And Now...For Something Completely Different

For a change I am not going to rant about comics.  Instead, I'm going to rant about driving. 

I live in Connecticut, but work in Massachusetts, a short 15 minute drive away from home.  I hop on I-91, cruise to work and home again.  Incidentally, that is sort of a New England sort of thing.  We don't calculate how far something is by how many miles it is, but by how long it takes to get there.  Do other states do that too?  That's probably why so many people are cranky because here in Connecticut we have always numbered our exits...well...numerically.  Exit one is followed by exit two and so on and so forth.  Apparently the rest of the country numbers exits by how many miles you are from the border, which I frankly consider to be a bit weird. 

So, I get the best of both worlds when it comes to crazy drivers.  And lord knows Connecticut has its fair share.  We live in New England and it snows here.  Every year.  Some times it snows a little, some times it snows a lot...but it always snows.  And every year, in late fall, we all seem to forget completely how to drive in the snow.  By March, we have figured it out again, but for those first couple of storms, it can get pretty hairy. 

Massachusetts however, is in a whole 'nother class.  I assume that there is something in the water.  The minute you cross the border, the highway immediately improves, they do a much better job with paving and there aren't nearly as many potholes...at least until you get to the secondary roads, in which case you are utterly screwed.  But the highway is nice.

The layout is a bit confusing however. At the "Longmeadow Curve" you have roughly 10 feet of road, to cross three lanes.  It gets quite exciting!  Pit lane at Daytona is nothing compared to the daily joy of maneuvering the three lanes, that narrows to two, then back to three, but one of them is an exit!

I've also come to realize that Massachusetts drivers don't use their turn signals.  They also are apt to move into your lane...while you are currently occupying it.  If a guy is on your right and needs to go across two lanes to get to the exit that is rapidly approaching, he will ALWAYS cut directly in front of you, instead of tucking neatly behind you...where there is no traffic.  Always. 

If you are at an intersection, and wish to turn right on red, the car that is to your left, which is going straight or turning left, will see you looking for a break in the traffic...and immediately pull forward so that you can't see anymore.  If you are at an intersection turning right, and the light turns green, the oncoming traffic that is turning left, will always pull right out in front of you.  If you are at an intersection turning left with the separate lane and a separate green arrow, frequently a car in the oncoming lane will pull out...straight. 

All of these exciting things have happened to me just this week.  They happen to me frequently, but today I think I may have snapped.  So if you see that crazy lady in the dark gray E350, she isn't singing with the radio...although I do that too.  She is suffering from Vehicular Tourettes. 


Please drive carefully while out shopping today and tomorrow!