I Love Other Drivers

I left on time today. Both to drop Brandon off at preschool, and to pick him up. I didn't like it when people use to move to California and then immediately start complaining about the state, so I don't want to do that here. But I have a pet peeve here in Colorado - the drivers! Oh.My.Gosh. Some of them drive so slow! And this is not restricted to the elderly. I left on time. I had time to spare. Then, on my way to pick Brandon up from preschool, it took every fiber of my being not to start yelling at the absolutely stupid driver in front of me that was braking for the semi in the other lane! The semi was trying to pass this driver. That's really sad. Especially when you're not on the freeway. This isn't a random occurance, though. Stuff like this happens all the time! Things I have no patience for since moving here:

*The driver ahead of me attempting to merge on to the freeway at 40 miles per hour.
*Going so slow on surface streets that the semi's want to pass you.
*Randomly picking your own speed on the freeway, which inevitably means you are going less than the posted speed limit.
*The inability to decide which turn is really yours, thus slowing down at every single frickin turn you drive by.
*The right lane here eventually has to turn right. Always. They always turn right. I've lived here less than 6 months, and I know that! You, Mr. Bad Driver in front of me, should know that, too!
*Stopping when there is no stop sign.
*Stopping when your light is green.
*Stopping for no reason.
*Slowing down because you are smoking and have to toss your cigarette butt out the window.

These are only a few things I've had to deal with, just today! I thought it was because I am usually on the verge of being late. I thought it was because I have the patience of a gnat. I thought it was just me!!!! But nooooooo! I've talked to other people who have moved here, some from Cali, some from elsewhere, and they all have them same thought. MOVE! Get out of my lane! Just pull over and let the normal people drive by you! And all this - coming from me! Girl from California. The state inhabited mostly by people from somewhere else. The state where they give driving lessons in your native language ('cause who needs to know what that sign says in English?), and practically hand out licenses to just about anyone! And yet, yes, I still think that a huge chunk of the drivers here are nuts.

There are two types of dumb driving: dumb city driving and dumb country driving. They are very different, but the end result is the same. You almost hit another driver, and then you are peeved. There is both types of driving here, which is unusual. Slow drivers on two lane roads with just you as the only other car in sight, and slow, bad driving on the freeways. Either way, I'm going to be late! And it won't be my fault!

Then there's the trains. I don't usually mind trains. It's been fun to see that trains still exists and actually take cargo from one place to another. You almost forget that in the bay area. I've seen coal cars here. I didn't even know that coal was still used in most places. Apparently I was wrong. I made a last minute choice today on my way to pick up Brandon to take the freeway instead of the frontage road I usually take. Good choice. There was a train sitting at the station, completely blocking traffic on the frontage road. It must have been there for 20 minutes. So glad I bypassed that route. Now it makes me nervous to take it. How do you get around a long train? I don't know this area well enough to take random roads, hoping they get me somewhere. And a good chunk of the roads here go on forever. They're in Denver, and in Boulder. I could end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere, just by taking a road I pass daily. Niiice.

So that is my saga of driving around here. It is a daily exercise in frustration. I don't know if it's because I'm a bad driver, or because everyone else is. I hope it's the latter.