The last few weeks have been busy! Ballet rehearsals & recitals, a cruise, a weekend drive to St. Louis for a family wedding and enjoying the LakeFest & Columbia's Festival of the Arts. This means we have been doing a lot of driving (well, not the cruise, but...).
My husband traded in his old Camry for a new Camry Hybrid, which he is LOVING. He had gone to Antwerpen pretty much convinced he'd get a new one. That wasn't what I thought was going to happen, but when he called me after my workout to come over to the dealer, I was pretty sure I knew the outcome of the day. He drives a LOT - commuting to McLean, VA most days of the week from Columbia & he is the breadwinner since I haven't been working with pay for a couple years - so he probably should get to drive what he wants, right?
Even though I knew it was a done deal & I was starving after my workout, I test drove the car. While you want to test it out, like romp on the accelerator & see how it responds, I have a nervousness about test driving a car. The sales guy wasn't in the car, but I think it's natural to be a little worried about driving someone else's car. Plus, the gear shift was on the floor while in my car, it's on the steering wheel column. I kept hitting the window wipers on the Camry as a result.
I had driven into a neighborhood & gotten to a dead end. For years, I have thought Linden Church Road connected between Routes 108 & 32. For the record, I was wrong (yes, I can admit it...sometimes). When I started to continue back the way I came, there was a beautiful deer running across the road. I wasn't going fast, maybe 10 mph, but I was a little nervous Bambi's girlfriend was coming too. Usually where there's one deer, there's a second...So I proceeded with caution.
As I returned to the dealership, I exited from 32 at 108. I missed the green light to turn left at the top of the ramp. Weird thing about me, I stopped at the red light. When the light turned green for me, I moved into the intersection. However, the first car waiting to turn left did not seem to feel the same way about their red light. I honked. I MADE EYE CONTACT with this woman. She continued forward cautiously, but she STILL MADE THE LEFT TURN. WHY??? I was clearly in the intersection & there were cars behind me. She had a RED LIGHT. Even though there's a blinking red at this light, it's SOLID when cross traffic has a green light.
Since we live at the mall, I often take the mall entrance if I catch that light. There are signs all over that say "Incoming traffic has right of way." However, both the incoming & the people sitting at the STOP sign seem to disregard that. People stop where there is NO STOP SIGN. The people who should allowing incoming traffic in continue on as if we're at a 3-way stop. But we're NOT, people!
Broken Land & Twin Rivers - there's a stop sign for Twin Rivers. But cross-traffic on Broken Land often stops. There's NO STOP SIGN there.
Yes, we have sign prohibitions in Columbia...But could we follow the signs that ARE posted? And maybe not make up fictitious signs while we drive? Don't Columbians LIKE rules? Isn't that why we live here?
My husband traded in his old Camry for a new Camry Hybrid, which he is LOVING. He had gone to Antwerpen pretty much convinced he'd get a new one. That wasn't what I thought was going to happen, but when he called me after my workout to come over to the dealer, I was pretty sure I knew the outcome of the day. He drives a LOT - commuting to McLean, VA most days of the week from Columbia & he is the breadwinner since I haven't been working with pay for a couple years - so he probably should get to drive what he wants, right?
Even though I knew it was a done deal & I was starving after my workout, I test drove the car. While you want to test it out, like romp on the accelerator & see how it responds, I have a nervousness about test driving a car. The sales guy wasn't in the car, but I think it's natural to be a little worried about driving someone else's car. Plus, the gear shift was on the floor while in my car, it's on the steering wheel column. I kept hitting the window wipers on the Camry as a result.
I had driven into a neighborhood & gotten to a dead end. For years, I have thought Linden Church Road connected between Routes 108 & 32. For the record, I was wrong (yes, I can admit it...sometimes). When I started to continue back the way I came, there was a beautiful deer running across the road. I wasn't going fast, maybe 10 mph, but I was a little nervous Bambi's girlfriend was coming too. Usually where there's one deer, there's a second...So I proceeded with caution.
As I returned to the dealership, I exited from 32 at 108. I missed the green light to turn left at the top of the ramp. Weird thing about me, I stopped at the red light. When the light turned green for me, I moved into the intersection. However, the first car waiting to turn left did not seem to feel the same way about their red light. I honked. I MADE EYE CONTACT with this woman. She continued forward cautiously, but she STILL MADE THE LEFT TURN. WHY??? I was clearly in the intersection & there were cars behind me. She had a RED LIGHT. Even though there's a blinking red at this light, it's SOLID when cross traffic has a green light.
Since we live at the mall, I often take the mall entrance if I catch that light. There are signs all over that say "Incoming traffic has right of way." However, both the incoming & the people sitting at the STOP sign seem to disregard that. People stop where there is NO STOP SIGN. The people who should allowing incoming traffic in continue on as if we're at a 3-way stop. But we're NOT, people!
Broken Land & Twin Rivers - there's a stop sign for Twin Rivers. But cross-traffic on Broken Land often stops. There's NO STOP SIGN there.
Yes, we have sign prohibitions in Columbia...But could we follow the signs that ARE posted? And maybe not make up fictitious signs while we drive? Don't Columbians LIKE rules? Isn't that why we live here?
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