I almost died out there yesterday because somebody needed chicken fingers RIGHT THE HELL NOW.
This big pickup crossed two travel lanes from the left then stopped sideways in front of me when they couldn't get into the right turn lane bc other cars were in it.
Glad my habits of careful driving and paying attention on the road paid off.
I drive with the assumption that everyone else is likely to do spectacularly stupid things, and, well, someone did.
@arisummerland A similar thing happened to me just two weeks ago. I was sitting at a traffic light about a car length away from the car in front of me when a bozo in a big pickup to my right decided to cross over in front of me to the turn lane on the far left. I had no room to back up so I just had to hope he wasn't going to drag off my front grill. How hard would it have been for him to have taken the right turn, turned around and come through the traffic light normally? Jeez!
@isotope239 💯! It brings me back to the fact that nobody knows how to think ahead anymore. Nobody makes contingency plans or pays attention to alternate routes in case they miss their turn, nothing. Nobody thinks about how to map out their trip in their head in case there's an obstruction, construction, accident, or anything else that stops them from going the way they think they have to go. People who are unable to do those things shouldn't be out there driving cars.
@arisummerland I agree 💯 !!! Even beyond that, I don't understand why drivers today can't just go with the flow and move with the traffic even if they need to take another route. They probably wouldn't have to go more than 5 minutes from their intended route. There is a distinct (and dangerous) lack of critical thinking now.
@thepoliticalcat@isotope239@arisummerland
Even as people are saying, "It's nothing to worry about." Yeah, frig that! I'm still isolating, masking and getting shots. I'm planning a long cross country trip to Alaska this summer and I'm terrified of the implications.
@fmhilton@thepoliticalcat@arisummerland I'm also still isolating, masking, and got the latest vax a couple of weeks ago. I travel a lot for work and I'm not terrified, more like grimly determined. For me anyway, the key is never let your guard down, stick to the routine and keep the mask on your face. I avoid eating or drinking in a public space, getting room service or sitting outdoors etc., we know what precautions to take now, just don't get lulled into a false sense of security.
@thepoliticalcat@fmhilton@arisummerland The very worst I've had so far was a few months ago when I was at the ophthalmologist's office. I was standing outside the door when a bubba strolled by and said to me: 'You'd look a lot prettier without that ugly mask on, honey. Then we could all see your perty smile.' Yugh, two nasty thoughts rolled together, what a major anal pore.
@thepoliticalcat@fmhilton@arisummerland Poor woman, she must have been suffering from a severe case of cranio-rectumitis thus causing the oxygen to her brain to be cut off. Terrible disease and it really seems to be going around...
@isotope239@thepoliticalcat@arisummerland But I'd like to know why everyone is so hell bent on 'just live your life as you did before' notwithstanding 1 million Americans have died from this 'flu" (not my word)-I believe it's being pushed for the corporate interests that do not like having people scared or worried. "No Money, Bad!" "Profits before people!"
@fmhilton@thepoliticalcat@arisummerland Horribly enough, I think the vast majority of people (at least in the US) just aren't paying attention. I 💯 agree with you about the corporate interests; taking precautions, from their point of view, is an unnecessary expense that doesn't go in their shareholder's pockets. Those million (probably more) deaths are just abstract collateral damage in their pursuit of profit.
I just had this conversation with a caller yesterday. "You're seeing it, too? Huh." I pointed out all the research on neural deficits resulting from covid.
@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat@isotope239 Very interesting. It's a conversation I've been having very civilly with various people here on Mastodon. It's difficult to bring up in my friend groups or family, though, because so many of them have had it multiple times now. I don't understand how they can be around me and not take better precautions. I mean, I'm not quiet about what I do! It's clear that I'm taking precautions 100% of the time. 🤷🏽
Most of my social circle is online, so my orbit is pitched way to the #CovidCautious side. & fortunately there aren't strong countercurrents IRL around here. But I have gotten into some really uncomfortable conversations with a couple of close friends.
Mostly, though, they respect my boundaries. I just wish they'd practice some of their own.
@thepoliticalcat@cavyherd@isotope239 I think I did the same thing! Meaning I pulled up an article about road accidents and COVID, and then completely forgot where I put it. Usually I print interesting articles out and stick them in a binder, but my printer is out of order right now.
@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat@isotope239 I definitely feel like my executive functioning has fallen off in my 50s. I don't know if it is the stress of the world, late-realized autism, all the incredible trauma of the past few years (including a divorce and a number of close deaths). My memory of events has always been bad anyway, but my ability to remember where I put my phone down? I'm glad I can ask my smart speaker to find it for me.
@arisummerland@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat@isotope239 Interesting discussion. I tested my ability to plan just the last 24 hours-and I was amazed that I put a complicated travel itinerary together that looks workable and good. I've never done this before, and I'll be traveling alone for the first time in my life at 69 to Alaska and back again to Maine. So I'm reassured that my executive functioning is good. I'm sorry when it is affected by outside influences and disease.
@fmhilton@arisummerland@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat I travel a lot and admit to using some aide-mémoire tricks when putting a trip together. My go-to is Tripcase (freebie); it lets me put trains, planes, hotels, events all together in a timeline plus you can get alerts on your phone if something changes. I can't speak for anyone else, but I strongly prefer traveling on my own. It's got its pros and cons, I just find it less irritating than traveling with others.
@isotope239@fmhilton@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat Yes and more yes! Oh I love the idea of having a timeline available at your fingertips, especially when using different modes of travel.
I'm a road tripper myself. And I love going by myself. Though, I got spoiled when I was married, because my ex was an excellent driver whom I could really trust and we had similar rest stop and food needs.
@arisummerland@isotope239@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat i have written up a preliminary itinerary so that I remember what days I'm supposed to be traveling-I haven't even bought any tickets yet-the Alaska Ferry isn't taking advanced reservations yet, either. May will be the time when I do all the billing and such. My poor credit cards will be very tired..
@isotope239@arisummerland@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat Yup..but: this is after having cleared the decks of those 3 credit cards from over $ 7,000 worth of charges over 4 years. By myself. On my job and widow's benefits. I had to become very stringent with my money for this to happen. Good exercise in frugality and planning. PS-it only got this way because my husband chose not to tell me about it. I found out after he died...quite a shock. No money, either.
@cavyherd@isotope239@arisummerland@thepoliticalcat I hope not-because I was not blameless in that problem. I spent some of it, but I should have asked questions, of course. Being poor sucks. However, he did have the sense to keep the accounts in MY name so that I could restore my own credit. I was just foolish to let it get that bad. I hated credit cards until i could get my cards cleaned. he was a spendthrift, and I was clueless about it. Not all the bad guy..
Nevertheless. I was brought up in a family that was Quite Well Off, until that one bad investment my dad made, & then there were a lot of lean years. My parents finances ultimately recovered enough to gave me a jump start (inherited "wealth", yo) (where "weath" equals...solvency?) >
That plus other factors left me wanting Absolute Clarity about my finances. & also I've always regarded consumer credit as being only slightly less dangerous than heroin. & my one tangle with it back in the Aughts caused me to recalculate that risk—downward.
So even if spouse was a master-level investor with a spotless credit rating, I think I'd always want my money to be in my name—separate from his.
@cavyherd@isotope239@arisummerland@thepoliticalcat Oh, I had a bank account-I just didn't have any money.As I said, being poor is a not a good lifestyle. Many reasons for it, nothing inherently sinful or bad about about it. Just the way life works. But my finances today are 100% improved. I control them, nobody else. there's a lesson in there...
@fmhilton@cavyherd@arisummerland@thepoliticalcat This is exactly what puzzles me about the whole 'trad wife' business that the xtian nationalists are pushing so hard. It's important that you yourself have control of your own finances rather than depending on your partner. I can understand a certain amount of mixing between a couple, but the woman needs to have control of her own money.
@isotope239@fmhilton@cavyherd@thepoliticalcat I have a tendency to be drawn to addicts and abusers, and the second person I married (impulsively) was a control freak. As I realized I needed to get out of that relationship (20+ years ago), I opened my own bank account bc I was the only one working. I got yelled at and put down so many times, but if I put anything in the joint account? It would be gone the next day.
I should've paid attention to what I wrote on his seventh grade picture: YUCK.
We had known each other for decades, played in bands together, he was charming as hell, etc. I was still stuck in the "must uphold cishetero standards" plus did not know that I was autistic (he prob was too). So, lots of stuff going on.
Fast forward to now: he's dead, and I got his drum set.
@thepoliticalcat@isotope239@fmhilton@cavyherd My worst regret is I am still paying off my student loans that he ran up. I will state that as a fact, rather than an accusation, though. I was dismayed when the government wouldn't pay off my loans last year. I now owe about twice what I took out. 😬
@thepoliticalcat@isotope239@fmhilton@cavyherd Something about his death was very cathartic, and not to sound too woo woo, but it was really healing to work with his brother to get some of the crap cleared out of his house. 🤷🏽
Before that? Tons of regrets. But I said to his ghost, if I get your drum set, I won't talk bad about you anymore. 20 years is enough.
I've got a zillion of those in my bookmarks folder. If anybody ever really truly pisses me off, I'm going to explort my bookmarks, copy out that section, and then send them an email with that very long list.
Also I'm sure you've seen the comments go by last couple of days about the deterioration of airline maintenance?
@arisummerland it seems that the larger vehicles get the more aggressive drivers get. Had my granddaughter strapped into her car seat in back a few weeks ago, pickup truck came up behind me and started riding my fender. ( I was going a little over the limit ).
He could definitely see her as I could see him clearly.
He passed and then he slammed on his brakes. I had to steer into a skid to stay on the road. Got the plate make and model memorized. He best hope I don’t see him parked.
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