Like Oil and Water or Fire and Ice, the good Mrs. T and I mix as well when we are in the car for a trip longer than an hour or a bit longer. Past the safe stay time of 90 minutes we come unglued. I don't know why, it's one of those great mysteries that you have to wait till you time before the almighty to find the answer to. That's how we are.
While I am an OK passenger I can at least read a map so my utility in the right seat is unquestioned. Mrs. T however, well let's just say they did not cover Map reading in the state sponsored Drivers Ed program she was required to take while in High School. Nor was "Sitting Quietly while someone else does the driving". She is the worst in the right seat, freaking out about everything going on around us and applying the brake on her side. Oh yeah, she is one of those, my floorboards on that side of the car I am sure are weakened from the constant pressure on them.
While I am a little more aggressive of a driver I am not wild or out of control. I like speed however I am careful to the point I have a clean driving record. It's called speeding smartly, never more than 10 mph over the posted limit. I am also a High Aim Steering person, meaning I look as far down the road as I can and make lane positional decisions based on the long range view of things, I don't wait to catch up to the slower vehicle ahead, I plan for the over take. I am not afraid to pass on a two lane road. Meanwhile, Mrs. T believes that some of the speed limits around the country are simply too fast, had god intended people to travel much above 50 mph he would have made the world flat.
So you see gentle reader, this is all to explain that I will be leaving you to yourselves for the weekend as the Mrs. and I are driving to just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. It will be a 10 hour drive each way (with stops to put the fires out and all). We are visiting there with an Aunt, Uncle and Cousin on my Father's side. I had not seen them in something like 35 years and this last April we re-connected at my Mother's funeral. A shame that. But I have resolved to spend more time with the Western part of the family and if that means 10 hours of pure hell, well I'm in there.
I will be back on Monday and I have several good stories for us all, another Navy story and my favorite Boy Scout story, I can't wait. Pray for our safe return and that neither of us is walking back from a faraway place, having been put out of the car for bad behavior.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
5 comments:
My hubby and I do pretty well in the car. He drives most of the time and he likes speed (no tickets). I can read a map, but his "instruction taker" is a bit off, which can cause problems. The worst part is that we both have hearing problems - starts many a fight before we figure out what the other one really said.
Enjoy your trip.
Better get a Tom-Tom Go or Garvin number and take the Map reading pressure off her, Jimmy. LOL. I remember the first time my Dad tried to teach my Mother to drive (I was along in the back seat) it ended up with her in tears, and that was the end of that--had the Driver's ed head at the Univ. (a friend of the family) do it. My wife has a lead foot, so no disputes there, it's (as you point out) the overtake and lane changing bit where I cringe when she drives. With us it's the radio. She can't stand "loud" music, says it hurts here ears (and well may--she has Lupus and you'd be amazed at the number and multiple ways of body functions affected,) I say in return I don't even know why we bother with a custom stereo system at all, might as well have mono at the levels she want's to listen. LOL! (Of course it doesn't help that I'm a great believer in cranking it up to REALLY hear the background instruments, etc. That, and the fact that all the years around the flight-line and in cockpit didn't improve things on that score, for sure.LOL)
What I meant to say, "My spouse hates me "Yankin' and Bankin'", because she says she gets whiplash.
What I see me doing is avoiding impact with other crazy drivers.
Heh. The Second Mrs. Pennington had this theory that two people who travel well together will make a good marriage. And she was sorta right... for 23 years, anyway. :D
But I digress. I hope all goes well on your trip out to Michigan... say "hi" to that familiar and greatly missed territory when you cross the state line.
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