Driving Me Up A Wall

The roads must be crazy if things like this are happening…

Someone - What’s wrong with you?!?!?! Low-budget Neil Breen clips can damage one’s Terrain!!!!

1. Intro

2. Video

3. My Current Experience

4. Work

5. Reasons/Root Cause

6. The Map

7. Wrap Up

Intro

Cross-country road trips were a common occurrence growing up. Usually, it would be from California to Texas as most of my relatives were there. We would go to other states too but I always enjoyed coming to Texas. One time I got to see the Alamo which was a real treat.

When I grew older I would need to take part in driving these long distances for leisure or when I needed to get from one duty station to another. Although it can get boring if you don’t have the right mindset it can be beautiful/peaceful. In order that my ankles did not get too stiff I’d activate the cruise control and look at the nature all around me.

It’s due to all these cross-country trips that cause the hair on the back of my neck to stand up when folks parrot the, "We are overpopulated” narrative.

During one of our trips, we got to see a bright light hovering in the sky that seemed to be pretty close but it wasn’t making any noise. Everyone at the rest stop stopped to look up at it. A couple of minutes went by I walked into the bathroom to take a leak and when I came back out it was gone. I will always wonder what it was…

Just kidding. Probably some advanced tech from the Military Industrial Complex.

I say all this to make the point that I don’t mind driving. But I do mind where I drive. The reason I mind where I drive is I believe most people have become more erratic with their driving. Most people have become more erratic in general.

Video

I saw this video the other week and thought I’d explore the root cause a little.

My Current Experience

Some of my friends know that getting me to hang out anywhere near a major city is an extreme hassle. They’re more likely to find bigfoot than to get me to drive to certain areas around Dallas…Fort Worth ain’t so bad. The more congested the roadways and freeways the more chaotic driving will be.

For some reason, the city planners in North Texas think it’s a smart idea to have such large numbers of human beings in such a small area. Going to the secluded park a few cities over, used to take me 30 minutes is now taking me almost an hour. I see new housing being built in every space imaginable.

The crowded roadway is a physical representation of the strain on our power grid as well. If it didn’t have to support so many it could remain working in the summer and harsh winters. And yet they keep building and I forsee certain parts of Texas becoming like California in many ways.

I’m also seeing those new LED lights everywhere including my apartment complex. Heck who knows maybe we’re transitioning over to VLC/Optogenetics controls for us plebians.

Work

If I could get paid to move stuff for a decent wage the rest of my life I’d probably do it but it will take me a while to get to that point in building up a clientele. Plus I’m not sure if I can lay aside the other things I wish to accomplish.

But I like moving stuff which requires a great deal of problem solving. Picking up an odd-shaped/weighted object and moving it from one location to another. That’s true functional strength in my opinion. The only thing in life that’s shaped like a barbell…is a barbell.

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But I need to be careful with transportation due to the other drivers on the road. One time my truck(both the cab and bed) was filled and I had ratchet straps going in every direction. The person who hired me had me delivering it to a location down south which required getting on the tollway which I’m sometimes reluctant to do but I need to adhere to the customer’s time on occasion.

So I got on the tollway, stayed in the far right lane, and drove the speed limit. What did I get for several miles from the same vehicle?

A representation of the event

The dude behind me had plenty of opportunity to go around but he chose to tailgate me for several miles then got off at the exit.

This is a common occurrence. I’ll be in the correct lane going the speed or maybe 5 above and driver after driver will tailgate me and be like,

“Why isn’t he traveling past the sound barrier like the rest of us!?!?!?!”

For this reason, I try to minimize any transfer jobs that take place around the hours that people get off work. I’ve been driving since 2009 and I didn’t get in my first fender bender till I came here.

I have to keep my head on a swivel watching out for Wyatt in his monster truck on his way to the Black & Rifle Coffee, Shaniqua on her way to the hair salon in her Nissan Altima, and Raj swerving around in his Tesla on his way to his software job.

Someone - “Nerve and Muscle chill out bro what have these races ever done to you?”

Me -

This song is pretty catchy though. He’s about as dark as me anyway.

Reasons/Root Cause

We’ve lost our true north as a species. But this manifests in many ways. I was reading an interesting article the other week that mentioned the effects our computer screens have on human empathy.

How does Big Tech target children?

In addition to this, you find all manner of research over the past few decades on using frequencies to enhance the aggression of living creatures. You might even find patents on this stuff.

But, to tone down the scariness our communications and entertainment technology does affect us even when it’s not purposely(as far we know) designed to do so.

When, through our technology, our ability to think is hindered, our stress is through the roof, and we’re all crowded/on top of one another, you’ll have an incident waiting to happen…

…and when these stressed out/non-thinking folks are traveling at 80 miles per hour in a heavy metal box and every couple hundred yards are more/larger devices that increase these already detrimental effects you will have plenty of car accidents.

The Map…Heck Yeah, Turn It Around!!!

Of course, the increasing incidence of car crashes or the narrative of can be used to usher us towards more self-driving vehicles that will ignore you if you don’t have the right social credit score.

Unless someone helps you…

Wrap Up

Simple solutions are to avoid the city and move farther away from it eventually. But if you do have to go into the city, stay calm and be observant.

I’ve also found that when I pull my head out of my butt and practice some gratitude it’s easier to drive through the chaos.

In my area, crazy driving isn’t as bad because it’s farther from the center of this urban prison jungle. But the number of muscle cars revving at all times of the night can get pretty tiresome.

Luckily I have a nice pair of earplugs.

Do these drivers not care about babies and young children getting their sleep?

The funny thing I’ve noticed recently is that most of these muscle cars peacocking throughout the day/night are driven by women. I think I’m understanding a little more about some women in my generation becoming more masculine…

Is this going to get better? Probably not. Therefore we’ll have to become better drivers and most importantly better people.

Thank you for making it to the end and let me know your thoughts below.

Until next time.