Notes for Bad Winter Drivers...

I've come to the conclusion that it's quite impossible to have a weekend that doesn't fly by. It's just a fact of life that time moves much more quickly on weekends and during vacations than it does during a regular workday.

My weekend is already drawing to a close. On the plus side, Rory and Sookie are home and I'm ridiculously glad to have them back. I think they had a lovely 'holiday' with their 'grandparents' but they, too, seem to be quite happy to be home. They're currently sitting on the back of the sofa, watching out the window to see if any interlopers come by our house. This is Sookie's favourite hobby. At my parents, she sits on the back of the couch and looks out at their back yard. She enjoys bird watching there.

Now we're all home, there's a sense of completion about the house. I've had the dogs for almost a year now but it's hard to remember life without them. It certainly was far quieter, that's for sure.

I think for the next few weeks, we're all going to stay home. I've had a great December/January spending time with my family over the holidays and visiting for my birthday and dropping the dogs off/picking them up but my house is in desperate need of some attention and I'm going to make sure it gets it over the next few weeks.

I'm also quite grateful to not have to drive for a while. I'm actually a big fan of driving in general. I love the alone time and listening to music or an audiobook. I'm just not quite such a fan in the winter. While I love snow, I'm definitely not a fan of it blowing on the roads or the ice that follows the snow after the sun's been on it all day and it refreezes at night.

Nevertheless, even when the roads are bad, they're manageable. The only thing that makes them really bad are the other drivers.

I've written blogs before about bad drivers. Nevertheless, bad drivers in the winter are a lot different from bad drivers in the summer. Thus, I have been gathering a list of complaints towards some of the Midwestern drivers on the roads in the winter.

1) If it snows, please clean off the roof of your car. While I know that it takes time and is a lot of effort, it's severely annoying to get stuck behind you and constantly be pelted with rather large chunks of snow because you simply couldn't be bothered to take a broom and brush off your roof. Yes, I know I can say that because I have a garage but even if I park outside and snow accumulates, I brush it off because it's annoying to other drivers. Also, it's dangerous to you because it also slides forwards and temporarily blocks your vision.

2) If you're on a two lane highway and there's five cars in front of you all stuck behind someone who is going 45 miles an hour, it doesn't do any good to ride my bumper. You see, I'm only one car ahead of you and I'm also stuck. It's not going to make me go any faster because I can't. I'm stuck. Just like you. When you're so close I can no longer see your headlights, that's just stupid. If there's a little snow on the road and you're still doing that, it's just plain moronic. Get off my back.

3) If the road is covered with snow and the only road visible in in tracks made by other tires, I'm going to go quite slowly. I have a Toyota Corolla. You may pass me in your big old SUV if you like but when you fishtail and swerve as you pass me, I'm going to laugh at you. I sincerely hope you don't hit the ditch but, if you do, the mean girl in me's first reaction is, "Uh, that'll teach you, won't it?" There's a reason I'm going slow. You see, I value my life and those of my dogs. I'm going to take it as slow as I need to in order to make it safely to my destination.

4) If you have salt on your window, I feel your pain. I have it too. However, if you're in front of me on a windy day, I don't appreciate you cleaning your windows as you go 60 miles an hour because your windshield fluid blows back and freezes on my windshield. I don't like that very much. Wait until you get to a light. Please.

5) If it's snowy and the roads are not nice, please don't talk on your cell phone while you drive. Please do not talk on your cell phone and make a left turn to pull out onto a highway without paying attention so that you end up cutting someone off. It's not easy to slam on your breaks when the roads are slick and it's dangerous. Put the stupid phone away. Please.

I'm sure I could come up with a whole list more but in the past few weeks, all of the above have occured on my drive. The cell phone talkers are the worst. I had a lady run a red light today to turn left and it had been left for a while. Fortunately the roads weren't bad and I was able to avoid her but do you think she even noticed? Nope. She just carried on talking into her phone.

Ah well, I made it safe and sound. I've just learned the art of defensive driving. With my precious canine cargo in the backseat, I've found I'm even more cautious than before.

Now we're home, thankfully. The heat is on, the pups are relaxing and it's time to let the weekend draw to a close in my favourite way: Snuggling on the sofa with two dachshunds, a blanket and a glass of wine.

The ending of a weekend isn't so bad, after all.

Happy Monday!

Simple Manners

Yesterday, we had another Awkward Bagel Meeting at work. This is because we had a new person starting and my boss brought in the bagels. This time, at least, he did introduce the new person but Bagel Day still evolved into "Staff Crowding into Conference Room and Talking to Their Friends." I don't really mind; it gave me time to talk to my friend and not have to work for a half-hour.

Yet it did occur to me that, as a group, we're a wee bit rude. Fortunately, this time, the new person has actually worked for our company before- prior to my starting here- and so he knows mostly everyone.

I hate being rude. I don't know if it's a British thing or just the fact that I've been raised by a good mother but I'm horribly conscious of bad manners. Yet, there are days, particularly Awkward Bagel Days in which I find myself slipping into the bad manners of those around me by ignoring the new person and chatting to my friends at work.

To be fair, if it's someone I know I'll be working with directly, I do try to converse with them, to get to know them. Yet if it's someone I know who will be only a peripheral in my workday, it's easier for me to ignore them. Sometimes, I'd like to be ruder to people but I have the hardest time with that because if I am even slightly rude, I feel guilty about it for the rest of the day.

I'm noticing more and more that manners are flexible things, changeable things. There are manners while driving, manners while talking, manners while on the cell phone...everything has an etiquette to it.

For example, this morning, I had to get on the interstate, as usual. My entrance onto it has been under construction ever since I moved. I'm used to it but it's still a little tricky. When I get on the interstate, I'm forced into a short lane that merges with the far right lane. If I can't get over into the real lane, I have to sit.

Most mornings, it's not hard. People tend to be kind and move over to let me in. This morning, I didn't have that luck. I had to stop in the temporary lane until a car had passed and I could get over. I hate having to do that, especially when the car that blocked me could easily have gone into the other lane. Instead, they ignored me and blocked me.

It's a small thing but it speaks volumes about that driver's view of the world. To me, driving is one of the simplest ways to express manners. You can be a good defensive driver and still be polite. If someone is 'stuck', it's nice to be generous and let them cut in front of you. However, if that person cuts you off in an attempt to get ahead of you, you shouldn't let them in.

I know, I know...driving manners are skewered to a driver's preference. Me, personally, I try to be a polite driver but I have no tolerance for rudeness. If you tailgate me, I will slow down and make you go ten miles per hour slower than we were going before. If you try to cut me off, I will speed up to make sure you don't get to do so. If I see you trying to get into a line of cars that's been sitting there a while by taking a 'shortcut', I will not let you in. You have to wait like everyone else. It's amazing how much of a 'code' you develop as a driver, the more years you do it.

Driving in Ohio is different from driving in L.A. There are different 'tricks' here. For example, in L.A., if you're on the freeway and you need to merge over during rush hour, the easiest way to do it is to find a big semi in the lane next to you. When traffic begins to move after being stopped, that semi takes a lot longer to accelerate and thus will leave a gap between it and the car in front. In Ohio, those semi-trucks go on the interstates but rather than the stop-and-go traffic of L.A., the interstates tend to move consistently at 60-75 mph. Unless there's significant space, it's a bad idea to try and cut in front of a semi here because once they get going at 70 mph, they can't stop that quickly.

It's just interesting to see how the manners of driving change in different regions. Since I work close to a college campus, it means cutting through campus to get to work in the mornings. There are rules of driving that pertain to pedestrians and I hold no qualms about admitting that I've made them up myself. Case in point: Students are dumb. I don't care how good their grades are, how many scholarships they earned, what rank in their class they hold: College students are dumb. Every morning as I attempt to weave my way through town while attempting to avoid as many of these students as possible, I inevitably have to pull some tricky driving maneuver to avoid hitting one.

Throughout town, there are a lot of crosswalks. These are clearly marked by horizontal stripes across the road. There's not really even any words to read. Each morning, I see at least one student who decides to cross the road without using a crosswalk. The sad thing is they assume that we drivers are going to know they're just going to walk out into traffic. The sadder part is that nine times out of ten, they choose to jaywalk within ten feet of a crosswalk.

Here's the thing: If I see a crosswalk, I instinctively look to see if there's anyone waiting to cross. If they're waiting, it means the student isn't quite so dumb because they intelligently assume that not all drivers are going to want to stop. So they wait for the ones that do stop. I get a little more irritated with the students who just assume everyone will stop and they just step into the street without looking.

These students are silly. However, they are, at least, using a crosswalk.

The ones I have no patience for are the ones who, as I said, decide to cross the street when there is a crosswalk within glancing distance. Yes, there are times when you need to cross the road and the nearest crossing is a block or two away. Jaywalking is understandable in this situation, provided it's done responsibly. This means looking and making sure it's clear before you cross. Playing Frogger with cars in a small town like this is just stupid. However, if you can see the crossing out of the corner of your eye, it's just plain lazy to not walk towards it and use it to cross. Seriously, it's less than ten feet away.

Of course, I'm not even factoring in the texters/phone-talkers. The phone-talkers are slightly more up on the evolutionary scale than texters although they both rank in the not-so-bright category of street manners. It is possible to talk on the phone AND make sure you don't walk into traffic. If you're so engrossed in your conversation you forget that a car moving at 35 mph will hurt you if it hits you, perhaps you ought to sit down and not move while you finish the conversation. As for the texters...well, those students need a good slap over the head with a shoe. I confess, I have walked and texted. It's easy to do. I just DON'T DO IT WHEN WALKING INTO TRAFFIC.

Sorry. I almost hit one of those yesterdays. He was one of those dopey looking students with the messy hair and tight jeans. He was texting, very focused on his digital conversation when he stepped into the street. My light was green. He had a big "Don't WALK" hand as his traffic signal. I had to stop, suddenly. He blinked at me as though he'd just woken up.

As I said, students are dumb. It means that my Theory of Driving Manners goes out the window when I'm near the campus. It's hard to be polite when you're dodging students who appear out of nowhere.

I digress. As usual. Back to the original topic...manners. I could go on about this for hours since they effect every aspect of life. I'm no Miss Manners but I am a human and I can't help but think there are times when manners should be instinctive. Yet we're all different so maybe I should take that into consideration.

Then again, I've been to the DMV a fair amount this year. Perhaps we're not all human after all.

That would explain so much.

Happy Tuesday.

Hey, Snow...Do we need a Time Out?

So, you know that snow for which I'm constantly professing my love? We're going through a slightly difficult time in our relationship on this day and I think you should you know.

You see, last night, we had a winter storm. I went to bed and there were icy patches of snow but the yellowed grass was visible in cracks and rivets in the snow. This morning, the world is white.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's beautiful. From my apartment, I thought it one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a long while. An entire world, cloaked in the soft carpet of snow, the flakes still delicately pouring from the sky. I even did a dance of happiness. You know, a "Yay! Snow!"sort of thing.

Silly me. I had a strange notion that since the snow was so deep (we had at least four inches and it's still coming), we, like every other university and school in the area would be closed. When I clicked on the website, I saw that we were. Well, two of our branches were. We have three branches. Our branch....not closed.

So, realizing I was not going to get my jigsaw-puzzlin', hot-chocolate drinkin' day I'd secretely wanted, I went down to clean off my car and warm it up. The snow was deep. My jeans and boots got wet.

By this time, I was a little rankled that we had to go to work when, obviously, it was not a good day for driving on roads. What the university for which I work does not seem to realize is that not everyone is like me, living (on a normal day) ten minutes away. There are a lot of commuters. However, they're expected into work and thus, so was I.

In the back of my mind, I was already grumbling. Our office is slightly more flexible and a lot of people can work from home on a day like this. However, we local folk are usually expected to make the trek in because it doesn't take too long. Supposedly. Also, we single, child-free folk have an extra layer of expectation thrust upon on us. All the local schools are closed. Thus, anyone in the office with kids who go to those schools can plead the need to stay home with the kids because there's no one else to take care of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because they have to stay home but I wish I could say something like "My car is from California and thus hates driving on snow. I'm going to work from home because it won't bring me to work."

I probably could say that actually but then I'd feel guilty.

Anyway, so being intrepid and still being excited about the snow at this point, I cleared off my car and slowly attempted to navigate the parking lot of my apartment building. Ok....not so bad. A little iffy but I didn't hit anyone and I didn't fishtail so...bonus.

And then I pulled out onto the road. Not a great idea. I fishtailed. Fortunately, I was taking it easy so I was able to catch the slide and correct it. Then I realized that there's a massive hill just down the road from my building and no way to avoid it. Given that the roads were barely cleared, I was a little worried about going down and sliding off the road. Fortunately, that was the one area that the snowplows had dilengently cleared so I made it up and down without incident.

It wasn't until I made my first left turn that I really slid. I was a little frightened because the snow was thick and there was no traction at all. It didn't help that I had a moron behind me who obviously thought I was being a wuss and literally took the left turn so that he ended up a foot away from my bumper while I was still sliding. He stayed close for a while but I saw him fishtail and, finally, he slowed down.

There were a couple of these drivers who thought they were superior. I'm a wimp. I go slowly. Really slowly. I'd rather get there late than smash up my poor car.

It took me about 25 minutes to get to work.I usually make it in eight. When I got to work....no one was there. No one. Just me, my little California car and a big, empty, unplowed lot. So, once I actually find the driveway and get into the car park, I naively think, hey, I could do a donut.

I didn't do a donut. I pulled into my space and started to slide. But it was a good thought, right?

Now there are more people in the office; not many but a few brave and intrepid made it in. I'm leaving at noon today because it's supposed to get worse and my car is begging me to leave. Well, ok, it's in my head that it's begging me to leave and I might be projecting but who's really to know...

We're supposed to get ice tonight and more snow. Don't get me wrong, I still love snow but I've decided that I love it very much when I'm at home and I don't have to drive on the roads. Otherwise, snow can be a little scary especially in such volume. If I had a pack of sled dogs, it might be ok but my car doesn't have the same traction. Also, other drivers scare me. I can control my own driving but not theirs and when they tailgate me as I'm taking a left turn, it doesn't help my confidence.

Then again, it's not snow's fault that my employer is not terribly thoughtful and it's not snow's fault that students like to jaywalk and don't seem to realize that we can't slam on our brakes to avoid hitting them. It's not snow's fault that the snowplows pile up the snow behind our cars so we have to drive through a drift to get out of our parking spot.

So, maybe I am slightly less enamoured with winter and the snow at the moment but I'm sure it will pass. As long as I don't have to drive to work in it anymore.

Happy Tuesday.