The pet peeve thread

[gehringer_2]

6 hours ago, chasfh said:

I am constantly astounded by how other people seem to have no clue about effective and efficient driving techniques that are like second nature to me.

If you think about it, why would they?  Nobody teaches anyone to drive at anything more than the minimum level. Driver's ed schools are far more interested in getting their students licensed a easily as possible than undertaking any of the cost or risk associated with actually teaching them to drive well. Unless you had a parent who demanded you learn to do more than the absolute minimum behind the wheel, or grew up in a teenage performance car sub cohort (increasingly rare) where you self taught some higher level of car handling, or even more rarely got sent to a higher level driving school by your employer,  I don't know that one can fairly expect the average American driver to be better.

[LaceyLou]

16 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

 

I had a big bump on the back of my heel.   It became painful to wear shoes.   Dress shoes were impossible to wear.  

What they have to do is grind it away.  They do that by detaching the achilles tendon, grinding the bump away and then re-attaching the achilles.  They also took a small piece of the tendon on my big toe and stitched it to my achilles to lengthen it a bit.  But after that I could not put any weight on that foot for 2 1/2 months.    I really don't want to go through that again, but I am going to have to at some point.   

Knee Scooters Rule !    It was cheaper to actually buy one than to rent one, so I own it.   Wanna borrow it?   You in Michigan? 

Thanks! I have a knee scooter left over from the last time. I'm in Boston, actually. 

Something tells me you'll need it yourself soon. Good luck-that sounds way more complicated than mine. I actually watched one done on a video before going through it.

[Screwball]

11 hours ago, chasfh said:

I learned early on that the closer I followed them when they do that, the more likely one guy will slow down to the slower guy’s pace, and occasionally, they would both slow down to the 45 minimum, just for jollies, I assume. 

Driving... By the way, you did a drive from the coast back to Chicago. I expected a full report. 🙂 I'll bet there are some driving stories in there somewhere.

Don't we all crazy driving stories? It's crazy out there. I think about all the places I drove. Which one was the worse? I don't know. LAX area from Ventura on a Friday afternoon (took all afternoon and then some), or Boston downtown during the big dig.

If I had to pick one it would have to be the Craig bridge in Toledo, Ohio, route 280 north to the I-75 split. Big old ugly drawbridge with steel grated road surface that needed fixed 8 of the 10 years I drove across it - one lane of course - you can only imagine. Every summer it began - so did Mad Max. Then a big boat would come through and it wouldn't go down. They could be lined up to the Michigan line.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Screwball said:

If I had to pick one it would have to be the Craig bridge in Toledo, Ohio, route 280 north to the I-75 split. Big old ugly drawbridge with steel grated road surface that needed fixed 8 of the 10 years I drove across it - one lane of course - you can only imagine. Every summer it began - so did Mad Max. Then a big boat would come through and it wouldn't go down. They could be lined up to the Michigan line.

I'd only been commuting to Toledo for a short time when the shipping traffic stopped and the bridge was pretty much always down - so watched the new bridge go up behind schedule, overbudget, and with a major construction collapse disaster with few worker deaths added in, I remember they built a cement/fab plant a bit to the east of the bridge site where they cast the sections. I don't remember what I use to have to go over there for, but if you got stuck behind one of the ~30 axle flatbeds they used for moving the sections to the river you might as well have your lunch.

Edited 19 hours ago by gehringer_2

[oblong]

Going south on 75 thru Toledo I'm amazed at how quickly it turns into just flat farmland nothing... at the southern terminal of 475.  As a kid I hated that stretch but as a driver I love it.  Last week I encountered no construction hassles in OH. The only problem as always is crossing the river into KY. It took me 3 trips down this year to realize the trick is to not get over right away.  keep going until you get to exit 1G, then look for a slow moving truck that you can sneak in front of.  Half of the trouble are cars needing to get off the freeway, as well as those getting on, so you aren't really bothering anybody.  I shaved 7 minutes off my time.

[Edman85]

Atlanta Airport yesterday, there was a mother carrying her baby and a bag rushing to get to her connection using the moving sidewalk in lieu of the train to avoid somebody bumping into her baby.

On the moving sidewalk was a woman standing still leaning against one side with her bag intentionally blocking the sidewalk. As I walked by the mother off the moving sidewalk, I shook my head and we shared the same pet peeve at that moment.

[Screwball]

13 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'd only been commuting to Toledo for a short time when the shipping traffic stopped and the bridge was pretty much always down - so watched the new bridge go up behind schedule, overbudget, and with a major construction collapse disaster with few worker deaths added in, I remember they built a cement/fab plant a bit to the east of the bridge site where they cast the sections. I don't remember what I use to have to go over there for, but if you got stuck behind one of the ~30 axle flatbeds they used for moving the sections to the river you might as well have your lunch.

One morning I was going North.  Just ahead me not to far was a flatbad truck that came from somewhere loaded with a huge crucible of molten aluminum headed for the Hydramatic plant on Alexis Rd. Just before the Craig bridge he got in a wreck, jack-knifed, turned on its side and spilled all the AL on the road surface. Talk about a major CF and traffic jam. I only missed it by a few minutes. What a mess that was. 

[CMRivdogs]

We are currently living in the middle of what seems to be a major construction zone. The main interstate route between Richmond, Va and Norfolk/Virginia Beach as well as the NC beaches is under construction. As well as the main tunnel into Norfolk. 
My biggest issues are a couple of things 1) Container Haulers who seem to pay absolutely no attention to things like speed limits or other possible traffic hazards. 2) Dirt haulers who are worse. Most of these guys have no tags on their trucks and a stupid sign saying they are not responsible for damage to windshields because they don't cover their loads. Yet the buzz down the highway at at least 10 miles over the speed limit or limp but at 20 under.

To make matters worse, recently the second entrance to our community of over 1500 homes has been closed for widening of the interstate bridge over one of the main roads making getting in and out of here challenging. The county and state claims their traffic estimates indicate there isn't enough traffic to add a light at the remaining cross street.

Plus we're looking at another thousand or so homes being built in the next year or so.