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  • #1

    Brakey McBrakerson and others

    We went down to Seattle yesterday to be total tourists. Of course I have roadkill stories.

    Aggressive merging

    First one was on the way down. I'm cruising along and approaching an on-ramp. There are two cars working their way up to speed with a nice, big long gap between them. By the time we get towards the end, I figure the lead car will be ahead of me and the rear car will merge in behind me.

    As the cars are approaching the end of the ramp, I slow down slightly to let the lead car on (I was speeding, admittedly), and the other car was behind me. Until it wasn't, because as we get to the very end, suddenly they're next to me. There's no more ramp yet, they've accelerated to be parallel to me (who has right of way!) and we are soon going to be occupying the same space.

    The guy must have braked at the last second, because he whipped in behind me, and then moved over to pass us and rocket off into the sunset.

    Not-quite cop pwnage

    We finished up our touristy stuff and began to navigate the Mercer Mess at 5pm. We could not have timed that better.

    Imagine how giddy I felt as I saw an SUV "blocking the box" in the intersection, and a very angry-looking traffic cop approaching them. Unfortunately, just as the light turned yellow, traffic inched forward just enough for the SUV to get out of the intersection, and Traffic Cop had to go back to directing side-street traffic through the mess. *sighs*

    Brakey McBrakerson

    Traffic was a bit messy going home, but fortunately I had a passenger and an HOV lane, so we were cruising along fairly well. In the lane next to us, I saw Brakey McBrakerson. We've all seen this guy before. He speeds up until he's on the ass of the car ahead of him, and then brakes to back off, then speeds up to their ass again, then brakes....unfortunately, he decided to move into our lane and I was stuck behind him. I just sat back and cruised along (with a BMW riding my ass) while watching this guy brake, speed up, brake, speed up....I swear, he made me want to facepalm tears.

    I actually made up a new word during this: Moronitude. As in, someone with that level of moronitude should not be allowed to drive on the interstate.

    I hit a wall

    And my own self-sighting: I made my own contribution to the array of scuff and scrape marks on the walls of the parking garage of the Pacific Science Center. Yep. I made one of those marks.

    I may appear on Google Streetview

    We saw a Googlemobile driving through the Seattle Center. You can't actually drive through there, but I know they've been working on getting more off-road images lately, so I guess this is one of those projects. Unfortunately, I did not think enough to take a pic of it. All I could do was stare stupidly at it. I did consider chasing after it while screaming "Take me back to Mountain View with you!!!", but there was a Seattle PD officer nearby, so I ended up just standing there watching it drive by.

    I will be keeping an eye out to see if Hubs and I appear there. If you do happen to look up the Seattle Center and the streetview option becomes available, and if you see two fat people in front of the monorail station, that's us. Hubs had a black leather jacket, and I had a navy raincoat.
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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  • #2
    A friend of mine is sure I'm on google streetview. Me, I don't recognise myself - it's a mostly anonymous figure in a black winter coat and hat. Very typical for southern aussie states.

    But he insists the figure is sitting in a very distinctively 'me' way. And it IS in my home area.
    Seshat's self-help guide:
    1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
    2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
    3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
    4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

    "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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    • #3
      Heh, I AM on streetview. Sitting in my car in front of my (former) workplace, as was my habit in the winter when it was blowing a gale and I wanted a smoke without freezing my butt off. Granted, it's just a person-shaped blur inside the car, but who else could it be?
      What colour is the sky in your world and how high of a dosage do you need before it turns back to blue? --Gravekeeper

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      • #4
        Hey bhs, we've ALL left a scuff mark here or there.
        Sounds like you had a great day.

        mharbourgirl: How creepy would it be to see your car on Streetview with someone sitting in it, that you knew was NOT you!

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        • #5
          Quoth bhskittykatt View Post
          I may appear on Google Streetview

          We saw a Googlemobile driving through the Seattle Center. You can't actually drive through there, but I know they've been working on getting more off-road images lately, so I guess this is one of those projects. Unfortunately, I did not think enough to take a pic of it. All I could do was stare stupidly at it. I did consider chasing after it while screaming "Take me back to Mountain View with you!!!", but there was a Seattle PD officer nearby, so I ended up just standing there watching it drive by.

          I will be keeping an eye out to see if Hubs and I appear there. If you do happen to look up the Seattle Center and the streetview option becomes available, and if you see two fat people in front of the monorail station, that's us. Hubs had a black leather jacket, and I had a navy raincoat.
          You should have struck the Google Maps Pose!
          PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

          There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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          • #6
            Quoth bhskittykatt View Post
            He speeds up until he's on the ass of the car ahead of him, and then brakes to back off, then speeds up to their ass again, then brakes....
            A while back, I read a report of a taxi driver who was astonished to learn that the floor pedals had possibilities other than "stomp on the gas" and "stomp on the brake".

            Quoth bhskittykatt View Post
            I may appear on Google Streetview
            A while back, I was showing some relatives how my grandmother's house shows up in Google Maps, and the StreetView showed a car turning into the driveway. They eventually figured out exactly which cousin was making that turn.

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            • #7
              I just checked Street View to see if I was on it. I saw a Google Mobile one day at North and Halsted Streets in Chicago, back in the summer of 2011. But they're still using an image from 2009.
              "If you pray very hard, you can become a cat person." -Angela, "The Office"

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              • #8
                I've been living in my house since 2006. Google Earth uses a photo from about 2007 or so. That summer, the house was repainted and I made some attempt at improving the landscaping. The house looks vastly different from when I first moved in. Pine trees are gone, and so are those stupid concrete lions (which were visible in Earth's aerial views!) either side of the sidewalk.
                Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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                • #9
                  Quoth Draper Mel View Post
                  I just checked Street View to see if I was on it. I saw a Google Mobile one day at North and Halsted Streets in Chicago, back in the summer of 2011. But they're still using an image from 2009.
                  lol! Saw it at 103rd and Western and bent slightly forward and put pretend binoculars up to my eyes, but still haven't seen that either. Maybe they do edit?

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                  • #10
                    Quoth bhskittykatt View Post
                    Aggressive merging

                    First one was on the way down. I'm cruising along and approaching an on-ramp. There are two cars working their way up to speed with a nice, big long gap between them. By the time we get towards the end, I figure the lead car will be ahead of me and the rear car will merge in behind me.

                    As the cars are approaching the end of the ramp, I slow down slightly to let the lead car on (I was speeding, admittedly), and the other car was behind me. Until it wasn't, because as we get to the very end, suddenly they're next to me. There's no more ramp yet, they've accelerated to be parallel to me (who has right of way!) and we are soon going to be occupying the same space.

                    The guy must have braked at the last second, because he whipped in behind me, and then moved over to pass us and rocket off into the sunset.
                    1000x times this, I so cannot stand this behavior. I've related this to folks I know, but never had any real compulsion to post this little treasure until now.

                    360 days out of the year I'm about as Zen as you can get behind the wheel of a car. Being in the "south" (only just), time tables round these parts are pretty much "well, get in or here when you can". It's rather pleasant compared to the North East, that's for sure. So for the most part I set my cruise at the posted limit, point the car, and just let it go man. There are very few days where I ever have to bump cruise for anything but stop and go traffic types.

                    Now a few months back I HAD to be somewhere that wasn't a time table of my creation. It required not taking crap from the stupid humans in other cars, and so I was a bit less relaxed about letting other drivers attempt to place themselves into the space I was occupying.

                    In my travels home there's an intersection of an interstate and a highway. There's always traffic here, especially in the afternoons. Traffic merging from the US highway to the interstate comes in from a posted 55 MPH to a 65 MPH zone and merges into the three travel lanes (which used to be two). Most folks usually "get it" and will at least make an attempt to merge sanely, but then there's always that special few.

                    In this instance, I noticed a few cars and a space. Then another set of cars. I sped up so as to fill the space. It was at this point the truck that SHOULD have been behind me appeared at the side of my car. Dude would just not relent, and honestly, the law is on the side of whomever is in front here in NC. I didn't back down and mister pickup about took off my rear end cutting across it to pull behind me.

                    He then proceeds to pull into the lane on my left. And then, it got worse. In an effort to intimidate me (and show me that my dinky car was no match for his truck) he begin inching closer and closer to my driver's side door. I looked at the truck, looked at him and just shrugged. He then cut and front and pulled the "let's slow down and see if you hit me" dance. If I hit him, I'm in the wrong and completely liable for damage at that point.

                    The thing though that made me wish I could justify a dash cam? Dude was in a work sponsored truck! It's a landscaping company (and a small one at that). I have pictures of the truck, but wasn't able to get my stupid phone to capture a video when I needed it to.

                    That, by far, is one of the worst rage incidents I've had to deal with in the last 15 years on the road.
                    But the paint on me is beginning to dry
                    And it's not what I wanted to be
                    The weight on me
                    Is Hanging on to a weary angel - Sister Hazel

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                    • #11
                      I haven't checked lately but for the longest time my kitty was on google earth Sitting on a chair outside my open apartment door.
                      https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
                      Great YouTube channel check it out!

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                      • #12
                        Last time I looked at google earth, only my car was visible (parked at work). My coworkers van is also there, with both side doors open and a blur that looks like him getting something from inside.

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                        • #13
                          The pic of my parents' house was taken in 2007; there are two cars in the driveway (one of which they no longer own).
                          I don't go in for ancient wisdom
                          I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
                          It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

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                          • #14
                            Quoth BookstoreEscapee View Post
                            The pic of my parents' house was taken in 2007; there are two cars in the driveway (one of which they no longer own).
                            The pics of my house on Google Earth are more recent (April 2012.)

                            If you zoom in close enough on the side of the house you can see Stan (our old gray cat) sitting on the front porch at the top of the steps.

                            And you can see Abby next door in the very back of our neighbor's back yard on the other side of their garage.
                            Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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