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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, September 22, 2005 Shelley, my truck-driver daughter who is my eyes and ears on the roads of America, is telling me right now about the wrecked cars she is seeing on interstate 20 in Mississippi, seven or eight over a distance of about 200 miles. At first, she said, she couldn't figure out why they weren't being picked up and removed. "You just never see wrecked cars abandoned on the interstate," she said. "Breakdowns, yes, with those red stickers on them. But not wrecks." One was even overturned. Then she realized that the wreckers are heading west to Texas, leaving no one to pick up abandoned cars in other areas.She also noted that many more vehicles than usual are parked on the shoulder. Anyone who has driven a big truck for more than two weeks will tell you that isn't safe, that the tractor-trailers drift off the road onto the shoulder all the time. And in fact, I know from my own driving that it's unusual to see a vehicle parked on the shoulder with the passengers still in it, unless it has broken down. But Shelley says she is seeing many cars just parked, as though the driver and passengers were resting or sleeping. She had a close call herself with a small dark pickup truck pulling a utility trailer. She had drifted close to the edge of the driving lane and was slowly correcting back into the center when she passed the truck on the shoulder. "I didn't even come within feet of it," she said, "much less inches, but I didn't see it until the last second as I passed it. If I'd been over a couple of feet farther, if I had actually run out of the road, I could have wiped them out."She is going to be home this weekend, thank God. It seems as though she has driven through almost every hurricane, blizzard and other kind of foul weather the nation has had over the last two years.My niece Amanda lives in Houston. I don't know whether she has tried to evacuate or not. Steve Yates, the Yellow Doggerel Democrat, and his partner Stella, also live in Houston and have decided not to evacuate. My prayers and thoughts are with all of them. posted by Liz @ 10:12 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Shelley, my truck-driver daughter who is my eyes and ears on the roads of America, is telling me right now about the wrecked cars she is seeing on interstate 20 in Mississippi, seven or eight over a distance of about 200 miles. At first, she said, she couldn't figure out why they weren't being picked up and removed. "You just never see wrecked cars abandoned on the interstate," she said. "Breakdowns, yes, with those red stickers on them. But not wrecks." One was even overturned. Then she realized that the wreckers are heading west to Texas, leaving no one to pick up abandoned cars in other areas.She also noted that many more vehicles than usual are parked on the shoulder. Anyone who has driven a big truck for more than two weeks will tell you that isn't safe, that the tractor-trailers drift off the road onto the shoulder all the time. And in fact, I know from my own driving that it's unusual to see a vehicle parked on the shoulder with the passengers still in it, unless it has broken down. But Shelley says she is seeing many cars just parked, as though the driver and passengers were resting or sleeping. She had a close call herself with a small dark pickup truck pulling a utility trailer. She had drifted close to the edge of the driving lane and was slowly correcting back into the center when she passed the truck on the shoulder. "I didn't even come within feet of it," she said, "much less inches, but I didn't see it until the last second as I passed it. If I'd been over a couple of feet farther, if I had actually run out of the road, I could have wiped them out."She is going to be home this weekend, thank God. It seems as though she has driven through almost every hurricane, blizzard and other kind of foul weather the nation has had over the last two years.My niece Amanda lives in Houston. I don't know whether she has tried to evacuate or not. Steve Yates, the Yellow Doggerel Democrat, and his partner Stella, also live in Houston and have decided not to evacuate. My prayers and thoughts are with all of them.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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