Some people are simply not nice!!

I’m sick today, so I went to CVS to get some medicine, cough drops, and mindless reading material. I’m sick and it’s raining, so I drove. As I was leaving, I was trying to exit the parking lot until some girl in a Jeep made a VERY wide turn into the parking lot, so I had to pull to the side to make room to let her in.

……and then she gave me the FINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT did I do to warrant the FINGER?????

I was so angry and it ruined my already so-so day. So, I drove home and some truck was parked in front of my house blocking my driveway just enough so that I couldn’t pull in!!!!

RAWR!!!!!!!!!! :-(

I’m on top of the world, looking down on creation…

I have terrible parking karma. I can never find a good parking spot, especially in Cambridge. Usually I end up circling over and over, breaking out into sweats, and mildly hyperventilating. And, on top of that, I can barely parallel park. Needless to say, I’m a fan of public transportation, but living in Newton, taking public transportation to Cambridge is just a pain in the butt.

Today, I found a parking spot just blocks away from Harvard Square. And it was at the end of a block, so I didn’t even really need to parallel park.

While this was happening, the song “I’m on top of the world, looking down on creation…” came on the radio.

And as I found this impressively wonderful parking spot, I really DID feel like I was on top of the world. I should have taken a picture of it. It was a thing of beauty.

Lovely night, too! Walked around and ate at Wagamama!

Car-free

I haven’t been driving for the past few days. To make a long story short, I was late paying a car insurance bill (for a whopping $37!), and they canceled my insurance without telling or warning me. I didn’t know until I got a letter from the RMV. When I tried to reinstate my insurance, they told me I would have to start from scratch and pay the entire amount in full. Well, I don’t have the entire amount, so next week, I will be car insurance shopping!

Driving without insurance is a highly punishable offense in Massachusetts. ($500-$5000 fines or a year in jail. Ouch.) And I don’t even want to think of what a nightmare it would be if I got into an accident. So, in the meantime, I have been sans car.

In our neighborhood, it’s easy to have a car, but it’s also pretty easy to function without one. I am less than a five minute walk from the commuter rail and a few bus lines, and a 20 minute walk to the green line (which I do generally try to avoid and it’s worse now that they’re shuttling). I can also walk to the Auburndale Star Market, Trader Joe’s, CVS, liquor stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, etc.

I am actually really enjoying being without my car! And here is why:

1) Walking = exercise. Yay!
2) Saving money on gas. I am also 100 miles away from needing an oil change, which I can now slightly procrastinate.
3) Walking and taking public transportation is more environmentally sound.
4) I always remember to take my canvas tote bags when grocery shopping, which is also environmentally sound.
5) Because I am conscious of the fact that I have to carry my groceries home, I buy only what I need, instead of loading up on impulse buys that I never eat, and wind up taking up space in the cabinets for a year. This also saves money.

I should have this insurance stuff figured out within a week or two…but, I am hoping that my car-free experience will be a reminder of how nice it is to walk to run errands on a regular basis!

HEY! Move ya #$%*ing cah!!!

After work today, I had to drop someone off on Moody Street. I pulled to the side, and put my blinkers on. For some reason, someone pulled behind me. I’m not sure why, since it wasn’t a driving lane, it was just the side of the road. Anyway, afterwards, I was about to pull into the street, and the guy who pulled behind me shouted: “HEY! Move ya #$%*ing cah!”

WTF?! I was not obstructing traffic; I don’t know WHY he was behind me…but even so, was that neccessary? I mean, if I was really impeding his progress, wouldn’t a simple light tap of the horn suffice?

What must be going on in that man’s life to make him react with such anger? It must be dreadful!

Road rage is a funny thing. I think there’s a sense of anonymity while driving, and it’s probably the same reason why people are jerks online but oftentimes cowards in real life.

There are a few types of road rage:

1. The “Hey, the light’s been green for a fraction of a second! Better honk!” type. Sometimes a honk really IS necessary, but these imbeciles can’t waste a second of their precious time before the previous person proceeds through the intersection.

2. The tailgater kind. Ya really think driving 6 inches behind me is going to make me go the 65 MPH you want in a 35 MPH zone? Nope.

3. The swerving kind. “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” You’re not going to get to your destination ANY faster if you get pulled over or wind up in an accident.

4. The vocal kind. Is cursing at a stranger because they’re not abiding to your schedule really necessary? How emotionally unstable you must be to let something like that get to you.

One of the scariest encounters I’ve had with road rage is #4. It was when I lived in Alameda, California…I was preparing to cross the street and a woman in an SUV stopped to let me go. I didn’t start walking into the intersection because the people driving in the other lanes didn’t stop to let me go. The woman started SCREAMING at me from her car.

“Pedestrians have the right of way! You’re supposed to go! I stopped to let you go. You better start walking across the street NOW!” and she kept going on and on and on. I felt particularly vulnerable because I WASN’T in my car and I had this woman in an SUV just shouting at me while I was standing defenseless on a street corner. And I wasn’t even doing anything wrong! I was just dumbfounded and didn’t know how to react. So I just ignored her.

I always ignore people with road rage. Sometimes the temptation is there to antagonize them further but I can’t bring myself to do it. They’re probably total psychos to be acting this way on the road and honestly, I worry that if someone makes a road rage-filled person even more angry they could get violent. A car could be a real weapon if someone wants it to be.

Road Rage

Hey, lady in the fancy schmancy sports car and your too-cool-for-school sunglasses! Did tailgating me all around Waltham get you to your destination any faster? I didn’t think so!

Good mood morning!

People must be in a good mood today. I spaced out at a red light this morning, and when it turned green I sat there for what must have been a good 20 seconds before I realized it had turned green. There were about ten cars behind me and NOT ONE of them honked! Unbelievable! I never thought I’d see the day!

Public Service Announcement

Hello and here is a little PSA from yours truly.

After parallel parking and exiting via a door on the driver’s side, always make sure that no cars are coming before you open the door!!!!

To the guy who almost crashed into me yesterday:

Congrats on the brand new shiny, silver Mercedes. We’re all very proud of you. But your fancy car won’t do you ANY good if you cease to obey basic traffic laws! It does not give you a star of invincibility and if you run a red light, you CAN hit another car.

For those of you who don’t understand, the Mister Rogers website offers a simple game and a clickable traffic light in order to teach what red, yellow, and green lights mean. Enjoy.

Double Yellow Lines

Hey! Know what this is?

It’s a double yellow line. That means that you can’t flip a U-turn in the middle of the street. If there is a lot of traffic both behind you and uncoming, that ESPECIALLY means: do not flip a U-turn in the middle of the street. It’s rude, inconsiderate, and dangerous. I don’t care if you’ve passed your destination — just turn around elsewhere!

Someone did this on Pleasant St. in Arlington during rush hour congestion. Fools! Fools, I say.

Fudge cookies and b&w cookies — yummy in my tummy!

Mike’s Pastry in the North End definitely lives up to the hype. Their black and white cookies are good…but what really won me over was the fudge cookie. It was big, fudgy, chocolatey, and chewy, sprinkled with little chocolate chips. I thought it was fantastic. From now on, each time in that neck of the woods, I’m going to go to Mike’s and come home with a few cookies. De-lish!

Another favorite bakery: Antoine’s in Nonantum! :-)