Act now while supplies last!

Howdy!

With being laid up for a couple of weeks I feel like I completely missed summer.  I got drenched walking to the cafeteria yesterday!  I know the rain is what makes everything here green but can’t we arrange to have the watering done at night or something?

In my last post I mentioned the work at the Nalley Valley Viaduct and commented that it seemed to be going well.  Have a look at the project site, it’s pretty impressive.  There is one side effect of the work that we see every day though that gets my ire going enough to make my right eye bulge so hard that I hold my hand below my face just in case I need to catch it.

Going southbound on I-5 onto the exit to SR-16 has become a stewing mess that exposes every selfish (and dangerous) behavior we see during our commute.  Currently cars entering from I-705 and exiting to SR-16 are forced to compete for the same lane which in and of itself is dangerous.  When you add to that inattentive self-important road ragers, you are in for a brawl.  There are all kinds of little behaviors that make me shake my head here, but the worst pain is caused by our friend Zoomer.

As you approach this area it’s pretty clear what’s going on.  There’s a big line of cars waiting to exit.  95% of us know what that means.  If we wish to exit, we need to get in the back of that line.  On most days there is plenty of room and warning for everyone to easily take there place.  Of course there are some folks that are new to the situation who don’t realize that they were suppose to get in that line.  Let me start by saying “Hello, we sure feel bad for the confusion this situation has caused.  However, what this means is that you have missed your exit.  Please continue on to the next exit and turn around safely.  You can still get where you are going you’ll simply be a few minutes late.  This is the cost of driving in an area you are unfamiliar with and we appreciate you planning ahead for that eventuality.  In any case, please don’t panic and cause an accident.  Thank You — Your fellow motorist”.

Then there’s Zoomer.  Zoomer is hip and happening.  To Zoomer, folks who wait in line are “simps” and “rubes”.  Zoomer would say “opportunity doesn’t just happen, it’s taken!”.  Unfortunately he/she is always taking that opportunity at someone elses expense.  So every day we watch Zoomer and his friends fly up along the line of cars and jam in at the very last second.  This causes two very dangerous conditions. 

First in the lane left of the exit lane (the lane Tammy and I are in because we avoid the mess and go to the next exit and turn around) Zoomer goes from 65 to 5 MPH as he slams his (SUV, Acura, BMW, Audi, etc) into the exit lane.  This causes a chain reaction of folks to come to a sudden stop in that lane and all the rippling side effects that contribute to an already congested traffic area. 

Second, Zoomer has now consumed space that was previously left as safe following distance for some other motorist who has waited there turn in line.  He or she is then forced to slow down which at the very least causes the whole exit lane to reduce pace and at the most causes a rear end collision.

Here’s a little video to illustrate the behavior.

The wrecked cones at the end show just how many folks have pulled this and how persistent they can be.  They’ve repaired the cones a couple of times but I think they have finally given up.

The sad part is that if everyone would simply wait there turn the delay would be tolerable.  It becomes the mess that it is every day purely because Zoomer feels his itinerary is more important than the rest of our property, sanity, and safety.  I guess the crux is this, the police have said it isn’t illegal.  Well, the folks who wreck the cones of course are different, but the Zoomers in my video aren’t technically violating a law. 

The whole thing makes my mourn for our society.  Without the threat of punishment there is no motivation for us to care for one another?  If the individual is the highest moral authority the rally cry is “Get all you can and take it from your neighbor if you won’t get caught!”.  How sad.

Don’t drive angry!  Drive weird!