I Still Hate Snow

Image via WikipediaWe had a fairly nasty snow storm blow through the DC area last night.  It was one of those heavy, wet snows that cause a lot of problems with trees breaking and power outages.  We were fairly lucky in our house as the lights flickered a couple times but they never went completely out.  My brother lost his power late yesterday, and it is still out nearly 24 hours later.

It was also one of those storms that cause a lot of havoc on the roadways.  They expected the snow to hit pretty heavy right around the evening rush hour.  Evening rush hours around here are pretty brutal anyway, but add snow and ice and it makes it that much worse.  The local television news programs last night and this morning were full of horror stories about last night's commute.

Once again, I was lucky.  Yesterday at about 2:30, my department head came around and asked everyone if we were packing up to call it a day.  It was about an hour or so before the weather was supposed to hit the area.  I left shortly thereafter and made it home by 4:00 as it started to sleet pretty heavily.  It was a wise move, as the news reported total gridlock on the roads.  There were reports this morning of people taking over 12 hours to get home.  Several people just left their cars on the roads and started walking.

I woke up this morning and called into our office information line.  It said that the office would be opening at 10:00 but liberal leave was in effect.  I got up and started the process of shoveling the sidewalk and digging out the cars.  Our HOA rules require that we shovel the entire walk in front of our homes, which I proceeded to begin.  Then I started working on digging out the cars, starting at the front of them since the snow plows piled several more inches of snow in front of my parking space.

While I was working on digging out the cars, I could hear somebody singing as they were shoveling the sidewalks.  As they got closer, I realized that it was a group of Latino men who worked for the landscape company that plows are complex.  I knew they were Latino, not because they worked for the landscape company, but because they were singing and yelling at each other in Spanish.  It was then that I realized that they were shoveling the sidewalks of our complex, not the walks from the door, but the walks in front of the houses.

This was the first time that I had ever seen the landscaping company shoveling the front walks of the houses.  They usually only do work in the common areas of the complex, and we are responsible for the areas in front of our townhouse.  I was a little perturbed because I had shoveled my walk, and the residents of the houses on each side of me didn't have to bother.  If I had of known they were going to do the shoveling, I could have saved my self an extra 30 minutes of shoveling and concentrated on getting the cars out.  Such is life. 

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And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Image via WikipediaAlthough we still officially have one more week to the "holiday season," I am returning to my regular style of posting personal thoughts, news of the day, and the occasional rant.  I hope that everybody enjoyed the "12 Days of Christmas" theme of the past two weeks.  It was a lot of fun for me to put it together.

The day after Christmas is a day most noted for everybody heading back out to the malls to exchange all those gifts that either were the wrong size or were just plain not liked.  It is also a day for people to go out and use those gift cards that they received as well.  Thankfully, I was not one of those folks venturing out to the malls today.  The only presents that I received were cash, a gift card to a restaurant, and a few bottles of wine, one of which I am enjoying as I type this.

Originally, the weather forecast was calling for us to get about 3-6 inches of snow in my area. With the anticipated snowfall, I decided to head out to pick up a couple of items at the BJ's in my area before the snow began to fall.  I wasn't too worried about getting out tomorrow to go to work, but if we did get a good bit of snow, I didn't want my wife to have to go out if she didn't have to.  Which brings me to my rant for today.

There is nothing that frustrates me more when I am driving than to be stuck behind a slow moving driver when there is nothing but open space ahead of them.  Now by slow moving driver, I mean driving below the speed limit.  To be perfectly honest, sometimes if the driver is driving at the posted limit, and I am stuck behind them, I can get a bit frustrated.

On this particular Sunday morning, I was heading home in the left lane of a two lane road with nobody in front of me.  I was moving at a pretty good clip of 60 mph.  I think the posted speed limit on that stretch of road is 55mph though it may be 50.  So yes, I was technically speeding.  I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a car moving rapidly onto my rear end. 

I was going to try to move over to the right lane to allow the tailgater to pass, but there was another vehicle moving just as rapidly in the right lane.  After that car passed, the car behind me moved over to the right lane and passed me.  I guess I wasn't speeding fast enough for them, which to me is just as frustrating as getting stuck behind somebody driving under the limit.

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Red Light Cameras

Image via WikipediaThis morning was a reminder of why I do not like red light cameras at intersections.  I was heading home from the grocery store when I was coming up to an intersection that has a red light camera.  As I approached, the light turned from green to yellow.  I was fairly close to the intersection, and had I maintained my speed would have easily made it through the intersection before the light turned red.  However, I had the camera in the back of my mind, so I hit the breaks.  I had to hit the breaks fairly firmly to stop before the intersection and an item sitting on the passenger seat flew to the floor of the car.

Thankfully, it was fairly early on a Sunday and the road was fairly empty.  Had there been another driver following closely behind me, they may have felt that they could have made it through the intersection before the light turned red.  The result of which would have been a rear end collision, and therein lies my issue with red light cameras.  Drivers that are aware of the red light cameras may be more prone to break suddenly when they could have easily and safely navigated the intersection, increasing the likelihood of a rear end collision.

Jurisdictions claim that the purpose of the cameras is for safety and not revenue.  The National Motorists Association has maintained the opposite.  Their feeling is that the red light cameras are more likely to increase accidents rather than reduce them.  In January 2008, they released a blog post with links to five different studies that showed that red light cameras increased accidents. Earlier this year, the city of West Palm Beach installed red light cameras.  In the first 70 days, rear end collisions more than doubled and overall accidents increased.

I have never gotten a ticket from a red light camera, nor a speed camera for that matter.  Nor have I been involved in an accident at an intersection with a camera.  So, I am not taking this position because I am bitter about getting a fine, or worse yet, about being in an accident.  There is probably a benefit in reducing right angle collisions, but if studies show overall accidents increase, then the cameras may cause more harm than good.  That is, if safety is the goal, but if the goal is revenue, then mission accomplished. 

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Motorcycle Safety Week

Image via WikipediaYesterday, I was driving to work when I noticed the traffic alert sign promoting Motorcycle Safety Week and to share the road.  As an aside, I really think those traffic alert signs do more to impede traffic flow than to help it.  I can't tell you how many times traffic comes down to a crawl as you approach the sign only to have clear sailing once you get past the sign.  But I digress.

Back to Motorcycle safety week.  I try to be keenly aware of motorcyclists.  Years ago, I had a coworker whose husband was t-boned by an automobile that ran a red light.  Sadly, he was not wearing a helmet (which is an entirely separate issue) and was in a vegetative state on life support for weeks.  He was obeying traffic signals and had it not been for the carelessness of another driver, he would not have had the accident.

The key thing for me with motorcyclists and "sharing the road" is whether or not said motorcyclist is obeying the rules of the road.  Those cyclists that ride with the flow of traffic and show common courtesy receive my respect.  There are many out there who do that.  Unfortunately, there are a lot out there that do not.

There are two particular behaviors of motorcyclists that are prone to make my blood boil.  First, are those who drive at an excessive speed and weave in and out of traffic lanes.  The second, and the one that really gets my goat, is the practice of lane-splitting.  Too many times when stuck in a traffic jam on the beltway all the cars will be at a standstill.  Then up between the traffic comes a motorcycle riding between two lanes.

Not only are these two practices dangerous, they are downright rude.  I am more than happy to share the road with those who are courteous and safe riders.  However, when you drive too fast, reckless, and with discourtesy to the rest of us, then don't be surprised if I signal to you that you are #1 in my book, if you get my drift.       

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Peacocks and Other Sights

Image via Wikipedia

Last night, I was out doing my pizza delivery gig.  Most of the houses that we deliver to are your typical suburban homes; single family homes on small lots, townhouses, and apartments.  However, some of the areas we deliver to are wooded areas with long, narrow driveways.

It was at one of the houses in a more rural area where I saw something I had never seen, at least not outside of a zoo or a petting farm.  I was backing out of one driveway, and I looked to make sure everything behind me was clear.  There, standing on top of a mailbox of the neighboring house on my side of the car was a magnificent blue peacock.  Before I could stop the car and pull out my BlackBerry to take a picture, the bird jumped off of the mailbox.

As I said before, the only place that I have ever seen a peacock was either at a zoo or a petting farm, so I was somewhat surprised to see one out and about in Davidsonville, MD.  My first thought was that it had somehow escaped a nearby petting farm, but doing a few Google searches, it turns out that a lot of people keep peacocks as pets.  Still, I would have expected a pet peacock to be kept in a pen so that it couldn't escape.  Hopefully, this bird is safe and sound.

Speaking of sights, I was driving home from doing my weekly grocery shopping this morning, when I came upon a traffic accident waiting to happen.  You know those rigid, plastic kiddie swimming pools?  I was on a two lane interstate where the speed limit is 55mph.  There was a car with a kiddie pool on top driving about 10mph with their hazard lights flashing on a merge lane that was coming to an end.  The pool was not tied to the top of the car, but the driver had one hand out the window, and a passenger on the other side holding on to the pool.  I don't know about you, but if I were planning to transport a pool on top of my car, I would have either brought something to tie it down, or sprung for the extra couple box a ball of twine would have cost. 

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The Uncivil Society

I am trying to figure out when it happened.  Somewhere along the way, we have become an uncivil society.    When I was younger, neighbors looked out for one another and helped one another.  Now we don't even know their names.  More and more, it seems everybody is looking out only for themselves.

A case in point would be my townhouse complex during the blizzards of this past winter.  Our home owners association requires that we shovel the walks in front of our houses.  In our complex we have assigned parking.  Unfortunately, my parking spaces are more in front of one of my neighbors houses and not mine.  Rather than shoveling his entire walk, he only shoveled a path to his cars.  I ended up having to shovel part of his walk to get to my cars.

No better place to see how uncivil we have become than on the highways, especially in heavy traffic.  It used to be that if somebody put their turn signal on to change lanes and you let them in they would give you a thank you wave.  Now if you turn your signal on, the other driver is more likely to speed up so you can't get in.  I can't tell you how many times I have been in bumper to bumper traffic and made the cardinal sin of letting a couple car lengths come between me and the car in front of me.  Such an action is sure to bring an angry honk.

This is not to say that I am not without sin myself.  When that other driver speeds up so I can't change lanes, or cuts me off in traffic, I am not above flipping him/her the bird.  As much as I support 2nd amendment rights, there is a reason why I am not a gun owner.  Did you ever see the movie "Falling Down?"  I am Kirk Douglas.

DC and Traffic

The DC area consistently ranks as one of the most highly congested areas for road traffic. There are certain parts of the highway system around here that no matter what time you hit those spots, you are bound to experience delays.

I was fortunate enough to avoid having to deal with Beltway traffic on a regular basis. I had a job for 21 years at a location that was only 10 minutes away from my home, and I never had to hit a highway. Unfortunately, that position was eliminated a few years ago.

My new position requires that I hit the Beltway every day. There are a couple spots on my commute where I can expect to hit delays. Most of the time, it isn't a problem because you account for those daily delays.

Most of the time, my commute takes me about an hour, whether I am heading to work in the morning or home in the evening. Sure, if it rains or snows, people around here forget how to drive and it takes a little longer.

Lately though, it seems inevitable, that when I have someplace I need to be, the traffic gods conspire against me. One Friday night when I needed to get to my part time job, my usual one hour commute took two hours. Earlier this week, I needed to meet my family to take my son to a doctor's appointment. I left the office at 3pm when traffic should be light, and sure enough there were multiple accidents on a clear spring day. I think the reason is that most of the people in this area are Democrats and clearly they are conspiring against me and my conservative values.