Texting While Driving

I was driving home yesterday, and when I made a turn I came on a car that was driving slowly.

For me to say this, as someone who others have called repeatedly a “slow driver,” this is saying something.

As I came next to her, I’d realized she was on her phone, typing away. I decided to drive in front of her. While I drove, for the next five blocks before my next turn to get home, I would watch her, occasionally not even paying attention that she’s a long distance (like seven car lengths at least distance) behind me and holding up traffic), still typing away. It was infuriating to behold.

What could be that engrossing that you can’t stop and park somewhere to do that? Are you single and trying to develop a relationship? Are you a wife corresponding with your husband? Are you a businesswoman who can’t seem to realize texting business is not a good thing on the road? The relatively calm look on her face didn’t make it seem like something was emergent (and if it were an emergency, I’d imagine she’d be trying to get to the emergency quickly rather than meandering along while drive-texting).

Humans…

Why I Chose... Florida

Okay, so I didn't have much of a say in it. My immediate family just migrated there.

When I was a very young kid, my mother applied successfully for my sister and me both to become naturalized British Citizens, a status at least I still have to this day. It was a prelude to probably moving to England. Meanwhile, my dad had other ideas.

His father and stepmother both lived in Florida, and that's where he wanted to go. So, that's where we went.

Florida, I adore, though, at least Fort Lauderdale. Miami, not so much. Miami Beach, I like.

I like Florida for its raininess. I like that it's breezy enough that I don't have to use the air conditioning much during the summer like I do here in Georgia. And it doesn't have the ghastly pollen season, either.

I like that there's actually a walking culture both in the suburbs and cities, and that in city-adjacent neighborhoods (or even the city where I'd grown up) one can walk places and not have to have much concern about someone drunkenly mowing you down because the "sidewalk" is literally a part of the road with a solid line dividing the two.

I'd had, relatively, better dating prospects there, or at least people seemed to like me better. But then I was still in my 20's, too, so that helped.

The Library in My Life

I had brought up the fact I would buy The Handmaid's Tale when it becomes less expensive (hype tends to inflate prices; supply and demand and all that), and a friend brought up I could always go to the library to get it.

And it dawned on me I haven't thought about the library — or me going to a library, more appropriately — in years.

I'm a fan of books, reading, and literacy. I was actually talking with one of my co-workers about reading and how as a child the only fictional books I'd liked to read were science fiction. Otherwise, I liked non-fiction, and it would be grating to have to read fiction I haven't picked myself (so school-assigned fictional reading until about high school was pretty little-bit-of-less-than-torment-inducing for me).

When I moved to Georgia and had a bit of free time, I'd check out books from the library, but since I'd moved on my own, it has been more of buying books and having them at my disposal to read whenever than going to the library and reading on, effectively, a timetable. And then I give the book(s) back, some thing my friend had also brought up as a plus of a library.

He is right about that fact. If one wishes to live minimally, or minimalistically, a library would be a great option. It has been a little wasteful of me, because I have so many books, and how many of them can I actually read (or even, how many have I read entirely?) at once? How many are there for relative emotional attachment (or at least, as a physical memory piece: "Oh, I remember when I'd gotten that Jacques Derrida book! It was for Dr Maingot's Sociology class, but he changed his mind about actually using that after all, and I just couldn't part with it!")?

And I still haven't read it.

Yet, there's something about a library, like many places lately that are not my bedroom, that's a turnoff. I'm a pretty giant introvert with some social anxiety, so if I can do things with only limited interaction with other human beings (at least face-to-face most often), I tend to take that option. I'm not a social dud (most of the time; especially at work, generally, I'm pretty good), but I tend not to go out of my way to talk to someone, and I often forget people like to actually hear a verbal "Hello" in greeting rather than a nod or a (and yes, I do do this) slight bow in cordially acknowledging their presence.

So going somewhere with things I like, but with people who mean well and want to help you find what you want (even though usually when I've gone to a library, I'm reallyreallyreally not there usually with anything particular in mind to pick out), I still find it a little annoying when they ask me if they can help me find something (even though, ironically, if I'm there and unsure where something is, I'm looking for someone to help me and they're either busy or not within reach).

And I suppose I appreciate the gesture in wanting to help, even though 99% of the time I don't need any, and though it does annoy me a little. I suppose I want to be able to be in my own head and not have anyone interrupt that jaunt; I'm often very fancifully looking through the stacks and wandering when I have been in a library.

Then there are just other humans in general being there and possibly interrupting my meander too. So, I can enjoy books while not having other humans "in my way" if I have the books at home, and so why I haven't been to a library in probably four years. There is a library just around the corner from me, and I'd just have to register, but I haven't actually given into that corner of my head that wants to go there.

And it's a Pokémon GO gym.

Expected Sensationalism?

Okay, so I'm going through my tweet stream today and saw this, a re-tweet someone I follow had done of someone he follows, who in turn had quote tweeted a news station's tweet.

Seeing this, I really wanted to reply to her. The way I'd interpreted what she'd said was that the article doesn't mention the fact the couple had arms during their campaign. I read the article and midway down it was explicit to that they did have arms.

I decided to not reply because I'd thought about it and reinterpreted it to probably mean the actual tweet contents before the link. I read what others replied and some had the same initial interpretation I did, some the second, and the rest had some other interesting things to say.

There were, of course, those who applauded the fact the couple got a conviction. This I can understand. Being passionate about a cause is something, but possibly endangering others is definitely controversial.

Some derided the couple's racism. Yes, race more than likely factored into this ("more than likely" because it's just the one article, and I haven't taken in enough information, nor was I there, for me to say "this is racist", even though it does have hallmarks of it).

Some called the ABC affiliate racist for a few reasons. The one that seemed to peek out was the headline seeming to indicate "racial slurs" as the motivating factor for the conviction. It very well could have been, and the fact the couple had arms was an aggravating factor in the severity of the conviction. They thought the station should have put the "armed" part first, or instead of, "racial slurs". I'm just receiving these facts third-hand, so I can't make that kind of judgment. Some cite the reasoning as clickbait. Either way, people are going to click on it.

There are even some who say the station is racist and is enabling others the repliers call racist to use this as ammunition for their own messages.

Some, naturally, blamed Donald Trump, because that's apparently what people do: no matter who's the president there's blame on the president. I didn't vote for him, but he's the president, and God's sovereign. I leave it up to God.

In my mind racial slurs or Confederate flags sound less sensational than guns. Maybe the birthday party part is more sensational? I don't even know. Lately I've been more taking in things without really reacting to them.

But some can't.

OMGosh, The Dreaded Red Arrow

I grew up in Florida. In Florida there really wasn't a problem with turning right in red arrows directing right turns, so long as one was in the rightmost lane.

I move to Georgia, and I was a bit cautious at first, never turning, even if people would blow their horns at me or flash their headlights.

Then I'd started to buckle, starting to turn. I'd learnt tonight I've been contravening the law.

In Florida:

What does the red arrow mean?
A red RIGHT arrow means that you must come to a complete stop at the marked stop line or before moving into the crosswalk or intersection. After stopping, you may turn RIGHT on the red arrow at most intersections if the way is clear. Some intersections display a "NO TURN ON RED" sign, which you must obey.
A red LEFT turn arrow means that you must come to a complete stop at the marked stop line or before moving into the crosswalk or intersection, and shall remain stopped until a signal indication to proceed is shown. After stopping, the motorist facing a red LEFT turn arrow or red circular signal indication is permitted to enter the intersection to turn left from a one-way street onto a one-way street with traffic moving to the left except when a " NO TURN ON RED" sign is displayed.

(FAQs) - Traffic Signals - Florida Department of Transportation

In Georgia:

GA § 40-6-21.  Meaning of traffic signals

...

      (F) Traffic, except pedestrians, facing a steady RED ARROW signal may not enter the intersection to make the movement indicated by such arrow and, unless entering the intersection to make such other movement as is permitted by other indications shown at the same time, shall stop at a clearly marked stop line or, if there is no stop line, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if there is no crosswalk, before entering the intersection, and shall remain standing until an indication to make the movement indicated by such arrow is shown;

      (G) Unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian signal, pedestrians facing a steady RED ARROW signal shall not enter the roadway; and

      (H) Traffic, except pedestrians, facing a flashing RED ARROW signal, after stopping as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, may make a right turn but shall stop and remain stopped for pedestrians and yield the right of way to other traffic proceeding as directed by the signal at such intersection.

...

O.C.G.A. § 40-6-21

Oh, boy…

Risk of Positivity

Craig Davis sentenced to 10 years
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/24788331/craig-davis-sentanced-to-10-years

You know, this really kind of gets to me. This is the second high-profile-ish "I-have-HIV/AIDS-but-I'm-going-to-sleep-around-anyway-and-btw-I'm-straight-identifying" trial that's gone on in this state since 2014 broke.

It's pretty angering, actually, because… well, okay. The supposed Bareback Brotherhood — and sorry if it ruffles feathers bringing it up — does this all the time, and I think the defense I've heard is that if people want to go around doing this at he risk of infection it's their business (For those who don't know, that group is a bunch of loosely-affiliated group of mostly gay and bisexual men who'd been rather vocal in 2010-ish on the Internet, who eschew condom use during anal sex under any conditions. The backlash to them has been strong that I think that's why I only hear ably them sporadically nowadays.). They at least seem to understand it's a risk and thus announce their beliefs and lifestyle openly (sometimes with blissful ignorance) that others might understand (or "understand") and act accordingly. 

With this case, though, these poor women, they not only could get infected themselves, but because they're women they could become pregnant, bringing something akin to what happens in a lot of the developing world — because it's almost they don't know better— to the United States. It brings the fear, hate, and uncertainty hundreds of thousands of women primarily in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa feel to the United States.

And then somehow, I think these guys do this because they may have some homosexual hangups like a lot of Black guys have: go sleeping around because they want to prove they're "not gay". And sure, they might not be. They might be intravenous drug users and sharing. They may have caught it, as low as the odds are, from an HIV-positive woman and kept "sharing the joy".

An argument for chemical castration.

I don't know what goes through these guys' heads if anything does, but they've got to stop. But then, maybe some of the women knew and it's a straight version of BBBH?

Government Intervention

Now, I can understand why some people are suspicious of the government. We've seen historically what can happen when one entity has too much power and/or control over a group.

Pogroms might occur, slaughters could happen, oppression can ensue, and sadness may run rampant. There could be little, if any, higher regulation or co-regulation.

It doesn't have to be that way, however, if we do it correctly.

What sparked this rant-of-sorts was me hearing on our local news station a few people expressing their gripes about the City of Atlanta possibly banning smoking in public parks. Some said, among other things, that the government is too big, that it should be smaller, and has no right to "meddle" or "infringe" in/on the affairs of the general populace's "right" to do as they choose with their lives.

My take is this:

Certainly, there are elements one most likely can govern by oneself.

The government doesn't need to tell you when you eat, if you eat, if you exercise, if you watch television, if you decide to dye your hair purple… This is because these are personal decisions affecting only you. If you eat sporadically throughout the day, that's your choice. If you decide to not eat because it's Ramadān, trendy, or you don't feel like it, that's your decision influencing solely your physical/mental(/spiritual) health and well-being in general.

If you don't eat and you're pregnant, however, that's different. You are willingly - though it may or not be wittingly - influencing another's life. This may bring in the debate on when that clump of mitotic cells becomes a cute bundle of joy, but that's another debate.

The point is, you're influencing another life.

Speed limits, traffic signs, signals, and regulations, and lots of other governmental interventions in these regards exist because somewhere along historically the "powers that be" left us to make "common-sense" decisions, we'd failed at it — perhaps killing someone in our devices-leaving — and so they left it *again* to us as a voting population, or those we'd entrusted to have our best interests at heart, to protect the majority of us from those who made the life-canceling (and, me judgmentally saying, stupid) decisions.

So, I think they should ban the smoking in public parks. People have been in the presence of smokers and have asked them to stop, and some graciously do or move to prevent further offense. From what I've witnessed, though, there is a strong, vocal subsection of smokers who believe they should smoke wherever they choose, and that those who don't smoke and feel uncomfortable around smoke should be the ones to move.

This insensitivity influences others. It's your personal right to smoke or not, because you are affecting your own life. You can smoke among other smokers because you each are willing participants unbothered that others are smoking around you. Smoking around non-smokers who do not wish smoke in their breathing space does affect someone else.

There is a half-joke in Loganville that the City and Gwinnett/Walton County doesn't do anything until someone dies. This seems to be true, because traffic light referenda don't seem to happen until someone dies. Special Local-Option Sales Taxes (SpLOSTs) don't go to ballot until there's a death, it seems.

Even one death.

If there is one person who feels the personal right to live healthfully is under threat because of another, and that other does not respect the first person's personal right — and that continues despite the sense of dignity/deference to all healthy personal rights, (quanti-/quali-)fiable over time — the government should intervene.

God knows, the petulant children harming others for their own comfort aren't making the right decisions themselves…

Follow Your Road

I was trying to read Max Weber's Protestantism and wok ethic book in a comfortable position. I'd been trying to read it for about an hour in various positions, and it would be either that I could only read comfortably through my left eye - itself a feat quite uncomfortable because I'm accustomed to reading with both eyes - or I could not sit a certain way for very long. I resorted to one I should not have; I laid down on my stomach to read. I soon found myself asleep.

...

I look around and I'm in a neighbourhood that seems familiar, but I don't know it. I begin to walk. There are houses all about, but no people. It's a film noir look. The trees have no leaves, and some of them are battered and broken. None of them have substantial trunks; they're just skeletons. I keep walking.

I begin to think that I need to be at church for a meeting. It's not the church I've been attending, but one I attended when I was a child through when I went to university. I set back out. Next thing I know, I'm on the highway in my car. I don't know how I got my car, but I do, and I'm on the ramp leading to the next stage of where I need to go.

The light turns green, apparently, though I don't see it turn green. I drive slowly forward, because I'm waiting for people who are turning left, while I have to drive forward. The ramp is under construction. I notice while on the slow procession the time is 7:50. I had to be at church at 7:00, and it will take a little while to get there based on my "current" location.

I continue still. I eventually make it to the highway. Five minutes in my drive, I notice two things. The first is I'm no longer in my car, but driving an ATV. I've never owned one, and I don't know why I have one, but I'm on one. I continue. The second is there is about to be no more paved road. I realise this much too late, as there is an orange, unmarked, thin, plastic cordon drawn above my head by several feet that I cross, and I hit white gravel. I'm thinking I shouldn't be here. "They obviously put that cord up for a reason. I shouldn't be here."

I keep driving as I see a few pickup trucks in the distance. Other people have made this "mistake" too, so it's okay to keep going. I come to several placed where the road depresses severely and I go flying over the depression. After a few more of these, I see an exit branching/curving to the right. I stop the ATV and pick it up by a handlebar, running to the exit to see where I am. I see a sign saying the exit leads 3 miles to Interstate 3. (Note: I'm just now looking this up. I'd never read this article before, so I had no idea there even was an Interstate 3, much less that it doesn't yet exist or that it will be in Georgia. Funny how dreams are.) There are several other road markers to what the exit leads: United States Highway 475 (with a red shield), and three more colour-shielded roads. I decide this is not where I need to exit, and so take my ATV and go back to the main highway.

I keep driving, and it becomes harder to see. My eyes can't keep open as well. Eventually, I have to stop again, but in the middle of the highway. I know I need to continue, but I can't because I can't see. "Just think about where you need to be and it'll happen," says something in my head. The next thing I know is I'm face down on the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. I can see again. I look up and I see Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. I'm looking at Dorothy looking around and marvelling at the scenery, and somehow I become Dorothy. A few seconds later, the Tin Woodsman appears, and I instinctively know he needs a heart.

A voice in my head goes, "You see? You didn't need to drive any further. All you needed to do was think about where you needed to be, and it came to be. That's why your eyes weren't working."

Then I think about how I'm to get home, and the way to do that is to be selfless. I can't think about what I want, but what others do. I need to make wishes on behalf of the Scarecrow, Lion and Woodsman, because that's what I need to do instead of wish for myself. I don't need to because my mind will take care of whatever I want.

...

I wake up on my stomach.