The Ultimate in Window Tinting

Tags

car, driving, window

We’ve all seen the unfortunate results of a car with a side window busted out.  The owner of the car resorts to patching the hole with duct tape and a trash bag to keep out the elements.

I saw a car this morning with the passenger window missing and the usual trash bag fix applied.

What made this particular remedy a bit dicey is that the trash bag was not clear plastic but jet black in color and still installed where the passenger window used to be while the car and it’s driver were negotiating traffic on West Walnut Street.

Kinda limits your peripheral vision I’d say.  I got away from that car  as quickly as I could being sure not to make any sudden movements.  Of course, how would the other driver know?

Don’t try this at home or on the road especially when I’m in the lane next to you.

 

If I Could Just Get off of that LA Freeway

It seems to me that with the plethora of people texting and driving these days that talking on a phone while behind the wheel almost seems like a benign activity. Not.

Bonus point if you know who wrote those words without looking it up.

Blow Up Your TV( Phone)

Tags

bicycles, cell phones, humor

It’s a long way to pay off the title but stay with me.

I left the house today and took off for downtown on my trusty bicycle.  Halfway into the trip I realized I was sans telephone.  I could have used it for a few interesting pictures but in reality I would have been waiting for that Pavlovian response when it vibrated and let me know that the outside world was looking for me.

I continued pedaling into town bound for the library, the bank and coffee.  One of my latest neurotic tendencies is to stare at the phone when it lies ( lays?) dormant.  And then I think – yeesh – I’m becoming one those people.  You know the sort who are obsessed with that little piece of plastic and glass and circuit boards.

To the title before I get too far.  There’s John Prine tune called ” Blow Up Your TV” and you can look it up if you wish.  I’m not gonna insert a video.  It’s a great piece of work and as a rail against modern time wasting conveniences it’s right on.  Substitute cell phone for TV and it still works.

As Grouch Marx once said. ” TV is very educational.  Every time I turn it on I go into another room and read a book.”  He really did say that.

So I survived my sojourn without that little devil in my back pocket.  It’s pretty amazing that I can pick it up, punch a few buttons and talk to someone anywhere on the planet or order a pizza or buy a car or finance a mortgage.

Amazing though is not always good.  Maybe that should have been the title.

However, on the amazing front a good friend tells me that the Space Station will be visible tonight in my corner of the night sky around 8:29pm.  I saw the flyover on Saturday evening. It’s much faster than a plane and displays no running lights.

I suggest you hop over to the NASA website and see if the station will be traveling through your neck of the woods tonight.  The whole trip across my field of view takes about three minutes as it’s zooming along at 17,500 miles per hour as in 17 thousand mph!

Now that’s amazing.  Put the phone down and go outside tonight.  I want a full report.  But don’t call or text me.

 

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Storm

This afternoon I saw a pedestrian cross against the light.

He was wearing headphones and looking down at his phone.

He almost got clipped by a car.  The driver of the car was on the phone.

How would you like to sort out that accident report?

The headline would read ” Distracted Pedestrian hit by Distracted Driver.”

I’d say there’s enough guilt to go around.  At least neither of them was texting.

Spanning the Globe,the Newspapers and the Neighborhood

Tags

dogs, neighbors, Running, space

In no particular order – sort of a catch all from the week so here we go:

News Item – Space Archaeologist  discovers new Viking settlement in North America.  Space Archaeologist ?  When did that become a job?  I missed that along the way but it sounds like a great way to make a living – playing with satellites and dirt.  Where do I sign up?

On a run this afternoon and chatting with the neighbors:

Neighbor #1 -Two miles in –  I say tomorrow is Opening Day for Major League Baseball.  He says he doesn’t care but is happy that today is the First Day of Trout Season in PA. I wonder who threw out the first fish?

Neighbor #2 – Three miles in – I pause at a stand of evergreens that have suffered wind damage from yesterday’s storm.  There are branches on the ground but strangely only from one tree in the middle of the stand.  We ponder the randomness of the destruction and decide that ” When it’s your time to go it’s your time to go.”

Finally – Three miles in – I see a guy walking his dog while riding his bike.  His bike, not the dog’s bike.  The guy is talking on the phone, his phone, not the dog’s phone.  The dog’s leash is wrapped around his waist, his waist, not the dog’s waist.

Let’s recap, riding a bike with a dog’s leash attached to your belt and you’re on the phone.  At least he wasn’t texting while riding, the guy not the dog.

The dog would know better.