Restive State

or, 10 Things I Hate About Flagstaff Drivers...

This is an example of pure disconnect to reality. I watched as the gentleman who drove this beast had to lift his wife and daughter out of the truck, or they would have had to mount a climbing expedition to do it themselves. The daughter, was not even as tall as the "tars" on this monstrosity. Some has referred to those that drive these as Elmer Fudd's, but I think a better word is in store, not very bright. I mean really, what do you need such a large and ungainly vehicle for? Hauling things? Off-Roading? Getting 3 gallons to the mile? Please. Point is, that in the world of Peak Oil, these things do nothing but drive the ever increasing reliance on foreign oil, thus leaving us open and vulnerable to influences by those controlling that oil and leading to a whole mess of problems in the realm of geopolitics and economics. But I digress...

I now look at living here as an exercise in surviving traffic, if we leave Flag-town without having an accident, I will be very suprised. Why, do you ask? It is very simple, the drivers here are horrible, I mean terrible. I've driven and walked in many great cities of our country and world and never have feared for my life more than I do here.
So here are 10 Things I Hate About Flagstaff Drivers: (in no particular order)

• never, ever drive at an appropriate speed; we go 40mph in a 25mph and 25mph in a 40mph, drive 75mph in a 55mph construction zone with no shoulder.
  
• we are in such a hurry (see speeding above), but it takes 5 minutes for the guy at the head of the line to realize that the light turned green, leaving the person 3 cars back dealing with yellow.
• believe that a yellow light means that at least 5 more cars can make it through the intersection, even if traffic on the other side is stopped, thus backing up into the intersection, blocking it for those with the now green light.
• when you stop ahead of an intersection so as not to block it, turn right in front of you, effectively cutting you off (and further blocking said intersection).
  
• come to a complete stop before making any turn, especially when turning into a driveway.
• follow so closely that you can't see the grill of the vehicle, merely the hood and maniacal driver inside.
  
• drive so fast that when you are sitting stopped at an intersection/light, you don't think they will stop, but instead plow into your back end.
• believe that pedestrians are targets and that it is ok to drive in front of or directly behind them in the crosswalk, nevermind that the pedestrian has the right-a-way, especially in a crosswalk, and has to clear the lane of traffic before you can go.
• believe that turn signals are really non-functional car ornaments and that there is really no use for them.
• learned to drive in CA, Phoenix, the Res or other area that breeds these bad habits, then bring them here to drive up anxiety, frustration and insurance rates.

My wife and I just had our second ultrasound and I am just blown away by it all. Scared as hell, but excited. It is incredible to me how amazing the whole process is and that we can see it on ultrasound, watch him growing and seeing what he looks like while still in the womb. For so long we thought this would never happen and it finally did.