01 May 09 08:37, Roger Nelson wrote to Roy Witt:

 RW>> We have a few, but most of the nut jobs are in San Antonio. Between
 RW>> the nut jobs and those who can't drive worth a damn, it's hell
 RW>> driving in SA.

 RN> I'm left wondering how those people passed the written and driving
 RN> test.

I wonder that every time I have to go down there.

 RW>> The exit lane is the same lane as the entrance lane. It runs for a
 RW>> ways and then you either get back on the freeway or merge with
 RW>> traffic. That doesn't mean you get to cut them off just because you
 RW>> came off the freeway.

 RN> No, it doesn't, but I think I got lost somewhere between your exit
 RN> and entrance.  I'm not quite awake yet, so maybe that has something
 RN> to do with my lack of understanding fully.

  I-35 N Exit 189 >__________________________________>I-35 N Entrance
Frontage RD Traffic lane___vvMerge herevvvvv^^^^^____________________>
Frontage RD Traffic lane_____________________________________________>
                           T right turn only to frontage rd
My Street__________________|

 RW>> It would help if they'd slow down to the speed limit too. Then they
 RW>> wouldn't have a problem merging. The frontage road speed limit is
 RW>> 45mph...most of that traffic just has to keep up their freeway
 RW>> speed, for what reason I don't know.

 RN> I think the only place I had a problem getting onto the main roadway
 RN> from I-12 was when I lived in Mandeville and was either going to work
 RN> or to visit my daughter in Houma.  The traffic on 190 south seemed
 RN> oblivious to the traffic coming off I-12 to get on that road.  I had
 RN> to wait for an opening because no one would slow down or move over.
 RN> I believe it was a race to see who could get to the Lake
 RN> Pontchartrain Causeway first.

Sounds similar...

 RW>> Not here. Freeway traffic has the right of way...even if merging
 RW>> traffic has to stop before they merge.

 RN> Well, yes, but they also have to drive with some courtesy.  I believe
 RN> that scenario is also on the written test when applying for a license
 RN> here.

I'm used to California, where traffic on the freeway has the right of way
and any merging traffic must yield to it  - and the traffic off the
freeway has the right of way and exiting freeway traffic must yield to it.

The former usually doesn't have a problem merging, as California freeways
have clover leafs and merge lanes.

The latter allows traffic to flow on either roadway, while here, it just
jams up the local traffic lanes. This is an even bigger problem in San
Antonio.

 RW>> Yeah, the jackasses who're flying off the freeway and this jackass
 RW>> speeds up and refuses to move over...one day, I made a woman in a
 RW>> Ford Excursion stop on the freeway entrance because she wouldn't
 RW>> slow down and merge in behind me. ;o)

 RN> I'll bet she was saying some choice things about you.  (-:

She was probably too busy cleaning her shorts. Errr, panties.

 RN>   I think people sometimes lose sight of the fact that they are going
 RN> as fast as they are and are driving what could be a dangerous weapon.

They've just recently been made aware of that by the implementation of
radar units now sitting in the parking lot next to my street entrance. My
complaints didn't fall on deaf ears afterall.

 RW>> I know where they're trying to get to here. This is a bedroom
 RW>> community and most people either work in San Antonio or Austin...if
 RW>> they're not coming, they're going. One couple I know work in
 RW>> universities teaching the German langauge. He works in Austin, she
 RW>> works in San Antonio...most of the elders here speak German.

 RN> Are they immigrants from New Braunfels?

To New Braunfels? He's from Germany, she's a Texan. She went to Europe to
attend college and met him there. With his help, she became a quick
learner and her college language course was easy.

 RN> And Austin is quite a drive from S.A., isn't it?

Austin is 45 from here, SA is 25 from here. 70miles or so. At freeway
speeds of 70mph, that can be less than an hour.

 RN>  The traffic here thins out when approaching the outskirts of town
 RN> and picks up slightly in Thibodaux, about 20 miles north of here. I'm
 RN> beginning to suspect that many of the motorists I see here at all
 RN> hours of the day are retired and are bringing their cars to a shop or
 RN> shopping for some home stuff and at certain times of the day going to
 RN> a restaurant. But the traffic is constant during daylight hours,
 RN> which makes me think that there are a lot of other factors involved.

Like me. Sometimes I just go for a ride during the day, just to see what's
happening around town. Maybe take the dog and walk in the park, or next to
the river.

 RW>> Oh no, but he needs to hear my version so I feel better... :o) He
 RW>> gets to take it home with him and deal with it in his own way.

 RN> I can understand that.

 RW>> That's why the divorce rate among LEOs is so high. Dealing with the
 RW>> public is one thing, but dealing with it when you get home isn't so
 RW>> great.

 RN> Being married to a cop is nowhere near a normal life for a woman.
 RN> She never knows if he'll come back from work.  Firefighters are
 RN> almost as bad. I tried that for 3 months and decided it wasn't for
 RN> me.  One week of day shift and one week of night shift and there is a
 RN> lot of danger involved. Then I went from the frying pan into the fire
 RN> by taking a job offshore where I was out 14 and in 7.  That really
 RN> sucked.

Kinda like being in the service and stationed in a remote area with no
place that you can go.

 RW>> Think AM, as in 3...probably a slow night.

 RN> Mine was an hour later.

 RW>> RN> ROTFL!

 RW>> Imagine the astonished look on his face when he saw that...

 RN> I already have.  See above.

 RW>> I think he had too much coffee.

 RN> No such thing as too much coffee.  (-:  As an afterthought, it isn't
 RN> good for your pancreas if you drink it all day long.  Then you're
 RN> inviting trouble.

I used to with nothing to eat...then I began having stomach acid probs.
These days I have a maximum two cups of coffee with my breakfast and
nothing more.

 RW>> It was comfy enough back there for him, but he claimed that his
 RW>> little butt was freezing...That El Camino had bucket seats and a
 RW>> console, so seating him wasn't as comforable as he was in the back.
 RW>> Mama had to share half of her seat with a pillow on the console for
 RW>> him.

 RN> Those were the days...

That was a 1964 El Camino in 1976 and he was 5 or 6 years old...

 RN> I read somewhere that the Texas legislature is considering doubling
 RN> the satellite tax on DirecTV.  Do you know if that's true?

I haven't heard that. We don't have DirecTV, we have Dishnet...not that it
would make any difference if they wanted to increase the tax on sat TV.

                R\%/itt




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