Give 'Em A Brake!

I’m sure I’m not alone in my dislike of construction zones. But since I drive over 700 miles a day, I probably despise it more than the average person. They slow me down, making my day longer. Especially, this year.

There are currently seven construction zones on my route, with the speed limit reduced to 50 mph. That may not sound like a lot and I’m continually told by construction types that they only slow me down for a few minutes and then I can be on my way. That is true. But the problem is I don’t just make one pass through. So for me, it becomes a little more protracted. I make two round trips through each of these zones. That means the seven construction zones have become 28. That’s how many times I have to slow down and I usually wait behind traffic about half of the time. It generally adds an hour, or more, to my day. You can see why construction is one of my many pet peeves.

It helps to keep a sense of humor—otherwise, I’d just be upset all the time. Thankfully, the level of intelligence of those in charge of said construction makes that fairly easy. For instance, one day this past week, I was chugging along down he road when I noticed the dreaded familiar orange signs in the distance—more construction! Yay! Like the seven I had already weren’t enough. Wondering what they had decided to “fix” now, I kept driving—like I really had a choice in the matter; this is the only road I can use in this particular area.

The first sign I passed was a lighted reader board that advised me the left lane was closed two miles ahead. Okay, that’s no big deal. There are two lanes on the freeway after all. I’m driving a slow truck and usually stay in the right lane anyway. But then, not more than a half-mile further, I see a sign that says right lane closed ahead.

So, of course, I’m driving along thinking that someone messed up. Obviously, one of the signs was wrong. But which one? Figuring I’d take a wait-and-see approach, I kicked off my cruise at the 50 mph sign and continued on, a little amused by it all.

And then, rounding the next corner, I’m greeted by this:

         

Really? I thought. Both lanes are now closed for construction? I guess that wouldn’t surprise me considering the convoluted methods they sometimes use. But almost immediately, I knew it couldn’t be. I was traveling on a busy freeway and if both lanes were indeed close ahead, I felt pretty confident I would have already been in the resulting traffic backup—and I wasn’t.

By this time, I can see the orange and white barrels ahead, lined up down the shoulders. Yep, BOTH shoulders. And then I saw the workers. Well, two of them. They were standing on the side of the road, engaged in what appeared to be quite an animated discussion, oblivious to the traffic whizzing by. Both were shouting (I assume, since I couldn’t really hear them inside the truck but their lips were moving rapidly and their red faces going through all sorts of contortions), both were shaking their heads forcefully, and they were wildly gesturing, pointing in what looked like all directions. I got the distinct impression there had been some miscommunication somewhere along the line. A miscommunication that had for the moment left both lanes OPEN! That worked for me! Except that meant I’d had to slow down to 50 mph for nothing. But that was okay. Just this once anyway. It had allowed me a better view and a little more time to enjoy the show as I passed.

The entertaining diversion didn’t last long though. By my next trip through, they had figured it out—at least I think they had. There still were no lanes shut down but the signs had been changed. They now read, “Shoulder Work Ahead.” But that may have had nothing to do with any construction. It might have simply been to allow the workers to finish their argument in relative safety. ~

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, The Lana Denae Mysteries, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook at www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS and paperback on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.

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Bridge Work

How long does it take to build two bridges? Would you believe five and a half years and counting? Seriously! These are not huge expansive bridges either, just normal freeway bridges, one for each direction of travel. They are less than an eighth of a mile long and flat. And still, it’s been five and half years. That’s a long time. I had no grandchildren when they started and I now have five.

People tell me these things take time; a bridge can’t be built overnight. I agree, but I also remember that after the earthquake in San Francisco in 1989, they rebuilt multiple double deck freeway bridges, long ones, in just over a year. That project, I believe, was far more complex than two small bridges. So, while bridge building does take time, more than five years is way too much, in my never to be humble opinion.

It has meant five and a half years of slowing down to 50 mph. Five and a half years of waiting behind traffic that inevitably backs up, especially on weekends or holidays. And, five and a half years of playing “Guess which lane is open today.” This may not sound like much but, as a truck driver, I go through this construction site four times every day. So, for me, it gets a little annoying.

But, at last, the bridges are done! Actually, they have been open for a few months now, while all the “extras” are being completed. The finishing touches. So, we’re still enjoying that bane of every traveler—road construction. The good news is, as of last Friday, it appears everything is now complete. The traffic signs are up, lane striping is done, guardrails are installed, and the sides of the road have been landscaped. The only thing left is to take down the construction zone signs. I suppose they’ll get that taken care of eventually—just in time to put them up again. After five and a half years, it’s probably time for road repairs!

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Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS Bruce A. Borders also serves as the Vice President of Rave Reviews Book Club http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com

Pet Peeves

I have a lot of pet peeves – a lot of things bug me. I know, a pet peeve is supposed to be the one that irks you more than any other, but I have a hard time deciding on just one. So instead, I keep a running list. It has grown quite large over the years. The list includes; slow drivers when I can’t pass, people getting my order wrong at a restaurant, anything resembling rock music, waiting in long lines when I’m in a hurry – and of course, I’m always in a hurry. Also on the list: shaving with a dull razor, high prices of practically anything, winter – in its entirety, and running out of ink – even though I have three printers in my office. As you can see, the list covers a broad spectrum of subjects. It’s quite long and there seems to be no common thread other than these things really bug me. I once thought of making one of those tear-away calendars – one with each day of the year. Each sheet would proclaim a different pet peeve for the day. I soon discovered that wouldn’t quite cut it, 365 days just isn’t enough! Perhaps a five-year calendar would work better?

At any rate, now that summer is here, and being that I’m a truck driver, you can probably guess what currently tops my list – road construction, miles and miles of road construction. In itself, the construction wouldn’t be so bad – if the road actually needed repairing. The problem is, most of the construction going on is to replace a perfectly good highway. I think they’re just fabricating jobs and wasting money. I’ve driven the same stretch of road for more than fifteen years, this summer marks the fifth time they’ve resurfaced the same portions of that road. Then, to make things worse, the construction brings about another of my pet peeves – slow drivers. I don’t mind that they slow down a little, but when the posted construction zone speed limit is 50 mph, and I routinely follow people through it at 30 mph, or even slower, I get a bit antsy.

To my credit, to date, I have not used the 95,000-pound semi to push anyone out of my way! I’ll admit it sounds tempting and could easily be done - but no, I just take a breath and add the driver to my list. And then add another half an hour or so to my day, arriving home much later than I should have – you guessed it, another pet peeve. Then, that cuts into my time at home – just one more of my pet peeves.

You see my problem? How one thing leads to another? Pretty soon, a cascading of pet peeves is released. As they pile up, my list keeps growing. It’s getting hard to keep track of them all.

I suppose I could just quit my job – and eliminate over half the items on the list in one shot. But, not having any income and eventually, no vehicle and no house (or much of anything else), my list would again balloon, and probably be larger than it is now. I guess the only thing I can do is complain about it.

Perhaps I should revisit the idea of a calendar. Is there such a thing as a ten-year calendar? That might do it. Writing everything down and then tearing off the paper might even prove therapeutic. My wife says far too many things bug me. Maybe so. She’s usually right about that kind of stuff. Hmm. Where is my list?

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit http://www.bruceaborders.com/. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders