The drive into work each day has a spot where the road splits. To the left, you will eventually end up at my office. To the right, and you will end up someplace else.
It was raining pretty good this morning as I got into the proper lane. There was a car ahead of me in the right lane with their right turn signal on. Just slightly past the point where it was too late to make any kind of new decisions, the car suddenly slammed on their brakes AND pulled over into the left lane – directly in front of me.
Did I mention that it was raining? I think I did. I don’t believe that I mentioned that the roads were, consequently, somewhat slick. I slammed on my own brakes, laid on the horn, and barely kept my car under control. I didn’t hit the car in front of me, but it was a near thing.
As we went forward on the ramp the car in front of me – we shall now refer to them as “The Idiot” – would alternately speed up and then hit the brakes again. The conclusion of the ramp is a merge into traffic and the “hitting the brakes randomly” is not conducive to that. I finally got past the idiot and made my way safely to work.
Yesterday, I did the “driving Miss Daisy” thing for my FRM’s grandmother. We went to Marc’s, Longhorn to pick up dinner, then to a tobacco shop for her scratch off lottery ticket. They could have called ahead for Longhorn while they were shopping at Marc’s – and picked up the scratch off lottery tickets there as well – but I think I can let a little inefficiency slide while doing a good deed. I know they appreciated it.
Then it was another trip to the increasingly depressing Border’s with their increasingly strident going out of business signs. I picked up a few books and grabbed some Chipotle on my way home.