And people wonder why I hate driving on the freeway. Too many big things going way too fast.

I know! I just read an article about it online and saw a picture (shudder). I guess the road was merging to one lane for construction. Reminds me why I was so ascared of driving after the accident.

A local resident has a life sized statue of Captain Morgan (of rum fame), with his foot on a keg, out in the fenced-in patio in his front yard. We took a picture today.

Odd thought of the night:

If SPAM is the abbreviation for Spiced Ham, is SPUM the abbreviation for Spiced Rum?

t imagines a bunch of pirates singing

Spum spum spum spum. Lovely spum! Wonderful spum! Spum spu-u-u-u-u-um spum spu-u-u-u-u-um spum. Lovely spum! Lovely spum! Lovely spum! Lovely spum! Lovely spum! Spum spum spum spum!

{{{Lilty}}} strength and peace

Oh, Lilty, it's just so horrible. I'm so sorry.

So sorry to hear about your cousin's SIL, Lilty.

Oh Lilty, that's horrible. I live in fear of big-rig drivers (even being related to some). Even when not arrest-warranted, they are usually driving on too little sleep.

I never once had menstrual cramps ever. I was actually concerned I wouldn't recognize my contractions when they started, as everyone said "Oh, they feel just like cramps!" Now that my period's started again, though, I've had cramps every time. Yet another way pregnancy wasn't kind to my body.

Crap, I'm coming down with a cold. ION, can't sleep (again).

I never had bad cramps, ever. But what I did have was backache and terrible awful aches down the backs of my legs. I could hardly walk.

My neighbor drove semis most of his life, and he was from the old school; the time when if your car broke down you prayed for a trucker to stop and help, because they were the ones who usually did. Most car drivers don't take into account the mass and inertia of a semi. They cut in front of them, they pass unsafely, they don't give the semi driver enough warning or reaction time. F had two really bad wrecks, and several minor ones. The minor ones were either equipment failure or some other driver being stupid, and F managed to avoid mashing him and his vehicle by putting his truck, his load, and his life at risk.

I am intimidated by semis on the road, mostly because I know that these days they have unrealistic schedules like the rest of us, and are scrambling for the money. Owner-operators' expenses are unbelieveably high, and they have to keep the trucks running 24/7 to keep the bank from taking the rig, so lots of times it's brothers or husband and wife teams taking turns driving, and yes, lots of times they're driving tired and doped.

But I have an enormous amount of respect for truckers, because most of them are hard-working, conscientious and considerate people, who have a very good grasp of just how big and powerful a vehicle they're driving, and the mayhem it can cause.

Lilty, I'm so sorry about your cousin's SIL. Peace and strength to her family.

My sister's FIL ran his own trucking company, and I spent a lot of my childhood riding in the sleeping compartent of a semi that she and her husband were driving. It was actually from them I learned to fear the semi driver, and respect the mass and inertia of the big rig.

That being said, I've taken some dumb risks. I once drove from LA to SF on the 5 in my Miata about 5 feet behind a semi, because it was pouring rain and the only way I could stay clear was to be in his wake. I have no idea why I'm not dead. (But that goes for a lot of things I've done).