This is pretty funny!

I pulled this off of a friend’s Facebook page, so I can claim no credit for it.

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Avoiding road rage

I think I’m beginning to understand road rage. That’s not good. I actually yelled at someone yesterday and they heard me. That was just the first encounter on my drive home. It’s time to back down.

Most of the island on which I work is occupied with a 4,000-home gated golf community. Golf carts are a very common means of non-golfing transportation. The residents drive them on the roads and cart paths alongside the public roads, even outside of the gates. It has been a pet peeve of mine for some time that the golf cart “drivers” don’t seem to believe that traffic laws apply to them. There I one traffic light I pass through at least twice a day where two four-lane roads intersect. Nearly every time I pass through this intersection, especially in the afternoon, I see golf carts zipping across the intersection without regard to the traffic signal.

A few days ago, I stopped for a red light at the intersection and signaled to make a right turn on red. A golf cart pulled up on the golf cart beside me. As I began to move into my turn, the golf cart driver “floored it” and drove across the street against the red light. (I had the right to make a right hand turn. He did not have the right to continue straight.) I slammed on the brakes and laid on the horn. He turned around and gave me a look as if he were Robert DeNiro saying “Ya talkin’ to me?”

Yesterday, a woman on a golf cart zipped across the intersection in front of me against the light. I rolled down my window and called “Hey, that was a red light.” She looked at me as if I were an alien from outer space and gave me a one-arm shoulder shrug, as if to say “And your point is?”

My second encounter of the afternoon drive involved another long-standing annoyance that occurs when a two-lane road narrows to one lane for construction, an accident, or whatever. Traffic lines up in the open lane. However, there are always some people who think they are too special to wait in line and drive past the line of waiting cars, and then try to bully themselves into the head of the line. Usually, I am one of the most courteous drivers you will ever meet. In most situations, I will gladly give way and allow someone to pull in front of me – but not in this case. I will attach my car to the rear bumper of the car ahead to keep one of those jerks from cutting in. They can just turn around and go back to the end of the line as far as I am concerned. Unfortunately, the guy behind me usually isn’t as strong, so they let them in.

No solidarity. Too bad. Sigh.

Adventures in car rentals

I had an over-night trip to Atlanta earlier this week. All of our institution cars were tied up, so I rented a car. It’s cheaper and better for all concerned than driving my own car and getting paid mileage.

Renting a car can be an adventure. The instrumentation and other gadgets on most cars work pretty much the same way, but there are exceptions.

The first time I got into a rental with a key-less ignition, I had no idea what to do. I had to get the rental attendant to show me how to start the darn thing.

Sometimes figuring out how the CD player works can be a challenge.

Hybrids can be different if you are not familiar with them.

This time, I ended up with a Chevrolet HHR. When I stopped to get gas on the way out of town, I encountered a familiar problem.

“How do I get to the gas cap?”

I looked at the gas cap cover and saw no “finger flap” to open it, so I started searching around the driver’s seat for a release switch. No such luck. It was still very pre-dawn, so I had trouble seeing anything in the dark. After popping the hood and the tailgate in my effort to find a switch, I was starting to get frustrated.

How about the owner’s manual?

No such luck. The rental companies remove them.

Just before pulling out my cell phone and calling the 24-hour emergency number, I took a chance and just pressed on the gas cap cover. Viola! It popped open.

I felt kind-of stupid for not thinking of that first. However, this is the first car I have driven that didn’t either have the little finger flap or a release switch.

Don’t you think it would be a good idea for the rental company to leave the owner’s manual in the car? Who would want to steal an owner’s manual for a car they don’t own?

Stupid question – I’m sure someone would.