Heh... so I wasn't crazy...

Thursday night, as I waited for the hotel shuttle to pick me up from the Richmond Arms pub, I watched as an SUV in a neighboring parking lot attempted to pull out onto busy Richmond Avenue. Eventually they did, but they caused a city bus to brake abruptly and flash high beams at them in protest. I said to myself, OK, now I have to blog about it. This incident reinforced my impression of Texans and Driveways. Until the city bus driver validated my own observations, I though maybe I was just overly sensitive.

I should say, before I go any farther, that every region of the country has its own failings when it comes to motorists. In Southern Callifornia? I'm not sure – I'm probably too close to the situation to have an objective view. Maybe, excessive cell phone use? A hostile unwillingness to let people into the lane which you currently occupy? A tendency to move into a jammed intersection when you know there isn't enough room to clear it before the light changes?

But in Texas, the regional failing is pulling out of driveways.

I've never been inside the head of these Texans, but let me just put this scenario out there as my impression of what's going on.

ME: [tooling down the street, having the right of way]: rrrrrmmmmm

    THEM: [waiting to pull out into said street] "Hmm, there's traffic. Is it safe to pull out?"

ME: [getting closer to the driveway]:  rrrrrrmmmmmm

    THEM:: "I dunno. Maybe I shouldn't? Lemme think about it some more."

ME:: [gertting very close now] rrrrrrrmmmmmm

    THEM:: "I guess it's OK." [Pulls out]

ME:: [emergency braking] WTF??!!!

They don't seem to realize, or care, that if safety was in question at first, waiting a little longer makes the situation worse, not better.

Random Birds

Since my good camera was run over and destroyed a week ago, I've had to rely on just the so-so wide-angle camera on my Galaxy Avant cell phone. And wide-angle lenses are not recommended for birding photos. Still, some of you might be able to pick out the bird that I passed on my walk from the office to the hotel on Thursday. Seldom seen in California, that's for sure.

Camaraderie

This full week of work has come to a close. Telecommuting has its advantages, and I think the company ultimately gets more work hours out of me that way, but there are some important benefits that can only be gained through face-to-face interactions. It was a good week. I'll be back in Houston more often in the future.

The Next Big Jump

After five days of being parked, the Ninja was deployed today as I took it to the office so that I could run an errand. I began this trip with three pairs of reading glasses and I was down to one today, so I bought three more at Costco.

It was hard to start the little Ninja this morning! I'm accustomed to it being balky after being parked for a few weeks, but not for just five days. It ran fine the rest of the day, though. Guess I better run it every day.

Tomorrow morning I jump again, following a complicated route out of Houston to avoid getting on a freeway. I'd like to stay close to the Gulf Coast as I go east, but the weather forecast for that area looks stormy. I may go mostly north at first. I'll make the final call in the morning. My destination is Alabama, and possibly an acquaintance in Georgia if time permits.