Indy

Had an Indiana Jones moment yesterday. I was driving down down Gibson and slowing down to stop at the red light on Boulder Highway. A cement truck turns right onto Gibson from Boulder. Then something falls off the cement truck. I chuckle a bit. Then it dawns on me that I'm now watching an oddly round rock rolling down the road towards me. A big rock. A big round rock.

The brain kicks in... "OH CRAP! PAINTJOB! GOTTA SELL CAR! ACK!"

I slam the brakes, shove the car into reverse, and start screaming backwards down the road (thankfully there's no one behind me). The cement truck passes me. Half a second later I've almost caught up to it - the rock is still rolling down the incline towards me. Eventually the rock starts to slow and I come to a stop, staring at it and wondering what just happened.

Then traffic comes up behind me and and I have to figure out how to get around the rock, since I can't get the car over it. The guy behind me thought I was an idiot until he almost ran into it.

Syncrhonicity

Something about Friday afternoon...

On Eastern, heading from Russell to Tropicana. Everyone has to go around an accident. Turn right onto Tropicana - everyone has to go around another accident. After 95 on Tropicana: another... Still amazes me.

Cleverness

Wow, that's a clever new way around traffic. I'll bet no one else has tried rocketing down the bicycle lane at 60 mph. Chances are there's a good reason for that.

An Old Quote

"At which point I thought 'damn it's a shame I forgot my moron today.'"

That's a quote from when I lived in San Francisco. Little did I know how good I had it there.

Another Day

Another Accident

Car A + Car B = Accident C. I'm getting so I don't even notice any more.

Chain Reaction

Car 1 turns right onto Tropicana. SUV 1, in the middle lane, overreacts and swerves into the left lane. Car 2, in the left lane, slams on its brakes to avoid getting sideswiped by SUV 1. Car 3, behind Car 2, slams on its brakes and swerves into my lane (the middle). I slam on my brakes and consider plowing into Car 1, who caused all this by jumping into traffic (poorly).

Oh, and this was a quarter of a mile after passing an accident that looked like it got caused by the same thing. People don't learn.

Big Woops

Someone musta wiped out bigtime getting onto the beltway from Warm Springs. The police closed down the onramp. That sure helped traffic.

The worst part was that some idiot in an SUV was blocking everyone's vision and waving people into traffic. He wasn't really watching traffic, though. I almost got whacked by someone stupid enough to trust this guy.

Stupid 1: Waving people into traffic. Chances are we're smart enough to figure it out (well, some of us).
Stupid 2: Trusting the idiot waving people into traffic.

Drunkee

Driving home Saturday night... There's a guy in a lifted pickup who's obviously drunk. Weaving and trying to find someone to follow. That someone ended up being me. I took off - no way I'm driving around with a drunk guy stuck on my bumper.

Hope he got home without killing anyone but himself.

U-Turns

In case you don't know, U-Turns are legal in Nevada unless there's a sign (with some exceptions). On a left turn with a green arrow you have right of way over people turning right against a red. People turning right don't always know this. To the guy in the van that almost ran me over: "Easy there, turbo, I've got right of way." I guess he didn't believe me. Good thing his brakes work.

--------

"Okay, maybe there are some steel plates we should slow down for."

Once Again

Steel plates will NOT hurt your SUV. You could do 45 over the plate and be just as safe as you are when you're doing 15. And you annoy fewer people.

Sum Travlin'

This weekend I flew down to San Francisco to visit some friends. It didn't take mt too long to get used to Bay Area traffic - aggressive, fastish, and the horn is a general communication device. Overall the drivers are competent.

Then I got back to Vegas...

Anyway...

The flights. The flight out was full. A little rocky at times, but not too bad. The flight back was not so full. Less than 50 people. So I'm waiting at the airport for the flight to board. It's pretty obvious that there aren't many people on this flight. Very very obvious.

"This is a pre-boarding announcement for flight 863 to Las Vegas. Pre boarding only, please."

3 people.

"We'd now like to begin boarding first class passengers only."

2 people.

"Now boarding passengers in group 1 for flight 863 to Las Vegas."

1 person.

"Now boarding passenergers in groups 1 and 2 for flgiht 863 to Las Vegas."

... This continues for quite a while ...

"Now boarding passengers in all groups."



Today's Lesson according to America West: Never ever make things easier by stepping off the script.

Bus = Magnet?

It's almost like city buses attract stupid people. I just can't understand how you hit a bus...

It seems that steel plates on the roadway confuse Vegas drivers. But here's a hint... If the guy in the 3000GT isn't slowing down for them they probably aren't going to hurt your SUV. Now get your foot of the brake pedal and get your butt out of my way.