Soapbox Derby

A few years back I was watching a special about The Audubon, that infamous highway in Germany that has no speed limits, at least on the parts outside of urban areas.  There were 2 things that really caught my eye about this road and the Germans - First, they make it a point to "Drive Right" as they call it.  What is meant by that is to drive in the right lane, only hang out in the left lane to pass.   I believe I heard that there are traffic cameras that will issue a fine if you do not follow this rule, however I am not 100% sure if that is true.  Secondly, Germans have the idea that driving is an important enough task that we should do nothing else when behind the wheel, except for maybe listen to some music - Bach or Mozart perhaps.  When the German cars first came to the US they were not too popular because there were no cup holders in the cars.  It seems that quite a few German cars (and other European, such as Saab) that the cup holders are an afterthought because of this philosophy.

Recently  whilst in the UK, I had driven from Manchester to Grimsby.  It is around a 2 hour trip on the motorways.  Keep in mind, the Brits drive on the "Proper" side of the road, or the wrong side to us Americans.  One thing that I quickly noticed, if I did not pass and get out of the passing lane as soon as I could then I would often get honked at, headlights flashed at me, or have drivers aggressively pass me on the wrong side and then cut me off.  It is about being aware of your surroundings.  I was sure not to talk on the cell phone whilst in the UK just because I wanted to be sure that I was focused on driving.  Also, my CDMA cell phone did not work in the UK, so that was the other deciding factor.  I rather enjoyed driving in the UK for the month that I was there.  The worst part about driving there was when I had to come back home.  Upon my return, I discovered that there are a LOT of people driving on the American roads that do not Drive Right.  I had to strongly resist the urge to honk, wave, flash and cut them off as I did not want to get a ticket for road rage or aggressive driving.  I get so frustrated driving around (which I drive around 30,000 miles a year for work, mostly highways) because of distracted drivers.  We need to remember driving is a privilege and a huge responsibility to make sure that we are all safe on the roads.  When possible, try to put down your technology, focus on driving and most of all, please be sure to keep out of the passing lane.


Time for me to get off my soap box.

Somebody's Soapbox

Sample Swagelok Fittings

Well, I have been tossing the idea around in my head about posting a blog.  I have been doing quite a bit of international traveling lately and I stumbled upon a soap box on the side of the road, so here I go.  Most of what I feel like writing about is things I have seen that are different or strange to me - for instance - Yesterday I saw a guy playing the game jacks using a bunch of spare Swagelok fittings.  Well, not the whole fittings, just the nuts on the end.  He was sitting quietly in his space with a bunch of these laid out in front of him, then he would pick one up, throw it in the air and attempt to pick up the rest of the fittings and then try to catch the one he threw in the air.  It intrigued me because I have not played jacks, or even thought about playing jacks, in probably 20 years.  Besides, each time I played jacks, I usually had more fun trying to get as many jacks spinning as I could before I was put in the corner for throwing the ball at my twin sister and giving her a bruise.  I have noticed that when I get bored, I usually find my self resorting to entertaining myself with some form of technology (iPod, iPhone, TV, YouTube, Facebook, etc.) however, this gentleman was quite content to just sit there and play with his jacks Swageloks.  I almost sat down and joined him, except I did not have any spare fittings to play with.  That, and the fact that it would not look good if a customer walked by and saw me blatantly wasting time.

I'm going to get off my soap box now.  Stay tuned, you can rest assured that I am going to leave it in a safe place, and I will return sometime.