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20551. Magoseph - 11/14/2006 5:53:36 PM So weird that I was discussing driving carefully this morning in view of what almost happened since my last post. Just before I reached the store where I get the morning paper and bagel, this small car made a left turn in front of me, forcing me to slam on the breaks. I was so outraged that I followed that car all over town, wanting to tell off the driver. Only when finally the driver trying to escape me going left and right and around on her tail and then on the highway, did I stop following it. I’ll find the jerk lady eventually now that I have memorized her license plate number and in case I forget it, have it right on the dashboard. I’m still seething with rage. Too bad that there were no police around saw her--turning left from a side road into traffic gets a stiff fine around here. 20552. thoughtful - 11/14/2006 6:06:07 PM Road rage...not good magos, especially since you could've easily gotten into an accident yourself being intent on following the person rather than focusing on driving safely.
I've seen it happen and I've had it happen to myself where you simply don't see something...i mean your eyes see the image, but it fails to register in the brain...remember that video clip of the people milling around and how many people never see the gorilla that shows up in the group?
People do stupid things...sh*t happens and close calls are actually good things if they remind us to be more careful next time. 20553. wonkers2 - 11/14/2006 6:19:07 PM Mago, I also suffer from road rage when I think other drivers intentionally drive dangerously or inconsiderately. I agree with thoughtful that getting angry with other drivers is not a good idea. But I find it hard not to. And I have been involved in a few situations that could have become serious if the other driver had been packing a gun. I tell myself everytime it happens that it is counter-productive and could turn out very badly. 20554. Magoseph - 11/14/2006 6:23:58 PM You’re right, thoughtful, I was certainly wrong not to evaluate my reaction to the incident. I called Judith in order to calm down and I feel better now after talking to her and reading your post. Thanks. 20555. thoughtful - 11/14/2006 7:29:25 PM I remember the story of the parents of a young gal who was getting her license for the first time. They gave her a small fuzzy creature with stick-on feet to put on the dashboard of her car. Creature was named ICKY...Impatience Can Kill You. 20556. Magoseph - 11/14/2006 9:14:34 PM Harley
20557. judithathome - 11/14/2006 10:02:49 PM Thanks for posting the pitures, Magos! That angelic little puffball is in trouble with me right now...I went out on the patio to clean the furniture out there and thought, oh how cute she looks in the window, grabbing for the hanging crystals. Then, outdoor job done, I came into the garden room to smell that she had done an indoor job...she pooped in my ficus tree tub! I cleaned it out and filled the topsoil with black pepper.
Right this minute she is on the desk, chasing the letters to this post as they come up on the screen. She loves curling up on the modem because it is warm.
I agree with Thoughtful and Wonkers...getting unbent over a traffic "may have been" is non-productive. It stresses you out and here in Texas, you never know when some nutcase has a gun and will shoot you.
An angry driver shot and killed a father of three in a traffic incident, no wreck, just thought the father had cut him off in traffic. At the next light, the idiot got out of his car and walked up to the father and shot him dead while his three small sons watched from the backseat. 20558. thoughtful - 11/14/2006 10:20:28 PM Ah yes...I had a 'tree' I made in my living room...a pruned branch about 6' tall to which I added leaves and blossoms and put a lovely uplight on it...looked wonderful and cast terrific shadows up on the ceiling. But bottom of the pot had pine bark mulch which the cat decided was a great kitty box. Out the tree went.
Kept the cat though. 20559. wabbit - 11/15/2006 12:21:12 AM I'm afraid I instigate road rage. If I'm driving faster than I should and some maroon decides to try to draft and gets ten feet behind me, I slow down, a lot. By the time they pass me, I can usually see the veins in their neck. I smile and wave as if I had no idea I was inconveniencing them. If they were in that big a hurry, they should have left sooner.
The only time I've ever chased anyone was years ago when I was trying to retrieve a squirrel that had been hit and was in the road. Some asswipe driving a big pickup went around my car and ran right over him, even though I was standing right there and obviously trying to get to the poor beast and he could have easily avoided hitting it. I chase that pos into a development before it occurred to me that a confrontation with three jerks, all of whom were bigger than me, was probably not a wise course of action.
JaH, a small squirt gun might be a good investment. Of course, you have to catch her in the act, but it's better than hollering. She'll learn to associate her behavior with getting wet. The old Pavlov's dog routine works. Screening stopped my sil's cats from fertilizing the houseplants. 20560. wonkers2 - 11/15/2006 12:27:37 AM We tried home made and store bought scratching posts, cardboard scratching boxes, etc. Some helped but none stopped our cats from shredding the furninture. The only effective measure was a varnished plywood barrier about 4 ft. high which we've kept across the door to the living room since we a couch and several chairs re-upholstered. 20561. judithathome - 11/15/2006 12:39:55 AM Wabbit, I already have the squirt bottle and it has worked wonderfully when she tries to jump on the tables where we're eating.
I think this was a one off thing...if I have to, I will get some cayenne pepper for the topsoil.
All in all, she's been very good...she's very delicate and dainty. No big problems at all. 20562. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/15/2006 1:05:38 AM 
Shit, even if you're Mike Tyson, road rage doesn't pay–didn't heve to settle out of court for almost $300,000?
20563. OhioSTOPAS - 11/15/2006 1:34:37 AM Another proud papa moment: Recently I linked to an internet picture of my son hoisting a beer in Boston. Now my 23-year-old daughter's picture graces the Net: Go here and scroll down to the 18th picture. She's the one in the middle. You'll know she's mine by her surname, if not for her obviously-inherited-from-me (okay, I wish) good looks.
(Jayson Raitt, who is in the picture, is a colleague of my daughter at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre in New York and has produced some small musicals. I wondered if he's related to John and Bonnie Raitt, but he isn't.)
My daughter, like my son, is making her Internet debut holding a drink. At least my good-looking kids inherited SOMETHING from their father! 20564. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/15/2006 1:39:25 AM Indeed lovely, Ohio. Congrats on such good production values! 20565. wonkers2 - 11/15/2006 1:50:03 AM I believe did. The guy Tyson assaulted was an attorney acquaintance of mine at the NLRB. 20566. judithathome - 11/15/2006 1:56:42 AM Cute purse, also...adorable young lady, Ohio! 20567. arkymalarky - 11/15/2006 3:54:14 AM Too cool, Ohio!
And very adorable kitty, Judith! 20568. arkymalarky - 11/15/2006 4:00:59 AM I slow down when people tailgate me and tailgate people when they drive slow. I don't have much opportunity for roadrage here, but town driving can really be a pain. The only time I've ever cussed in front of students has been on trips where I was driving and did something stupid.
For some reason the driving talk reminded me of a funny story involving Bro. We used to have a drive-in bank that had a drive which merged into the drive-in lanes. People would occasionally try to use it to cut in front of people who'd already been waiting in line quite some time. I had it happen to me once, which was the most infuriating thing I remember about my young years of driving.
But Bro and Dad went to the bank one time (Dad was driving) and a woman tried to do that to them. Dad told about it later, how he just calmly kept close to the car in front and never gave her an opening while Bro fumed and ranted in the passenger seat. Dad described how furious the woman got with his calm refusal to let her cut in front of him, and how he could read her lips and all the cussing she was doing. He was very proud of himself.
What he didn't know that Bro told me later was that Bro was flipping her the bird as Dad was keeping her from cutting in line. Dad thought his calm persistence was her only provocation. 20569. jexster - 11/15/2006 4:41:36 AM Is Harley Balinese????
LOoks it. Looks like a little Sonny (18 years last month - now grouchy old man!)
20570. wonkers2 - 11/15/2006 6:20:01 AM Tailgating is always a mistake.
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