Turn Signals and More Food

I'm going to hit today on one of the subjects that really inspired this blog. That is a comparison of the drivers in St. Louis and Louisville. While both cities (and all cities, I'm sure, for that matter) have an abundance of bad drivers, I have found a serious problem with the drivers here in Louisville. That problem is that I am pretty sure that the use of turn signals is not taught in the driving schools here, and the ability to use them is not a requirement to pass the driving test in Kentucky.


While you may think that this is a problem in any city, I assure you that it is nothing compared to Louisville. I would say that roughly 50% of drivers use turn signals, and that may be a bit generous. I've counted on drives before, using cars turning directly in front of me for my pool of study and had the number come up as less than 40% of the cars turning in front of me using their turn signals. I cannot recall a drive in recent months where at least 3 or 4 cars turning in front of me did not use their turn signals. I have considered writing to the local newspaper about this problem just to get my opinion heard, but I think that I would be so harsh in my correspondence that I would not get published. Sometimes I wish I was a police officer so I could pull random people over who do not use their signals, but I also realize that, as an officer, pulling someone over leads to quite a bit of paperwork for yourself and others that is not worth going through just for such a minor violation. But no matter how much I try to ignore it, this problem comes up day after day.


Now I don't get upset if someone is in a turning lane and not using a turn signal (though can can be annoying, but is not really that big a deal, as the lane itself is signaling the turn for the car). I get annoyed when I'm driving down a 4 lane road in the left lane, and the car in front of me just stops for no apparent reason, looking at oncoming traffic. At first I think that the car is broken down, but after a moment I realize that it's just another lazy asshole not signaling his left turn. What makes these situations even more annoying is when this car is doing it at a stoplight that is green, and by the time you realize this person is turning and can get in the other lane to pass, the light turns red!!


Now I can go on about this for hours but I'll leave it at that for now just because I don't want to ramble too much. However, I'll end just by saying that the last few times I've gone to St. Louis, I've noticed that no matter what anyone says, the percentage of people who use their turn signals is much greater than that in Louisville.


I'll end on another note about the Pennsylvania trip. My training is still going strong. Last night, my dinner consisted of the following: 1 large bowl of pasta, 1 large piece of chicken (2 servings I would guess), 3 hushpuppies, 2 eggo waffles, 32 or more oz. of water, 16 oz. of powerade, and 12 oz. of orange juice. This was all consumed in less than an hour, and to be perfectly honest, I felt full but not uncomfortable by any means. I really think this 2 lb. challenge is going to lead to victory for me. And if that does happen, then I plan to make another trip to this place or somewhere similar to take on a 3 lb. burger challenge in the future.