Category: Rant

Rant: Idiot Drivers

And no, I don’t mean just Iowa.  I mean idiot drivers everywhere.  I mean the morons who refuse to turn their headlights on in inclement weather.  Rain, snow, fog, and so on.  And what are the most common lame excuses?  They are…

1) “Having my headlights on don’t allow me to see any better.”

Yes, I have actually had people say this to me.  Hey, idiot, headlights on in bad weather is not for you to see better, it’s for other people to better see you.  Duh!!!

I come from the central valley in California, with some of the worst Tule Fog imaginable.  Fog so dense you often feel the only thing guiding you is the lines on the road.  “Driving by braille” we often called it (many California roadways have raised line markers), and the ONLY thing that clued you in to an oncoming car was their headlights.  You for a 2 second warning.  Cars with no headlights on you wouldn’t be aware of until they were right on top of you.

Most places, such as Iowa, don’t have fog nearly that bad, which actually makes your headlights more important because you can get a decent sense of who else is on the road.

2) “My headlights are automatic and activated by a sensor.”

😐

Seriously?  That’s your excuse?  Don’t be irresponsible.  Are you in charge of your car, or is your car in charge of you?  Think.  Be aware of your responsibilities as a safe driver and take  control.  Be pro-active.  Override your automatic system and manually turn on your headlights, if necessary.  To blame it on your automatic sensor is pure laziness and abdication of responsibility.

Bottom line:  Don’t be an idiot driver.  This has been your driving PSA for today.

By Driving, RantOne Comment

Rant: The “Dumb Run”

A few weeks ago I pontificated about running and jogging and the questionable mental capacity of the people who do this stuff BY CHOICE! That was a fun piece to write, and I enjoyed putting it together and especially choosing the photos, and there was some tongue-in-cheekiness to it. Some. Today, however, comes a rant involving not running per se but runners. Dumb runners.

Scenario: 6:15 am. It’s dark out, sunrise is still about a half hour away, though you can see some light juuuuuust starting to come over the horizon. Driving down a semi-rural road, no sidewalks, no street lights, lots of houses, but spaced apart and in a heavily wooded area. Aaaaaand, the runner.

Dressed in pretty much all black. Black shoes, black sweat pants, black hoodie pulled over his face because it’s also cold out. Running across the street. I could barely see the silhouette of the guy, literally. I dub thee “the dumb run”.

There’s another guy who runs this same route and time, but at least that guy wears a bright yellow safety vest with lots of reflective markings. Personally, I still think that’s kind of dumb as well, but not nearly as much as this other guy who seems to be impersonating a Sasquatch that doesn’t want to be seen.

See this image I included? That’s what this guy looks like to drivers. Clearly discernible… not! I think I’m pretty sure I speak for other drivers when I say that I don’t want to be part of his Darwin Award epitaph.

By Disbelief, Driving, Mornings, RantOne Comment

Rant: Is there a market for pre-stained shirts?

I give up.

I dress reasonably nice. I prefer clean clothes. I dress somewhat conservatively. I have very vanilla tastes in clothing, so I prefer solid single-color shirts, muted colors, most of the time. I got that part down.

Then… I eat. Invariably, I spill something on my shirt. Seldom fails to happen. Bet your mortgage on it. Doesn’t seem to matter if I’m eating a burger, or if I’m eating a meal that requires a knife and fork. Chicken wings?  Forget it!  A whole wing is being dropped at some point.  If I’m sitting at a table, it doesn’t matter how close I lean over the table, or how small my bites are, or how conscientious I am, it still happens. And the fact that I wear plain solid-color shirts just makes it all the more obvious to the world.

It’s common for me to come home, strip my shirt off, and immediately apply stain-remover for the next load of laundry. Hell, what don’t they make laundry detergent out of stain remover? That would be awesome, but I digress.

Anyway, here’s the kicker, it’s almost always either the first bite or the last bite. Seldom in between. Makes me think I have invoked the wrath of the fashion gods, or something. Seriously, why do I even try?

So, since eating like a normal cultured person seems to be beyond my abilities, I’m thinking these are my most realistic options…

1. Wear loud shirts that will hide the stains.

I already annoy people with my irreverent sense of humor, I don’t need to look like a schlep, too. I mean, if you’re 50 years old, and you routinely wear loud animated NASCAR shirts in public, you’re still trying to be 12. The stains will be hidden, I suppose, but no.

2. Wear a bib 24/7.

Might seem like a realistic option, but how big does the bib need to be? Seems that when I put a napkin on my chest at home, the aforementioned fashions gods direct the offending food matter to an area juuuuuust outside the bib/napkin. Maybe a poncho?  Kudos for trying, but no participation trophy.

3. Wear pre-stained shirts and stop worrying about it.

Just accept reality and move on. I often see people buy a new car then obsess over it and get so upset when it gets its first door ding. OMG, you’d think the rapture had just occurred and they weren’t included. C’mon, people, it was inevitable. And the second door ding is met with a shrug because they’re over it by then. This is why I believe that ALL vehicles should leave the assembly line with a “pre-ding” somewhere on the side. (Hell, I’d like to apply for that job, just give me a hammer!) You buy a car, it already has a ding, your life has just been eased of an unnecessary first-world stress. Problem solved.

In that same spirit, I think it’d be best that I purchase pre-stained shirts. I would no longer have to worry. It is what it is. Any new stain I contribute simply won’t matter in the same way the second door ding on a car doesn’t matter. Problem solved. I wonder if there’d be a market for that? Similar to pre-ripped jeans that sell for more than new unripped jeans. (I will never understand fashion.)

Given those three options, I know what you’re thinking, “But Ken, just be more careful.” <insert blank stare here> Oh, do shut up. As if that never occurred to me. Retraining the world to view stains as a positive thing would be more practical.

Note:  Beginning a third special category, The Rant.

By Daily Life, Rant3 Comments