Saturday, March 3, 2007

Hmmm...more thoughts

So, as I am driving to work today (yes, I still have my license legally for now) I was looking to see how many of the cellphone jockeys were on the phone. Now, this is just my observation, but for every man I saw on the cellphone, there were at least 6 women on theirs. All this whilst hurtling down the interstate in 2000 lbs.+ at the posted speed of 65 mph. Hmmm, I commented to a friend earlier that I need to find a picture of a woman sitting on a toilet while talking on her cell phone as both seem to be the most favorite things to them. I remember forever, girlfriends, my ex-wife & daughters spending inordinate amounts of time in the bathroom and god knows, since the proliferation of cell phone technology, I can't go anywhere without a woman being on a cellphone. I find it really annoying to have to try and drive on an interstate highway while some idiotic person in front of me is too busy talking to their friends. I myself have a cellphone, and I have it more for emergency's than anything else. I actually hate the damned thing, but it's become a necessary evil. I also find that if I don't have to talk on it while I am driving, good. I also have a bluetooth device so I don't have to do anything but just answer the phone and tell whomever, "I am in the middle of driving, take a long walk off a short pier!" I have thought about getting a bumper sticker to put on my car, which I am not a bumper sticker kind of guy, saying something to the effect that "spend your time driving the car, not the cellphone" or some such thing. Grrrrr. Can you tell I dislike, with intensity, people who choose to talk on their phone while driving?

Anyway, One of my biggest pet peeves involves driving. Anymore, I hate driving in the city. People who have the new cars that have the "turn signal optional" feature as they refuse to use their blinker to signal a lane change or whatever. Now, you might ask, how can I having a DUI hanging over me comment about other people's driving habits? well, I am actually a good driver. Take away the DUI issue and I am a very conscientious driver and observe the posted speed limit and use my turn signals and I don't talk on the cellphone except in rare instances. I have had only a couple of accidents, the only one my fault was way back when I was 16 on Fort Carson, Colorado in the parking lot of the Post PX. A minor fender bender for a young lad. A rite of passage. Otherwise, I pay attention and have good "sit-rep" as far as driving. So, I do have a good record of driving, for the most part. I just got stupid one night (there is a story behind the incident in question that I will go into later) and decided that I needed to run to the store to pick up a few items for my flight the next day to attend my daughters' wedding. They always say that judgement is the first thing to go out the window when drinking. Guilty! Yep, boy did my judgment go out the window. Now, I am embarking on the journey to make restitution to the great state of Arizona for my momentary lapse of reason.

As a side note, I had commented to a friend the other day about having to serve time at the Hanoi Hilton for my infraction and he asked why. I told him because I did in fact get charged with a DUI. He looked at me and said, "Slayur, this is Arizona, who HASN'T been charged with a DUI?". I had to laugh at that one. I know through research that one of the reasons that they are so down on drunk driving (other than the obvious reason) is, (drumroll please) TA-DA! it's a cash cow for the state and the financing of good ole' Janet Napalareno's prison jones. Yep, part of the fine they assess toward you is for prison construction. And silly me, here I thought it was more for buying Gov. Janet Napalareno a razor so HE could keep the 5 o'clock shadow off his face. Janet has shown up here for interviews and we have a segment in one the news programs where it's "ask the governor" and each time I see the esteemed gov, he has a 5 o'clock shadow. Now, dear reader, you don't see this as they have a MAACO technician here for applying body putty to the mugs of guests and on-air people. And since we have gone Hi-Def, you can really see the putty melting on the on-air people. I don't call on air-people "Talent" as that is really stretching the truth. It's like I have told people in reference to TV anchors; I look at them as the ancient romans looked at lawyers, lower than street performers and prostitutes. Some I work with are great people, others, well, let's put it this way, we tried to get a wide shot, but their ego got in the way...

So, time to stop for now. More later when I get some time. I am starting to enjoy this and hope if you are reading, you will too.

Peace,