Tail
August 30th, 2009 at 12:30 am (little words)
So much for that.
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am (nonsense, people suck)
I used to comment on a local blog quite a bit a couple of years ago, until the tone of some of the other comments on there changed enough to sour me on it and I stopped. I recently saw fit to comment again, and as it turned out, ended up finding a few posts to comment on over a few days.
In the time while I was busy not commenting, the owners of said blog had to install a new comment system to deal with all the trolls. I had kind of forgotten about how it works, especially since I didn’t see any reason why it would pertain to me personally, as I usually try to be pretty reasonable. So I had forgotten, until yesterday, that comments can “just disappear” if enough people don’t like them, I guess, as you can “vote” on them.
Yesterday, I posted a really innocuous comment about something. Later, I came back to read some more comments, and noticed that mine was gone. I figured I had screwed up the comment process, so I re-posted it. This morning, gone again. So, I can only guess that enough people voted against it that it disappeared. And that’s fine. Except that it really was innocuous. So, that’s it, again. Done with that. If I can’t post a simple statement on there, why bother wasting the time?
As if I didn’t already know…
August 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am (You're Doing it Wrong, people suck)
It has come loudly and clearly to my attention this week that MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE.
Conversation in online forums in just the last week has proven that hardly anyone knows the rules of the road, and pretty much everyone should probably re-read a driver’s manual.
I certainly don’t expect everyone to know each and every little obscure rule, but don’t you think you should know the ones that come up regularly? For instance: One of these conversations was regarding how to deal with a right turn arrow, especially if you come upon one that is currently red. Now, I didn’t KNOW the rule when I read the question, as in, I couldn’t have quoted it to you exactly. But I knew at least, that when you come to one of these, you stop, and then you can turn right on that red arrow, UNLESS there is a sign saying that you cannot (and assuming there is no oncoming traffic and it is otherwise safe, of course.) The arrow is there to keep traffic flowing smoothly. In some intersections, the right hand lane can, at times, flow freely to the right while the other lanes in that direction need to be stopped to allow traffic from other directions to move unimpeded. These arrows turn red to let you know to STOP! and check for oncoming traffic before making a right turn. I knew that this was correct because common sense dictates that it is. If you know the other rules dictating red lights and stop signs and right turns, then you SHOULD be able to figure this one out.
I am terrified by the fact that not only do people not know a simple, every day rule like this, but also that they do not have the intuition to figure it out. Being a good driver is not all about knowing every single rule of the road. A good portion of what makes a good driver is good intuition, and knowing what to do in a situation where you are unsure at first.
Another conversation involved traffic circles, those horrid “traffic calming” measures that are installed in many residential intersections because too many people are too stupid to slow the fuck down on their own.
Logic dictates that one should only go around these things to the right, because when we drive, we stay to the right. Some say that you can go to the left if there is no oncoming traffic and it is otherwise safe to do so. I say that if that is the rule (and the way it is written is open to interpretation) you should only do it if you have to – in other words, if you are the garbage truck or school bus driver, and you don’t really have much choice. It is less safe to go to the left, and it makes no sense.
The other thing about driving is that it is one of the few things that everyone should try to in exactly the same way as everyone else. You can wear whatever clothes you want, or wear whatever hairstyle you wish, but everyone should drive the same way. In other words, we should all drive the speed limit, whether we agree with it or not, stay to the right unless passing or otherwise absolutely necessary, and go around the damn traffic circle in the same fucking direction. To do otherwise causes confusion. On the other hand, I am always prepared for people to drive way over the speed limit and ride my ass, and to drive all over the road, and whenever I come to one of those stupid circles, I fully expect there to be some idiot who doesn’t know how to get around it, or some entitled asshole who thinks it’s okay to go to the left because it is more efficient. It sure as hell isn’t going to be more efficient when you don’t see me, and you hit me and it is YOUR FAULT because you were Doing It Wrong.
There is so much too much and never enough.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:50 am (You're Doing it Wrong)
Ever feel as if you are being tested?
I don’t what that’s all about today. A test of patience? A test of tolerance? I have no idea.
I am certainly disoriented. We are out of coffee and I refuse to buy any more right now, or anything else for that matter.
Despite not having had coffee, being woken by a whining dog at 6:30, after having been accidentally punched in the eye at 5, I was really ready to have a really kind of gung ho kind of day today. You know, to be really busy, make a lot of money. It’s very quiet though, all week, including cancellations.
So, here I am, already feeling useless, and as if I don’t make enough money to begin with, and then there is nothing going on.
So I feel tested. I don’t know what kind of test this is. Or is it more like a sign? Like that I shouldn’t have changed my hours to hours that I like? That I should be suffering more here to suffer less at home?
There is always something.
At one point, I really thought that I could do anything, anything that I wished, I could just decide to do it, and DO IT. Now I feel like no matter what i do, it is just the same thing over and over again, all the time.
Catch up, get a little ahead, go out to dinner and get too drunk a few times, get morose about it, get over it, run out of groceries, buy more, clean the house, realize it is already dirty again, somehow run out of money, run out of groceries, get back behind, start all over again, ad nauseum.
Is that all there is to life? Just a random series of bad and worse events which have absolutely no meaning whatsoever? That would all be okay if the worse events didn’t do things like ruin love and make every day a living hell.
Do i just have too great a sense of entitlement, like everyone else I’ve been talking about lately? Do I feel like I deserve to do well and get ahead, and have fun? Really? Am I that stupid?
I have spent a lot of my life going without. Even though I now do have a lot of those things that I felt I should have in the past, I feel that maybe it is just in my cards to do without. Maybe that is my test. Forget about the things that I think I should have. Maybe if I could just forget about them.
I really should start meditating again.
It’s Entitlement Day!
August 7th, 2009 at 10:57 am (You're Doing it Wrong, little words, people suck)
Good lord, everyone is off their rocker today.
We’ve got:
People complaining about customer service in a hamburger joint!
(Yeah, the place is pricey, but I’ll bet you are not getting your ass kissed because it is a tiny little shop with a line out the door expecting to receive a gourmet burger);
People RIPPING APART another burger joint for NO reason!
(I have no idea what is going on with people’s palates these days – does no one have flavor receptors any more?!?);
People who do not understand that some places are not appropriate for children!
(Who WANTS to take their kids everywhere anyway? It is no fun to take your kids places that will bore them, and everyone should have some time for themselves.);
More people who think auto drivers are always at fault in car vs. bicycle accidents!
(Why can’t we all follow the rules? I can’t remember the last time I saw a cyclist stop for a stop sign. I personally would never dream of not stopping in my car, and I don’t jaywalk, either. I got a ticket it for it when I was 15. It made an impression!)
But no one wants to say a damn thing about the motorcycle accident that happened a month ago, or the recent article which states that the guys on the motorcycle had been drinking!
(Almost everyone wanted to blame the car in this one too, even though it should have been quite obvious from the information provided that the motorcycle HAD to be going way too fast. Of course no one wants to apologize for blaming the driver of the car now.)
Why do I care?
Honestly, sometimes, I do not know. I guess because I really would like to live in a world where people use some LOGIC. I don’t expect everyone to be nice to each other all the time, that is completely unreasonable.
Just realize, that maybe the person behind the burger counter isn’t kissing your ass because they are BUSY.
Maybe you can’t get a service done right now, because other people planned better than you did.
Not everyone is going to be able to accommodate you if you have children.
And maybe cyclists should stop for stop signs instead of rolling through even it is an inconvenience.
