Woops Duex

Eastbound on Warm Springs this afternoon: the remains of a rear-end collision. A mile later, same thing; different direction. Yup, summer is definitely close.

They're Definitely Back

Driving down I95 south from Lake Mead to Tropicana. Shouldn't be a big problem...

After four miles of stop and go traffic we finally get to the source. Can ya guess?

So traffic flows well. For a half a mile.

Then stop and go for another mile.

Can ya guess?

Two accidents, same direction, same stretch of road. Driving is just too hard for some people.

Part 3

The trip to L.A. and back to Vegas were pretty uneventful. But there were a few other moments of interest.

In San Francisco, I saw a guy driving a burned out Ferrari. The windows were all gone, the body was blackened from fire, the interior had burned away. But he was happily motoring down the road.

Someone stole the water bottles out of the back of my truck in Manhattan Beach, CA. I thought it would've happened in SF. Manhattan Beach is a really nice neighborhood. Rolls Royce parked on the side of the road nice. And someone stole my water. As opposed to the area of SF where people steal my friend's garbage. Weird.

Baker, CA has the singular nastiest bathroom I've ever been in. I went in, did my stuff, and left. Washed my hands in the squeegie bucket outside. I think other guys did the same.

Almost got a pic of the dash with the speedo in triple digits. Missed and came up on traffic. Oh well.

Day 2

And I thought my decisions to Just Keep Driving yesterday were questionable. Holy crap was today a flat out logical mystery.

I got up, checked out, and got on my way. For some reason I had the idea I should get chains. 'Cause, hey, I-80 in winter, I guess. Donner pass, cannibalism, all that fun stuff.

So I drove around for a while trying to find an auto parts store.

If Reno is a pretty working class town, why couldn't I find an auto parts store? Couldn't even find a Pep Boys or Schucks - and those guys are like roaches (or PT's) in Vegas.

Finally I gave up and decided to just get on 80 and start heading west.

Just as I left the city limits, what should hit my windshield but sleet. That's not a good sign. I've got a small pickup. No 4WD for me. No weight over the driving axle. I can barely move when it rains. Really cold rain is just going to kill me.

So I kept going.

The little signs that say "chains required when flashing" weren't flashin. Hey, that's a good sign, right?

Jackass....

I passed the border into California. By that time it's snowing. Big fluffy flakes falling gently onto the windshield of my OH MY FUCKING GOD I'M GOING TO DIE....

So I kept going.

Finally I got to the "chain control area". This translates to "it's snowing, jackass, put chains on or the CHP marches yo ass back to Nevada." Thankfully there were guys selling chains and installation services. $60 + tip for a set of chains and installation. Score!

Well, I shouldn't say it was a good thing. Had I not gotten chains I would have just gone back to Reno and stayed at the hotel for a couple days until the storm passed. That would have been relaxing. That might have been the smart thing to do. Guess what, kids? Uncle Binky ain't too smart.

Driving through the Donner pass, snow falling around me, feeling eerily crushable by the eighty thousand pound semis on all sides... Not a fun time.

Some highlights:
1) On a banked curve, the semi that was passing me started sliding down the bank towards me. That warmth I felt wasn't Jesus reassuring me, I'm pretty sure I wet myself.

2) Some guy ditched his truck. No one stopped to help. But they did all stop. This was after I'd taken my chains off (I gave in to peer pressure, eveyone else was doing it). By the time people figured out that if they weren't going to stop they should at least keep going, the road was covered in snow. I was stopped on an incline. A steep one. Through skill and perseverance (although most likely just dumb luck), I managed to get the truck moving.

3) My chains got stuck. On the tire. I couldn't get the passenger side chain off. Took me about 20 minutes. By the time I was done there was over an inch of snow. On me. There was more on the road. I looked down and decided I'd just made a mistake. But, ya know, what the hell.

4) Somewhere in there I realized I didn't bring a jacket with me. Good thing I'm about as honkie as is possible.

5) With not much room in the cab of the truck I figured I should keep the expensive stuff like the cameras and laptop in the cab. My clothes? In the back of the truck. 'Cause, really, it's almost summer - it's not gonna rain on me. Once it stopped snowing, it started raining. For 150 miles. Until I got to Pacifica. Then it stopped. For an hour and half.

6) At least I got to eat at Tam's.

7) Chains + Low Profile Tires = Rides Like Crap. So much so that I was worried I was doing damage to the tires.

8) Bay Area drivers are the least cooperative drivers in the U.S. In Vegas they run into things a lot, they're bad, but at least for the most part they cooperate. In the Bay Area they don't.
a)I saw some guy with his turn signal on, indicating that he wanted into my lane. So I opened enough space in front of me for him. He reacts by refusing that space and pushing into the lane ahead of the guy in front of me.
b) I saw another guy turn his turn signal on. There was enough space to change lanes. Then he turns his signal off and waits for the space to close up, then lurches over into the lane. Huh?
c) Two lanes were merging, everyone's got room, we're not really slowing down. Nothing to stress out over. So some lady rides the car ahead of her so that I can't merge in ahead of her. Awright, I guess everyone's got their issues.

I think L.A. is the only place I've ever been where people understand that if we all just cooperate we'll get there a lot faster. And maybe Singapore.

Leg 1

Pics of the trip can be found here:
http://www.part7.com/Trips/Vacation_3-05/index.html

So today I started my long drive to SF (and then to LA).

Hop in the trucklet and start driving up 95. Head north up to Beatty. That little zit of a town has been growing. It's got a gas station that takes credit cards now.

So I make a left into Death Valley. Down I go. Looking at the map I figure I gotta be careful not to miss 190. Eventually I end up waiting for a while on construction. Get past and the road dead ends... WTF? That ain't right.

Oh...

Had the map upside down. (sigh) I'm a doofus.

Turn around and head north. Not too happy.

North on 395. Owens Valley. Driving along and I notice snow all over the mountains. Thankfully I'm not in the mountains. Then I notice the elevation signs have higher numbers. Hope that's not a bad sign. Then I see oncoming traffic with snow all over them. That, definitely, is a bad sign.

My trucklet doesn't like rain. Snow would probably kill me. At some point I noticed two things:
1) I'm in the mountains I saw earlier.
2) There's an aweful lot of snow there.

I get to Lee Vining and pull into a Best Western. Clean place, decent price. So I ask the lady behind the counter if Yosemite park is open this time of year. It's not. Damnit. Is highway 108 open? Nope.

Now is when my pathological inability to Just Stop Driving kicks in and I say "I think I'll keep driving north."

So WTF, now my tired ass is in Reno. But at least the rooms at the Atlantis are nice. And I've got an awesome view of... Reno... Oh well.

Highlights of my drive:
1) I ran over a hamburger.
2) Drag coefficient on my truck has to be pretty high, considering how many bugs have suicided on iy.
3) Bugs this time of year have a LOT of guts.
4) Keeler, CA: Population 50 (yes, fifty)
5) If ever in Beatty, don't stop for food. Just don't do it.

Best moment:
Watching a jackass almost cause two accidents passing people. Then two miles later waving as I pass by him and the cop writing him a ticket.

That Ain't No Race Car

This morning marks the first time I've ever seen an armored truck weaving and racing through traffic. Those things are surprisingly agile. Big engines, too. Apparantly also intimidating to most drivers.

'Cept for the guy in the dented pickup. He knows what kind of insurance the armored truck company has to have.

Feel free to buy me a new truck, I won't complain.

Stuff It

Yes your lifted Jeep is taller than my truck. It's also shorter and just as narrow. This can work to your disadvantage. Let me explain...

When you lurch over into my lane and slam on your brakes, let's just say I'm not reacting as quickly as normal. So now I've made contact with your rear tire. Now let's just say I'm in a bad mood. My foot "slips" off the brake onto the gas pedal.

So think about the physics of the situation for just a minute. The rotational velocity of your tires aren't enough to catch the truck. However, the kinetic energy stored in your Jeep and my truck is significant.

Let's explore one scenario.

Now your brakes engage. And my front bumper pushes just a little bit mroe into your tire. This can cause a bump that forces the back end of your short wheelbase vehicle up (also remember that the weight is already balanced forward because of the braking). If my foot isn't done "slipping", your rear tire will now be on top of my hood. If I don't recover quickly enough to pop my brakes this will most likely push your vehicle over onto one side or the other.

Sliding along trapped inside a car with your face inches off the ground can't be fun. Hope you're wearing a seatbelt, guy.

Almost Deselected Myself

Saturday I remembered why I avoid taking late left turns. Came fairly close to deselecting myself. Some lady in an SUV prolly wore some miles off her tires. Yup, no more late left turns for me.

Standards

When a regular citizen on a motorcycle gets run over on the highway they just sweep up the pieces and let traffic go.

When it's a motorcycle cop they shut down the highway for three miles. Which backs up traffic on that side for over ten miles. And on the other side for five miles. The officer "sustained minor injuries."

Hmm...

Whoah, You'd Think It Was My Fault

A few days ago I was East on Lake Mead. Was in the left lane behind some guy in a lifted pickup. He start swerving around, then pulls half into a turn lane and stops. So I honk because, well, he's being stupid and should be notified.

He honks back.

Pulls a U-turn.

And flips me off.

Apparantly it was all my fault.

A Little Bit Ago

I was driving home late from a 16 hour session dealing with [major new customer]. Drive down Tropicana and I'm cruisin'. Doing about 48 in the middle lane. There's not much traffic, things are calm.

Pass Eastern and I'm just rollin' along.

From the left side a small ways ahead of me someone jumps out of a parking lot into the median. Okay, no problem. So then they keep going as if they're going to turn into and drive down the left lane. Okay, again no problem. Then oh shit... He just keeps coming. I manage to swerve the front end around and had to pop the back end loose and spin around to avoid snagging his front end with my bumper.

Dingbat.

Then about a mile later the guy ahead of me does a panic stop for no reason. Barely missed that goober, too.

Hookers'n Coke - It's Vegas

So I've just gotten out of a meeting with [customer] where I had to explain to why [poorly spec'd feature of our flagship product] doesn't work like a normal person thinks it should. That was fun.

So I'm driving home. Take a left from Polaris onto Tropicana. Cross over the Strip and there I am sitting at a light.

So I do what most people do in that situation, I watch the people around me. Look in my rearview mirror and there's a chick fiddling with something in her lap. She's got a lot of makeup on, looks a little scrawny and haggard. Driving an older beat up car. Then she leans down, plugs a nostril, and inhales.

I just saw a hooker snort coke while sitting in traffic. I opt for the next right, since, you know, coke sniffing hookers probably don't have car insurance.

The Weather Warms

With the weather warming back up, it seems people are getting stupid again.

Which means I can get back to posting about the fools driving around me.