1/31/2006

Tuesday January 31, 2006

Departure Time: 7:16
Arrival Time: 7:58
Weather as I call it: Overcast, misty but 42 degrees
Paper Guy: Brown hat on today...started to walk into the street to make a sale.
Shady Gas Price: $2.29 <-- Wow.
Yelled at other drivers: No
Feared for my life: Not today

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Here's the sitch: I forgot to add this to yesterday's post. Two people cut in front of me yesterday...did I react appropriately? Absolutely. I didn't flip off anybody. You let it happen unless they really do something ridiculous.

....which leads me to my next point...I love people don't exactly stop when they come to a 3 way intersection where they have to turn left. They sorta ease their way into traffic and then they expect you to let them in...Strange, courageous stuff.

I saw the temp. on a spinning bank sign today...the same that was displaying the temperature as extremely hot a while back...looks like they fixed it.

1/30/2006

Monday January 30, 2006

Departure Time: 7:14
Arrival Time: 7:57
Weather as I call it: Misty
Paper Guy: Brown hat...windbreaker....no shades
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nope

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Sometimes all the lights turn green for you...today was a good day for commuting...

I didn't get flipped off either.

1/27/2006

Friday January 27, 2006

Departure Time: 7:25
Arrival Time: 8:12
Weather as I call it: Sunny and breezy - 72 degrees. Ok, not really.
Paper Guy: Wearing his brown hat and scarf set.
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nah

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So, I got flipped off today. Let me see if I can explain the scene.

I came up to a red light. This particular road has 4 lanes. After the light turns green, all traffic progress to another traffic light, which is always red, about 150 feet away. The good news is that all four lanes of traffic continues to the next light. There are no lane drops. The bad news is the lane farthest to the right becomes a "straight only" lane...and I need to go left at the second light.

Well, I usually get myself into one of the three correct lanes at the first light. Today, not so much. I was in the right lane and I needed to get over. If I couldn't, I would obey the law and go straight...BUT if I saw any opportunity to get left, I would. The light turned green. One car hesitated. I didn't. I got in front of this guy and stopped at the red light right behind another car....no big deal.

Here I was, sitting at the red light and I just happened to look in my rear view mirror....and the dude behind me took this opportunity to express his thoughts about my maneuvering. His 'bird' was flipped sideways, parallel to the top of his dashboard. I guess it's like shooting guns in the movies...you always want to hold the barrel sideways because it just looks cooler.

As an added bonus, he opened his eyes wide as his bird was flipped to let me know he was downright "loco" and I made the mistake of my life getting pulling in front of him. I had a few choices...I could respond or do nothing. Since I had my sunglasses on, he probably couldn't tell I could see what he was doing. I remained motionless and watched him go back to fiddling with his radio or picking sesame seeds out of his passenger side seat's fabric. It was amazing to see how fleeting his road rage was.

After the light turned green, I progressed as I normally do and lost him immediately....so the dude wasn't even in a rush. If he had blown by me in a huff, then I would understand. I think he was mad that I caught him dosing at a red light...one of the cardinal sins of driving in Boston.

Don't you know I have a blog, punk? Don't mess with me.

Did I do something that was worthy of the bird? Please comment and let me know.

1/26/2006

Thursday January 26, 2006

Departure Time: 7:25
Arrival Time: 8:13
Weather as I call it: Unsettled weather...I think it snowed a little last night.
Paper Guy: Shades. Winter coat. Doing the backwards walk.
Shady Gas Price: $2:31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope.
Feared for my life: A little bit...

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Got my car back...after paying 800+ bucks. Let's see what my warranty will cover...not all of it I am sure...

The one thing that was scary on the way to work was the van that decided to take a right onto the esplande right around the hatch shell...

I mean, that doesn't happen every day...and it's not cool that the dude in front of you has to slam on his brakes to accomodate....made my heart rate bounce up a bit.

I fixed my table that I put in yesterday's post...now you don't have to scroll to see my reviews.

1/25/2006

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Departure Time: 7:15
Arrival Time: 8:08
Weather as I call it: Snow again...but people were driving better in it today.
Paper Guy: Holding an umbrella today!
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Not really
Feared for my life: Nope, although the brake response in the loaner car is different than mine...so I had a time figuring out when I should brake.

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I needed to bring some CDs to listen to on my drive to work today. It may be 2005-2006 on the outside...but inside the car, it's 1967-1968.

Band/ArtistAlbumGradeComments
LoveForever ChangesB+Hippie Dippy LA rock. Some of the lyrics are unforgiveable but the horn parts are nice.
Van MorrisonAstral WeeksA-I don't think any song has a chorus...and after 4 listens, I still don't understand what he's singing most of the time...but it's great background music
Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground and NicoB-I almost gave it a C+ grade...I am trying...there are a few good songs on here, but I think I have to give it more listens.
Johnny CashLive at Folsom PrisonAI am soooo on the Cash bandwagon....and I don't care. I should have bought this album 10 years ago when it was on my list...I bought Rocket to Russia instead.

1/24/2006

Tuesday January 24, 2006

Departure Time: 7:16
Arrival Time: 8:08
Weather as I call it: Sunny but colder and I was waiting to hit some black ice.
Paper Guy: Parka back on with brown hat and the return of the shades
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: I had an verbal conversation with myself (details below)
Feared for my life: No, but I was anticipating death

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HEY MBTA BUSES! Please move over when you pick up your riders. You have plenty of room. No one is parked in front of your stop. Please make way for us peeps driving loaner cars.

I have my sunglasses, my satellite radio, and my lumbar support in my car. I want my car back.

1/23/2006

Monday January 23, 2006

Departure Time: 7:19
Arrival Time: 8:24
Weather as I call it: Snow! Not too heavy but you can tell it took people by surprise.
Paper Guy: Winter coat with his hood up...snow had collected on it. No shades.
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: No, but it was frustrating today
Feared for my life: Surprisingly no

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It's weird, but people seemed to forget how to drive in snow today. For a light snow storm, people seemed to be taking it very seriously.

I need to take a picture of Paper guy. I am sure he will freak out and punch in my window...but this is the kind of risk I take for the blog.

I had to bring the car in for a tune up. I need to get it back before the end of today so I can drive to work tomorrow.

1/20/2006

Friday January 20, 2006

Departure Time: 7:19
Arrival Time: 8:07
Weather as I call it: Sunny and warm. Winter is over (I'm joking of course)
Paper Guy: Shades were on. Windbreaker
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nope

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Paper guy made a sale. I think the Herald is 50 cents, but this guy handing Paper Guy a $1.00 bill and then shake off the change. I love the 'shaking off the change' hand gesture. It's close to 'shaking off the dealer' when you play Black Jack, but not quite.

1/19/2006

Thursday January 19, 2006

Departure Time: N/A
Arrival Time: N/A
Weather as I call it: Sunny and mild...a little windy
Paper Guy: N/A
Shady Gas Price: N/A
Yelled at other drivers: Wweeeeeeeeeeellll.
Feared for my life: Nope

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The wife and I had to go to the doctor's office today in the morning...so I drove to work a lot later than I usually do.

Somehow, the guys who drive rusty vans who hunch way over their steering wheels wrapping both arms around them to make sure the airbags are pressed firmly onto their chests who take the broken lines as not lane boundaries but challenges to overcome in their quests to cover as much surface as possible are ALL on the road at 10:30 AM.

When I finally get the chance to pass them, I always take a look...and they always appear legally blind.

1/18/2006

Wednesday January 18, 2006

Departure Time: 7:29
Arrival Time: 8:15
Weather as I call it: Misty...colder but no ice
Paper Guy: Had a black wool hat on
Shady Gas Price: $2.29
Yelled at other drivers: No
Feared for my life: No

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AS I drove by the old Hancock tower, the beacon was a-steady red...must be rain.

1/17/2006

Tuesday January 17, 2006

Departure Time: 7:28
Arrival Time: 8:14
Weather as I call it: Sunny but cold
Paper Guy: Had his brown scarf on today. He made a sale while I was at the light
Shady Gas Price: $2.29 (down a bit)
Yelled at other drivers: No
Feared for my life: No

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Pretty easy drive today. I am guessing the colleges and universities are not back in session yet. I have been enjoying easy commutes, but we will have to see if it continues or not.

1/13/2006

Friday January 13, 2006

Departure Time: 7:17
Arrival Time: 8:00
Weather as I call it: Sunny and warmish...45 degrees.
Paper Guy: Looking good in his windbreaker...doing the backwards walk
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Not today

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Early Friday for me...! I think I should do some analysis and compare the duration of my drives before and after a 7:20 departure. Today 43 minutes, but I left at 7:17. Yesterday, I left at 7:24....duration = 46 minutes.

1/12/2006

Thursday January 12, 2006

Departure Time: 7:24
Arrival Time: 8:10
Weather as I call it: The January Thaw continues...Very mild.
Paper Guy: Sitting down in his chair!! He was maxing AND relaxing.
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Ish...I beeped at a truck crossing 2 lanes to exit.
Feared for my life: Two times

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Not really sure why I was so jumpy today...First off, I saw a Jeep in my rearview and I swore I was going to merge right into him...I guess objects really are closer than they appear. Anyway, the heart rate jumped up a few beats per minute.

Then, there was a bad merge on Soldier's Field Road near the Elliot Bridge. Some people can merge well...some people can't...lots of brakes slammed...lots of lives feared.

I shouldn't have had that cup of coffee this morning.

1/11/2006

Wednesday January 11, 2006

Departure Time: 7:24
Arrival Time: 8:10
Weather as I call it: Mostly cloudy...pretty mild again today
Paper Guy: Navy blue coat, Navy blue hat, and shades!
Shady Gas Price: $2.31
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Feeling nice and safe

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Few things:

Can't beat the temps this week. "They" say highs will reach 60 degrees on Friday. Who needs Aruba when you have balmy temps right here in Boston and vicinity?

My wife will not be going to work for the time being. She is on maternity leave...and I am sure she will find things to do around the house even though I keep telling her 'bed rest' is her only option...So, I need to take Miss Thang down as a contributor to this blog...I never got why she got twice as many profile views as me.

State cops have a habit of pulling over tanker trucks on my way to work. Not sure what they are doing wrong, but if all the tanker trucks could obey the law...it would make my commute a lot easier. It's hard to get around a pulled over tanker truck on a road with no emergency lane.

1/10/2006

Tuesday January 10, 2006

Departure Time: 7:32
Arrival Time: 8:21
Weather as I call it: Very Sunny and mild
Paper Guy: No show...where are you, buddy?
Shady Gas Price: $2.29
Yelled at other drivers: No
Feared for my life: No

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The sun was blinding today. I had a hard time seeing a few bicyclists right around the Museum of Science. Thankfully, other people were wearing their sunglasses today. I was sure Paper Guy would have his shades on when I passed him, but I think he was on his potty break.

1/09/2006

Monday January 9, 2006

Departure Time: 7:39
Arrival Time: 8:19
Weather as I call it: Overcast...
Paper Guy: N/A
Shady Gas Price: N/A
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nope

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I drove my wife to work today and I encountered some overly-friendly toll takers throughout the trip. Lots of "Good Mornings" and "Thank Yous" shouted at me when I was handing out my cash. Makes you feel warm inside...like somebody cares.

1/06/2006

Friday January 6, 2006

Departure Time: 7:34
Arrival Time: 8:26
Weather as I call it: I think it was about 38 degrees.
Paper Guy: Parka and scarf
Shady Gas Price: $2.25
Yelled at other drivers: Not today
Feared for my life: Feeling safe

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A nice sane Friday. Can't beat temps in the high thirties...no really. There is a big difference between minus five and thirty eight degrees.

1/05/2006

Thursday January 5, 2006

Departure Time: 7:33
Arrival Time: 8:26
Weather as I call it: Misty and dreary
Paper Guy: Standing stoically - wearing his raincoat.
Shady Gas Price: $2.25
Yelled at other drivers: Nope
Feared for my life: Nope

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You can tell people are getting back into their regular routines again. I am driving with more and more cars since Tuesday.

1/04/2006

Wednesday January 4, 2006

Departure Time: 7:31
Arrival Time: 8:20
Weather as I call it: Mostly cloudy
Paper Guy: Parka, brown hat and scarf set (nice!)...and shades.
Shady Gas Price: $2.21
Yelled at other drivers: No...but I did yell.
Feared for my life: No

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I yelled at some dude crossing the street while driving through town...Although he does have the right of way, he was walking a little slow for my tastes. Let's work together, people. I won't hit you if you don't take your time, k?

1/03/2006

Tuesday January 3, 2006

Departure Time: 7:32
Arrival Time: 8:18
Weather as I call it: Rainy and dreary...It was supposed to snow.
Paper Guy: Looking really sad with his black raincoat and a plastic bag over his newspapers. No shades today.
Shady Gas Price: $2.21
Yelled at other drivers: A few times
Feared for my life: A little bit

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I think people were still drunk this morning.

  • Two, count 'em, two people decided at the last moment that they had to exit from the left lane. When you are travelling down a three lane road in the middle lane, this sitch can be an ish. (sitch = situation...ish=issue). Twice I had to stare at peeps trying to cross two lanes to exit Soldier's Field Road. Wha' happened? Did you two forget where you were going this morning....?
  • I had to yell at somebody pulling a u-ey (is that how you spell it?) where they shouldn't have.


Anyway, a good start to the year/month/week/day....