Monday, 8 October 2000 11:30am
O
oops. Has it really been a month since I last updated this thing? I guess so. Well, since the last update, a lot has happened, but at the same time, not much has happened. I started my new job, and I like it a lot. The people are very nice and I enjoy the work I do. Although, one thing I don't like about it is how most days I don't have anything to do, so I sit around kind of bored all day until someone comes in and tells me what they need done... around 5pm. But whatevers. My job is still cool.
Helen came down for the weekend. We are trying to convince her to move back down here. She should.
Other than those two things, not much has really been going on. My life is pretty boring and routine these days.

Wednesday, 11 October 2000 10:00am

Y
ou know what can make you really uneasy? Driving down a winding mountain road, with tight turns and blind corners, and then having it start to rain... and then driving down a little more and seeing "slippery when wet" signs and wondering if around every turn there is going to be some dumbass in an SUV that thinks they are driving a Formula 1 race car and will slide out of their lane and right into your car, while you were doing nothing but minding your own business and driving cautiously. That's what I did last night. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to me, but still.
No matter how much you think you are in control of a situation, you really aren't. Because you never know what some wacko might do to you without you even realizing what is going on.
Some people from the East coast actually get offended when you get into their car and then put your seat belt on. They feel like you are insulting them and basically saying that you don't trust their driving ability when you do that. The thign is, even if I trust your driving ability, it doesn't mean that your superior driving ability can control the drivers of the thousands of other cars you will pass by on the way to wherever you are going.
Some of them may be drunk. Some of them are sleepy. Some of them are talking on the phone. Some of them are putting on make-up or reading newspapers. Some of them just broke up with their girlfriends, and some of them are playing with their kids who are sitting in the back seat, and some of them are honking at you for stopping at a green light because they are so oblivious to the outside world that they don't even notice that big red fire engine even with its flashing lights and piercing sirens ablaze.
There are so many outside factors that are beyond your control, that if you think that the idea that you are a good driver keeps you safe, you are not a good driver. AAA did a survey of their members a few years back and found that something like 90% of people surveyed thought they were better than average drivers. Just do the math... there's lots of people out there on the road that are below average drivers that think they are above average drivers, and they are just waiting to ram into you.
Now I don't know why I just went off on that rant, I didn't just get into a car accident or anything like that. But I didn't really have anything to talk about and that just popped into my head.
It's raining today. It rained yesterday too. It's a really nice change from the monotonous pattern of boring perfect clear, sunny and mild weather that we have to put up with (snicker) every day here in San Diego. What does kind of suck though is that it was sunny at home, so I dressed for a sunny day, not realizing that only 5 miles away at my workplace it was dark, gloomy, cold and wet. Oh well. At least I am inside.