Drive at your own Risk!!

I live in a small town, very close to a smallish town that is growing into a "big" city. The problem with all the growth is it makes people decide they need to be in a hurry. Everywhere people go, they have to get there fast or first! From my observations, the need to be there, wherever that is, means that manners are thrown out the window like yesterday's trash.

I don't know about you but I am tired of other people's garbage. And by garbage, I mean their ill manners. Here are some things I witnessed the other morning while out doing errands.

• Inpatient act #1- I was sitting at a major intersection at a red light in the left turn lane. What you need to know is that this is a dangerous intersection and the site of many accidents. With that in mind, when the green turn arrow displayed, I hesitated long enough to make sure traffic stopped in the lanes I was crossing. The man in the car behind me, beeped his horn. How rude! I started forward as soon as the cars in the six lanes of traffic came to a complete stop and I knew that no one was going to run the red lights. Now to continue the inpatient act, the man tailgated me in the lane I was in. There were two other lanes, going in the same direction we were going that he could have traveled in. So I did the only thing I could, I slowed down to just under the speed limit. HA HA!
• Inpatient act #2 - This is really scary because an elderly couple were sitting in their tuna boat aka Cadillac at a light to turn left. Instead of waiting for the light, the old man driver turned right in front of me and I had to slow down to keep from hitting him. The good thing is I was going below the speed limit as I had just turned on the road so I was able to keep from hitting him. Anyone else would have hit him. 
• Inpatient act #3 - When I was pulling into a parking lot, an old man sped up and turned in front of me to grab what he thought was the only vacant parking space. He won - NOT! I drove around to the door side of the business I was going to and found a prime piece of parking lot realty right next to the door and in the shade. Score! The old man had to walk, his vehicle was sticking out in a place where it was likely to get hit and I beat him inside and scored a better seat. 

The rest of the trip home was scary because people were bouncing from lane to lane, pushing and shoving to get to the head of the pack. Where were they all going in such a rush? If it was work I feel sorry for them because they were starting their day off on the bad side. If it was somewhere to relax, I think they were missing the point of their outing. And worse, if they had no where to go and where just driving like that because that is all they know. 

Sometimes cruising in the right hand lane while traveling at the speed limit you get to see amazing sights. In this area, deer, bear, and wild hogs are often on the side of the road. I have been able to see them at a closer view than I would at a zoo. I have seen some of the most amazing sunsets, sunrises, and rainbows just because I have taken the time to enjoy the sights around me. 

The best part is that I am often holding hands with the one I love and listening to some great music. A relaxing ride, amazing sights, and great company.

Slow down, save a life, and enjoy God's wonders around you.  

Technology

I was waiting impatiently behind an older gentleman attempting to purchase gas the other day when it occurred to me that he was stymied by the technology at the pump. My impatience turned to sympathy as I realized that he had probably lived through technology changes at the pump in his life. I am not sure what year gas pumps were invented, but maybe he saw the first ones. Now here he was, inserting plastic money, reading a digital reader, and trying to select the right type of gas.

A few minutes later, I was behind him again as he was attempting to program the car wash. After many attempts, he got it right and then pulled too fast into the automatic car wash. Rick made a comment about the man not wanting to get the underside washed because he zipped right past it. A few seconds later, I heard a car horn. Then another few seconds, the horn sounded again and again. Then the horn just kept sounding. A person that was right behind the old man got out of her car and went for help. The old man had somehow managed to get his vehicle stuck inside the car wash. After several failed attempts to get him to back up, the clerk had the old man pull through and start the car wash all over. The electronic parts of the car wash had defeated the old man. I am just glad that he didn't get hurt or hurt anyone else.

Technology can be great and then it can be frustrating. I used to laugh at my mother because she could never figure out how to program a VCR (Video Cassette Recorder). Now we have DVR (Digital Video Recorder) but I can still program it. The one piece of technology that sometimes frustrates me is the cellular phone. When I got my Blackberry a year ago, it took me a long time to figure out how to work the speakerphone. Then the ringer profiles had me pulling my hair out until I read the "Dummy Guide".  I don't even bother learning anything with my work cell phone, it rings, I answer it. Simple!

I can't be blamed though because when I was growing up, we had phones that were attached to the wall or sat on a counter in your house. If you were not at home and had to use the phone, you looked for a pay phone. There wasn't a whole lot of programming to do, in fact there wasn't any with the old dial phones. Dialing a 9 was the best because to dial a 9, you had to swing the dial all the way around and then you would hear the little tones while the dial rotated back around, 9 tones for the number 9! How cool was that?

Phones are not the only changes, music came on records! An album was played on a record player at 33 rpm and a single song was played on a 45, a smaller record played at 45 rpm. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, music moved to tape technology, first in the 8 track version, and then a cassette. Neither one of these mediums would last very long and often the tapes would break. Thankfully, music moved to CD which is a great improvement. Records were scratchy and tapes were frail, but CD technology really allows you to hear the music and words clearly. However, CD technology may be on the decline as many people just download individual songs to their phones, computers, or ipods.

I don't think my grandchildren will ever know what a record is. By the time they are old enough to listen to music of their choice, digital technology will probably be something a lot different than what it is today. Either way, I look forward to them laughing at me for not understanding their technology.

Halloween Memory

I was inspired to look for pictures of Halloween tonight by a blog post from my daughter Rebecca. She is a new mom and took her daughter Maxine to the local Pumpkin Patch for her first Halloween. By sharing her thoughts, it made me remember the trips to get pumpkins with Rebecca and her brother and sister.

The picture above is a result of a trip with my dad and his grandchildren in the fall of 1991 according to the date on the photo. In the photos taken that day, there are many different expressions on their faces while they cleaned the pumpkins out, drew on the faces, and then "helped" Grandpa carve them. The one expression that is displayed in every photo is joy.

You can see the joy of self-expression in their own unique pumpkin face. The joy of spending time with each other and the extra special attention of a loving grandfather. The joy of finding the icky, stringy inside of the pumpkin, and knowing that homemade pumpkin seeds are in the future.

What you can't see is the mother of the children, who is also the daughter of the grandfather. You can't see the love she has for the four of them but rest assured it was and still is there. A happy memory of a time when my children were small and Halloween memories were made by sticking your hand inside the pumpkin.

One day in my life where joy and love spills out of my heart and was captured in a simple photo.