Okay, first I'm going to give a shout-out to nica-chan for allowing me to use her awesome e-card. Thank you!!! X3 (*hugs*)
Now I'm going to get into a more serious topic that is more like a semi-funny memory to me now:
For the past few days where I live it's actually been raining (*le gasp!*) so the roads, obviously, have been getting pretty slick. Do y'all remember that post I put up sometime back regarding fishtailing? ...(*slumps head*) yeah...
Scenario:
I had just left home to go to school and had made my way into an intersection when the light turned red. This normally wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that this same stop sits slightly on a hill. Normally, I do feel the backwheels of the truck squirm a little bit while making the turn to get into the adjacent lane, so hearing the tires struggle to get some trackion didn't bother me too much. I probably made that turn harder than I should've or something because the next thing I knew my truck had spun completely around and was facing the wrong way in the adjacent lane.
Good news:
-I wasn't going any faster than 35mph
-there was nobody else in the lane
-two of my tires were still on the pavement, the others slightly in the grass
-I totally evaded the ditch
-& I was able to swing back around to contiue on my merry way (of course--I wasn't able to speak for about half a mile after that, and if I remember correctly one of the first things I said was "thank you God!")
What saved me: I didn't stomp on the brakes and nor did I try to turn the wheel the other way
Yay memories! ^__^;
Here's that story I promised y'all two days ago. Sorry it took so long! >_<
~*~
By the end of the day last Tuesday I actually managed to catch a glimpse of the ten o'clock news. Weather-wise, nothing of interest happened except for the fact that we actually managed to get some rain: a full 1/100th of an inch of it. TTwTT (Doesn't sound like much, but it's better than nothing I suppose. Especially when the city you're living regularly gets visited by droughts.)
Come Wednesday morning my Mom warns me to be extra careful on the road and to leave the house a little early that day because it was raining. Even though I said, "Okay Mom," I didn't actually stop to process the "rain" part of her statement. Sure enough, after I got the brunt of my morning routine done, I heard the sound of rain falling right outside my window. (This sound is extremely FOREIGN around these parts.) I was doing some stuff on the computer before leaving home to get to school so I didn't leave the house until almost ten minutes past nine.
BIG MISTAKE. >_<
Okay first of all, it takes about half an hour to get to the university I attend, and that's only IF you're not driving in rush-hour traffic. (If you are caught in it, the trip extends to about an hour.) Second, even if you arrive to the university on time--depending on where you park--it's a good hop, skip, and a jump to get on over to your first class (in my case: clear across campus). Finally, on that particular day my professor (who was in Mexico at the time) was going to broadcast an important lecture that day so it was "strongly encouraged" to arrive on time.
Did I forget to mention that this same said class starts at 9:45? >__<
Everything was going smoothly...until about five minutes after I left the house. There was this huge hold-up of traffic that kept me and the other drivers at a near stand-still for twenty minutes. I discovered upon passing it that the reason for this...occurance...was due to a small, silver that ended up ramming into the guard rail. I'm thinking the driver lost control of their vehicle while attempting to make a sharp turn, but what do I know? (Good thing I was listening to the soundtrack to Riverdance. If it had been anything like ACDC's Black Ice album I probably would've gone through some serious roadrage.) There weren't any other serious problems after that, so I finally managed to get to class.
Ten minutes later. >___<
But here's the good news: the teacher's assistant that was supposed to fill in and rig the screen to show my professor's lecture didn't show up.
Alright, in addition to what our dear Shadweh advised us all on yesterday, I'd like to add my own advisements.
Yesterday, to anyone who lives in our area, was FOGGY. And I don't mean just in the morning. At eleven o'clock yesterday morning, the sun hadn't appeared and the fog so dense that the furthest you could see was about ten-twenty feet in front of you. Now, with that being said, here is my advice for when you're driving in conditions like this.
- Turn on your headlights. The likelyhood of you being in an accident if you don't increases as people can't see you in fog. They can see light though, and will know where roughly you and your car are.
- Drive at least five-ten miles slower than you normally would in sunny, clear weather. This will also help you avoid missing turns and car crashes
- If you can, avoid driving at all costs and leave driving in fog to experienced individuals. If you're one of those experienced individuals, you already know how to navigate.
Sorry folks--if you were hoping on a post about the Eurythmics, this ain't it! XD
Seriously though, do y'all recall me telling you that I live in a dry climate? Even if you have I'll state this anyway: When you live in a place that's dominated by sunshine about 90% of the time, the likelihood of accidents that occur during ANY type of weather involving precipitation skyrocket. =_=;
~*~
Why is that so? Here's a simple list I've compiled that contains both the unknown (i.e.-you might not have thought about it) and the obvious (for some).
The less experience you have driving in precipitation, the less likely you are to instinctively know what to do when something goes wrong
Advice: the best thing to get around this is by practicing. Unfortunately, not everyone can do a successful Lithium Rain Dance, so the only way to get around this problem is treat it like it's your first time driving in whatever part of the country your in (even if that same place is your home. I almost guarantee your attention to the road will increase double what it normally is.)
Pick-up trucks are designed to be "front heavy" for the sake of evening out the distribution of weight when it's actually towing something (it makes for considerably easier travel). Not having anything in the back while driving on slick roads increases the odds of the vehicle "fishtailing," this is when the back of the truck literally weaves out of your control due to an extreme loss of traction
Advice on Fishtailing: it's a scary feeling to not have complete control of your vehicle, but the best thing to do is NOT PANIC. Fishtailing usually occurs either when you’re coming from a complete stop, making a sharp turn, or slamming on the brakes for whatever reason. The first of these, provided that you weren't trying to mimic an Olympic sprinter, can easily be dealt with by maintaining a gentle press on the gas and to keep the steering wheel steady. (It may still fishtail a little, but American tires are purposely designed to get rid of whatever sediment/liquid is underneath it so recovering traction should only take a few seconds.) When making ANY sharp turn in ANY type of vehicle (I don't care how close to the ground it is) it's always a good idea to slow it down a bit and to not take it too acute. As for the last of these reasons; the only time you should slam on the brakes is in an emergency. If you're traveling normally then the best two best things you can do is brake early and keep your distance with the driver in front of you. At this point in time I don't have any experience with dealing with emergency situations and I'm certainly not the ONLY source of advice on this topic, so the best course of action here is to talk with your guardian, your parents, or anyone else you know WITHOUT A DOUBT has knowledge in this field. (I take this with absolute seriousness for the simple matter that any time you’re on the road it LITERALLY IS a case of LIFE and DEATH.)
People are more relaxed taking routes that they are familiar with and usually let down their guard as a result of this (I am no exception). This same mentalitly, again, increases the odds of accidents
Advice: the easiest way of keeping yourself at least a little alert is to make that same route you use a little different everyday that way you HAVE to look around at the other cars. Little reminders to yourself go a long way too.
Hydroplaning--when your car is literally driving on the water that's accumulated on top of the road instead of the road itself. Usually caused by an increase in the vechicle's velocity.
Advice: I would say "don't drive too fast," but you don't even need to be craking 45mph to actually hydroplane. If you just happen to be driving in a straight line just let go of the wheel and keep your foot AWAY from the break. As it slows down gravity will finally kick in and hopefully save the day by allowing your tires to be reunited with the road. For more information, it's highly recommended that you refer to a trusted source.
The collection of oil and grease (among other things) accumulates over time. Due to the "miracle" of density all of that same crud ends up floating up to the top of the water on the road, thus making them extra slick. (As if water didn't do that enough already. -_-; )
Advice: yeah...there's nothing you can do about that. -_-;
There are many other things I can put on this list, but this post is long enough already without the extra input. If anyone has anything having to do with the topic, feel free to speak up!
~*~
I had a story that I wanted to tell y'all, but I guess I'll leave that for tomorrow. Until then, safe driving! ^_^
Caution: This post is going to contain the bottled up agrevation accumulated over a span of a month. Reader forgiveness is recommended. >_<
OH MY FREAKING GOD!!! (Sorry, Lord.) >_< There have been just WAAAAAAY too many people lately switching lanes without giving a signal. (Sure, about 60% of them are a good car-length or two away, but come on!) And that's not even the worst of it: I've also noticed an increase in the number of people swerving into other peoples lanes (namely my own >_<). AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!
I won't get into any further detail than that, so let's just say that, along with coming across people talking/texting on their cell phones while driving, my loathing of city driving is increasing in life-sized proportions by the day. (Oh well...it's an "inspiration" to keep a good distance away from the people in front of me.)
~*~
On another note, just yesterday I actually managed to park a little closer to the garage door than I ought've. ^_^; Fortunately, my truck has a grill in the front so nothing bad happened to it. Another good thing I had going for me was the fact that I wasn't going very fast (and that our driveway is on a hill), so hardly any damage was done to it. Even better was that my mom was able to fix the majority of the dent I created with a mallet and that both of my parents actually found that kinda funny. ...but the thought of me being so careless still sucks =_=;......yay, memories...
Safe driving everybody! ^_^
I've had my license since February of 2008 myself and let me tell you: there are some CRAZY people behind the wheel! (And I don't mean in the good way. =_=;) 
) There will be some rantings and there may even be some anime references, but this world will mostely show people, almost anything seen on the side of the road, and (hopefully for anyone paying attention) what NOT to do while in traffic.
