Umm, that would be Saturday. Taking yesterday off work was very nice. I spent several hours outside putting grass, weeds and distributing the landscaping rock behind the plants. That is the area where the grass is growing through the fence from the "neighbor's" yard - I ended up putting down thick, black plastic sheets over top of the ground so that any future grass or weeds won't have a chance and yes, sometimes that stuff can grow right through the rocks.
Now, that may not sound exciting to anyone, but I thoroughly enjoy spending time outside on whatever project I may have going, and right now, I have plenty of them. In fact, no new outside projects to be started until I finish what I have going - which will take some time to accomplish.
Anyway, I have to make a trip to Home Depot this morning to get a bit for the cordless drill - those old trailers use a square head bit for screws. Strange stuff and I don't think they use those anymore. I also am going to buy more PVC cement and attempt to get at least one row of the drip system actually working. It's actually ready to go as far as the emitters and line in the ground, I just have to finish the header. In fact, 2 full rows of plants worth of line has been installed - I have been putting that off. Summer is approaching - not quite here yet - but I don't want to have to stand out there for hours this coming summer watering plants. Right now I guess my motivation has waned because I have a lot of other stuff going on and I hardly have to spend any time watering plants at all. After the recent, drenching rains, the ground that is in mostly shade all day long is STILL moist - that rain was last week.
I just got through watching a news clip online of a local sheriff who was standing there, on TV, telling people to stand up against the speed cameras on the freeways in a protest they are having later on today. I will not be going - it's way north Phoenix and though I hate those cameras, not enough to drive THAT far. His advice if you receive one of those tickets? Tear it up and drop it into the trash can. Really, that IS what he said!! And LOTS of people are doing just that. They give the stastics every month, I think last month was in the low 20% range of people that had actually paid the ticket, everyone else? Blowing it off.
..........and then there's the anti-whaling ship that apparently just got into a collision with one of the Japanese whaling ships. Where, exactly, is this going to end? Envisioning scenes of sinking ships..........
Well, whatever. I have things to do and the day isn't growing any younger - later!
8 comments:
Given the huge number of serious and fatal accidents caused by idiots blowing red lights, I find no sympathy for those who flout the law, especially those who take money for and have sworn to uphold it.
Nor do I suspect would the families of someone whose loved one is killed by someone who speeds through a red light because they feel driving is a right, not a privilege.
How complicated is it to figure out that if you don't go through a red light, you won't have to worry about getting a ticket for so doing.
You are referring to red light cameras, I am referring to speed cameras on the freeways - relative apples and oranges.
....and I do agree that running red lights is a serious problem - especially here when I see, 20,30 more times per day, people blowing red lights 1, 2 even 3 seconds after the light has turned red. 3 seconds is traffic moving from the other direction on a green light. It is also the potential that someone from the other direction is travelling at the posted speed limit, through the intersection and crashing into the car that is blowing the light. It happens frequently here and people get messed up, bad - or dead - because of it.
Sorry for my misunderstanding.
Speed limits are a whole 'nuther issue entirely.
If they were reasonable, if they were enforced, if they were even fluid (changed due to different weather or traffic conditions) they, too, could save many lives.
Conversely, where the limits are idiotically at odds with common sense and common useage, enforced sporadically and often discriminately, they serve only to reduce the publics respect for the law.
Two examples from my own driving experience. One little village nearby decided to post a 20MPH speed limit for every street within its borders. They put up 'no right on red' signs wherever a traffic light existed, and stop signs on several main traffic arteries.
Since they had NO local traffic enforcement agents, these served only to annoy drivers and make scofflaws out of those who continued to drive in the same manner as they always had done.
Furthermore, although engineered for the interstate highway system (and a 70 mph engineered safe traffic speed) local parts of the interstate post 55 mph speed limits.
In the morning rush hour, before traffic backs up due to volume, the herds of cars are ALL moving at 80 to 85 mph where they can. Police sit in the median and watch the flow and do nothing.
In this context it is well to bear in mind that if a SINGLE car decided to obey the posted speed limit, the ripple effect would result in dozens if not hundreds of other vehicles having to change lanes quickly and unexpectedly at high speeds. Quite obviously, the potential for an accident is raised exponentially over what it is with everyone going the same speed in the same direction in their lanes.
The sheriff that was standing up against it stated emphatically that the cameras were NOT saving lives or reducing accidents, but were, in fact (whatever the source of his statistics were, I do not know) increase accidents at those locations. I think I have at least a grasp as to why: The speed limit is 65 at most of these cameras on the freeways throughout the city. People get close to them, slam on their brakes and are slowing down to as slows 45MPH on a 6 lane - one direction - freeway. You see skid marks all over the road near and at these cameras. If it goes to ballot, I can pretty much guarantee those cameras will permanently become history.
For an entire community to post speed limits of 20mph is a bit ludicrous. The slowest speed limits around these parts are in residential neighborhoods at 25mph (excluding school zones, which are always 15mph). 45MPH on surface streets is a good speed unless there is a lot of business traffic and pedestrian traffic, then 35 is prudent.
I see your point about a car going the speed limit and everyone else going 30 plus mph more than them. I guess a vast majority of the American driving public are speed demons. I mean, the 55mph national law was repealed and now we see Interstate highway speed limits as high as 80 mph in Texas and I've heard even high in certain northwestern states, though I don't that to be fact. Most of our Interstates outside of the big city have a speed limit of 75mph. I pretty much drive that fast, too either in the semi or my car. The predominant problem in this area are the Mexican nationals that are coming here, driving on our roads that don't bother to learn the law of the land or even respect driving "customs" such as staying out of the high speed lane to allow drivers that want to go faster to safely pass on the left, NOT on the right. These people are frequently driving 10, 15 even 20 mph less than the posted speed limit at 75mph on the interstates in the passing lane - at least that is what I still call it, I have no idea what "new-school" would call it now.
Still, the WORST threat out there that has popped up in the, what, last few years? is texting while driving. It is an idiotic idea that a person should think they can look at a telephone keyboard to push the correct letters to text while, at the same time, attempting to safely drive the vehicle.
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