I understand that there are many fancy things to learn when you drive in new places (those round-a-bouts that keep popping up might seem easy until its too dark and you go one arm off the circle too far), and I know it is unfair to be critical of those people who are confused by new and unusual traffic patterns, especially if you have been driving it since before you drove and they're lost and confused.
Not all of those people out there driving on the same roads as me are lost, confused, or new to one lane bridges, heck, I'd even venture to say that the lost/confused/new people are more careful about the whole one lane bridge thing than most people who drive them everyday. If you ever find yourself at a one lane bridge please take a deep breath and follow the following rules:
1. Slow down before you cross the bridge.
2. If another vehicle is approaching the bridge, stop. (And that goes for both sides, because really we all know that the other person wants to kill you.)
3. If you are the person closest to the bridge or you were too retarded (I use the term loosely don't be
offended) to stop out of the way of traffic, make eye contact with the other driver and cross.
4. After you've crossed wave politely.
5. If you were behind a stopped car and it crosses the bridge but there are cars waiting to cross from the other side, DO NOT CROSS. Wait until one of the cars from the other side passes.
6. Most importantly, remember to not hit a car that is crossing a one lane bridge. (This happened to me once, it was [I was the hittee not the hitter] and it is a bit of a mess, if the person following me had know the appropriate etiquette for crossing one lane bridges and hadn't been following so close he would have spared himself the embarrassment of rear ending me and busting his headlights on my '86 Trecel [built Ford tough].)
For those unfamiliar with one lane bridges, note that many people will not follow these rules, they will consider themselves superior to proper form and just drive however they please. Use caution whenever you chance upon these secret speed traps.
Please also note if a bridge has a double yellow down the middle of it, it can handle two cars, do not treat it as a one lane bridge. I will be forced to drive into you head on if this ever happens again, keep to the right.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...
That's a lie, the mice are stirring and it's driving me insane in the membrane. There is a flock of mice in the ceiling of the family room, they usually just run back and forth but today, being December 24th, they are shooting for ironic. If there was music I would find their behavior both amusing an appropriate but the dancing in my head should be sugarplums and the clatter on the roof should be eight tiny reindeer.
There are threats of calling the exterminator but I'm not entirely sure I'm ok with that. The mice seem to be keeping out of the comestibles (with the exception of that bold mouse that chased the cat into my sister's room, poor mouse died of suffocation in a water bottle because my sister was too afraid to put it outside). I don't see the sense in killing them, they were here first (species wise) on this place (and I mean the plot of land where my house sits, I don't know about the evolutionary thing) and we have taken over pushing them out. It just seems wrong.
While we live and let live I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
I'm hoping the next two days are better than I anticipated, it just might be this year.
That's a lie, the mice are stirring and it's driving me insane in the membrane. There is a flock of mice in the ceiling of the family room, they usually just run back and forth but today, being December 24th, they are shooting for ironic. If there was music I would find their behavior both amusing an appropriate but the dancing in my head should be sugarplums and the clatter on the roof should be eight tiny reindeer.
There are threats of calling the exterminator but I'm not entirely sure I'm ok with that. The mice seem to be keeping out of the comestibles (with the exception of that bold mouse that chased the cat into my sister's room, poor mouse died of suffocation in a water bottle because my sister was too afraid to put it outside). I don't see the sense in killing them, they were here first (species wise) on this place (and I mean the plot of land where my house sits, I don't know about the evolutionary thing) and we have taken over pushing them out. It just seems wrong.
While we live and let live I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
I'm hoping the next two days are better than I anticipated, it just might be this year.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Africa Tree is Dead
When I was very young there were more fields than yards, most of the fields have windscreen trees from years of farming but this one field had a lone tree near it's center, to me the tree looked like something out of National Geographic. I always wanted to take a picture but seeing it in life was better than a photograph.
That tree made me want to see things. I want to go to Africa and see real African trees.
The tree looked like it belonged somewhere else and for much of my life I have felt that only part of me belonged in my small town.
A town that in the last 20 years has become less and less recognizable. The yuppies and houses have taken over. It has gone from being Virginia to Northern Virginia, land of sprawl and nothingness. A hostile (sometimes) foreign land which I have some how landed back in after running away to better more interesting places.
The other day, because I started writing this when I first saw it but couldn't make it work, I drove past the field where the tree stands. It is still a field, but now a house sits in the far corner and it is fenced for cows and horses. As I drove passed I saw the limbs more on the ground rather than in the sky. Progress strangled the tree's home and nature is finishing it off. The tree has been dead for several years, the leaves are few and far between but now it will never have the chance to try to bud again. It is more than dead. It is broken and with it my spirit. And my connection to this place.
 |
| This is an actual tree in Africa. This is my tree's twin. |
That tree made me want to see things. I want to go to Africa and see real African trees.
The tree looked like it belonged somewhere else and for much of my life I have felt that only part of me belonged in my small town.
A town that in the last 20 years has become less and less recognizable. The yuppies and houses have taken over. It has gone from being Virginia to Northern Virginia, land of sprawl and nothingness. A hostile (sometimes) foreign land which I have some how landed back in after running away to better more interesting places.
The other day, because I started writing this when I first saw it but couldn't make it work, I drove past the field where the tree stands. It is still a field, but now a house sits in the far corner and it is fenced for cows and horses. As I drove passed I saw the limbs more on the ground rather than in the sky. Progress strangled the tree's home and nature is finishing it off. The tree has been dead for several years, the leaves are few and far between but now it will never have the chance to try to bud again. It is more than dead. It is broken and with it my spirit. And my connection to this place.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sorry for My Neglect
Today I have anxiety.
Later I shall write the most excellent post ever.
Sorry it has been so long in the making.
Later I shall write the most excellent post ever.
Sorry it has been so long in the making.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
I keep hearing rumors that the snow is piling up everywhere but other than the TV (and we all know everything we see on TV is fake) I hadn't seen any hard evidence... until this morning. It's snowing here finally! But don't get too excited it'll send soon enough and the grass isn't even covered yet. The roads are an extreme hazard despite the lack of depth.
Here in VA we like to freak at the first flake but the reality is the roads are mostly untreated, so frozen, and will remain uncleared for a while. I will have to call work tomorrow to inform them that I'm running late because after I drive eight miles out of ruralaliy (not a real word) the first town I hit is going to be snow covered with not-particularly-smart people driving their fancy sports cars (all of which a lining the edge of the roads that have already been cleared, its hard to drive up hill you know) like the road is dry. I'll get stuck in accident traffic and become a bit frustrated with my fellow man. Also it will be busy as all get out with people who couldn't drive to work because of the torturous conditions but can make it to the outlet mall.
Here in VA we like to freak at the first flake but the reality is the roads are mostly untreated, so frozen, and will remain uncleared for a while. I will have to call work tomorrow to inform them that I'm running late because after I drive eight miles out of ruralaliy (not a real word) the first town I hit is going to be snow covered with not-particularly-smart people driving their fancy sports cars (all of which a lining the edge of the roads that have already been cleared, its hard to drive up hill you know) like the road is dry. I'll get stuck in accident traffic and become a bit frustrated with my fellow man. Also it will be busy as all get out with people who couldn't drive to work because of the torturous conditions but can make it to the outlet mall.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Settling Up (?)
Today, I worked really hard to find a job that isn't the job I'm working right now. I need more hours and I need a higher wage, my college degree (that's right gay manager Jason, I have a degree) demands it.
The whole idea of taking a job that isn't in the field that I want makes me sick to my stomach, not as sick as making $8.10 an hour with an acting store manager who does everything but manage makes me but still. I'm forced in some way to continue to settle for less than what I want, no, I take that back, I'm settling for less than I deserve.
Wait, where is cheeky Megan? Who is this righteous bitch who has replaced her? (I don't know, we'll blame the crazies.)
I think that even with my uneven bangs and my current inability to dress myself appropriately for my current job (lack o' funds you see) I worked hard to get to where I got this time last year. But all I've done is back peddle. I beg people to open credit cards, people who claim to make $200K a year and can only manage a $750 credit limit because they have a barely passable credit score. I'm ruining my own future, how is the economy going to recover if I don't stop doing my job?
So we'll see where I settle. Maybe it'll hold the bad off long enough or maybe (and this is my hope) it'll be just enough to get me into the classes I need, (fingers crossed) I'll come out in a year with software knowledge and a publishing certificate.
Here's to Hoping!
The whole idea of taking a job that isn't in the field that I want makes me sick to my stomach, not as sick as making $8.10 an hour with an acting store manager who does everything but manage makes me but still. I'm forced in some way to continue to settle for less than what I want, no, I take that back, I'm settling for less than I deserve.
Wait, where is cheeky Megan? Who is this righteous bitch who has replaced her? (I don't know, we'll blame the crazies.)
I think that even with my uneven bangs and my current inability to dress myself appropriately for my current job (lack o' funds you see) I worked hard to get to where I got this time last year. But all I've done is back peddle. I beg people to open credit cards, people who claim to make $200K a year and can only manage a $750 credit limit because they have a barely passable credit score. I'm ruining my own future, how is the economy going to recover if I don't stop doing my job?
So we'll see where I settle. Maybe it'll hold the bad off long enough or maybe (and this is my hope) it'll be just enough to get me into the classes I need, (fingers crossed) I'll come out in a year with software knowledge and a publishing certificate.
Here's to Hoping!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Passive, Aggressive or Passive Aggressive
I might be making it up as I go now but I've got a lot to consider, especially how I'm supposed to handle my current stressers.
If you didn't know it already I am an aggressive individual, assertive and confrontational, mostly at appropriate times but you know you get in a bad head space and I may or may not break your face for no reason. I have always felt that confrontation (though not always fighting) solves problems quickly. You tell me why you're angry, I give you my side there is some shouting and someone stomps off, an apology usually follows whether in an hour or a year, and everything is right as rain.
Most people support the passive way of doing things but I refuse to bend over and take it over and over when I have the power to stop all the nonsense. I have a few friends who are passive, we get into sensational fights. Mostly when one of said friends tells me "it'll all be ok." Ok is not ok unless it's the best I can do and at this point ok screams failure. And passive means it'll all be ok because I am not powerful enough nor willing to change it.
Passive aggressive is ironically not a combination of the two, it's slimy. But today I tried it. And it was a bit fun. I did as I was told but took forever doing it, not unlike the person who instructed me to do my job. After two hours working in the same five by five foot space I was told to move on. Usually, I'm not one for making work hard or sizing and reorganizing because it is the most useless work ever, but I only worked three hours and managed to meet all my goals and do nothing, it was epic.
I'm torn now, do I continue this passive aggressive route and win, or do I go all out confrontational, I can lose my job either way, not that I want to keep it but I have to have other options first.
Options, options, options, I remember when they existed.
If you didn't know it already I am an aggressive individual, assertive and confrontational, mostly at appropriate times but you know you get in a bad head space and I may or may not break your face for no reason. I have always felt that confrontation (though not always fighting) solves problems quickly. You tell me why you're angry, I give you my side there is some shouting and someone stomps off, an apology usually follows whether in an hour or a year, and everything is right as rain.
Most people support the passive way of doing things but I refuse to bend over and take it over and over when I have the power to stop all the nonsense. I have a few friends who are passive, we get into sensational fights. Mostly when one of said friends tells me "it'll all be ok." Ok is not ok unless it's the best I can do and at this point ok screams failure. And passive means it'll all be ok because I am not powerful enough nor willing to change it.
Passive aggressive is ironically not a combination of the two, it's slimy. But today I tried it. And it was a bit fun. I did as I was told but took forever doing it, not unlike the person who instructed me to do my job. After two hours working in the same five by five foot space I was told to move on. Usually, I'm not one for making work hard or sizing and reorganizing because it is the most useless work ever, but I only worked three hours and managed to meet all my goals and do nothing, it was epic.
I'm torn now, do I continue this passive aggressive route and win, or do I go all out confrontational, I can lose my job either way, not that I want to keep it but I have to have other options first.
Options, options, options, I remember when they existed.
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