Car Count

Once upon a time I really didn't know much about cars. I really still don't, in the big scheme of things. But when I started creating characters for stories, I started thinking about what kinds of cars they would drive. Which led me to noticing cars on the road, sort of out of curiosity.

Mostly these days I try to drive defensively, and notice the courteous drivers when it's possible. And some days, I notice... a lot of stuff that seems kind of amazing. Such as - the number of *super* expensive cars i saw yesterday. 

Now, I'm not talking about your standard Mercedes, BMW, Porche, or Audi. I see dozens of those every day (there is, apparently, a lot of money here in South Florida.). No - yesterday was... something.

I kid you not, this is what I saw:

4 Maseratis, 3 Bentleys (parked next to one of them, in fact), 2 Rolls Royces, and 1 Saleen.

So - I guess even more money was floating around yesterday. None of them seemed to be driven by jerks, so that's something, right? 

:)

No Good Deed... Pet Peeve #3

As a friend of mine used to say all the time, "No good deed goes unpunished." And it is sooo true, especially in the driving world, isn't it?

So yes, Pet Peeve #3 is a small one, but it does irk me. And that's when you let someone in or turn out of a driveway or something on a busy day - and they don't wave or anything to say Thank You. 

I get that on the highway and stuff they don't always think of it when they merge, because that's what you do - you merge. But when things are bumper to bumper and someone actually allows you in without having to force your way in, it would stand to reason you should *thank* that person.

Same when you let someone turn in front of you, come out of a business on an busy street, and so on. It's just the polite thing to do. You gotta wonder why more people don't do it. 

Oh yes, see the quote above, lol. 

:)

Happy Late Valentine's!

Yep, a day after the fact, but better late than never, right? Hope it was good - and safe! And that the drivers weren't too nuts, ha ha.

:)

Pet Peeve #2

You know who I mean. Traffic is moving along at a good clip, things are going smoothly, then all of a sudden you come up behind one and can't get around - because all the other traffic *is* still moving at its good clip. Who am I talking about?

Those self-righteous no-speeders.

Yes, I get it, we are all supposed to go the speed limit. But most people don't, and on a busy highway, those that don't keep up with the traffic (or get in the right lane that signs even point out are for *slower* traffic), then these No-speeders are not just a nuisance, they could be dangerous. Some of those trucks are *big* and bigger things have a harder time slowing down. Just sayin'. (And it could probably be said more eloquently with better examples, but I"m kinda tired, lol.)

I will admit I've used my share of expletives when I get behind one of these pains-in-the-behind. Because it's nearly impossible to get out from behind them, with all the traffic moving along faster, and moving over before you can. 

So there's my Pet Peeve #2.

Oh, and I'm back on the "job" here, lol. Took a minor LOA, but the Crusade is on - never fear!

Let's get this rolling! (ha ha!)

:)

Pet Peeve #1

As you can probably guess, the fact that I even started this Crusade, and the blog to go along with it, is because I have lots of pet peeves about drivers here in South Florida. Or anywhere, really, because they are everywhere that I've ever driven.

But the past couple of days have been full of my Number One Pet Peeve, and so I thought I'd share. And that is:

Drivers who think their time is more valuable than mine is or anyone else's.

You know the types. Either they are zipping in and out between cars, changing lanes repeatedly, riding people's bumpers, as if they can make everyone go faster. I HATE that. 

I think the ones I hate the worst, however, are the ones that jump into the merge lane just so they can move up 4-5 car lengths in rush hour traffic. I HATE these people. I know you're not supposed to hate anyone, but this is in a figurative sense, of course. 

What they don't think about is that *they* are the ones holding up the lane because we all have to slow down to let *more* cars merge. They are the ones causing the problem!

Yes, I get it, it's rush hour. If you are really going to be *that* late, guess what - you should have left your house earlier. Unless you or your wife is having a baby, no one needs to be that stinkin' rude. Just don't, and I won't hear a single excuse other than bleeding profusely or the imminent arrival of a baby. Do you really love your job *that* much that you have to be a huge jerk to the rest of us?

I think not. 

There are other ways this sort of behavior manifests itself. And I'll be honest, if I can do it, I don't let those jerks in if I see them darting out of the traffic to try to merge ahead. It's bad, but there it is.

So - I think that's about top of my list of things that tick me right off. What's yours?

:)

Rain, Rain...

Rain, rain, go away.

It's been raining here for the last two days. As it likely does most places, it brings out the best and the worst in people in South Florida. A huge white SUV let me out of a driveway today, so that's a total wave! Then there were a few other cars that just dashed back and forth, in and out of traffic on wet streets. Definite honks.

So - I figure once or twice a week, I'm going to feature some waves and some honks. Waves at the cars whose drivers I witnessed being courteous, and honks to the well... jerks. 

Waves so far this week:

1/29, 8:30ish am - A red van (didn't get the make or model) let a few people turn onto the main street during rush hour.

Same day and approximate time - a tan Chevy, I think a Malibu. Just being nice, using signals, let someone over, didn't hog the road.

Best of all (Gift card contender when I get some more!) - A white Mini Cooper with black stripes on the back of it. Soooo nicely done!

And the Honks:

Today - too many to name.

We can only hope people will use their heads, but I don't hold my breath anymore. A new truck is going on the Honk page for a week, too, so check there.

All for now!

:)

First Contact!

So I did it!

I actually approached a police officer this morning about my Crusade! 

There is an intersection right before I turn in where I work where a police officer is usually monitoring in the mornings. It is rush hour, after all, and I see someone there pretty much every day now. Yesterday, being the first day I had my cards, I was all excited and - no one was there. Probably he was pulling someone over who needed a ticket.

But today, he was there. I sucked up my courage, pulled into the parking lot closer to where he was, and walked over to him. I asked if I could give him something, and held out the cards. He took them, and then of course, wanted to know what it was about. I told him the mission - to make the streets of South Florida a more pleasant place to drive. And then he asked me how I planned on doing that.

(In the interest of "fairness" ha ha, I feel obliged to relay that he was, well, *super* good looking.  :D  He may or may not have been trying to flirt, too. I don't really think he was, but I am going to let myself believe it for the rest of the evening since it's Friday, after all, lol.)

He seemed entirely serious, so I told him my plan. He didn't tell me I was crazy or anything! He pocketed the cards and we talked about traffic and such for a while. I finally had to go so I wouldn't be late for work, but he totally empathized with my plight. 

So yep - that was pretty dang awesome! I have no idea if my plan will ever come to fruition, but the groundwork is steadily being laid. Gonna get my letters done this weekend, in English and Spanish, printed, and get them to someone with the ability to look up addresses. Then... it will be in their hands. 

But I'm excited! At least one police officer is supportive! Or at least, didn't try to dissuade me. And you know - that's something. A start, at the very least!

:)

Another Piece Ready To Go!

Hey - take a look at these bad boys:

That's right! Those are the business cards I ordered. Apparently there is this awesome company called Vistaprint ( vistaprint.com ) who will send you 250 business cards for $3.99 shipping only. I kid you not - that's what they charged me for them.

Of course I got the plain ones. You could go fancier for more money, order more for just a couple more dollars, etc. But since I have no idea how any of this is actually going to work out, I decided to go plain and simple and inexpensive.

Let me tell you what else - when they sent my confirmation, the estimated delivery date was January 27th. Today is obviously the 22nd - *five days early*!! That's some service right there. And guess where I'm going again if I need more of these cards or some other ones. That's the point and I know that, but it worked for me  :D

So I have been asked why I need business cards for this endeavor. And I will tell you.

First - I plan on putting a couple in each of the letters I send. Kind of a "hint", if you will, that they should maybe try to pass along to other people the idea of driving more courteously.

Second - I am going to try to put a few in the hands of any police officers I see, kind of for the same reason. Maybe they will pass them along and spread the word that no one is in so much of a hurry they can't drive nicely. 

Third - I will give them to people I know, again, hoping to get the word out, and recruit people to my crusade. 

This weekend I am going to finalize my letter, print copies of it, and get them ready to mail. Then Monday, throw myself on the mercy of someone at the local police department. Wish me luck!

All of this could come to naught, but at least I can't say I didn't try to change my world for the better, even if it was just something as minor as traffic. Any little bit helps, right?

:)

Progress Update

Progress is being made!

I have ordered business cards with the name and address of this blog. The plan is to both hand them out to people so that maybe they'll take a look here and consider driving better, ha ha. Also, I'm going to put them in the letters I send the good drivers, so that hopefully they will come here and leave a comment that they got it. That part is a long shot, but I have hope it will happen!

So that's some progress.

I have my gift cards, and already four recipients for once I have everything ready to take to the police department. That's some more.

This three day weekend I plan to finish up the letter I want to send so it will be ready to go. Wish me luck, haha.

What watching out for good drivers has done for me, I think, is one - kind of slowed me down. I'm impatient on a good day, but now I am certainly slower. How else can I see names of trucks and others driving well?

I've also calmed a bit of my road rage. It was never anything more than hollering at people, and had already been getting milder. But so much of the time, all it takes is one stupid driver to muck it up for all of us. There's no point in getting mad at everyone else stuck because of an idiot. 

So yeah - it's been a journey (ha ha - forgive the pun!), even in this short time.

Another plan is to make more pages with different subjects, like Jargon I'm creating, lol, things that drive me nuts, other stuff that I think is awesome of drivers to do. And anyone reading this is always welcome to comment on any and everything!

So all for now, but keep checking back. Progress is being made!

:)

Lots of Waves

I owe a bunch of people in Downtown Miami a wave of waves, for sure.  :D

Every so often on a Saturday I have to go down there. It's not someplace I frequent otherwise (impatience at traffic being one of the contributing factors. I kid you not). But I had to yesterday. I always use my Mapquest app on my phone and that GPS *always* gets me where I'm going. As I tend to get lost kind of easily, that's a good thing.

Except yesterday, I got stuck behind some other cars, and then realized that - my GPS had been taking me all around out of my way for blocks for me to get to the Interstate! Because as I sat there, behind two cars that clearly wanted to move into the left turn lane (and blocking one of the regular lanes), I saw a sign with an arrow.

*sigh*  All this time, and it was that easy! I had just decided to wait them out because I didn't want to pull in front of another car, etc.

So I did it. I turned into one of those people that annoys the crap out of me and sits there throwing themselves on the mercy of others (or is just an ***hole and pushes their way in). I don't know if the people downtown were just used to tourists and the like doing it all the time, or if they were silently cursing all of us for not being prepared enough to know where we were going.

Either way - someone let me in! Nary a honk or anything! So of course, I waved my thanks (I don't know if they saw it or not). And that happened two more times as I navigated the busy streets of Downtown Miami. Everyone was just... nice! 

It was a great driving day. And this week, I am going to relay my own opinions on what's courteous, and what's just rude, pure and simple. They will be my own subjective opinions, of course, but anyone reading this is welcome to comment. 

For now, however, I am going to bask in the niceness of my journey yesterday.

:)