Random Thought for Thursday 11/28/13

I learned a new game, whilst driving to Baltimore and back a month ago ... a game I remembered when doing the early morning drive to my Indiana family for the Tgiving holiday (and, therefore, something that fits nicely into my ongoing "distracted driving" series that demonstrates, when it comes to those long long road trips, how my mind does randomly wander as it wonders [ooh ... working in a Christmas music reference to celebrate the holiday season ... so festive of me]).

I call it "turnpike chicken".  And let's get something out of the way right away.  My use of the qualifier "turnpike" is because I grew up in central PA.  Depending on your part of the country, you might substitute "freeway" or "toll road" or "highway" or "bypass" or "interstate" (I think you get the point).  Regardless, I'm referring to a multi-laned road where traffic is all going the same way (as opposed to the more classic game of "chicken" where you drive head first toward an approaching car to see which vehicle is the last to move out of the way), and to the fact that the po-po may or may not be in the flow of traffic ahead of you (I use the phrasing "po-po" in a desperate transparent attempt to establish some street cred, so you might substitute "state trooper", "police", "cops" or "coppers" [you know, if you're a film-noir aficionado]).

This game of "chicken" involves those drivers who are either oblivious to the fact that they are passing an unmarked vehicle (and speed past to get pulled over immediately -- we'll call them "fried chicken"), or who start out oblivious and then slam on the breaks when they put two and two together (so so obvious to all involved, so we'll call them Colonel Chicken, since KFC is the obvious chicken choice), or who "fall in line", too "chicken" to make a move, destined to drive for miles obeying the speed limit and being a good, but boring, road citizen (chicken dancers, a la the wedding classic).

In conclusion, because I've gone on too long as it is, drive safely out there this holiday weekend.  In addition to the daytime drunks (it's a holiday!), there are also crazed shoppers who didn't sleep, and the heightened presence of the po-po.  And ... Happy Thanksgiving weekend to you and yours!

ANY TIME I MENTION TURNPIKE, I THINK OF THE "ABANDONED PA TURNPIKE":
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back1007.cfm

OH THE WIKI ... LISTS FOR EVERY SCENARIO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers

A GUIDE TO ASSIST YOU AS YOU PLAY "TURNPIKE CHICKEN":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slang_terms_for_police_officers

Random Thought for Thursday 11/21/13

[Yet another entry in my distracted driving series, highlighting the crazy thoughts I have whilst driving for long distances, trapped inside my own head ...]

So I saw a lot of trucks having sex on the road this last trip ... (that's trucks not truckERs, as I'm not travelling with a lot lizard or anything [are they still called that?  I haven't thought about CB language since I was little and my mother's boyfriend gave me a coloring book]) ... and I'm not talking about the frequently seen in the midwest truck-a-tois vehicles with one cab and three trailers (wait a minute -- would that make it a truck-a-quad?) ... but instead, a more "same-sex" hook -up version as seen in the stock photo (see, gay is trendy everywhere) -- a truck daisy chain if you will, with one lead cab and a few other cabs behind it all up in each other's business.

Yes, folks ... *this* is the way my mind works ... and hopefully no one will use this post to try to get me committed.

MY CHILDHOOD CB COLORING BOOK WAS RIGHT -- THEY ARE LOT LIZARDS:
http://www.truckertotrucker.com/blog/lot-lizards/

VIEW FROM INSIDE THE DAISY CHAIN:
http://guidemagazine.org/bonus-features/4062-inside-a-tractor-trailer

THE GOVERNMENT IS WORRIED ABOUT THE TRUCK-A-QUAD:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/forms/form_2.pdf

Random Thought for Thursday 11/14/13

[As "inspired" from my recent trip driving to Baltimore and back on a quick schedule last month, I've revived my distracted driving series for this month, with things I saw that made my mind wander ... in a safe way, of course ...]

Believing that creativity allows for endless possibilities when it comes to naming things (for example, see naming conventions of progeny in the African American community*), I was disappointed to see a sign for "Street Road" when driving across the boring part of Maryland on I-68.  (Note:  I am aware that the image is for a similar byway in PA and not the one I saw in MD -- more on that in a minute.)

It bothered me so much that I did a little digging around on the interwebs (not at the time I was driving, as I think I pledged to Oprah that I wouldn't do that at some point in my past, but when I got home), and I feel a little better having learned that there is a town in MD named Street and so this path is literally the road to Street, and not the height of laziness as I had first thought.  As for the one in PA, which is the one that google provided to me as an image when I went searching for something to accompany this post, Wiki says that it is also not laziness for which I should be offended, but that "it was called the Street road because, contrary to present usage where 'street' is a synonym for road, the original use of the word 'street' was a paved road".

I am now appeased.

[*Oh ... I also wanted to say that upon reflection, I didn't want this to sound racist in any way, so I went to the internet to document that this was a known cultural phenomenon.  In so doing, I first found a good bit of racist detritus, and then I finally stumbled on a Freakonomics clip that helped to put that observation in context ... and an ABC companion study about how "white" and "black" names were treated by hiring managers ... fascinating stuff ...]

MY WIKI SOURCE REGARDING "STREET ROAD":
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_132

THE FREAKONOMICS PERSPECTIVE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9TWt_9ARrg

A COMPANION STUDY ON "WHITE NAMES" AND "BLACK NAMES":
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2470131

Random Thought for Thursday 11/7/13

[It's time to revive an occasional series I haven't touched since September 2010 ... my Distracted Driving series ... which basically speaks to the fact that, when on long long drives (as I was in the past fortnight), my mind tends to wander.]

As seen whilst driving on I70 (or was it I65?) in Ohio (or maybe Indiana?), signs proclaiming that Jesus is real -- which, I already knew to be true, as, before I switched to working from home, he was the guy who would clean my work office every weeknight (or maybe that guy was named Jose).

Of note, Ohioans and Indianans were also very proud of said Jesus' ability to hold on to his money (which seems like it might be a little racist?), as evidenced by additional signs proclaiming Jesus saves (I guess they are just being encouraging?).

[Of additional and final note, I am aware that there is so much wrong with this status update and that I'll be going to hell because of it.  Btdubs, Ohioans and Indianans also let me know that hell was real too, via these same highway signs, so ... consider me warned.]

TO COUNTERBALANCE MY FACETIOUSNESS, HERE'S A REAL THING:
http://www.signs4jesus.com/

LOVE IT ... COURTESY OF HELL MICHIGAN ... HELL FREEZING OVER:
http://www.signs4jesus.com/

OK KIDS ... DISTRACTED DRIVING IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER:
http://www.distraction.gov/

Random Thought for Thursday 9/30/10

[Here's the last in the Distracted Driving series until my next big trip ...]

I am all for alternative energy - but I have stumble-driven upon some farms of windmills in the strangest places this year: outside of Palm Springs, quite suddenly on the side of the PA turnpike, and over and over again on the most boring part of I65 in Indiana. I'm always struck by the fact that some turbines seem to be moving and others seem to be still -- yet they are all facing the exact same way in the exact same wind path. It makes me want to go yell at the lazy ones all Troy Quixote style to get them to help out their spoked sisters and bladed brethren. "I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be [alterna-fuel] rich!"

IN INDIANA, IT COUNTS AS TOURISM TO VISIT THE WINDFARMS!:
http://www.earlparkindiana.com/windfarm.html

DIFFERENT PARTS OF A WINDMILL:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6707876_different-parts-windmill_.html

WHAT HAVE WE HERE? BOOK RAGS? A MODERN DAY CLIFF NOTES:
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/dq/PART9.htm

Random Thought for Thursday 9/23/10

[Here's another to file under Distracted Driving, a Thursday thought series all month long ...]

The more time I spend on long trips on the local Interstates, the more I daydream about this scenario: If I ever got pulled over by the cops for speeding, could I use my best Lennie voice (random Of Mice and Men reference!) to convince the officer that I thought the interstate signs were for the speed limit? "But there's signs everywhere with [insert # here from this selection: 81/83/90/94] on them. I was just trying to get to that number!"

Oh ... and, if possible, I would name the cop George, and I would hug him and pet him and squeeze him ...

CHECK OUT THE TOP 5-ish REASONS YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT OF MICE AND MEN:
http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/

PURDUE UNIVERSITY STUDY ENDORSES 70MPH LIMIT IN INDIANA:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/24/2442.asp

I'VE SAID IT BEFORE, BUT FB TRULY HAS A PAGE FOR EVERYTHING:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-will-name-him-george-I-will-hug-him-and-pet-him-and-squeeze-him/231154342589

Random Thought for Thursday 9/16/10

Here's another in the distracted driving series ... and with this one, can I just say that someone needs to find a way to harness my creativity for good before I become the next Lex Luthor.

It struck me as I watched different bugs graphically offer up their lives on the windshield of my car on a recent long drive ... what if they had watered at the local nuclear power plant, drinking a little of the nuclear waste so that they caused mini-nuclear reactions when they slammed into the cars on the highway? Boy, that would be something to see, huh? (I mean, not from inside the car necessarily, but from a distance.)

A PATENT FOR THE CLEANING OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE WATER:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4138329.html

LEX LUTHOR, THE SELF-PROCLAIMED NEGRO-RICAN DJ:
http://lex_luthor.podomatic.com/

HOW TO ... GET (non-nuclear) BUGS OFF YOUR WINDSHIELD:
http://car.tips.net/Pages/T004750_Getting_Bugs_off_Your_Windshield.html

Random Thought for Thursday 9/9/10

Here's another entry in the relatively new series I named "Distracted Driving" for my mind's ability to wander on long drives ...

Sign as I crossed over a bridge seen shortly after entering Indiana on I70: Nameless Creek.

Immediate thought: of all places to be introduced to a paradox, this was the least expected, as this creek ceased being nameless as soon as it was named Nameless.

NOT MAKING THIS UP EITHER:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM639A_Nameless_Creek_I_70_Indianapolis_IN

THERE's A YOUTH CAMP THERE:
http://www.namelesscreekyouthcamp.com/

AND IT's APPARENTLY A GOOD PLACE TO GO FISHING TOO:
http://www.myfishmaps.com/topo-maps/US-fishing-locations/Indiana/Indiana-Streams/Hancock/Morristown/Nameless-Creek/

Random Thought for Thursday 9/2/10

[Time for a new occasional series -- inspired by my long drives in the car and the ease with which my mind can wander -- that will hearken back to my original postings in their brevity (hopefully).]

Billboard seen upon crossing the border on I-70 between Ohio and Indiana -- Tom Raper Homes.

Immediate thought in my head -- I wonder how many guys named Tom get scared away from doing business with this company.

NOT MAKING IT UP:
http://www.tomraperhomes.com/index-3.html

IT SHOULD BE NOTED, DISTRACTED DRIVING IS BAD:
http://www.distraction.gov/