A Few (Additional) Questions

I don't have much to say today, which never stops me from writing, but I do have some perhaps rhetorical questions to pose. The first has to do with three- and four-way stop signs. Why are these so difficult for drivers to manage? Maybe it's taught differently here, but what I learned -- and what was reinforced when I had to take a driving test a few years ago -- is that whoever gets to the stop sign first goes first. If everyone gets there at the same time, yield to the driver to the right. Of course, it rarely happens that everyone arrives at exactly the same time. I see people either sit forever, not knowing it's their turn, or deciding that it's their turn even when they arrived last. The latter happened to me this morning and almost resulted in an accident. I had some errands to run and went to fill up on gas. The gas station is in at the edge often-busy lot (there's a Walmart at the other end) but my trip was early and there weren't many cars. Leaving the lot, there is a new three-way stop. Incoming traffic has the right-of-way. A car pulled up to each of the three signs, and I was first. One of the drivers waited; I went to pull through, and at the same time a large truck at the third sign pulled out and kept coming, even when I was halfway into the intersection. I blasted my horn but he didn't even slow down. Idiot.

I had another question when I started writing, but I've already forgotten what it was. I have allergy-induced brain fog today, and all I want to do is sleep. Fortunately, I didn't have to do much all day. I will add that this year I'm particular bothered by my allergies, not to say they're more severe than most years, just that the weather for at least the past week has been absolutely gorgeous, and every time I try to stay outside for any period of time my nose starts running and eyes start itching. It's just not worth the fight. I did get in some good yardwork a few days ago, something I haven't done in quite a awhile. It felt good -- until I became overwhelmed by pollen -- and my yard looks better. I always find it very satisfying to do that work myself and sit back and gaze on the fruits of my labor. I feel like after years of being stopped in my tracks from doing things I enjoy, because of surgeries and other health-related issues, I'm finally getting back to being myself and doing what I like. While my blood pressure issues are still "under investigation", I'm finished letting any of this crap dictate my behavior -- well, at least not entirely. It's time to turn the clock back a few years, to stop getting old before I need to. Having fun and doing for myself helps to keep me (and, I'm sure, anybody) young.