1 Highway in Peril

So Much

2009-08-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

has happened, especially since summer is here. i was going to try and make multiple posts for this update, but i lost the will. so bear with me. come on, please?

THE BEST DAY!!

-driving home one day (it was a few months ago so my memory is foggy), and have little traffic ahead of me for most of the way. get to palo and find a buddy of mine behind some slower tourists. as i am approaching i notice a small car gaining on us and he proceeds to pass me and is now in between me and my buddy, we'll call him Disc. so here we are, the 3 of us stuck behind some tourists, yet small car decides he wants to tailgate Disc. this didn't really fly with me for these reasons; Disc was behind other slower cars, our collective speed was much faster than most tourist traffic, and you don't fuckin pass me and just stay in front of me not going any faster. FUCK THAT PISSED ME OFF. so i decided to fuck around a little, swerving back and forth in the lane, sometimes into the other lane. after a few moments of doing this, Disc started to do it as well! so the 2 of us were doing a figure 8 type of dance (Aspen Extreme anyone?), sandwitching small car in between us. small car must have gotten scared or something and he pulled off really quick! Ahahaha, looked over at him and he looked like some punk ass kid. stupid fuck, we've been driving this road since you were 2. all the way home i couldn't keep the smile off my face.

MISCELLANEOUS BULLSHIT

-just the usual shit has been happening down there. 20 miles an hour so they can take pictures from their car, some even completely stop - in a blind turn no less. flooring it when there is a straight passing zone, yet back to 30 once a turn comes. fuck it gets tiresome. i need to fuind a job closer to home.

THE TICKET

-ya, i got a ticket. some might think i deserve it, me included. but not on this day. i was actually being pretty good. i'm traveling south, no one in front of me so i can go as fast as i want within reason. banking around a turn, CHP is coming north and notices my speed (still within the limit) and my lack of front license plate. thinking nothing of it i continue on. i reach a red suv taking pictures, 35-60 at any given point. following this guy, i get close a couple times but not for very long, i was very forgiving this day. continuing their photo safari on the highway, he actually gets up in speed in the straightaway (weird huh?) and is somewhere near 65. this is about 1.5 - 2 miles since i have seen the CHP. coming onto the junction between flats, there's some flashing lights behind me. wtf? seriously? for reals? you've got to be kidding me. is this a joke? homeboy gets out, proceeds immediately to the front of my truck and asks about my license plate. states i was tailgating the red guy going 65. i was tailgating him for maybe 10 seconds before i realized how fast we were going and then let off. wow. what. a. dick. he turned around, sped like a motherfucker to catch up to me for a fucking front license plate? on top of that, it's somewhere around $500 for this fucking thing, even after he 'cut me a break' by taking the tailgating off. so i have a fixit ticket and a speeding ticket following somebody else. how does that work?

haway-ya

2009-02-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

spent a couple weeks in hawaii for the beginning part of the year. don't expect to be in a hurry here. ever.

on top of the ridiculous traffic (there's not THAT many places to go on an ISLAND [O'ahu BTW]), the 'aloha' of the drivers is rather mysterious. some will just go in front of you without looking and continue at a tutrle's pace. while others are just asshole speeders. guess they are sick of the tourists too.

there's this really neat zipper lane on H1 near downtown Honolulu. this big machine comes along this cement zipper and makes or takes a lane away depending on traffic's need. similar to the golden gate lane changing, but neater!

anyway, not much flaming to do today. i was on vacation, so the traffic didn't get to me too bad. who knows otherwise.

tag team

2008-12-17T11:03:00.001-08:00

ok, so now i have something to bitch about. this happened yesterday on the way home.

-on ramp: 2-lanes that bottle neck into one before entering the freeway. entering the freeway, this lane becomes a new lane for a bout 500 feet, then becomes an exit. so in these 500 feet, you have to merge into the next lane if you want to continue on the freeway. all uphill.

-signal before the on ramp: silver mercedes to my right, hands gripping the wheel like her only possesion, perfectly positioned at 10 and 2. gold lexus in front of me. light turns green, ok let's go. this is now an on ramp once we pass the intersection, we're toping about 30mph at this point. needless to say i'm a little close to the lexus as she is not accelerating enough for the on ramp, uphill. here we are at the bottle neck, still 30mph, but i'm boxed in, the same position we were at waiting for the light to turn green. silver now decides that she wants to be in front of me, and she won't budge until she is.

-wtf?

-so now i'm behind them both, they both decide to continue on the freeway, they both are now flooring it like drag racers, leaving my silly 4-cyl pickup in the dusty mud. now i'm pissed. now you are in a hurry? why NOW?

-so i push my poor little truck hard up this hill, pass the silver stabbing a dirty look at her, ignoring me as usual. coming to the gold lexus about to pass in the other lane, and what happens? you TRY AND BLOCK ME?!?!

-?!?!?!?!!!! !!!!!

-racing downhill now, attempting to get in front of this ____, dodging slower cars here and there. calm down a tiny bit to re gather my bearings, meanwhile goldy seemed to have forgotten that she just made a sleeping bull very angry. i finally reach her, pass her to find her left arm to her ear holding some sort of, cellphone?, cut the fuckin bitch off, see her flail into the opposite lane and continue to block the bitch from trying to get in front of me. lucky there was no traffic in the other lane, or was it?

-this one makes me sound like an asshole. oh well, i probably am. just wish people would pay a little more attention. just a little.

long time, again

2008-12-16T11:01:00.001-08:00

so this tends to be the norm, long intervals between writing. is it because i don't have much to say, or that i don't have the time, or that i don't care? probably a mix of them all, but anyway.

- saw a guy walking his bike downhill the other day

- the drives have finally been getting less and less traffic. my commute has been cut by 10-15 mins.

- since the above has been happening, i haven't much to complain about

some annoyances

2008-10-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

why can't people read a sign, understand it, and follow what it says? if a sign says "ROAD CLOSED DELIVERIES ONLY," that doesn't mean that the road is open to drive through. surprisingly enough, it actually means quite the opposite and exactly how it reads! THE ROAD IS CLOSED, YOU CANNOT DRIVE THROUGH THIS WAY. yet, i watched at least 6 cars decide that the rules don't apply to them and blow right through anyway. and they are shocked when they can't drive through.

YOU FUCKING THINK?!?!? WHAT-THE-FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!

dropped on your head as an adult?

taking a nap while you drive?

thinking about what TiVo will bring you tonight?

i have another month of this to deal with, on top of all the other driving to and from home bullshit. i decided to be a little vocal with the last car i saw turn around, tomorrow might make me a little more so. i wonder what it will look like tomorrow?

a slew of bullets

2008-09-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

- basin complex fire ran through my town, almost destroying the entire compound/ranch i live on. luckily the APVFB stayed back and protected the property. kick ass!

- driving has been hot and cold. some days i get the road to myself which is absolute heaven! other times, not so lucky.

- passed the same RV southbound one day, and then again northbound a few days later. still driving like a dipshit, and i'm sure i flipped him that special finger both times.

- still can't stand the people who won't just pull over and take that fucking picture. belive me when i tell you, YOUR PICTURE WILL NOT COME OUT GOOD IF YOU SHOOT OUT THE WINDOW. take a MINUTE and pull over.

- i see people see me in their rearview, yet do nothing. or they give me the hands up "what?" do you really want me to count all of your chin hairs while i wait for a passing zone, lady? because that's what i need to do in order to not fall asleep while following you. that 40 seconds you lose is 10 minutes gained for me.

- drive with 1 foot only if you drive an automatic. your lazy left foot is on the brake.

- sometimes i find myself falling asleep follwing some people. i try to find ways to keep myself awake. driving in S curves worked for a while, but i only do that when i REALLY want them to pull over. the other day i decided to drive while looking through the crack between the steering wheel hole and the dashboard. ya, that was fun.

well i think that's it for now, more to come, hopefully within the month. hah!

wtf have i been?

2008-09-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

and who cares, really?

well i've been doing some thinking towards this here blog, and decided i would try to write in bullet points from now on. this decision came based on a few factors:

- i pretty much hate to read, so the less words the better

- i don't like to capitalize things, but don't mind adding punctuation when necessary

- this should take less time

- it just looks neat

i'm sure there were a few other factors, but hey, i forgot!

and i almost forgot to answer my own question. man, i should be pissed at myself. fuggit i'll post anew.

Fires Again

2008-06-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

not much poor driving to report lately due to the fire's that have ravaged our land. the highway has been closed in portions for a few days now, so less tourists have been coming down the coast. only the really nosy ones still come.

and they still drive bad.

there are just much less of them, and for some reason they pull over more. so thanks for that anyway.

but really, stay away. we don't need people clogging up the highway, we need those for the fire crews. thanks.

i'll be back at some point, hopefully with my house still in tact.

a lecture

2008-06-17T16:03:00.000-07:00

so this happened the other day, and perhaps this is the real reason i started typing here.

on my way home as usual, this time i was in a real bad mood. do we know where this is going? hadn't eaten all day, other personal issues had arisen, blah blah blah. at the start of my 26 mile, 2-lane drive home, i am greeted by a rundown mini-camper Winnebago-type thing. hooray. 35 m p h down the highway, 12 miles or so before i have to pass this guy illegally. the type who floors it when it is flat, can't keep his foot off the brake with the slightest turn. plenty of turnouts, too, he just must have been in a hurry...

this guy was just the beginning. on to hurricane point.

just before reaching the peak from the north side i encounter a family in a gigantic ford suv. plenty of time before the biggest, PAVED turnout on this stretch of the highway. no time for pulling over i guess. must not have seen me...

well we begin our decent, only to be greeted by a friendly local. who had been sitting in a turnout, presumable talking on the phone (thank you!). who happens to be carrying a refrigerator in the back of his truck. must not have seen us coming...

so here we go, down the curviest part of the highway, led by a man with a refrigerator in his truck. who knows what obscenities had been spewing from my lips at this point, or how close i had come to the white suv, or how uncomfortable we ALL felt. but i'm the kind of guy who likes to prove my point. even if the others don't get it.

so i don't let off until i can legally pass, since, for some reason, i had this feeling my friendly local friend might try to do something silly or childish, to possibly prove a point to me. hah. my passing lane arrives and the white family fades quickly, however my local friend seems to be racing me now. not down the hill, or where there might be turns, but in the flat, level ground where an f250 could easily smoke a measly 4-cyl pickup. do i let off at this point? nope. i continue, knowing full well what consiquences might come. and alas, no car was rounding the blind turn i encroached upon. lucky for sure.

now i am in front, and to my surprise no one in front of me! what a sight. and great feeling. now i can continue, comfortably, on my way without having to worry about slamming on my brakes because of some overly cautious driver. so i reach my destination. food.

i am in line placing my order, getting my change when who else but my friendly local friend arrives, scowl and all. our friendly local is an older gentlemen, whom i respect in many, many ways. and it's really too bad he had to confront me.

so here he comes, hell bent on telling me how bad of a driver i am.

"you know you were driving with your head up your ass back there."

"how's that?"

"you know that if someone where coming around that turn when you were passing me there would have clearly been a head-on?"

"i DO realize that. so why were you in such a hurry? did you not see me coming?"

"what do you mean?"

"well why do you need to floor it on the flats? you're going 60 when i can pass you, yet you go 30 on the turns when i can't." all the while trying my very best not to swear, since i love to so much.

"what are you saying? you want me to go 60 on the turns?" blinking confused, dumbfounded.

"i did!" having nothing else, my nerves had reached boiling point.

at this point we both had turned away from each other, him to the exit, possibly mumbling something. i get my food and start to leave. the man at the register oddly asks if i'm alright, i tell him i am and thank him. and as i get outside, two motorcyclists commend me for how i handled the situation. wow. and i thought i was in the wrong.

maybe i was. maybe i am. i dunno. i'm just trying to think of everyone, not just me.

i see a couple of friends outside the store, and let myself vent towards them a bit. it a lways helps when they know where you are coming from, and who the other person is as well. anyway-

drive safe.

Post 2

2008-06-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

so a little background and reiteration on why i started this 'blog.'

i decided, that if i were to continue to exist where i live, i need to adjust the way i think about certain things. namely the tourists that plague my way to work and home. so here, i will most likely rant about the way my days have been on the road. who knows how often i will update this, hopefully enough to keep me sane.

hold on to your butts.

Post 1

2008-06-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

so this is the beginning. hopefully this will help.

who?

me. and maybe you, depending on where you plan to vacation.

if you are wondering why this is here, it is to hopefully lend a vehicle for frustrations had while driving.