Maui is for Lovers

Remember that one time I went to Hawaii?

I. Loved. It.

In no particular order, I loved these things the best:

1. The weather -- sometimes it rained in the morning, but mostly, it was sunny and a little cloudy. Never really too hot, never too cold. Always lovely. Sometimes breezy. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
2. The views -- The ocean. The sunsets. The sunrise. The trees. The flora and fauna. 
3. The food -- Fish! (In particularly, Mama's Fish House. Pricey. But totally worth it. Twice.)
4. The drives -- Road to Hana is awesome. So much that we did it three times. Sort of... more like, we attempted it, turned around, attempted it, somehow started at the beginning again, and then finally made it. After that, any time we had to go on Hana Highway, we considered it an attempt. By the 15th time, we were total pros. But I loved the twists and turns. The waterfalls. The bridges! The dirt road. The random picture adventures. The secreted beaches.
5. The beaches -- need I say more? Every one of the beaches had their own appeal for different reasons. We visited at least seven different beaches, including: The Black Sand Beach, Koki Beach, Makena Beach, which were all my favorites. I loved the sand under my feet (except, as sand does, it gets everywhere) and the waves (unless they were knocking me over) and the sunsets on the beach, the people watching, and the reading on the beach! (I could do that everyday, for forever.)
6. The sun -- It kept me warm and it didn't burn me. And despite what people say, I'm at least one shade darker than when I left. (As long as you don't look at my legs.)
7. The diversity -- Between the beaches and the jungles, everything was so so so great.
8. The hidden gems -- We stumbled upon Koki Beach on accident. We also discovered a charming little garden highlighting the different cultures that populate Hawaii today. We went off-roading into a giant field of sugar cane, which was a little scary and not very advisable in our economy car, but totally awesome until we stumbled across a few other people.
9. The solitude -- There were a few times when I felt like I could be on the island all by myself and I LOVED it.
10. The hike -- We hiked the Papawai trail, which takes you through a bamboo forest and up to a giant waterfall (which we didn't quite reach). The bamboo is awesome. The mosquitoes are not awesome. Next time I go, I'm going fully prepared for more hiking.
11. The sunrise -- We were awake for it twice (crazy, right?). Once we were driving. And once, we were in Haleakala Crater National Park, watching from near the summit. It was breathtaking, mostly because we were freezing. 
12. The time change -- It is not as awesome coming back to Utah, but I loved that we were going to bed no later than 10 p.m., and waking up and going out and seeing things. It was very productive. I think it almost inspired me to change my ways. Almost.
13. Banyan trees.
14. Luau dancers -- Listen, those boys might have been no more than 18 years old, but they were attractive. And they had washboard abs, and more importantly, massive, muscley thighs. And fantastic smiles. And weren't half-bad dancers, either. Swoooooooooon. 
15. Our condo -- It was in a great location (Lahaina), two comfortable beds for Megan and me, an excellent shower with plenty of hot water, and was stocked with all the equipment we needed: body boards, snorkel gear (which we never used), beach chairs, beach towels, etc. etc. It was a great opportunity to stay in so nice a place for so inexpensively. 
16. And I almost forgot, my very favorite thing: NO BRA -- that's right. No bra. When you are spending the majority of the day in a swimsuit, there's just no use for it. I think I wore a bra three out of the eight days we were there. Magical. Seriously.

I didn't think there could be a list of things that I didn't like about my trip But there were a few things that I am glad to know:

1. Maui is not the place for single people, except for all of the reasons listed above. Just note that while attending the luau, the submarine adventure, on the road to Hana, or literally anywhere you go on the island, you will run into newlyweds, couples celebrating their anniversaries, couples, old couples, gay couples, and more couples. Everywhere. Maui is for lovers. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that someone thought that Megan and I were somehow...involved. However, we were not there on our honeymoon. 
2. Mosquitoes. I hate them. 
3. The grumpy guy at the luau is not interested in answering questions, he wants to drop off your drink in .00001 second because he has other tables to serve and wants tips, not to be friendly. He was the worst. And as I chatted with my seat mate on the plane, she complained that the locals are not very friendly. I didn't really interact with many locals, but if that guy was any way to gauge  she was probably right. 
4. That's it. Did you think this list would be long? I was in MAUI!! Of course it isn't long.

And now, the reason you are reading this post:

We took a lot of self portraits.

The beaches were amazing.

The sunsets were a perfect way to end the days' activities.

Loved everything about the road to Hana.

We are fun.

Sunday Drive

I've been working on our new company website for a long time now, and one of the things that we have been desperately needing is pictures of our projects. So Sunday, I decided to make use of Megan, and her camera, and we took off for a little adventure.

We headed towards Fairview, where KMA designed the Fairview City Dance Hall addition and remodel. Only, Garmin decided that Fairview and Fountain Green are the same place, so we took a slight detour while we rerouted.

It was a good thing that I was driving the company vehicle, and not my own little car. Temperatures were in the 90s the whole trip, and the sun was out hard. Needless to say, Megan and I were suffering with our sunburned bodies (Megan much more than I was) and we were grateful for the A/C.

After we got the business taken care of, we did weird things like singing and dancing in the gazebo, and then we were on our way to the next stop.

We stopped in Manti first, though, because we drove right through it. And how can anyone not see the Manti temple and not need to stop and take a picture? We spent some minutes taking pictures, dancing with the statues and playing in the fountain.

We were originally going to head to Monroe and then work our way back up, but it ended up that we were going to have to go straight through Salina and Richfield first, anyway, so we did everything in reverse order of what I planned. Which actually turned out to be a good thing.

Garmin again played a trick on us and we found ourselves on some really random, country road that had lots of BIG BIG BIG...cow...BULLS! With the biggest horns I'd ever seen. In fact, I just googled images of bulls  and the only type of bull it could have been was a Longhorn.

I don't think I've ever seen one in person...

He was too far away to get a decent picture, and kept turning around on us.

No one will understand it, but I think Megan and I were both in tears from laughing so hard, and then because our (Megan's) sunburns hurt.

We made it to Salina and took pictures of a middle school and an elementary school that were both within a block of each other. Then, we headed to Richfield and shot the district office, the high school, an elementary... and the coolest LDS church building I've ever seen.

We headed to Monroe, and discovered Elsinore. There's really not much to either town, except old dilapidated buildings. There was one in Monroe that I really want to buy and restore. It is literally a pile of standing sticks, but looks so old and interesting that I drove around the whole block trying to figure out what it used to be. My guess is a school or a church. It was for sale, too. Too bad I don't have any monies for anything like such as.

We found ourselves on the road back home, but had to take one last picture stop. We stopped in front of the Sevier Bridge Reservoir. It was really windy.

We might have taken more pictures here, but Megan's camera decided to start acting a little lazy. We weren't exactly sure what the problem was (and I was horrified, because it stopped working while I was using it!) so we sat in stony silence for about 15 minutes, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Hey... remember how we used to fix the old Nintendo game systems? I'll laugh if all you have to do is pull out the battery, blow on it, and it works again!"

So Megan pulled out the battery pack, blew on it, blew in the camera for good measure, and.... WA LA!!! That trick is magic. I almost feel sorry for the kids that grow up without an old Nintendo game system because they'll never realize the magic of blowing hot air onto stuff and its remarkable healing powers.

By the time we got back to Provo, we were tired, and I was desperate to see the pictures.

I think we got some really good ones, for both work and between the two of us. I am also convinced that this is the best way to do road trips. Frequent stops for picture breaks and no time limit seems to be what makes road trips BIG BIG BIG fun!

Weekend Update

Friday, Melissa had some friends over and we sat around and talked for a little while, but then they left to attend a concert. Melissa and I were trying to come up with something to do, but both of us were fairly exhausted. We didn't want to be lame by going to bed at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night, so we read from A Compendium of Kisses. Really, Melissa was sleeping and I was cracking up over my inability to read out loud. Butchering words led to more laughter, which led to Melissa waking up long enough to see tears running down my face and her gasping and me wheezing... and finally we decided that we had enough and it was time for bed.

Saturday I woke up for a RS breakfast. We had French toast, which I sort of have a weakness for. And then I didn't do much until I headed up to South Jordan to meet up with Lauren. We went to an improv comedy show. I like improv, and I respect people who are able to be funny on the spot. That's not an easy thing to do. Provo has Comedy Sports, which is big on BYU/LDS culture and has a very defined theme and set up. It has its own venue. Push My Button is not as organized. They perform in a small coffee shop. They rely a little too much on audience participation, which led to some pretty strange and too elaborate prompts. There were some really funny parts, but for the most part, it wasn't that entertaining. They roped me in to "playing a game for prizes", and I won the Halloween trivia (answering 5 out of the 6 questions quicker than my opponent). Only... they gave the runner up a gift card to Applebees, and the winner got two free tickets to their next show.

...Ok.

Anybody want two free tickets to see Push My Button next month? Let me know.

Utah roads are an absolute mess right now. And on my way home from South Jordan, I had to navigate my way through all the detours and orange barrels. It was confusing and frustrating. They had closed the on-ramp to I-15, so I had to go up and around on a road that wasn't clearly marked as the detour, and I was only guessing where I needed to turn. Luckily, I guessed correctly. When I made it to Utah County, they had closed down the highway to one lane, and all I saw was red brake lights, so I decided to get off at American Fork and go down State Street. Unfortunately, I think I picked the worst exit to get off. There were two detours to take you to 500 East and back to the freeway. Then, because of the Haunted Forest, there were hundreds of cars wherever there weren't orange barrels. I got temporarily lost, guessed my way to State Street, and headed home... of course, that took a bit of time because State Street is down to one lane as well. Sigh.

Sunday we had stake conference. Both Melissa and I dragged ourselves there. The first meeting was fairly unremarkable, except, one of the speakers (the wife of one of the high councilmen that serve in our stake, approximately 45-years old) decided to talk to just the girls; she said that she was sad that the guys seem to get ripped in to every general conference, and that they were all great and wonderful and stuff like that. The girls needed a little constructive criticism; according to her, we need to "be less picky and more submissive". She didn't explain enough to know if that is what she actually meant -- if she actually wanted us to go back 200 years before women had rights and were imprisoned in insane asylums for speaking against their husband's ideals (I'm reading a book on one such case right now) or if she just wanted us to.... what? I don't know.

The usher didn't have a hunchback, or a droopy eyelid.

 

 

 

 

The second session was better in way of speakers, but worse in the fact that there were a whole lot more distractions. The first meeting met in an auditorium. The second in a double chapel with hard folding chairs and an overheated gym. There was an usher who reminded me of Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame...he had really crazy, buggy eyes. And he just walked up and down the gym floor, hunting anyone down who wasn't in a seat and making sure we were packed in there like sardines. We had sad next to a bigger guy from our ward, and spaced the chairs perfectly, and along comes Quasi, and he makes us move down, making everyone uncomfortable and then continued to patrol the area so that we were afraid to move again. We did, though, during the intermediate hymn, finding our original places much more comfortable. He was so distracting, though. And every time he walked by, we wanted to punch him.

The speakers were better this time around. I really do like our stake presidency. They are good men. One of them is actually my mom's old seminary teacher from high school! Crazy, right? He's my favorite. And our stake president is Canadian, and really funny. He stands up and tells us how grateful he is to have his "first wife" in the audience. Then, he had to clarify that she is his only wife. He told us about this weird, old many that used to live in his ward boundaries that they used to make fun of. "We all have trials," he said, "some of us are heavy and weird and that's our trial." He then went on to say that this man moved to be close to the temple in Cardston, Canada, and did some 200,000 ordinances before he died in his early 80s. President Hatch talked about how this man, who didn't have a lot of friends and family on his earthly life, was probably heralded in to heaven by the 200,000 souls he did temple work for. The amount of awe and respect in President Hatch's voice was enough to know that he regretted having made fun of this strange individual, who obviously amounted to much more.

President Hatch also talked about the people that go in to talk to him before they get married, or as individuals, and express fears about the future. I guess it isn't surprising that my peers are all worried about what the world has to offer them. They are afraid to have children because the moral standard of the world continues to decline; the economy is never stable; divorce rates continue to rise; etc. etc. etc. He told us, "You have the brightest of futures of anyone on the history of this earth. You have more good and more joy to look forward to. Yes, there will be trials. But, miracles are born out of trails and sacrifice."

The whole time I was listening to his talk, though, I was thinking that I'm not scared to get married. I'm not scared to have children. I am not worried about how I would support a family -- I know that God sustains us. I am scared about the future, though. Because I'm scared of having a future where I am alone. For some reason, a lonely future sounds neither bright or joyful.

After conference, I went home and made pumpkin pies. They turned out delicious. I know, because I had some for breakfast. I'm pretty pleased with the crust, which we all know is one of the hardest things to pull off, and I didn't over or under bake them. Now, I just have to decide if I am going to share, or if I am going to devour them all up myself.

Recapture Lake

Today I got paid to drive.

It was a perfect driving day, too. The weather was perfect so that I was not lamenting the fact that I didn't have an air conditioner (except for once) and the sun was shining.

My quest was to get the proposals that we have been working tirelessly on for the last several days down to the San Juan School District in Blanding, Utah.

I was most concerned about my car making it.... Louise has been a bit touchy lately, and it would have been a real shame to be in the middle of the desert with no cell service and to have the engine blow (which has happened) or the brakes to go out (which has happened) or... any number of things. But she was a champ! And I had no problems whatsoever.

I had to be there before the office closed, so I put the pedal to the metal and drove as safely as I could, making a single stop where I purchased a book on CD. Since there is no radio in the middle of nowhere, and I only had a single CD in my car, this was a MUST -- even if it was terrible.

When I hit Monticello, about 20 minutes from where I needed to be, I started panicking because it was about 10 minutes until the supposed closing time. I started planning on what I would do if I needed to get a hotel room and how I would work that out.

I didn't have too much trouble finding the portable trailer that serves as the grounds and buildings office, and the guys in it only gave me a little bit of a hard time. But once the proposals were in the right hands, I headed out looking for adventure. And that really pretty reservoir I saw on my way in.

I stopped at the Blanding museum, which didn't have much to offer. Though, there were a few books that I wanted to buy (but considering that I have purchased too many books in the past two weeks, I have been banned! from buying any more for a while) but practiced self-restraint, thanked the attendant, and headed out.

Recapture Lake/Reservoir was a stunning shade of cerulean blue when I passed it. Unfortunately, that was because the water was tinted by my sunglasses -- it was not actually that color. Fortunately, it was still beautiful. I drove a path that headed to the "recreation area" to see where it would take me, and found myself the sole person on that side of the lake. I parked Louise, and stood outside, relishing the tranquility of the area. Then I drove down to the dock area, and found a peaceful little "beachy" area.

It was so picturesque. And so breathtaking. And I thought, "What a perfect, tranquil place to read my scriptures. If only I had th--..." And then I noticed that my church bag was sitting there, and I did in fact have my scriptures. Providence? Maybe. But probably just laziness, since they've obviously been in my car since Sunday.

So, in order to not make myself a hypocrite to myself (and to God) I pulled them out, and did a little reading. And it was a perfect place to read scriptures. The wind was blowing just a little bit to rustle through the brush and trees. The water gently lapped against the rocks. It was only slightly ruined by the bugs that kept buzzing around.

I enjoyed the area for about an hour, and then decided to hop back on the road so that it wasn't midnight by the time I got back. The sunset was gorgeous. Seriously. And I would know, seeing as how I was driving directly into the flaming orb for a good part of the drive.

Once the sun had set, and it was fully dark, I entered the canyon near Price, and that was where I realized, driving is rather stressful when you know that all the shrubs and fence posts are laying in wait to spring out at you disguised as a deer and you can barely see the faint lines on the road as the bright lights on the opposite side blind the dickens out of you.

But really, Utah is a beautiful state. There are so much diversity in the landforms, vegetation and even climate. I've been to Moab before, and I can't believe how different it is from Bryce Canyon, which is completely the opposite of Cache forest. It's all so breathtaking in different ways. I actually really liked driving down near Blanding, which I have never done before. It even looked different than anywhere else I've been in Utah.

But I will admit, even with how awesome it all looks -- I do wonder what the first settlers really thought when they decided to put in stakes. "Here? Really? Are you sure?" Because, that would have been my reaction.

A Three-Day Drive to Washington

The trip from Provo, Utah to Mukilteo, Washinton is approximately 14.5 hours. Or at least, that is what Google maps tells us...

The trip for Roberta and me consisted of about two hotel stays, a walking tour and a little bit of snow that was much more nerve wracking to one of us - though the other was certainly relieved to be out of it, too.

I left work around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, thinking that we'd get an early start on the road. When I met up with Roberta at the storage unit, she had successfully emptied about half its contents into the driveway, and was deciding what she would take in the trailer. I think I blinked at her. The trailer!? Didn't she know that I've never - NEVER - towed anything on a car/truck before? Of course she didn't. And I wasn't about to tell her that. She left to get the Uhaul (trapping me behind the storage unit gates because I didn't know the password on how to get out!) and I sat back and entertained myself with reading and phone calls and walks around the units.

A few hours later, and after several bonks on the head (Roberta) and much aggrevated noises (Roberta) with some nervous laughter and giggling (Shelli) we had the trailer packed with more stuff than we anticipated. Roberta started the driving and we made it to Draper before we decided to stop for food. Then we drove to Salt Lake to drop off my car. And THEN we made a valiant effort and made it all the way to Tremonton, UT before we stopped at the Hampton Inn for the night.

We made sure that we were up for breakfast by 9:30 a.m., headed down and made delicious waffles and then went back up to the room and took a nap. After showering and getting ourselves ready, we were off (at around 1:30 p.m.) and we alternated between driving. The drive through Idaho is the same drive I've made over and over again to visit my Uncle in Boise, and it was long... I couldn't believe how long it took us just to get to Burley!

We did really well until we hit the mountain passes at around 9:30 p.m. or so, we hit the point where the rain turned into snow, and the road lanes turned invisible. Why don't states make sure the paint on their roads is visible? It's nerve-wracking enough driving through a mini-blizzard, but when I can't see the lanes and the edge of the road, it is much more scary! Plus, I was pulling a trailer, which could overtake my car at any point - especially on the 6% down grade... And once Roberta woke up, it was all over. I don't know if it was the weather or my driving (couldn't have been my driving... I'm a great driver) but she decided that we needed to pull over at the next town. I managed to make it another 40 miles before actually pulling over but eventually we did - even though we had made it through the mountain pass, and the snow was again rain. I wanted to keep going because I didn't want to take much more time, but I was also secretly glad that we stopped. As much as I could have pushed through, I was just as tired of driving as Roberta was and my contacts were going buggy. Plus, I really needed to use the facilities. I could have pushed further if it weren't for that last part. We went shopping at WalMart for bathing suits we never used and got a room at the Oxford Suites in Pendleton, OR.

Oxford Suites are fun. They are all western-themed with cowboy and Indian pictures on the walls. They gave us a discount because they were booked and only had smoking rooms available. Smoking rooms stink. And every time I thought I was used to it, I would take a breath and get a headache all over again. I don't think I ever really got used to the smell, but I did manage to get well-rested enough to be up for breakfast at 9:30 a.m. My favorite part of Oxford Suites is the breakfast. They have a kitchen where they make you awesome potatoes and eggs to order. I got a cheese omelet and Texan-style potatoes and sausage, and it was delicious.

Roberta laid down for a nap, and I watched a movie while we waited for our 2:00 p.m. reservation for the walking tour of the Underground of Pendleton. We decided the night before that we were not actually in a hurry to get to Washington, and we wanted to see some of the history of the area. Plus, they were advertising a tour of a real bordello, opium room and speakeasy! The hotel did call us and asked if we were going to "vacate the premisis" soon... so we got on that and headed towards the tour.

Outside the store on Emigrant Street, a man and his girlfriend (/sister/both?) sat on the bench and told us that he had lost his truck the night before. Apparently drinking was involved, and probably Indians that knew he had beer in the back of his truck? He was convinced that if he reported the truck as stolen, he would be calling the police on himself - and he certainly did not want to do that. We wished him luck and went on our way. The walking tour was probably not as good as it could have been, but it was certainly easy and gave me some ideas for a book I have been writing so that was really cool. Roberta and I took pictures and then we hopped back on the freeway and made the rest of our drive. I was actually really glad that we decided to stop - it's always fun to have a little spontaneous adventure, and I don't know that any of my family or friends would have been willing to go on a random walking tour in a random city.

The western part of Oregon is really cool. It wasn't at all like I imagined. I've never been to Oregon, so I was really excited to actually visit it! Driving through it was more like what I imagined Scotland or Ireland to be like - really green and rainy and hilly. There were really no trees to be seen - the few that existed on the drive we passed through the dark and snow the night before.

We made it out of Oregon before we realized that we didn't have enough gas to get to the next town in Washington to fill up, so we had to turn around after crossing the state line and head back into Oregon. This worked out for us because of course, in Oregon they pump your gas for you. It's against the law to pump your own gas. So we figured we might as well have them stand in the cold rain, and fill-'er-up.

Once we were back on the road, it was for good and it was so fun to drive past the signs for Spokane (where I lived when I was two years old - and of course don't actually have any memories of living there) and Yakima. Yakima is the last city in Washington that I had been to and it's been about 12 or 13 years since then because my grandparents moved from there to Utah some time after that. I have really good memories of the places my grandparents lived in Washington and so it was really fun to relive some of those while I was driving through.

We made it to Mukilteo at about 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night, tired but happy.

I really, really love Washington. The whole state is absolutely beautiful (based on the observations I've made in the few places I've been). I'm sad that I don't get more time to visit and explore - but my ticket is purchased and I'm to fly back to Utah tomorrow evening.

"Not You"

It was a tradition of sorts for the youth of the Piqua Ward to go to Friendly's after a stake dance for ice cream. Not just any ice cream, of course, but for candy shoppe sundaes of the most delicious variety. My favorite being the Reese's Pieces. (And yes, we pronounced it Ree-sees Pee-cees.)

I drove the car shown above in high school. Really, Bessie deserves her own post, but that will have to come later. Amy and I were driving in said car, Bessie, and sitting at a stoplight on the I-75 overpass. We were listening to music, and reliving the (not-so-)exciting things that had happened at the dance. Happily sated with our ice cream - Amy probably not quite full with her five-scoop - when a car of boys pulled up beside us.

"Hey!" They yelled.

We ignored them.

"Hey, beautiful," they said again, trying to get Amy's attention. More whistles, more cat calls. Amy stared straight ahead.

Finally I turned to look at them.

"Not you," the driver said with a tone of juvenile disgust.

"I know," I said, returning the irritation in my voice.

And then the light turned green and they sped off. I ignored the flush that crept to my cheeks. And the sorry look on Amy's face, that I mistook for pity.

"Idiots," she said.

"Yeah," I agreed, keeping my eyes straight ahead.

We returned home. I am sure it was after curfew. (Amy and I were never very good at keeping curfew.) Told our parents good night and started getting ready for bed.

I do miss that car, though.

The Two-Way Stop

The above picture is abstract art. It is also a representation of the AWFUL experience that I have had repeatedly this week, that for the life of me I can’t understand. And on top of that, it is just one of those things that makes me IRATE.

Yup, I get irrationally mad whenever I find myself in the above situation. For those of you who did not take Art Appreciation 520, let me interpret for you.

Most of you may be able to tell that the depiction is that of a two-way stop. The strange colored houses and lack of nice landscaping along with the two-way stop may give you an idea that you are close to campus. The truth is, this particular depiction is that of 200 East, but it has and can happen regularly on other intersections around this area.

Because it is a two-way, Louise is happily waiting at the STOP sign. This is the law, and she (Louise being my car) and I don’t mind stopping for the law – well, most of the time we don’t mind it. And we don’t really mind waiting for the cars that do not have to stop as they continue to go on and on and on and on. Even though we are running late, and waiting is the very last thing we want to do.

So we’re waiting. I see a break up ahead, just after the teal car and there will be enough distance between her and the next car that I can scoot across and be on my way but then the teal car starts slowing down… and slowing and then she stops. STOPS. Even though, there is not stop sign. I’m baffled. And then I laugh. The ignorance. Doesn’t she know that there isn’t a STOP sign there? Well, I’ve made the mistake before...the sheepish little teal car will figure it out soon enough. Only, she isn’t going. And my mantra of, “C’mon. Go. Gooooo. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Complete with hand gestures and the shudder of Louise’s own idleness isn’t convincing her to move any faster.

She sees the gestures and makes a face and then points. Of course she is pointing to the pedestrian, who must have been so confused at this backwards game of chicken that he decides to walk. Because what else is he going to do? Tealie obviously is going to be “considerate” and let him walk across. And what does that mean for me? I don’t know what to do. By law I’m required to wait for Tealie to drive across, but the pedestrian (represented by the brown and orange circles, in case you didn’t get that) is going the same way I am – so why shouldn’t I get to go if Tealie is going to be waiting and Louise can certainly move faster than lame-brain BYU student crossing the street.

I didn’t go earlier, and then I was even more irritated with Tealie. But when it happened today, I said, “This pisses me off,” (and I was talking to Mom….whoops) and drove across anyway. Because it really would be inefficient not to.

I would say that I feel sorrier for the cars that are behind cars like Tealie. But that isn’t the case. I feel sorry for myself. And I feel rage. Lots of rage. I wish Louise were more like a Power Ranger, and could transform into this monster vehicle and totally cream Tealie. Because they make me so mad.

*Disclaimer 1: Of course, this whole situated is diffused a bit when it is the pedestrian’s fault. Some pedestrians feel entitled to go whenever the heck they want. And if that is what causes the car to stop, and I have to wait for little Peter or Molly to get out of Tealie’s way, then I do not blame Tealie. Pedestrians have the right away, whether they deserve it or not.

**Disclaimer 2: If it were exceptionally cold or there was lighting or a tornado or blizzard or some other natural disaster…if the person looks like they are in general discomfort because they are about to poop their pants then maybe – MAYBE – I can see the other car giving the pedestrian the extra 5 seconds it would take to cross their path and let them cross… Maybe.