If you can’t take the time to read restrictions on parking, certainly the information provided about politicians would be WAAAAY too much to wade through, right?

No, I did not obscure the tag number. I figure everyone should have a heads up here – if you see this one in your area of operation, just get out of the way.

Drivers like this is why I started #phoenixdrivers.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

Tweet

The following words are keyed to attract the attention of the DHS and the NSA – including the new “Spy Center” in Bluffdale, UT: Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command 2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

If this happened everyday, my blog would be publishing every day. But then, it’s not every day that common sense falls by the wayside. Oh, wait …

Arizona could become the second state in the nation to allow cyclists to yield at stop signs instead of stop if a bipartisan measure can garner enough support to become law.

But House Bill 2211 faces an uphill battle. Similar efforts have failed in previous years.

The bill would allow bicyclists 16 and older to treat a stop sign as a yield sign. Cyclists could ride through without stopping if there were no other cars around but would still have to stop and yield to any cars in the intersection.

Idaho is currently the only state with such a law.

Supporters say the bill would make Arizona much more bike-friendly and encourage more riders.

“When you’re out there riding and you know you’re coming upon a four-way stop and there’s not a car in sight, it’s really annoying to stop,” said Jeremy Stapleton, 32, an urban designer who rides to work in central Phoenix. “Hopefully this would incentivize people to ride more often.”

Read more: Arizona Bill May Loosen Rules

Let’s re-write that a bit and see if it makes sense, shall we?

“The bill would allow vehicle operators 40 and older to treat a stop sign as a yield sign. Operators could drive through without stopping if there were no other cars around but would still have to stop and yield to any cars in the intersection.”

There. Following the logic of the Mr. Stapleton, this would be a lot less annoying while driving. We wouldn’t have to stop at all those pesky stop signs if no one else was in the area. The problem with Mr. Stapleton’s statement is that currently, bicyclists treat stop signs as non-existent, even when there are cars in the intersection. More than a few times per trip downtown, I have either been nearly sideswiped by a bicyclist, or had to slam the brakes when one appeared in front of me.

Tell you what: how’s about all the users of the roads in Arizona follow the rules of the road? That way, everyone will be able to predict what someone will and won’t do on the occasion of encountering another vehicle on the road – you know, things like USING YOUR SIGNALS WHEN YOU CHANGE LANES; driving on the correct side of the road, at the correct speed; stopping at stop signs; not stopping at yield signs for no reason; staying in your lane – and these are just the bicyclists. Figure the people of this state transfer those driving abilities to how they operate a motor vehicle and no wonder we have one of the highest accident rates in the nation.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Tweet

So – Friday I was a bit frustrated. With everything.

Let’s start with one of my favorite topics = drivers. Or, more accurately, non-driving operators of motor vehicles on the roads of Maricopa County. (please note – if anything i write about driving habits offends you, perhaps you should re-read a few things – like the part that offended you, the driving manual, the part that offended you, and the driving manual.)

Things I have noticed about the traffic laws of Arizona – most of the people doing the non-driving are not here – shall we say – with the full approval of the government. Yes, I know that’s how you drive where you came from, but that’s not the custom, the norm, the law here. Pedestrians DO have the right of way – in crosswalks either marked or implied (and in this case, “implied” has a legal definition – that is, at intersections, and then only parallel to the flow of traffic). They do NOT have the right of way, or the right to expect to survive, when darting across five lanes plus a turn lane during rush hour dragging their defenseless and learning-a-bad-lesson children behind them. If you do not follow the law, do not act put-upon if I do not yield to your arrogance or stupidity.

The center turn lane is just that – a turn lane. By occupying that lane, you are implying/indicating/insinuating that your next move is going to be a left turn. This is the only legal maneuver allowed from the middle turn lane on roads equppied with the turn lane. The turn lane is not a safety spot to use when trying to get into traffic. It is not an extra lane to be used when the traffic is moving slowly and you are much more important than everyone else following the law. (true story – i was eastbound on glendale ave, in the left hand lane, approaching 51st ave, when a monte carlo passed me on the left, swerved across my nose and two other lanes, to get into the right turn lane and – pull into the gas station – as the group of cars i was in was approaching the traffic light which had just turned red, and we were all slowing down. if he had stayed behind us all, he would have had a clear shot to the gas station without endangering three lanes of traffic and anyone thinking about making a left turn going west) At the same time, just because someone pulls into the middle turn lane to make a left turn, if you are headed the same direction that person is, you do not need to stop. Neither does the person in the lane next to you.

The most frustrating item on Friday? The Road Rhino popped another hose. No, it’s not one of the hoses that had recently been replaced. It is, instead, a hose that is part of a cluster of bypass hoses (the qx4 has more bypass hoses than anything else, i have yet to figure out why) located under the throttle body. This means that the intake/induction piping and tubes need to be removed, along with the throttle body itself, in order to replace these hoses. And yes, I’m going to replace all the hoses in that area at the same time – what, do I look slow? I’ve learned THAT lesson – to avoid any issues in the foreseeable future. That is a job for this afternoon, after church.

For now, I”m off to church. My prayers are with you all, even if you don’t believe the same way I do.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

You know your day can’t do anything but get better after you sit through 35 red lights when there are only 29 traffic lights on your route to work.

I was unpacking freight today, outside the back door of the store, when a couple (who happen to be regular customers) pulled into the parking lot. He was driving (?), looking at his “Smart” phone, and carrying on a conversation with his wife. No distractions there, right?

Did I mention they are both deaf and communicate with each other by American Sign Language? How’s that distraction thing working now?

On my way home tonight, I was at the light on Shea at Tatum. I was in the left hand lane, since I need to turn left at the 51 and don’t like to fight my way over at the last minute. I also happened to be pulling my trailer, since I had delivered the last of the milling wood to the railroad club today. ANYway, sitting there in the lane, just where the turn lane starts to widen out into the median, and a “Smart” car pulls out of the shopping center at Tatum and Shea, pulls in behind me, and then starts to inch up along side my trailer in order to get to the turn lane. No, I haven’t moved. No, there’s not really enough room to do that. When the light turned green, I “accidentally” swerved a little to the left so the “Smart” car had to stop before they could continue on into the turn lane. What was the hurry? They would just have to sit at the light for the full cycle anyway…

While I’m on the subject of bad driving, I would just like to point out that the lever on the left side of your steering column is called the turn signal lever – at least on most US-style vehicles. May I respectfully point out that it’s not giving up any secrets when you use your turn signals – it’s just polite to give the rest of us some kind of warning before you vacate your lane and try to take up residence inside my wheel well …

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!