for the latter.  A piece of advice for the driver:  If you've been stupid enough to get in your truck after having a few too many, don't slam on your brakes every time you see a cop car.  The driver behind you might not always have the lightning fast reflexes Beth had and a fender bender is a sure way to get the cops interested in you.  In fact, the dented rear bumper you were sporting tells me that perhaps this wasn't the first time you've pulled this stunt.  Knock it off before you kill someone.

And once again this morning as the bus loaded its students at the intersection of Fairview and Main Street in Portland cars just continued to fly by the bus with its red lights flashing.  What is wrong with you people?  I guess at this point the word of warning has to go to the students and their parents because apparently the morning commuters DO NOT GIVE A DAMN about your kids.  You know, it's dark at that time of morning and ironically, that makes the flashing lights that much more obvious....but not to the oblivious.

Which comes first?

It's the old chicken and egg dilemma.  What comes first: the aggressive selfish driver or the flashy car?

The Portland Senior Center is located on Waverly Avenue.  Waverly Avenue is a dead end street that is approximately 300 yards long....maybe a little more.  If you don't happen to see the big blue sign out front that identifies the building, the proliferation of champagne colored Buick LeSabres and the like would be a dead giveaway that there were a lot of seniors in the area.

So why in hell was the driver of the blue Audi with CT plate 846 YCN flying by here at 50 miles an hour only to slam on his brakes at the intersection with Main Street?  If you were looking to impress me, you succeeded.  Unfortunately you impressed me as being a jackass.

Big Sour Apple

You know when I hit the road for the Big Apple this afternoon, I was feeling pretty good about life.  Good enough that I was going to let a couple of minor irritations en route go by without comment.

Sorry, guys.  At 5:23 pm my beloved RAV 4 came to a complete stop at 12th Avenue and 54th Street in Manhattan.  Nothing worked.  No emergency flashers, no windows, no radio, NOTHING.  I had this problem once before about 14 months ago a the VA hospital in West Haven (another horror story).  Any way, I got out of my car which was in the center lane and put up the hood to alert cars that I was in distress.  While there I took a look at the battery and found that the problem was the same one I had at the VA last summer.  One of the battery cables had just disintegrated so I was getting no juice from the battery.  I called AAA and explained to them that I knew exactly what the problem was (I believe it was a $12 repair last time) so they would be sure to bring a cable with them and then I could be on my merry way.

So I sat and waited about 22 minutes for a tow truck which quite literally came from about 300 yards away (It wasn't called 54th St Auto for nothing).  Before I recount the tale of my service from the tow truck, let me tell you what it's like to sit on the Henry Hudson Parkway with a disabled vehicle and no emergency flashers.

It's not fun.

Cars would pull up behind me, so close to my rear bumper that when they finally noticed the raised hood and the fact that I wasn't moving when the light changed, they hadn't left themselves enough room to maneuver around me.  Somehow that was my fault.  And their courteous reactions made that clear.  Thank you, NY plate FDV 2906 for giving me the finger.  Very ladylike of you.  Thank you for all the horn honking NY plate 9085, MA plate 8TT 130 and NJ plate 252 ALB.

Equally disturbing ( and I hate to disclose the sex of the offenders, but the facts are the facts), 3 women sat behind me for multiple light cycles because they were so busy texting behind the wheel that they didn't notice all the cars whizzing by them on either side while my car never moved.  And a special shout out to the one who finally came to and then beeped at me because she'd missed yet another green light.  Oh and let's not forget the cab driver who pulled along side of me to chastise me for not having my flashers on.  At least I think that's what he was babbling about...I couldn't open the power windows to hear his helpful advice.

So the tow truck finally rolls down 54th Street and the driver tells me he can't fix the cable. He has to tow me.  I deduced rather quickly from the way his eyes lit up when I told him it would be a 100 mile ride that tow truck drivers get paid extra for long hauls.  We finally hit the road after he picked up his buddy, dropped his buddy off, doubled back so he could drop his keys off with someone and then took a leisurely tour of the Bronx.  He wanted my opinion on everything from gay marriage to legalized prostitution to the wildlife of rural Connecticut.  Actually I don't think he gave a crap about my opinion.  He just wanted me to keep him awake after his late night partying in Staten Island last night.
We finally got to Portland, dropped the car at the repair shop and then he wanted to take me home.  Luckily I had made a phone call for MY buddy to pick me up at the garage.  The tow truck driver insisted on cash payment for the extra mileage although I pointed out to him that there probably wouldn't have been any extra mileage but for all his personal errands en route. When I asked for a receipt after paying him the extra money, he acted like that was a fairly ridiculous request. Luckily my ride home arrived and being a much less trusting soul than I, she put her trusty cell phone camera to work.  I'm not sure how I am supposed to use those photos going forward, but I guess it's good to know I have them.

So I'm home, my car is at the repair shop waiting for the guys to come in Monday morning and replace the damn cable, I didn't get to see FOLLIES and now the creepy tow truck driver knows where I live.  So, because I ended up having a crappy night, it is time to call out the moron in the blue BMW, CT plate 894 YHN who was driving down I-95 in the Norwalk area like a bat out of hell, weaving in and out of traffic and tailgating.  A trifecta.  I hope the rest of your evening was as disappointing as mine.  More importantly, I hope the need to prove your masculine prowess didn't cost anyone else their life.

Warning: Vanity Plates Are Much Easier to Remember

My, my, the last two days have been fairly uneventful in spite of my trip to Massachusetts in the pouring rain and a trip to Manchester, CT at rush hour.  And yet....Let me just single out two of my fellow travelers.  A VW bearing CT plate TIN CAN cut me off on the Mass Pike Sturbridge exit ramp last evening.  I'm not sure if that vanity plate refers to the driver's job in packaging or if it refers to how they feel about their car, but if they cut off the wrong person, their celestial vanity plate may well read PINE BOX.

And to the driver of CT plate 634 FLB who was ahead of me on the GlastonburyTurnpike this evening about 7:20, you have no tail lights.  On second thought perhaps I have that plate wrong.  It was dark AND YOU HAVE NO TAIL LIGHTS!

And so it goes....

I have only been writing this blog for a few days and it appears that I don't have to worry about ever running out of material.

The intersection of Main and Washington Streets in Middletown has the dubious distinction of being the first location cited twice for stupid moves by drivers.  Last week it was the guy who couldn't figure out how to make a left turn without holding up an entire lane of traffic.  Yesterday it was the UPS driver (K-64889) who made  a left hand turn from Washington onto Main from the RIGHT lane....and yes, there were cars in the right lane.

This morning at 7:00am on Main Street in Portland as I sat waiting for a school bus with flashing red lights to load its passengers at the foot of Fairview Street, I watched in astonishment (but really, why was I astonished?) as a car with NY plate BXJ 957Z (I might have missed the last digit in the blur, rain and semi-darkness, but you know who you are) flew by the bus and all the other stopped cars.  What part didn't you see?  The big yellow bus?  The line of stopped cars?  The flashing red lights?  Moron.


Hey,  it's only 7:56am and I am driving to Massachusetts for a meeting today.  That should provide me with plenty more pavement tales to share. Have a wonderful day....and drive carefully.  Oh, yeah, and when the wipers go on, the head lights are supposed to go on.   Try it.  The life you save might be your own.

Commuter's Hell

Yesterday was one of those days that just provided me with so much raw material, it's hard to know where to begin.  I had to chuck all my well-ordered plans to drive one of my charges to the hospital in New Britain.  Annoyance number one:  People who don't know how to park.  The lines are there for a reason.  You are supposed to park BETWEEN the lines, not ON them, a fact that the driver of the Nissan Rogue, CT plate 802 WSL, failed to realize.  Not only did she park on the line on the driver's side, she managed to park across the line dividing the front and back parking space.  A double whammy!

After work, I had to drive to Greenwich, another double whammy, traveling on I-91 and I-95 during rush hour.  A word to the wise: if everyone around you has their head lights on, the street lights are on and it's almost 6:30pm, you need to put your lights on.  That's meant for you, NY plate FAV 2517.

The merge of I-91 and I-95 is not fun on a good day, but when someone driving a BMW with CT plate 606 XUP decides to ride the "Exit Only" lane all the way to the merge and then tries to force her way into the line of traffic, it's more than a little annoying.  She finally caught up to me at the Woodmont Road exit in Milford where she felt the need to brake in a line of fast moving traffic at 11 second, 9 second, 6 second and finally 2 second intervals. Do you think maybe she was a) tailgating and/or b) driving too fast?

There were a series of accidents on the NB side of I-95 and you would think that would give people pause, but it didn't, especially the driver of the Audi with NY plate AXG 4918 who zigged and zagged in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed in the area of the Westport exits.

Coming home was a lot less hair raising.  After all I'm here to post another day, and I'll be watching!

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day which found me running errands from Bolton to Wethersfield to West Hartford.  I was cruising along I-384 heading into Hartford thinking that everyone on the road seemed to feeling pretty mellow and in awe of the beautiful fall day when it happened.  Traveling in the left lane in fairly light traffic I was forced to slam on my brakes when the car in front of me did the same.  Why?  Because the driver of a Jeep, CT plate 484 XGM, felt the need to slow down to a crawl so he could ILLEGALLY merge left into the car pool lane.  Who does he think he is?  Geno Auriemma? (in case you don't get that reference the UCONN women's basketball coach was pulled over a few years ago for pulling the exact same stunt...His excuse?  He was in a hurry to get where he was going.  Brilliant!)  I refused to let this mental giant's ineptitude behind the wheel ruin my day, but he needs to have it pointed out to him that what he did was both illegal and dangerous.  If you know him, let him know!

I am home....in one piece.

I do not pretend to be the world's best driver, but in the 39 years that I have had a driver's license I can only think of one time when I did something foolhardy in the car....and my excuse for that is I was 16 years old.  I have had a few fender benders but in every case (save one) they were clearly the fault of the other driver.  I was rear ended once when a woman in front of me slammed on her brakes for a yard sale.  I stopped on time, the gentleman behind me did not.  I was in an accident once on I-84 in Hartford when a man came flying onto the interstate at a high rate of speed, lost control and then slid across 3 lanes of traffic in front of my car.  A deer and I collided once, but that was the deer's fault too. He failed to look both ways before crossing the highway.  There was one other accident in Massachusetts when a truck driver in front of me made a VERY wide right turn from the left lane as I was trying to make a right turn from the right lane.  He peeled the front bumper off my car.

I've no idea how many miles I have driven in the last 39 years, but my current car has nearly 267,000 miles on it.  An educated guess would put my lifetime mileage at about 800,000 miles.  This is more impressive than it sounds when you realize I lived in the Boston area for 12 years, where I rode public transit most of the time and I have never had a commute to work that was more than 20 miles each way. Most of my commutes have been 5 miles or fewer.

And yet...

Every day when I get home I thank my lucky stars that I have made it one piece.  Whether people are less competent drivers these days, more distracted, rushed, selfish or just plain oblivious, it's a dangerous place out there on the roads. 

Today's exhibit A was a driver at the intersection of Main and Washington Streets in Middletown, CT.  He wanted to make a left turn from Main onto Washington, but apparently got to the stop light too late to make the jump light.  Rather than wait for the next light cycle, he inched his way just far enough into the intersection to force the left lane of oncoming traffic to stop for him. Unfortunately the right lane of oncoming traffic was not so obliging. So as I sat in the left lane with several other vehicles, the right lane of traffic kept flowing and we in the left lane were trapped by this imbecile.  Minor inconvenience?  Yes, but add it to all the other minor inconveniences caused by inconsiderate drivers you encounter in the course of a trip ANYWHERE and they begin to seem not so minor.

Lest you think I find each trip in my car a trial, let me state unequivocally that I like to drive.  I have often thought that there might be a long distance truck driver lurking beneath my unassuming demeanor.  I guess the problem is that these other people on the road do occasionally manage to diminish my pleasure in the open road.  If I'm going to be annoyed by these people, better to call them on their behavior in this forum than succumb to road rage.

So watch out!  If you do something stupid on the road, I'm going to let you know.  It might be as simple as blocking a driveway I'm waiting to turn into when you see me sitting there with my blinker on, or as crazy as reading a book while in rush hour traffic (Don't laugh!  I actually saw this is suburban Virginia a couple of years ago).  The road is not your own personal property.  You need to be respectful, alert and generous about sharing it with other drivers.  If you're not, you may see your make, model and plate number here.  Drive like I'm watching, because I will be!