Tag Archives: driving

Cars and Pickups

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If you would like a guy feel good, complement him on his truck or car, especially if he has a big nice pickup. They can’t help it. Let’s face it, when a man goes out and gets himself a big pickup, it is something of an extension of himself.

I say this because I have complemented a number of them and you can always tell, the appreciation of the compliment is genuine. Nonetheless, me with my desire to be humorous, one day I offered to trade a man my HHR for his huge beautiful pickup. With a smile, he said, “No thanks. I already have one.”

Who would have thought that, his other vehicle really was a Chevy HHR. Never would have figured on that.

My experience has made me wonder though. Would that billionaire like it if I complimented him on his limo? Would he like it if told him I like his jet? Do you suppose he would laugh if I offered to trade my HHR for his 100 foot yacht?

While we are on the subject, I will have to start keeping a bucket of sudsy water next to my electric car. Being as I never go into gas stations, the windows never get cleaned. I tried hitting the window cleaner button today and all it did was rearrange the mud on the window. Where did all that dirt come from. I had to get the Windex and paper towels out to get it done right before we could go eat. That is sort of one of those things you don’t consider when you buy an electric car.

We don’t go out at night much. Yesterday, we went out to dinner late. When we got in the car, I noticed there was no courtesy light. It was dark in my Nissan as we got in. Now that did not make sense. All cars have courtesy lights.

I made do until we got home and investigated. I do keep a flashlight in may car and I used it in my search. I noted two large lights in the back but I could find no way to turn them on. Now I was really confused. It didn’t make sense. I finally found the switch above the rearview mirror. Now you will be happy to know, when I open the door, the lights come on. After a year, I am no longer in the dark.

However, it does make me wonder. If I took it to the dealer, would they have been able to point me to it. Sometimes I think they just overengineer things. I guess, if we didn’t go out for a late diner, I might not have ever known where that switch was.

I wonder if they do that sort of thing in the pickups.

The Laws of the Road

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I’m headed down the road and out of the corner of my eye, I see a police car. Instantly, my eye goes to the speedometer. We all do it, or at least most of us. None of us wants a speeding ticket. Not only is it a heavy fine, but my insurance would go up too. Perhaps, maybe I would lose my insurance altogether. For that matter, if I get too many speeding tickets, I could lose my operators license and have to walk a while, or maybe I could get a bicycle.

Yet the law does have a purpose, a reason to exist. Take for instance the car I saw coming up quickly behind me as I was going over the I-55 bridge on Goodman. I was going west at slightly below the speed limit as I was approaching a car in front of me going slower.

At this particular time, the traffic was not that bad and if the man wanted to get in the right lane and take the southbound lane for 55 he could have moved over and would have been completely unobstructed. However, instead of getting in the right lane, he quickly dodged in front of me without warning from the right and then into the left lane.

It somewhat confused me because there was noting at all keeping him from moving into the left lane before he reached me. Then, of all things, he made another lane change to get in front of the car in front of me. While I was still shaking my head about that maneuver, he moved over to the right lane and took the cloverleaf down to southbound I-55.

The wife and I had to just laugh at it, dangerous as it was. We couldn’t make up our minds whether he was a driver who was having a hard time making up his mind or if he was just a very reckless driver. Law or not, if his insurance agent had seen that little stunt, he would have probably had a very difficult time ever getting insurance again. Certainly, if I were his agent, I would have pulled his policy in a heartbeat.

I don’t know why people pull stunts like that. It absolute served no purpose and it did put others in danger. Regardless, most of us try to follow the rules of the road. It is a benefit to others when they know what we are going to do and it is even a benefit to ourselves. As my brother used to say, on our birthday, we all like surprises. While driving, not so much. It is far better that others know what I am going to do and it is better that I know what all the other drivers are going to do.

The rules of the road, the laws help us do that. Without the laws and conventions, driving would be far more difficult and very dangerous. Driving at whatever speed we want to go, might get us to our destination faster. On the other hand, we might not get there at all.

I have often said, I do respect the policeman, but maybe just a little less when he pulls me over. I mean there are many others out there that disobey laws much worse than me. Moreover, I do have places to go and people to meet. Besides, I was only going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit.

Indeed, in some such situations, it is most difficult to remember that that law enforcement officer is literally risking his life in order to keep me and my fellow motorists a little safer, in spite of my wanting to go just a little faster.

When you come right down to it, the motor vehicle codes of the various states are relatively new laws. They came onto the scene only sometime after 1900 when cars became commonplace, especially in the cities. In addition, the roads and highways have been built. In the days of the old west, it would be very difficult to find a street with a painted double yellow line, or for that matter, a left turn lane. It is fortunate that Edison invented his light when he did. It would be difficult to see where we are going and of course, there are the signal lights that started popping up all over the place.

Laws in general, however, are not new. Moreover, they are a vary important part of life. They are extremely necessary for civilization. Today, we have a political party that it would seem would like to do away with the laws and the law enforcement. I guess. I am a little guilty. However, it is the lawyers I’d like to reduce.

I have no idea when the first laws were made. I am sure there are some that would have some accurate estimates. Nonetheless, I suspect, the first time more than 50 or so people started to live in one village, some laws of some type started being made, even if they were not written. As I said, they are a requirement for people to live in proximity to each other. If not, the people will be at each other’s throats. In some regards, thy are anyway.

It is both Biblical and historical that when the Hebrews left Egypt, they were twelve tribes, not a nation. As near as I can tell, there were no laws, no rules. The only law they lived under were the laws and edicts of Egypt and the Pharaoh. It only made sense that one of the first things God did when He brought them out of bondage, that he gave them laws to live by.

However, these were not just any laws. They were the laws as made by God and they were presented to the Hebrew people as a gift. If they lived by them, the new nation would thrive and become rich and powerful. On the other hand, if they did not live by the law, then the nation would suffer. Indeed, Moses told them if they did not live by the law and refused to repent, that they would be sent into slavery.

It was not only a warning but a prophecy. Israel was first taken and then about a hundred years later, Judah became slaves. Both nations were warned & warned again and finally, as forewarned, the punishment was announced and carried through.

Before we go too far with this, let’s take another closer look at the law, first the Ten Commandments then many more. The combination was later referred to as simply the law. Let’s get one thing straight. The law was not given to all of mankind, but only to Israel, at least as near as I can tell. I have read the Bible many times and I have yet to find anything that says that the law was given to anyone outside of God’s chosen people.

God connected a blessing to the law, that if they obeyed the law, the nation of Israel would be great. We, as non-Jews are not given such a promise. However, there is a certain logic that tells us it is to our advantage to follow the laws. Would anyone suggest that lying would be a good thing for a nations citizenry? Is theft something that that would benefit any country? Certainly, if we could do away with murder in this nation, it would be far better for the US or any nation, for Mississippi or for any state and certainly for any city, great or small.

Yet as with the traffic officer, we have become defiant. There are those who want to defy the laws, whether from God or man, and we live and die recklessly as the man who gig-zagged past me and the car in front of me. He defied the law and he got away with it. No officer was there to see him so he did not get pulled over.

Yet, we all know that we are better off with the law and it would be better if the man had been caught in the act, so to speak.

Is it so horrible that we post the Ten Commandments in public places. On the other hand, is it better that we not remind the lawless to live by the law, regardless of where that law comes from.

Let’s face it. There are those in all societies that don’t like the law and they don’t like seeing it posted in front of them. They would prefer to ignore it. When they drive recklessly and are involved in an accident, it is someone else’s fault, not theirs. I mean, the streets, the cities, the world does belong to them, right.