The newest Illuminata is up as of yesterday evening. It's Volume 6, Issue 3, November 2007, and contains a combination, expansion, and revision of the posts I made here about "resonance."
Yesterday, Lana and I visited Fontainebleau State Park, which is about a twenty minute drive from our place. At one time it was a huge sugar plantation on Lake Pontchartrain, but the house is long gone even though you can still see where the front carriage way was because it's marked by stands of great live oaks. It was very warm and muggy and there were mosquitoes, but we still had a good time and Lana got a lot more pictures, including pics of a couple of hawks and an armadillo that seemed to pose for us. Any of you that have a chance, I urge you to get out in the woods. Take some hiking trails, watch the birds, look at the beautiful plants that grow all around you. It's such a calming influence.
And now for the rant, which involves the total destruction of the calming influence that nature exerted over me yesterday. This is for all the morons on cell phones taking the Causeway bridge into New Orleans this morning (11-19-07) between 7:35 and 8:15. If you can't *&*#$% drive and talk at the same time then give one of them the *%^$#@ up! It is not OK to go around someone in the passing lane, then shift back into the right lane and slow down below the speed limit so you can listen to the ignoramous who either called you or answered your call. It's also not OK to drive twenty miles below the speed limit in the right lane just so you can carry on your conversation.
And I'll say this, I have generally found that women talk more on cell phones on the road than men, but this morning all of the idiots but one that I'm referring to in this rant were men. To you I say, grow a set, will you? If you need some testosterone treatments so that you can drive the speed limit then see a *&%^%# doctor.
All right. I'm done.
28 comments:
This post certainly resonates effectively.
We are near a National Pinetum which has ten thousand pine trees and a couple of placid lakes.
When I walk in places like that the frazzle oozes through my feet into the earth.
For some reason people never seem to have cell phones there....
PS
I've just come across Amazon's new Kindle..wireless handheld book sim...
Sympathies on the cell phone idiots. :/ And personally, I don't think anyone can drive safely while on the phone. Just because they've never had a problem with it doesn't mean they never will. That one time when the absolutely need 100% of their attention and concentration on their driving when some idiot cuts in front of them or some kid dashes out from between two parked cars or a plastic bag comes fluttering up and plasters itself onto their windshield, could happen just when the person on the phone says that their daughter is pregnant or their dog has died or they just won a million dollars. And there you go -- even the best, most skillful driver could end up in an accident right then, because they needed all their concentration right at the moment they heard something startling or shocking over the phone.
And that completely ignores the fact that the vast majority of drivers significantly over-estimate their own driving skill, so most of the people who smugly assume that they are good enough to talk on the phone and drive at the same time are probably wrong anyway, even in non-coincidental situations.
Oh, and just to make it better, when I was in the shuttle on the way to the airport the other day, the radio station the driver had on went to a traffic report. At the end of it was a nice little ad for a service the station has -- you can sign up to have traffic reports sent directly to your cell phone. [headdesk] Who the heck thought of that?? Just what we need -- one more reason for drivers to be fumbling with their phones while on the road. [headdesk]
Angie
I hate 'em too Charles. AND, whenever I'm in traffic I now automatically scan for people who are on the phone because the likelihood they'll do something stupid is increased ten-fold, at least. I used to be guilty of using cellphone, blackberry, whatever when driving, but about two years or so ago, I quit multi-tasking in the car completely. You hear stories all the time, but for some reason I heard one about a woman who spilled coffee on herself, got in a wreck and killed her husband and seriously injured her son in the process. For some reason it was a wake-up call and now when I drive, I give it my complete attention.
Yeah, I hate cell phone drivers, too. I especially love the spacially-challenged who shouldn't be driving SUVs yet try to talk on the phone and park at the same time. Ten years ago, Adelaide, South Australia, passed a law banning hand-held phones in cars. You still had drivers distracted by their conversations, but it was huge improvement.
Then again, I knew a woman who had a wreck because she was putting on fingernail polish while she was driving. The other guy got the ticket.
....Just found Witch of Talera on Waterstones site...looks cool.
Thankfully, we've been spared the cell phone rudeness here in NZ.
Nothing virtuous about the folk: We only only have two providers, both greedy enough to run their closed shop at the world's highest rates. We've been mad-keen txt-ers since the 90's!
Of course, texting and driving still makes for knuckleheads, but being in public places is nowhere near as jarring...
I will venture that they aren't cell phones, but I-phones or Blackberries. They're probably slowing down so they can type an email, etc. I'd stay safely away.
And while women rule the world of driving + chatting, the men are taking this a step further. (in my own unscientific opinion!)
I'm glad you had a nice hike. You are right about the calming influence. Thanks for the reminder!
Cell phones: new cause of road rage.
It's been scientifically proven that talking on a cell while driving is 4x more dangerous than drinking & driving, yet very few states have enacted any laws regulating it. What scares me even more than that, however, are people who TEXT & DRIVE! You've GOT to be kidding me!
I take great pride in being (perhaps) the only woman in Amerika without a cell phone. Unfortunately that implies that any accident I may have will be at the some OTHER idiot's hands...
Did you by chance tell these talkers to take a hike as you passed them.
Julie, Pinetum sounds nice. Pine forests are so quiet, although I like the wildlife that is more common in hardwood forests. Glad you found "Witch of Talera." Thanks for keeping an eye out.
Angie, I think you're right. I have used my cell phone in the car but only for momentary conversations in which I'm checking in with someone to make sure they are available or where they said they would be. Definetely something to minimize.
Lisa, I do as well, automatically watch for them that is, but I tend to be less likely to let them in if they're trying to merge simply because I'm angry that they probably could have been doing better if they weren't talking.
Candice, that is true. People do all kinds of things they shouldn't behind the wheel. The other guy got the ticket? Geeze!
Steve Malley, New Zealand is a more civilized society it seems.
Church Lady, probably so, although I'm such a luddite I'll probably still be calling 'em cell phones when they are actually brain moddies that can be plugged directly into the brain.
Bernita, in my case toady, certainly.
Lana, you are one of a kind in many ways. ;)
Travis Erwin, I made gestures but they all seemed so caught up in their convos that they were oblivious.
Charles,
Salutary comment on mine. Great.
Regs here tight on phones, eating and drinking while driving, and seatbelt use - if they catch you.
(Think people can use hands free); but a lot of people flout them.
It's getting like 1984 the level of monitoring generally.
Growing problem is sat nav guiding mid european drivers in collosal badly maintained waggons over tiny little stone bridges in English lanes....
Brian Regan has a great bit on cell phones--have you seen it?
Well ranted! And I agree with a hearty hear hear!
Get off the dang phone people! Nothing is so important that it can't wait until you get home or to the office. And if it is that important, then pull off the road and take your dang call.
Oh this drives me out of my mind!
Amen Brother...this choir is listening.
I've never been to Louisiana, so the mention of Lake Pontchartrain always reminds me of Paul Brady's haunting rendition of the folk song, "The Lakes of Pontchartrain."
As for driving with cellphones, I doubt if there's a lot you can do except rant. When my daughter's boyfriend (now fiancee) got his MBA from the U. of Maryland a couple of years ago, I was amazed to see quite a few of the graduates (mostly female) walk up to get their diplomas while talking on cellphones.
I have a cell phone...but I always forget to turn it on and when it is on it is to call the old lady or I am at home, I am pretty sure that the last two crippling accidents that happened to me were because the other driver was distracted. Most likely by a cell phone, they walked (drove) away and here I am 5 years later still dealing with it.
Fucking morons.
And Charles on the merging thing by law here in MI if you're on the road way you have the right of way but you must not speed up to to stop someone from merging ahead of you or that becomes a ticketable offense.
Why is it that we have more to talk about now than we did before the advent of these little pocket monkeys?
Julie, concerning the 1984 comment. I'm kind of torn. I generally believe people should have all the rights they can possibly have except to harm someone else. But the cell phone thing in the car is clearly dangerous. I just wish people would use some sense.
Danette, I haven't. Where would I find it?
Travis, a good rant is a hearty incantation.
Miller, yep.
Steve, amazing about folks walking up to get their diploma on the phone. It's become bizarre.
Mark, I think they don't have more to talk about. More talk, less informational exchange.
Hey Charles,
This one made me laugh, especially the part about growing a pair! Am I the only person on the board to admit guilt in this matter? I have tried to mend my ways to avoid accidents and now use only a speaker phone, but I still know it's not ideal. But even I can't believe it when I see someone TEXTING someone while driving. Even I admit there are limits.
Right with you on the cell phone;
people can't afford to have attention distracted on the roads we have here. Most of em never designed for this volume of traffic in the first place.
There are enough accidents already.
Just having everywhere bristling with CCTV sends mixed messages.
I bought one some months ago - and never used it. Much prefer email.
We have some odd drivers out here too. It's suppose to be illegal talking on the phone and driving at the same time in California, but so far, I still see a lot of people do it.
I heard people get into a "zone" when they're on a cell and become oblivious to everything around them. I was the gym one night and there was a woman in front of the water cooler talking on a cell.
I tried to get past her to get water and she I think never realized I was there and like backed into me while I was trying to get water around here.
Man, cells are a mixed blessing.
I saw this guy on I75 who had a bumper sticker that said "Get off your Cell Phone ASSHOLE!" and when I pulled up next to him low and behold, he was on his. I was laughing so hard I almost peed myself.
Texting is a huge problem, though CA is so quick to pass laws on these things I think it may already be a ticket-able offense. Next year it'll be illegal to talk on the phone without a hands free system-- a good idea.
I really try to avoid talking while driving. I have my kids in the car and it's just not worth the risk. But I still nearly get run off the road everyday by other people on the phone. I wonder what we did before cell phones? Probably enjoyed a slower pace of life I'm sure.
I almost got run over by a car the other day - in a crosswalk - and I had the light. The driver turned left, ran into me, and he was talking on the phone AND eating a hamburger. I think he was steering with his knees, and he definitely wasn't watching where he was going.
Oh this is such a pet peeve of mine! I hate it when people drive and do anything else that takes their attention away from the road. And my husband has gotten yelled at by me as one of his accidents was for talking on the phone! I am all for banning it!
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