First incident today. I'm driving in the "slow" lane on a surface street in heavy traffic. Not moderate traffic, not light traffic, heavy traffic. Truck has a partial load on it, very light, maybe 5,000 pounds worth. Trucks don't even hardly feel that kind of weight. I'm behind the car in front of me, not lagging behind is what I am saying. There is a turning lane on my right. It is obviously a turning lane and the lane obviously ends - at a block wall.
This woman in a compact car decides she is going to pass me in that lane, which is not a passing lane but more importantly, she doesn't have enough time/room to MAKE that pass. I would have had to STOP the truck entirely to let her in since by the time we were almost at that block wall, she was only at the side of my trailer. At first I didn't know if she was turning in that turning lane or if she was playing these stupid games that everyone does around semi trucks. Well, I wasn't going to slam on my brakes for someone else's stupidity, I figured to let her do that in her own car since she was speeding - probably going 65 to 70 in a 45 zone and also attempting to pass in a turning lane. Yup, she slams on her brakes and JUST stops short of that wall. Amazingly, there was a motorcycle behind her that apparently also figured to pass me who was also stranded.
Now, stuff happens in traffic all day long and I was definitely driving, all day long. But some of it is amazingly ridiculous and stupid stuff. Like the guy stuck behind me today on the freeway on-ramp. Apparently, I was going to slow for him so he decided to pass me on the emergency lane on the right side of me. What I am doing is going through the gears and if the truck is heavy, it takes a while to get up to speed.
Then, there was the second lady. I am turning on a green arrow. I was accelerating. This woman apparently thinks I am going to slow and starts honking her horn at me! She gets by me and flips me off. I have done or said NOTHING to this woman, no gestures, no middle fingers, nothing. Then, a black car following her has a finger come out of their window as well. This is the joy of driving in a metropolis. A daily event, though it doesn't happen so much in my car since I can keep up with every one and also - because I am cut off so frequently in the truck, so often, I don't LET people cut me off while in the car.
I can't tell you how many times on the freeway today a car comes speeding up beside me, cuts directly in front of me and then slams on the brakes to avoid - hitting the car that is in front of me that is now in front of them. Morons.
Sooo, last night at the church group. A lady starts sobbing as she starts talking about her doggy and how the doc has told her the dog doesn't have much time. She knows it is going away. That started it all over for me. I didn't say anything but inwardly I was churning. The dude that runs the thing looks at me and says how I had just gotten a new doggy - I replied yes, but I just put down my beloved doggy and looked at the lady and empathetically said: It's not a lot of fun, I know. Well, anyway, he prayed for both of us which turned the faucet on yet again. I haven't gone to get her ashes yet - and in no hurry to be honest. I guess I better get them before something happens to them, but at the same time, I'm not sure how I will be able to handle that.
Enough of that. I had a very long day at work, 10 hours non-stop and I don't even want to go there. So I won't. Sophie is now learning about commands, especially the one that says "come" and she - decides to ignore me. I don't know how anyone else trains their doggies, when a dog ignores me and actually starts walking off, I get out of my chair, grab the dog by the collar and yes, we go and we do what I told that dog to do in the first place. I don't tolerate disobedient dogs, not that I beat the crap out of them, but I do take action to correct it and quickly. I am taking it a bit easy with her, though, I am guessing by the way she reacts that she has been subjected to some abuse in the past. She's a sweet, gentle and loving dog, though and I don't think it's going to take too terribly long to get her adjusted to my way of doing things.
Still, it takes quite a while for a dog to be around you before it really starts understanding you, how you want it to behave and what lines can be crossed and can't be crossed. It's a big investment in time, really, to train a dog to the point that you don't really have to say much of anything to get them to do what you want them to do, they already KNOW what you want them to do before you say it. I like getting them to the hand gesture phase, where you simply point and they understand. I can click my fingers at Prince and he will come, I point at the floor and he lays down. Nothing complicated or outstanding, just an example.
Well, bedtime.
G'nite.
ben
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