Let’s do another random Thursday, hmmmm? The first one might even be a little . . . ranty!
- It frosts my ass when drivers on the highway fail to merge for a lane closure. I was driving to a meeting yesterday and they were doing work on the highway and the left lane was closed. This was announced with a sign WAY AHEAD of the actual closure. I was already in the right hand lane so I stayed put but, to my dismay, cars continued to pass me on the left and they didn’t merge until the lane was literally closing. I think this is the equivalent of cutting in front of someone in line and, if you wouldn’t do it at the local Dunks then you shouldn’t do it on Rte 24 either. Ironically, one of the drivers who passed me was headed to the same meeting I was. I wanted to say something but I managed to hold my tongue.
- Our landscapers came this week and made our yard look terrific. It’s been pretty rough out front since we had the tree taken down last year and Dale had a bunch of loam delivered to level things out there. (I’ll just say that didn’t go well and leave it at that.) But now we’ve had more dirt delivered and it has been leveled and spread and seeded. We purchased a Kousa Dogwood and that has been planted. The beds have been freshly edged and mulch has been spread and things are looking ready for spring planting . . . which I am itching to do but need to hold off for a bit longer.
- I’ve been listening to audiobooks more frequently lately. I’ve cut back some on the podcasts I listen to and that gives me more car time for books instead. I tend to gravitate to non-fiction for audiobooks and I’ve recently listened to a great memoir, In Love by Amy Bloom and two books on race and social justice, How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith and The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. I’m open to suggestions for more great non-fiction so feel free to tell me your favorite in the comments.
And that’s a wrap for this week’s three things. If you wrote a post for today, please add your link below.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
I am nodding with you on #1…. really, those kinds of drivers make me understand how road rage can so easily happen. If Steve is driving, he won’t let them in… it is a bit nerve-wracking.
I can’t wait to see you new tree! 🙂
They’ve started to institute something called “Zipper Merges” here in Michigan, and although I was skeptical at first (because People), they tend to work better than free-form merging. (In a zipper merge, drivers use both lanes right up to the very end, and then alternate car-by-car, kind of like chair lift lines at ski areas.) I’m sure there are still plenty of people that totally abuse the situation (because People), but it cuts down on the frustration, for sure. I do worry a lot more these days about road rage, though . . .
That first thing is totally a peeve for me. And if you’ve done it in a big a** vehicle I’ll never be able to see around you should be prepared for me to not let you in. You are definitely a bigger person than me for not saying anything to your colleague. I’m the type that would say, “Oh, saw you earlier on Rt. 24.” and stop. I’d just let them think about that all meeting. But I’m kind of ornery like that.
I’m with you on #1. There is an area on 95 South after the Delaware Memorial Bridge where a lot of lanes merge, and it’s a real mess when there is construction. People often drive up the shoulder to be able to cut in line. I used to applaud when semi-trucks would straddle the lanes and not let anybody get past. Some of my recent favorite non-fiction audiobooks are Heavy by Kiese Laymon, Miracle and Wonder by Paul Simon, Pastoral Song by James Rebanks, These Precious Days by Ann Patchett, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. Happy Listening!
Fiona Hill’s “There Is Nothing For You Here.”
To each his own opinion: I don’t agree with #1. The sign says “Lane closure, merge ahead”. I doesn’t say “Lane closure, merge right now”. To merge is to merge when you have the opportunity. So what if they merge at the last possible moment. They have to merge somewhere, why not there. You don’t want to let them merge in front of you, fine. Would you let them in if you were 10 cars back? 20 cars back? Of course you would. It’s almost like a “zipper merge” (which is a great idea to leave both lanes open until merging) but it is Massachusetts idea of a “zipper merge”. I don’t like the idea of people driving on the shoulder either, that could cause a serious accident but merging at a safe opportunity will not. As far as Road Rage, who knows what sets someone off. You could be going 10 miles over the speed limit and still set someone off that is behind you needing to go 11 miles over the speed limit. Just be safe out there ladies……
I’ve seen road signs in Wisconsin advising the “zipper merge,” also. According to the Wis DOT: The zipper merge allows for everyone to move at the same rate, minimizing delays for all. When traffic is heavy and slow, it is much safer for motorists to remain in their current lane until the point where traffic can orderly take turns merging.
It’s difficult to toss aside years of conditioning, even now, but I have been practicing being one of those people… merging/zippering at the last.
I’m with you on #1 all the way. Very, very annoying. Also annoying (because it happened to me today and yesterday) folks who don’t pay attention when light turns green and continue to look at themselves in the mirror, or look at their phone, or whatever and then at the last moment they move, but by then the light is turning red for me again. I’ve been honking a lot lately!
#1!!!! My brother used to say ‘boy, girl, boy, girl,…’ Just like was done in elementary school.
Second comment, A friend used to carpool to the Pentagon from south of DC and next to their entrance ramp for north was the one south to Richmond, VA. He said anytime someone came up that side and tried to ‘cut in’ the whole carpool was “Send them to Richmond!” That has stayed with me and when ever I’m in that situation where someone has had MILES to blend in, I’m “Send them to Richmond!”
“frosts my ass” 🙂
I just put Amy Bloom’s book on hold – thank you! Memoir and essay is my new favorite genre. I read Margaret Renkl’s Late Migrations last week and then gobbled up Mary Laura Philpott’s Bomb Shelter (it came out Tuesday – she narrates and she’s fantastic). Now I’m about 1/3 through John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed. Book Riot had this post today https://bookriot.com/books-like-the-anthropocene-reviewed/ A few of the books are brand new to me, but Solnit’s and the last one about the trees have popped up as 5-star books in my Goodreads feed.