Buckrub
08-31-2013, 10:55 AM
Seen a lot of the USA in my Chevrolet this year. There are some strange road signs, and some crazy happenin's out there. I've mentioned some of these before.....
"Speed Checked by Detection Devices"
You THINK?? I mean, what other method would there be? Isn't it impossible to check my speed with anything OTHER than a 'detection device'? What else is there? Any method I can think of would constitute a 'detection device'. Oh, and that little airplane painted on the road don't scare me none, anymore. I know you either sold the airplane, or don't have enough money to fly it much.
"Bridge Ices Before Road"
I've mentioned this one before. But hey..........it amazes me. I get the good intentions of it, yeah. But man. It blows my mind. How MUCH before the road ices will the bridge ice??? One minute? One hour? Three months? This sign misses two CRITICAL pieces of information: When did the road ice? and How much longer till the bridge ices? Without that, all you can do is slow down on every bridge and squeeze the steering wheel and hope, every time it's wet.
"Trucks Must Use Right Two Lanes"
I thought they meant me, but lately they fixed that by adding "Trucks with 3 or more axles" or some such. OK, whew. But then in Georgia they put this sign up in all those multi lane freeways around Atlanta......but then they KEEP them up after the road narrows to two lanes. DUH!!!
"The Harold P. Jenkins Memorial Highway/Bridge/Overpass"
This is a thing in the Deep South. I thought we were Deep South, being a bonafide member of the Confederacy, but I guess not cause we don't do this. I did not know old Harold. I am sure he must have been a great guy to have a public conveyance item named after him. But it's an odd thing to name after Harold. I mean, most of the travelers are 'furriners' and don't know Harold. I don't. Does his family come out and go under that overpass a lot, just to see his name? When did he die? What if it was 1947? Wouldn't most folks have forgotten him by now, unless he was Audie Murphy or Mickey Mantle or someone??
Orange Barrels
This is one that the American People are letting slide, and should be ashamed. Folks should be marching on Washington on this one. There are literally entire states (I-80 in Nebraska last year comes to mind) that are completely covered in orange barrels FOR NO APPARENT REASON. For every 1,000,000 orange barrels.....stringing for 45 miles..........there are nine workers, and five of them are leaning on a shovel.
There is NO excuse for this. Here's what America needs to do. We need to pass a law that only FIFTY miles of any INTERSTATE highway can be under construction at any one time. And they have 90 days to finish that or be shot. And only those 50 miles can have orange barrels. And then put EVERY construction company and worker on that 50 mile stretch and work 24X7. Then move on. The entire interstate system would be rebuilt in 2 years.
Big Trucks
I can hear Thump now. "We Bring You The Goods That You Buy So We Can Drive Up Your A$$ With Impunity". Bullfeathers. These guys are all delivering chinese made washing machines to the Walmart in Dubuque, and hurting American jobs more than helping. Along the way they are tearing up all the highways (see above). If there were no big trucks at all, every freeway in America would last 75 years before developing potholes. Big Trucks have those signs that say "This Truck pays $9,540 a year in Road Tax". But they fail to put up the sign that says "OH, and We Also Tear Up $125,039 Worth Of Road". And along the way, they drive like idiots (not all, not saying that) and block the left lane and laugh about it. This, I know. I have talked to truckers and truck dispatchers, and they readily admit this is their fun. I say shoot the lot of 'em. Eisenhower couldn't have foreseen it, I get that, but these guys need their OWN freeway system.
Speed Traps
I don't fully understand speeding laws. Oh, on one level I get it.........has to be SOME limit. I get that. But the guy who truly speeds, and weaves in and out of traffic at 90, NEVER gets caught. NEVER. Cops in little burgs sit on the freeway or highway, and stop folks for going 45 in a 30 zone through their town, or going 74 on the freeway. I don't get it, other than they are simply robbing US Citizens with a scam every bit as big as phone salesmen. Speaking of which, most western states have changed the freeway speeds to 75 mph......you can see the signs where they bolted the "5" over the "0". But not the south! Nope. Still 65 or even 60 in some spots. That's crazy. Let it go, dudes, geez.
Freeway Entrance Ramps
Should be a legal limit of 3 of these for every state. Exit ramps can be anywhere, make all you want. But there should be a line to get ONTO the freeway, and it should be a big deal to do so. Nothing clogs traffic more than an entrance ramp every few feet. Stupid idea. Makes freeways way more clogged than they should be. There are vehicles on freeways that have NO business being there, either. Oh well.
The Good Things:
Gas stations have all gone to the "pay at the pump" type pumps. Great idea. Saves a ton of time. Plus you can pay anywhere with a credit card, and don't need a 'gas card' for every brand. Wonderful change. Great.
Cars are so comfortable to drive in now. "The good old days" does NOT mean vehicles. Now their are comfort zone a/c, cruise control, nice tires, great suspension, etc. Much better than the 1960 Falcon or the 1960 Corvair I drove. Or any of the other fifteen 60's cars I had. Expensive, but everything is. I can even move my 8-way power seat into various positions along the way to vary how it feels......where I used to have to stop and get out and stretch my legs.
GPS
I don't need a map. In fact, the same data that went into making the map is in my little black box on my dash. What a deal. Plus, Jill talks to me and tells me where to turn in Bumnuts, Carolina, where I've never been. What a neat invention. I have a new one that is big enough to see, tells me speed, distance to destination, when I'll arrive, what my average speed has been since I left, and every other piece of info you can imagine. Wow.
But all in all, it SURE does beat flying. I actually don't mind driving. I hate flying anymore. They've gone nuts with it. And except for LA to NYC, I can drive anywhere in about the same amount of total time as flying.
And that's what I think about that.
"Speed Checked by Detection Devices"
You THINK?? I mean, what other method would there be? Isn't it impossible to check my speed with anything OTHER than a 'detection device'? What else is there? Any method I can think of would constitute a 'detection device'. Oh, and that little airplane painted on the road don't scare me none, anymore. I know you either sold the airplane, or don't have enough money to fly it much.
"Bridge Ices Before Road"
I've mentioned this one before. But hey..........it amazes me. I get the good intentions of it, yeah. But man. It blows my mind. How MUCH before the road ices will the bridge ice??? One minute? One hour? Three months? This sign misses two CRITICAL pieces of information: When did the road ice? and How much longer till the bridge ices? Without that, all you can do is slow down on every bridge and squeeze the steering wheel and hope, every time it's wet.
"Trucks Must Use Right Two Lanes"
I thought they meant me, but lately they fixed that by adding "Trucks with 3 or more axles" or some such. OK, whew. But then in Georgia they put this sign up in all those multi lane freeways around Atlanta......but then they KEEP them up after the road narrows to two lanes. DUH!!!
"The Harold P. Jenkins Memorial Highway/Bridge/Overpass"
This is a thing in the Deep South. I thought we were Deep South, being a bonafide member of the Confederacy, but I guess not cause we don't do this. I did not know old Harold. I am sure he must have been a great guy to have a public conveyance item named after him. But it's an odd thing to name after Harold. I mean, most of the travelers are 'furriners' and don't know Harold. I don't. Does his family come out and go under that overpass a lot, just to see his name? When did he die? What if it was 1947? Wouldn't most folks have forgotten him by now, unless he was Audie Murphy or Mickey Mantle or someone??
Orange Barrels
This is one that the American People are letting slide, and should be ashamed. Folks should be marching on Washington on this one. There are literally entire states (I-80 in Nebraska last year comes to mind) that are completely covered in orange barrels FOR NO APPARENT REASON. For every 1,000,000 orange barrels.....stringing for 45 miles..........there are nine workers, and five of them are leaning on a shovel.
There is NO excuse for this. Here's what America needs to do. We need to pass a law that only FIFTY miles of any INTERSTATE highway can be under construction at any one time. And they have 90 days to finish that or be shot. And only those 50 miles can have orange barrels. And then put EVERY construction company and worker on that 50 mile stretch and work 24X7. Then move on. The entire interstate system would be rebuilt in 2 years.
Big Trucks
I can hear Thump now. "We Bring You The Goods That You Buy So We Can Drive Up Your A$$ With Impunity". Bullfeathers. These guys are all delivering chinese made washing machines to the Walmart in Dubuque, and hurting American jobs more than helping. Along the way they are tearing up all the highways (see above). If there were no big trucks at all, every freeway in America would last 75 years before developing potholes. Big Trucks have those signs that say "This Truck pays $9,540 a year in Road Tax". But they fail to put up the sign that says "OH, and We Also Tear Up $125,039 Worth Of Road". And along the way, they drive like idiots (not all, not saying that) and block the left lane and laugh about it. This, I know. I have talked to truckers and truck dispatchers, and they readily admit this is their fun. I say shoot the lot of 'em. Eisenhower couldn't have foreseen it, I get that, but these guys need their OWN freeway system.
Speed Traps
I don't fully understand speeding laws. Oh, on one level I get it.........has to be SOME limit. I get that. But the guy who truly speeds, and weaves in and out of traffic at 90, NEVER gets caught. NEVER. Cops in little burgs sit on the freeway or highway, and stop folks for going 45 in a 30 zone through their town, or going 74 on the freeway. I don't get it, other than they are simply robbing US Citizens with a scam every bit as big as phone salesmen. Speaking of which, most western states have changed the freeway speeds to 75 mph......you can see the signs where they bolted the "5" over the "0". But not the south! Nope. Still 65 or even 60 in some spots. That's crazy. Let it go, dudes, geez.
Freeway Entrance Ramps
Should be a legal limit of 3 of these for every state. Exit ramps can be anywhere, make all you want. But there should be a line to get ONTO the freeway, and it should be a big deal to do so. Nothing clogs traffic more than an entrance ramp every few feet. Stupid idea. Makes freeways way more clogged than they should be. There are vehicles on freeways that have NO business being there, either. Oh well.
The Good Things:
Gas stations have all gone to the "pay at the pump" type pumps. Great idea. Saves a ton of time. Plus you can pay anywhere with a credit card, and don't need a 'gas card' for every brand. Wonderful change. Great.
Cars are so comfortable to drive in now. "The good old days" does NOT mean vehicles. Now their are comfort zone a/c, cruise control, nice tires, great suspension, etc. Much better than the 1960 Falcon or the 1960 Corvair I drove. Or any of the other fifteen 60's cars I had. Expensive, but everything is. I can even move my 8-way power seat into various positions along the way to vary how it feels......where I used to have to stop and get out and stretch my legs.
GPS
I don't need a map. In fact, the same data that went into making the map is in my little black box on my dash. What a deal. Plus, Jill talks to me and tells me where to turn in Bumnuts, Carolina, where I've never been. What a neat invention. I have a new one that is big enough to see, tells me speed, distance to destination, when I'll arrive, what my average speed has been since I left, and every other piece of info you can imagine. Wow.
But all in all, it SURE does beat flying. I actually don't mind driving. I hate flying anymore. They've gone nuts with it. And except for LA to NYC, I can drive anywhere in about the same amount of total time as flying.
And that's what I think about that.