When I was 16 I didn't want to drive. I had failed my road test twice and figured I would just be a cyclist. I didn't feel comfortable in a vehicle and ultimately didn't trust myself. Now, I pretty much do it for a living. Because of this I may not be as experienced behind the wheel as most my age, but I think I'm qualified enough to complain a little.
As Minnesotans, we have to drive in slippery conditions. We probably do it quite well, after all it's easier to stay alert when your worried about ending up the wrong direction in the opposite ditch. Or worse. I've been in an icy ditch and it is no picnic. Overall though, I'm not too worried in the winter. And then the sun comes out...
Dry pavement around here means the loss of driving skill. Especially when it comes to courtesy. Did you know that traffic on an acceleration ramp has the right of way to merge into traffic? If you did I'll bet you are in the minority. Thankfully I've never been in a serious accident, but I've come very close trying to get on to four lane highways. Both times it was an idiot semi driver who couldn't tell that the entire left lane was open. Of course neither had the "How's my Driving?" sticker.
It certainly doesn't help that MNDOT has decided that no road shall go without major construction this year. I should have stuck to my guns and gotten a Schwinn.
Two years ago I had some spare time on my hand so I decided to add up how long it would take to play my entire CD collection. I wrote it down on a piece of paper that I just ran across. At the time my collection was at 257 CDs and came to 9 days 3 hours 40 minutes and 13 seconds. Without the classical section it is 6 days 20 hours 9 minutes and 3 seconds, after all almost 3 days of classical would be quite a bit. Since then I have added exactly 50 CDs and my changer is more than full.
Finding this piece of paper has given me a challenge. Since listening to everything is out of the question, I'm going to listen to one track on each CD and see how long that ends up taking me. Leaving breaks of course, I'm figuring on July. It'll take a couple days just to get through the B's. Trace Adkins will lead the parade... "There's a Girl in Texas"
Hey kids, today is a bonus feature! Haven't been blogging too much but the weather is getting to me. (See below, or maybe above)
I've seen my share of movies, but there are many out there that I refuse to see because a certain actor is in it. Admit it, you do the same thing. There are a few out there that I have slowly started to not hate, like John Travolta, but they come few and far between. So it's list time, here are some people I don't want to see on the big screen.
-Michael Douglas
-Keanu Reeves
-Hugh Grant
-Jon Voight
-Christian Slater
-Julia Roberts
-Rosie Perez
-Rene Russo
I honestly thought the list would be a lot bigger, but that's all I can think of right now. But I know this, a movie made up of that cast would make me curl up into the fetal position.
It rained again today. Just like it did yesterday, and the day before... and the day before. So far in a week we have had around 3 inches of rain which the ground definitely needed. The forecast for the next few days has even more coming. It sure would be nice to see the sun again.
On another note, it's my friend Kassie's birthday today, so happy birthday to her and anyone else with a May 24th birthday. The good ones are born in May...
I think if I owned a bar, or a restaurant, or anything for that matter I would name it "Somewhere Else." That's where everyone wants to be, somewhere else. While at home we want to go out. While out we just want to go home. I guess the ultimate place to be would be somewhere in the middle. Just a thought.
I spend a lot of time listening to the radio; one of the side effects of being in a vehicle for hours on end. It's a good thing until around 10:00 AM when everything goes downhill. The reason is that I'm forced to listen to music. Should be a good thing right? It would be if I didn't have to hear the same songs over and over. I can't stand jukeboxes for the same reason, if I hear "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" too many more times I'm going to find Charlie Daniels and beat him with a hickory stump. Then again, he's probably sick of hearing it too.
Good radio still exists in the morning shows. While driving I listen to Van and Cheryl on KS95. And on rainy days like today while I sit and blog I find myself listening. At least during talk shows there will be some variety. After all, it is the spice of life.
It's getting close to 10 now, time to warm up the seek button.
I've been back to work for about a month now and have made a few observations along the way
-Beer bottles in fields are guaranteed to be of the cheap variety. Anything above Michelob Golden Draft doesn't qualify for a booze cruise. Kids these days have no taste, that stuff is rancid.
-If a road has a gate blocking it, there is a reason. Although I haven't gotten the two wheel drive truck stuck so far, just very very dirty.
-Not paying for gasoline makes it much easier to drive 250 miles a day. It makes the 30 dollars to fill my Tahoe every couple weeks seem like nothing.
-Finally, in Minnesota every 10-15 miles there is a road closed or under construction. And the rest of them need it.
Have you ever heard an obscure fact or a word no one has used around you for years and then heard the very same thing later that day? It happens to me quite a bit and it amazes me every time. Today's example was that the actor on The Beverly Hillbillies who played Jed also played Barney Miller. The discussion came up at the dinner table and was later repeated on an episode of King of the Hill. That's just weird. There must be some French word that describes that, and if not I need to invent one.
Let me test it out with this little tidbit. The three musical notes that represent NBC are G-E-C. See if it turns up on Jeopardy.