Driving in the Third Lane

I must say, this labor day weekend was absolutely beautiful.  As is normally the case, we were up in Vermont for the entire time camping and the temperature never rose out of the 70's.  On top of that, the humidity was almost non existent and the evenings were wonderfully cool.  But more about the weekend later this week.  Today, I want to talk about traffic and driving in the third lane, or second for that matter, on longer trips.  With yesterday being a fairly big travel weekend for some, the traffic coming home yesterday was nice and heavy.  Despite the congestion, it still managed to move along at a very good pace, there just happened to be a lot of cars on the road.  In general, I find that the majority of people know how to drive on the highway and actually know how to follow the unwritten rules of the road.  However, there are the few people who take matters into their own hands and create the traffic and backups that every driver despises.  (OK, so maybe there are a few twisted people out there who actually enjoy sitting in traffic, but I am not one of them).  Now the written rules differ for two lane highway travel versus three lane highway travel.  On a two lane highway, you are not supposed to pass on the right, only on the left, and after you pass on the left, you are supposed to move over to the right lane for normal travel.  On three lane highways, its pretty much a free for all with passing allowed on the right or left.  On three lane highways, there are certain designations for the lanes which some people have forgotten about.  The right lane is for slow travel, the middle lane is for normal travel, and the left lane is for the speeders and passing.  Where I drive is dictated by the amount of traffic on the road.  On the way up to Vermont, there wasn't much traffic and as such, I drove mostly in the right and middle lanes except to pass.  The trip back was an entirely different animal with a much larger amount of cars on the road. 

So what did I do then, I pretty much rode the left lane all the way home.  The only time I will travel almost exclusively in the left lane is if there is enough cars to create a pack and if there are perpetually slow drivers in the right lane.  Both factors must be met for me to travel non stop in the left lane.  For me, if these factors are not present, I consider it too great of a risk for getting pulled over by the police for speeding.  Now, a pack of cars to me is at least 6-8 cars in one lane traveling approximately the same speed.  I find that if there are at least this many cars, the odds of getting picked out of the line to get pulled over diminishes greatly and you actually get to drive faster.  However, one driver can wreak havoc with a normal flow of traffic if they don't know what they are doing.  When driving in the left lane, there are certain unspoken rules that most people should follow.  (Let me preface all this by saying that yes, I know that everyone in the left lane is mostly likely driving much faster than the speed limit, but that is not the point.)  If you are the driver of the first car in a long line and there is no one in front of you, move over because you are most likely not driving fast enough.  If after moving over you find that the person behind you is not passing you, then by all means, move back over, but at least be courteous to those who really like to speed.  Also, if you are driving in the left lane and NOT passing anyone, then you are driving too slow and should move over to let other people pass you.  If people followed these two rules alone, traffic on the road could be kept to a minimum and people would get where they are going more expeditiously.  While those two rules are the most important, there is one other minor one that really causes issues when not followed.  If you are traveling in one of the right lanes and want to pass a slower person in front of you, make sure that you are not going to be cutting off someone doing 15 mph faster than you are.  This is just asking for an accident to happen. 

If someone driving in the left lane of either a two lane or three lane highway is not following these unwritten rules, then they should be passed as quickly as possible on the right.  Even though it is not technically allowed on two lane roads, it is sometimes necessary to pass on the right.  I find that when everyone is driving where they are supposed to, traffic literally flies along.  Yesterday, for most of the ride home I had the speedometer pegged at 80 mph and I was keeping up with traffic.  Trust me, I wasn't the fastest one on the road, I was merely part of the pack driving in the left lane.  It almost seems as if those who know how to drive in a pack successfully drive better than other people meandering in the slower lanes.  Granted, there are those reckless maniacs who put everyone at risk, but for the most part, they are on their own.  I believe that driving 80 in a pack in the left lane forces one to focus a little bit more on the road and cars around them because of the speed they are going.  I know that yesterday, time seemed to fly because I was entirely focused on driving, the road and cars in front of me, and of course, the cars behind me.  I always made sure that I was keeping up with the pack and even on occasion moved over the let a few faster cars pass me.  See for me, if someone wants to pass me, I am not going to be an ass and sit in the left lane just to piss them off, I will move over because that is what I would like someone to do for me when I need to pass.  But alas, there are a few stragglers whose licenses should be revoke because of their inability to drive properly or safely.  In any case, despite the heavy traffic yesterday and few backups here and there, I still made the trip in 3 hours 15 minutes.  Not a bad ride at all, just tiring.  For more on the weekend, check back later this week. 

Cooler Weather

I for one am glad that the weather is getting milder.  Yesterday had to have been one of the best exterior painting days in months.  Not that I was actually painting (I was scraping all day), but I was outside for the duration and absolutely loved it.  The only thing that would have made it an all around perfect day would have been if I wasn't working, but such is life.  I can only take so much of the moisture filled air that seems to hang like a soggy blanket, unmoving and nasty.  Just looking back at Monday makes the sweat start to pool under my skin and consider oozing out of my pores.  Monday was the complete opposite of yesterday in that you could hardly move without your skin starting to glisten.  There is something uniquely oppressive about humidity that seems to act like a pause button on life.  It says, "slow down, don't work, its not worth it, why don't you have a beer."  I never listen when it comes to work, however, at home, I am all ears.  While at work, its almost a struggle sometimes when working in the humidity to even move.  It seems like the thick air envelopes you like a straight jacket and tries to restrict every movement you make.  Attempting to climb a ladder, or even lift a paint brush repeatedly can seem like an Olympic feat.  And while I love the sun, I will not miss the humidity at all.  I know that we will probably still have sticky, humid days ahead before we head full steam into autumn, but with the glimpse of cooler weather yesterday, I think I can make it through them. 

Yesterday I took my Jeep down to work as my van was in the shop getting fixed up.  As is normally the case in the summer, I took off the doors to make it as close as possible to a convertible.  Well, with the doors off it felt like I an icebox on the way to work.  The hairs were sticking straight up on my arm, my whole body was mildly shivering, and I absolutely loved it.  I knew I wasn't going to be freezing for too long as the sun was slowly climbing into the sky along with the temperature.  Every so often there was a cool gust of wind that blew through the Jeep, rustling my hair, and making feel truly alive.  If only every day was like yesterday I would be in heaven.  Even when I started working, I found it extremely hard to break a sweat no matter how hard I worked.  Coming up on the afternoon hours, I was sure that it would get warm and sticky at least for a little, but I was surprised and delighted when it stayed relatively cool throughout the day.  Luckily I still have plenty of exterior work left ahead of me so I can enjoy the cooling weather.  It not only benefits me as I can work longer and harder than I can in the humidity, but it also helps with the paint and drying.  I don't have to worry as much if something will dry in the cooler weather vs. the humid weather.  This morning was another good surprise with temperatures in the 50's that almost made me shiver as I was taking my morning walk.  In my mind there is nothing better than a cool morning walk to get the blood flowing and wake you right up (except a cup of coffee that is).  In any case, I can't wait till the humidity is completely gone and fall sets in for a few months. 

Thinking While Talking

I don't know about anyone else, but when I have a conversation with someone, I like that conversation to move along in a meaningful manner.  This especially holds true when I am at work or about to start work.  I got into a certain mode when working where most if not all of my focus is concentrated on getting things done in the most efficient way possible.  Therefore, I do not always pick up my phone while working as it disrupts my flow.  Not only that, it is not always possible for me to pick up the phone while working as I could be in the middle of painting something where I can't really stop.   I like to keep any conversations I have with people during the work day to a minimum so I can get as much done as possible.  Well, enough of an intro into my conversation preferences.  The reason I am writing about this today is due in large part to a job I just started this week.  Its another exterior and will probably take me a little while to get all the work done.  Anyway, as I was about to start work yesterday, the home owner called me.  As it was my second day on the job and he was away on Monday, I felt I had to pick up the phone.  Now, whenever this gentleman calls, I always debate picking up the phone versus letting him just leave me a message.  This man is super nice, always polite, yet he absolutely loves to talk.  When I mean he loves to talk, I mean he loves to talk.  Not that there is a problem with his love of talking, I just don't always have the time to listen to him talk. 

Take yesterday for example.  He was just calling in the morning to make sure I was all set with getting started.  That's it, yet the conversation soon morphed into other things he was thinking of like paint color and what not.  Needless to say, a conversation that should have taken 5 minutes or less stretched to at least 20 minutes.   Yesterday was no anomaly.  I believe almost every conversation I have had with him over the phone has lasted at least 20 minutes if not longer.  For the most part, he does all the talking.  To make a comparison, it is almost like reading a book that was written using a style known as "stream of conscience."  Picture taking almost any book by Jack Kerouac and starting to read it.  Sometimes its tough to know when to stop reading because it just keeps on going and going and going and you don't want to stop in the middle of something good.  Well, that is like this person, he just talks and talks, most times I feel while he is thinking, and it is just a constant stream coming through the phone.  I find it almost impossible to interrupt him and get in a word edgewise.  Its not like he is just talking senselessly, everything he says is related to the overall theme of our conversation, its just over loaded with every detail relating to a certain topic.  Yesterday he was talking about paint color and how he hadn't really figured out the exact hue or sheen and still needed to talk to the company and figure out if he needed the two primer's they recommend or just one and if they could tint them and then depending on the color picked how it will look with the shutters being put on the house versus the roof and the rest of the siding and really making sure that it all comes together and doesn't look too out of place because if the trim is too dark then it might clash with the shutters so lighter might be better but we also have to make sure that it doesn't clash with the roof because otherwise it will get lost and then you won't even notice it.....  Get the point?

In any case, I will see him this morning before he goes to work and I am sure that I will be talking to him for about half an hour before I can actually start working.  To be honest, I am sure that we will be talking about paint color again.  So what do I do with this guy?  I listen, that's it, and sometimes my mind actually starts wandering to other things I have to do during the day.  I did that a few times yesterday while on the phone and I still managed to keep with the conversation and keep track of what he was discussing with me.  I just somehow managed to listen for the key points and disregard the rest of the little details he was sharing.   That's the way this guy operates and I am just going to have to deal with it.  Its not that it bothers me, I just wish sometimes that he got to the point a little quicker and expedited our conversation so we could both get back to work.  Oh well, at least he doesn't work from home or it would probably take me 4 months to get the house painted.  In addition, he works longer days so that's a distinct advantage for me as well.  If I wasn't working on his house, I would have no problem having conversation with him, its just when I want to work, I really want to work and don't want any interruptions.  It is what it is, life is full of interruptions and the best we can do is deal with them as they come along.  Every interruption is an opportunity.  As long as I keep that in mind, everything goes smoothly.  (I just wish he would grow a filter when talking to me).