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So, Nekojin has set up a meeting with a guy who is selling a pair of figures on Craigslist. In Canoga Park. Which is on the other side of LA. During evening rush.
I am not pleased by this, not least of all because I had only just (not one hour prior) checked out the local traffic conditions for a co-worker to find them typically craptacular.
So, we head out. Strangely enough, getting there isn't too headache-inducing beyond the still-80+° and dry weather and 30mph average traffic speed on the freeways.
Oh, I do recall no less than 3 people merging into my lane directly ahead of me without once checking to see if they were clear. Most of them were, barely, but one of them wouldn't have been if I hadn't spotted him before he made his move. And I did honk and mouth the word "asshole" to one particularly vexing individual for not only cutting me off, but then going a good 5-10mph slower than the rest of traffic.
We also discover that the needle for our gas gauge goes well below the E line before it runs out of gas.
So it comes time to head home, and all is well. Nekojin's got his toys, we got a couple books from a local bookstore outlet, and we took a stroll through a Halloween Store location (a rather large one, at that). I love that place. <3
It's time to stop for gas. There is a station we passed on the way to the rendezvous that is convenient and we pull in. Then we pull out and around to get to an open pump (the station isn't well-designed), and we fill up.
This is where we encounter our first driving douche,
Asshat In a BMW: Take 1
The van in front of us is shilling for some mobile weight trainer company and driven by someone who appears to be in about the same physical shape as myself; it did not inspire confidence in his services. The tank of his van was also rather larger than the tank of our own little Toyota, so it took longer for him to fill up. So, we have our gas, Nekojin's soda, and would like to get back on the road, but some self-important jerk in a BMW has backed his car up to our bumper to guarantee that nobody else will get that spot ahead of him. Nevermind the fact that since he's on the side of the pumps he is on, there is nobody there to even compete for it. The jerk made us wait for mister mobile weight trainer with the led messageboard in his back window to finish pumping, dicker about on the passenger side of the vehicle, pull his not inconsiderable bulk (he was tall-ish, so his out-of-shapeness meant he was rather large) into his van, and then dicker around inside for a bit before finally starting it up and getting the heck out of my way.
I was giving mister I-drive-a-BMW-so-I'm-more-important-than-you deathglares, but since he wouldn't look at me except in his rearview mirror, he was unscathed.
So we escape the gas station, head down the road and get back on the freeway. An hour has passed by now, so the freeways are moving much better than they had been, and we progress nicely.
This is when we encounter
Asshat in a BMW: Take 2
We're moving along when this guy pulls up behind me and proceeds to follow at an incredibly unsafe distance. I tap my brakes to tell this guy to back off when he whips around to the right and passes me. He nearly hits me in the process.
It is at this point that I see he's driving a BMW and wonder, idly, if this might not be the same jerkoff that blocked me in at the gas station. Offhand, I don't believe it was.
So, he whips around me on the right and speeds up the lane until he has to hit the brakes because, as anyone could see, traffic wasn't moving nearly as fast as AiaB:2 wanted to go. He then proceeds to tailgate some other car while oncoming traffic is trying to merge.
That's when we get introduced to
Road Rage Truck Driver
This guy is trying to merge onto the freeway, and he should be merging in ahead of AiaB:2, but that one is riding the bumper of the guy ahead of him so closely that nobody, not even a moped, would be able to squeeze into the gap.
So RRTD has to hit the brakes and whip his truck over behind AiaB:2, at which point he thinks he can speed up again. Unfortunately for him (and nearly for AiaB:2 and his bumper-buddy, too), traffic in that lane has come to a near standstill. RRTD slams on the brakes, fishtails a bit, and manages to come to a stop before actually slamming into the back of the Beemer.
I, meanwhile, am in the next lane over, and have also slowed so that should it have progressed to a full accident, I could be a witness and not a participant.
RRTD then pulls in behind me after I've passed and I discover that the truck's headlights are terribly misaligned. I have a trick where I adjust my mirror to reflect almost straight back when I get these people behind me, and it never fails that they will quite quickly remove themselves from behind my car.
Finally, while traveling a different freeway, (the above took place in less than 5 miles of road) there was yet another
Idiot Changing Lanes Without Looking
I'm tooling down the road, and we're up to 65mph, which happens to be the local legal speed limit. The freeway is fairly clear, and there's not a lot of asshattery goign on.
Then we pass an interchange, and we get a whole new batch of vehicles and their drivers who may or may not know what the heck they're doing.
One of these drivers is the type of person who absolutely and without fail will merge to the left-most lane, even though they aren't even remotely up to the speed of the freeway, nor do they have a need to pass anyone.
This particular one pulled his slower-than-me car in front of mine, causing me to be mildly irritated. It was at this point that I noticed a pair of headlights coming up on my left and going quite fast. Decidedly over the speed limit.
Mister Must-Go-Left ahead of me, however, is not nearly so aware of his surroundings, and proceeds to leisurely change lanes again, to the left, literally cutting in front of Mister Speedster who then had to change lanes himself to avoid what would have been a very messy accident.
As before, I saw this coming together long before it happened and have slowed down considerably, so should the worst happen, it won't happen to me. I was again thankful that my services as a witness were not required.
The rest of the drive on that particular freeway included the usual assortment of people which mostly consisted of idiots who liked to pull in front of me and then force me to slow down. Over and over again.
And, finally, the last, just as I'm finally switching off this particular freeway. This one is yet another who had to go slower than the rest of the traffic, regardless of the fact that he was creating a hazard by so doing. My interchange is coming up so I move over to get away from him. He cuts in front of me, again, and continues to be in my way. I just want to be home.
Finally, I get around him on the interchange, and for the last few miles on my favorite local freeway, it's smooth sailing.
^-.-^
I am not pleased by this, not least of all because I had only just (not one hour prior) checked out the local traffic conditions for a co-worker to find them typically craptacular.
So, we head out. Strangely enough, getting there isn't too headache-inducing beyond the still-80+° and dry weather and 30mph average traffic speed on the freeways.
Oh, I do recall no less than 3 people merging into my lane directly ahead of me without once checking to see if they were clear. Most of them were, barely, but one of them wouldn't have been if I hadn't spotted him before he made his move. And I did honk and mouth the word "asshole" to one particularly vexing individual for not only cutting me off, but then going a good 5-10mph slower than the rest of traffic.
We also discover that the needle for our gas gauge goes well below the E line before it runs out of gas.
So it comes time to head home, and all is well. Nekojin's got his toys, we got a couple books from a local bookstore outlet, and we took a stroll through a Halloween Store location (a rather large one, at that). I love that place. <3
It's time to stop for gas. There is a station we passed on the way to the rendezvous that is convenient and we pull in. Then we pull out and around to get to an open pump (the station isn't well-designed), and we fill up.
This is where we encounter our first driving douche,
Asshat In a BMW: Take 1
The van in front of us is shilling for some mobile weight trainer company and driven by someone who appears to be in about the same physical shape as myself; it did not inspire confidence in his services. The tank of his van was also rather larger than the tank of our own little Toyota, so it took longer for him to fill up. So, we have our gas, Nekojin's soda, and would like to get back on the road, but some self-important jerk in a BMW has backed his car up to our bumper to guarantee that nobody else will get that spot ahead of him. Nevermind the fact that since he's on the side of the pumps he is on, there is nobody there to even compete for it. The jerk made us wait for mister mobile weight trainer with the led messageboard in his back window to finish pumping, dicker about on the passenger side of the vehicle, pull his not inconsiderable bulk (he was tall-ish, so his out-of-shapeness meant he was rather large) into his van, and then dicker around inside for a bit before finally starting it up and getting the heck out of my way.
I was giving mister I-drive-a-BMW-so-I'm-more-important-than-you deathglares, but since he wouldn't look at me except in his rearview mirror, he was unscathed.
So we escape the gas station, head down the road and get back on the freeway. An hour has passed by now, so the freeways are moving much better than they had been, and we progress nicely.
This is when we encounter
Asshat in a BMW: Take 2
We're moving along when this guy pulls up behind me and proceeds to follow at an incredibly unsafe distance. I tap my brakes to tell this guy to back off when he whips around to the right and passes me. He nearly hits me in the process.
It is at this point that I see he's driving a BMW and wonder, idly, if this might not be the same jerkoff that blocked me in at the gas station. Offhand, I don't believe it was.
So, he whips around me on the right and speeds up the lane until he has to hit the brakes because, as anyone could see, traffic wasn't moving nearly as fast as AiaB:2 wanted to go. He then proceeds to tailgate some other car while oncoming traffic is trying to merge.
That's when we get introduced to
Road Rage Truck Driver
This guy is trying to merge onto the freeway, and he should be merging in ahead of AiaB:2, but that one is riding the bumper of the guy ahead of him so closely that nobody, not even a moped, would be able to squeeze into the gap.
So RRTD has to hit the brakes and whip his truck over behind AiaB:2, at which point he thinks he can speed up again. Unfortunately for him (and nearly for AiaB:2 and his bumper-buddy, too), traffic in that lane has come to a near standstill. RRTD slams on the brakes, fishtails a bit, and manages to come to a stop before actually slamming into the back of the Beemer.
I, meanwhile, am in the next lane over, and have also slowed so that should it have progressed to a full accident, I could be a witness and not a participant.
RRTD then pulls in behind me after I've passed and I discover that the truck's headlights are terribly misaligned. I have a trick where I adjust my mirror to reflect almost straight back when I get these people behind me, and it never fails that they will quite quickly remove themselves from behind my car.
Finally, while traveling a different freeway, (the above took place in less than 5 miles of road) there was yet another
Idiot Changing Lanes Without Looking
I'm tooling down the road, and we're up to 65mph, which happens to be the local legal speed limit. The freeway is fairly clear, and there's not a lot of asshattery goign on.
Then we pass an interchange, and we get a whole new batch of vehicles and their drivers who may or may not know what the heck they're doing.
One of these drivers is the type of person who absolutely and without fail will merge to the left-most lane, even though they aren't even remotely up to the speed of the freeway, nor do they have a need to pass anyone.
This particular one pulled his slower-than-me car in front of mine, causing me to be mildly irritated. It was at this point that I noticed a pair of headlights coming up on my left and going quite fast. Decidedly over the speed limit.
Mister Must-Go-Left ahead of me, however, is not nearly so aware of his surroundings, and proceeds to leisurely change lanes again, to the left, literally cutting in front of Mister Speedster who then had to change lanes himself to avoid what would have been a very messy accident.
As before, I saw this coming together long before it happened and have slowed down considerably, so should the worst happen, it won't happen to me. I was again thankful that my services as a witness were not required.
The rest of the drive on that particular freeway included the usual assortment of people which mostly consisted of idiots who liked to pull in front of me and then force me to slow down. Over and over again.
And, finally, the last, just as I'm finally switching off this particular freeway. This one is yet another who had to go slower than the rest of the traffic, regardless of the fact that he was creating a hazard by so doing. My interchange is coming up so I move over to get away from him. He cuts in front of me, again, and continues to be in my way. I just want to be home.
Finally, I get around him on the interchange, and for the last few miles on my favorite local freeway, it's smooth sailing.
^-.-^
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