Earthquake!

I felt a tremor the other day.  The ground moved.  The ground…moved!  I’m sure this is a more common occurrence to the residence of California, but to me, from the Great White North, it was a surreal experience.  Now, I didn’t come close to feeling an actual earthquake, but I was about 3 or 4 hrs. away from the epicenter and could feel the tremors of an aftershock.  It was an interesting experience and having the ground ‘wobble’ back and forth beneath your feet is unsettling to say the least.  I could only imagine how it could go from something so small to a real 7.2 earthquake like was felt by the people in Baja on Sunday, where this specific one took place.

I’m not going to pretend to begin to understand what it’s like to go through an actual earthquake, but it does put things in perspective when you hear about disasters such as this happening around the world.

Slower Traffic Keep Right

Driving down the highway, is something I have to do everyday to get to work.  It’s not a long distance but about 8 minutes of highway driving.  As I drive, I can see a very large sign that reads “Slower Traffic Keep Right”.  I see so many drivers not obeying this rule.  Not only is it a good rule to live by, but it actually tells you to do that on the side of the road.  I guess people don’t understand what this statement means, or I guess they just haven't learned to read.  There are valid reasons for this, including the most important one, giving emergency vehicles the ability to pass when needed.

A lot of people are driving the speed limit or faster in the left lane and some people think that is not right either, but it is not our job to slow them down by driving there.  Let the cops, deal with them.  That is not the issue.  We don’t know their circumstances and it’s their choice if they want to drive fast and deal with the consequences, as long as they also get into the right lane after passing.

I understand that “slower” is suggestive.  Who is slower?  “That guy is driving pretty fast so he can go in the left lane.”  No, there is always someone faster.  A good rule is to be sure you are always in the right lane unless you are passing someone.  There is nothing worse (well there is) than two cars going the same “slow” speed, side by side on a two lane highway.  That’s common driving courtesy and etiquette.

4 Way Stop

This morning I was at a 4 way stop.  To bad someone met me there around the same time and went right through the intersection.   So, when did people start thinking a rolling stop was the same as a legal full stop?  I guess since the dawn of automobiles.  Even though you should do a full stop every time, you think people would have the decency to make a full stop when other people are around, or even more so at the same intersection.  This is a regular occurrence here, and a rolling stop saves about zero seconds on your travel time.

Regardless, I let him know how I felt with a huge piece of my horn.  That’ll learn ‘em.

Oh yeah, another thing.  I was driving at lunch beside a stop sign, the guy was going to blow right through it and he saw me coming so he slammed on the breaks.  Good thing he saw me and not the person trying to cross in front of him.  “Shudder”.  Good thing they saw him.  They had to walk around his truck to cross the street.  Oh yeah, the driver was on his cell phone.

Should we all go back to driver training?  Should we have to get retested every five years?  It might not be a bad idea.

Turn Signals

I can only say this about Alberta because it’s the place I drive on a daily basis.  We have to be the worst drivers…ever!  It’s pretty sad when people get so ignorant, they forget something as simple as a turn signal, something that can be so important and takes next to no effort to perform.  I don’t care if there is no one (and I literally mean not one person) around on some back road, but as soon as there is one or more people driving, or walking, in the same area as you, use it, regardless of how far they are away.

The worst, is when drivers fail to use their signaling device while trying changing to get into a turning only lane, then they finally decide to signal when making a turn in which they have to choice to make anyways.  It’s unbelievable, and I see this on a daily basis.

Don’t even get me started on people going through an intersection using a turning only lane.  It happens here all the time.  So, fellow drivers, if ever visiting Alberta, Canada, drivers beware.  Welcome to redneck Alberta.