Travel Update: Driving & Safety

So my plan to post more frequently, and with photos, has clearly not held up.  But there’s always hope! It’s a new season, and I’ve started carrying my camera cable with me on trips, so I could actually upload some of the photos I take.

By now you know how I feel about driving in New Jersey. Every time I have to drive up there I try to come up with more succinct and pithy ways to explain just how ridiculous the traffic laws are. And in the “A picture is worth 1000 words” category, please view my GPS directions one night. 

No, this is not a traffic circle, it’s a normal 4-way intersection with a light. I particularly like how the suggested route looks like a question mark. And if the directions don’t bake your noodle, look out the windshield and see if that helps clarify where they hell I’m supposed to be driving.

Speaking of ridiculous directions, how about this caution sign in front of a hospital I was visiting during the winter. Now, warning elderly and infirm patients that the sidewalks and streets can be icy is important, but this is just a bit too wordy in my opinion. And they were at the curbs, which meant people were stopping in the lane to read them.

I’m on a plane right now, headed back up to my favorite driving location. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve had to travel anywhere, and it feels like forever. The first leg of my flight had a great flight attendant, his lighthearted joking safety speech made me think I was on a Southwest flight for a minute. We were behind schedule, and he asked “at the request of the pilot” that we all lean forward during takeoff and lean into any turns. He said it was simple physics and would help us get to our destination faster. He also pointed out that anyone who has been in a car made after 1962 probably knows how to use a seatbelt, but just in case we didn’t he did a super slo-mo demonstration complete with Batman-like sound effects. It was great, and he had a lot more attention from us than the typical recitation does. I don’t know why more airlines don’t encourage their attendants to mix it up. This safety speech makes me wish I flew in the Southwest more frequently: