Category Archives: Driving
Wronged again
Last night almost ended disastrously for me.
Driving back to my hotel at 2100, an SUV barreled down Ambassador towards Cookingham in the wrong direction, driving northbound in a southbound lane. It was just after I turned right from Cookingham onto Ambassador when I exited Interstate 29 near Kansas City International Airport.
Needless to say, it scared the bejesus out of me. I was in the other lane, so my car and my body are fine.
Had I not been in the other lane, I would have been able to take the driver to the cleaners financially (provided I survived), since he or she would have been 100 percent wrong for driving the wrong way. While I may have been able to bleed that person dry, I’m certain I would either be (a) dead or (b) paralyzed.
Believe me, it ended up better this way.
I am beyond dumbfounded by drivers who cannot follow a directional sign. To have this happen on back to back days in the same city on the same street less than five kilometers (three miles) apart is unfathomable.
I wasn’t the only witness to this driving stupidity.
I was behind a Platte County Sheriff’s SUV. Once the errant vehicle passed, the sheriff’s vehicle U-turned and turned right onto Cookingham. Here’s hoping the idiot was caught and thrown in jail. Even if he or she was not drunk, driving the wrong way down the street is not something an officer will just give you a ticket and let you go. But I’m certain he or she was wasted pretty good.
I hope this jerk enjoys the consequences of his or her sheer idiocy.
Oops I lost my concentration playing trivia. I’m at Buffalo Wild Wings Shoal Creek (Liberty), where I met Robb for a few games. This is it for trivia this trip, because I have work to do tomorrow, then I’m getting out of town Tuesday. I was originally staying until Wednesday, but it will be brutally cold Wednesday, so cold I don’t know if my car would start. Therefore, it’s best to skip town early.
The Pro Bowl is today. The AFC leads 17-0 late in the first half. I’m certain Kansas City will have the highest television ratings for the game since Patrick Mahoney is the AFC’s starting quarterback. I don’t care about the NFL right now, and I certainly don’t care about the Pro Bowl.
The Patriots had 35,000 fans show up at a rally in Foxborough prior to their departure for Atlanta and Super Bowl LIII. I’m betting there aren’t 35,000 Patriots fans outside the six New England states. If there are, they probably love Brady and will jump off the New England bandwagon once he retires, much the same way the NBA’s Heat and Cavaliers have lost fans because LeBron no longer plays for those teams. It was the same way when Michael Jordan played for the Bulls.
Next Sunday, I might be in bed by 1800. No way I’m watching the Super Bowl. None. .Sounds sacrilegious, but right now, I have no desire to watch a game matching a team which doesn’t belong (Rams) and a team I am sick and tired of seeing, and even more sick and tired of seeing their douchebag coach (Belichick), douchebag quarterback (Brady), douchebag tight end (Gronk) and douchebag receiver (Edelman).
If I do stay up late next Sunday, at least I have work to do and lots of movies to watch to bide my time.
Driving dangerously
Two incidents driving today in Kansas City, north–as opposed to North Kansas City–made me shudder.
The first, at 0925, came on Interstate 35 south when a white Ford F-150 pickup, Kansas license plate 337 LMX, was driving 55 MPH (89 km/h). Normally, that would not be a cause for concern in an urban area, but (a) he was doing 55 in the LEFT lane and (b) he was doing 10 MPH (17 km/h) UNDER the posted speed limit. I honked and flashed my high beams, but this driver refused to get over. This went on for three miles before I said enough was enough and got over to get around him.
The left lane on a controlled-access highway with two lanes in each direction is for passing. There are signs in every state in which I’ve driven which state explicitly “SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT” and/or “LEFT LANE FOR PASSING ONLY”. This person thought differently and claimed the left lane like he owned it.
Those drivers are a catastrophe waiting to happen, and not necessarily for themselves, but for the other drivers who are doing the speed limit in the right lane and trying to keep traffic moving. People who drive slow in the left lane do not need to be on the road. They are deadly.
Speaking of deadly, a driver’s worst nightmare came up at 1545.
Driving south on Ambassador Drive between 112th Street and Tiffany Springs Parkway, I noticed a large white Ford Expedition from Iowa driving the wrong way in the left lane.
Lucky for me, nobody was on my right, so I could quickly change lanes.
The Iowan did not see ONE WAY signs in the median on Ambassador. Wow.
Today highlighted why driving defensively is the only way to go. I haven’t been in an accident with another vehicle since I lived in Louisiana, and I would like to keep it that way.
Between road incidents, I stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings Zona Rosa to see if Larry were there, like he usually is on Friday. I snuck into the restroom and played trivia in the stall. He wasn’t there, and he texted me he was at the BWW at Shoal Creek (Liberty). I sped there (I’ll admit, I did over the speed limit, but slowed down when it got congested) to meet him. Hadn’t been to that BWW in over a year. Glad I got to see him.
It’s warmed up some in Kansas City. But another cold front is coming. Those who forecasted a colder than normal winter are turning up prophetic. I like it colder. Just as long as I can drive and not slip on ice.
Foots Prints 