Traffic Terrorism

I drove home tonight and had the worst commute I have had in a long, long time. The irony was that the traffic itself wasn't any worse, volume-wise, than any normal day.  I left work at around 6:00pm and things were pretty good for a while.

I tend to get into the lane I need to be in and stay there unless there is some huge problem. Tonight there was an accident near a merge.  I waited pretty patiently in my lane, but as I got closer to the accident, there were police, tow trucks, an ODOT truck, the car involved, people milling.  It was raining and I couldn't tell from where I was if the cars were in the lane.  I decided to move to the left lane and take my chances, knowing that there is an alternative route if I can't get back over to the right in time for my exit. I prefer to give the police as much room to work as possible.

After I moved over and traffic eased up, I waited until there was a big, open space (several car lengths between cars) and signaled right and moved over.  The driver in the car behind me was OUTRAGED and immediately started trying to get around me - not to pass me, apparently, but to be sure they got back into the lane directly in front of me. I'm fine with that - if you are a freaky, control-freak driver, I would rather you get in front of me.  I won't go into the whole detailed story of this car, but let's just say that it took them awhile to forget how I had wronged them so that they could proceed to cross 4 lanes of freeway traffic to get off at their exit because they had been so busy lane hopping and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The even scarier driving trend I have seen manifested itself for the third time this week during my nightmare commute.  It is my interpretation that folks do not actually know what the turn signal knob does or is for. I think they get bored in the car and they think that the turn signal stick on the wheel is some built-in kinesthetic toy for them to entertain themselves with until traffic starts moving again.  For the third time this week, a car in front of me turned on their turn signal to go right. Then they changed it to move to the left. Then the right. Then the left. Then nothing before finally turning the turn signal on one way and moving the opposite way.  Do people really not know that turn signals are not for communicating with the mother ship - they are supposed to share your plans of movement with other drivers.

Honestly, I could have kissed the ground when I got home.  I just started to feel really vulnerable and nervous. I'm guessing I'm just tired from the week and that it will be fine again next week.  Mass transit is starting to look more attractive...

Impulse Control

So, I left work today determined to go to Collage on Alberta and buy some of the Washi tape that I have been coveting. Just a couple of rolls. So, I'm in my car, cruising along I-5. The traffic is super-light for this time of day.  I'm approaching my exit. I can feel the impulse - "just go home".  I want the tape. I can do some art tonight. I want to. I have been thinking about it for three days. "Just go home. The traffic is light. It was like you were supposed to head home." I'm staring at the sign for my exit - 1/4 mile now.  I'm not slowing down. No turn signal. "Just go home." I'm getting irritated with myself - for heaven's sake - stopping will take 30 minutes max.

"Okay... You don't have to go straight home, but you should get to the other side of town. Why else would the traffic be so light. Go to Uwajimaya. They probably have Washi tape. It's right on the way." I drive on, headed for Uwajimaya. I get to my side of town and start thinking about where I need to cut over to get to the store. "I bet the store is crowded this time of day. Remember the last time you stopped at Trader Joe's at this time of day? Packed."

So, I'm sure it will not come as a surprise to anyone that I did not stop anywhere on the way home. I just went home. I'm not upset about it, I just think it is funny how easily I can quell my own impulses sometimes. I'm sure I will get there when I'm supposed to.

Wednesday is Hump Day

I woke up today and I wasn't even sure what day it was. I have a phone meeting scheduled on Wednesday mornings and it is the most likely day for me to be discombobulated and I'm NEVER where I need to be for the call. Today, I was driving, made the call and had to pull over when I realized I couldn't talk and drive at the same time. I'm glad that I'm smart enough to realize that I couldn't make both happen today. Sometimes you can have the "how are you? I'm on my way conversations" or the listening to the other person talk conversations in the car, but not the important, "what's going on at work? Where do you need help? What are your goals?" kind of talk.  At least I can't.

It is funny how things have evolved over time - we went from not talking on phones in the car because we didn't have them, then when I got a cell phone, I talked on the phone all the way down to Monmouth 3 times a week (it was a bad time in my life).  Then the shine wore off of cell phones, so less talking while driving. Then there was the whole smart phone creation and the period of time where I worked at night and I was expected to keep up on the daytime stuff even though I didn't start officially until 3:30pm.  I texted in the car, did conference calls in the car, etc.  In 2008, a law in Washington changed that you couldn't text in the car or have the cell phone in your hand while driving. Can I say that I was never so happy?  In preparation for the inplementation of the law, I just put my cell phone in my purse and stopped answering anything while in the car.  I was HYPER vigilante about it for a long time. Now, I will listen to a conference call or talk on the phone with my earpiece if I HAVE TO, but with the understanding that at the first sign of trouble, I throw it down and call back when I'm not mobile.

Anyway, this is what was on my mind today...

Why Do Cars Have Turn Signals?

As I was driving to the show tonight, I was forced to ponder the reason car manufacturers put turn signals on cars - particularly turn signals that are the size of a pea and are the same color as the brakes.  It makes no sense. Then I realized that it doesn't really matter how big they are or what color they are because NO ONE FREAKING USES THEM!!!  I was on a part of the freeway where lanes have to merge.  I was watching for turn signals, watching for people trying to merge, leaving a space in front of me that a truck or a bus or a circus motorcade could pull into.  Is that enough?  NO!  We want to go and try to pull into the lane in front of the car that is in front of me. Not that they would be able to move more quickly. Not that they will get there faster.  It must be because they prefer to practice parallel parking while on the freeway. I mean, really. I had literally 2.5 car lengths in front of me, but no one would pull into it.

AND THEN...

As I was driving around the block to get to the parking structure that I like, I turned the corner near a daycare center. They have a bunch of 15 minute parking spots on the street there. As I turned, a car pulled out of the NO PARKING zone on the very back end of the spots and pulled 3/4 of the way into a parking slot 2 spaces away. At nearly the same moment as the car pulling into the slot, a Volvo slammed their car into reverse from about 3 car lengths in front of that space, jammed backwards and started angling into the space the other car was almost completely in. The Volvo gave no indication that they actually saw the car that was in the spot. They continued backing in. Finally, the poor guy in the spot backed out, almost into another car. Volvo pulled in. Little car then got the very front parking place by the daycare door because during all the drama, the front car drove off. The whole scene just baffled me.

If I won the lottery, I would hire a driver.