(in order of decreasing magnitude):
1. Driving. At all. I’m surrounded by all these freeway-racing, car-loving, status symbol-sporting Dale Earnhart Jr.s and yet I hate to drive. In SoCal, that’s a true anomaly. I’m a round peg amidst square holes. Sigh.
2. When people don’t close the gap. I know you’re supposed to keep two car lengths between you and the person in front of you, but c’mon, people! Some of you keep so far back, a semi could slide in with room to spare!
3. When people forget to drive in the rain. Might be a predominantly SoCal phenomenon, but drivers seem to forget how to drive and slow down substantially when it’s wet out. And we’re talking about any sort of moisture, folks! Even a slight sprinkle discombobulates. Sheesh!
4. When people take turn signals as their own personal challenge. I mean, I’m doing them a favor by indicating my intent to turn/change lanes/merge. That doesn’t mean they need to speed up to beat me/block my path/almost run me off the road.
5. When driving under overpasses and the satellite cuts out on my favorite part of a song. Because there’s nothing more aggravating, not to mention embarrassing, when you’re belting out “Like a Virgin” at the top of your lungs and then the song fuzzes out in mid-chorus.
I think I need to move to an area that provides fast, clean and ubiquitous public transit. Oh, how I miss the Bay Area and BART!
I went to LA for a biz trip and got a rental car – the freeways were kind of freaky! I felt like the traffic lanes were unnecessarily narrow, hehe!
That’s not the lanes being too narrow; that’s the cars passing you by at supersonic speed. ;p
BART is having problems almost of a weekly basis. I take it everyday and I feel lucky is there is not a problem.
But is it still as clean as I remember it?
AHHHH, it depends-lol. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. It is the luck of the draw. In the early morning-yes, in the evening and the weekends-nope.
I don’t mind driving but it’s not my favorite thing. However, I’d much rather drive than use public transport, no matter how clean – I get horrible motion sickness, especially if I try to read.
Oh, and you cracked me up with the Dale Earnhart, Jr. comment. We have Jr. himself in these parts. 😀
Wait, you have the actual Jr. there or just Jr.-esque drivers? If the former – how cool is that? Have you seen him at the local supermarket? If the latter – I feel your pain.
I guess it’s because I grew up with a chauffeur and I still miss the good old days of being driven.
Well, I’ve never seen him in the grocery store, but yes, the actual Jr. lives in a small town just north of Charlotte. I used to work with a guy who went to high school with him.
Also, when you live in the city that has the Nascar Hall of Fame, there are lots of actual race car drivers, in addition to folks who think they’re race car drivers.
What a lovely flowy week you’ve had. I actually LIKE driving in California because it gives me an opportunity to let loose with all sorts of expletives and I find it quite carthartic. I do miss the subway, though. I used to get so much reading done on the train….
That’s how I feel about carpool. When it’s not my turn to drive, I get so much work done! Whereabouts in Cali are you in, Connie?