Screwed for 66 cents, more mowing
So Cindy was teaching a class last night, meaning supper was going to be later than normal. When I considered that along with the fact that Dunkin Donuts was running a promotion for 66 cent medium coffee’s to celebrate 66 years of business, I figured I would alter my route to pick up a cheap cup of coffee to help control my appetite. Well it didn’t take very long for me to regret that decision, a lot.
I decided I would hit the DD at the corner of Livingston Road and Pine Ridge. As I got within about a 1/4 mile to the light, traffic in the lane was already grinding to a halt. The light for that direction of traffic is already stupidly short considering the volume of vehicles but this was far worse than normal. I saw two light cycles come and go with hardly any movement but I was too far away to see what the deal was. As I got closer a much clearer explanation was before me, assholes.
Pine Ridge connects to the interstate which is about a mile to the east of where I was. For some reason traffic on Pine Ridge was backed up all the way to us. So what I witnessed was the opposing traffic that was turning left onto Pine Ridge blocking the intersection. You had people inserting themselves into the intersection even though the traffic ahead of them was at a dead stop. So when the light for our direction turned green, nobody could move because the turning assholes were blocking the road. It was maddening and infuriating as I despise people on the road with this degree of cluelessness. Of course the lemming mentality kicked in. When one idiot turned into the clogged intersection, two or three more followed suit.
I probably spent at least 15 minutes trying to get through the intersection. When I did finally get there I still had to swing around one more asshole that was still sticking out into the intersection. This person received a loud and long horn applause from me, recognizing their effort. The delay there snowballed as I was now in the middle of the worst rush hour traffic. When I hit Immokalee Road I got encased in wall to wall traffic that was absolutely miserable, again filled with inconsiderate assholes, cutting off, blocking, and annoying at every opportunity they are given. The 66 cent coffee resulted in an additional 45 minutes of travel time. I won’t be doing that again.
When I finally got home I again mounted the tractor for more mowing. On Wednesday night I mowed the grass inside the fence. Last night I wanted to tackle the grass on the outside perimeter of the fence. That grass was even higher than what I faced the night before, four feet plus in some sections. To mow it down required multiple passes with the tractor along with me holding open the chute guard to allow the cut grass to fly out at high velocity. I would mow a 10 foot section, back up that same 10 feet and then pull forward again. I rinsed a repeated down the entire fence line. The experience has me considering getting one of those brush mowers that are designed to knock down this sort of crap.
When I got inside I pulled out everything I should need for Saturday’s race so I can in turn pack it in the truck tonight. Tonight on my way home I will be dropping off race stuff at the church where they are doing packet pick up and then swinging back there at 7 to pick it up. Saturday will start with my the last 4AM alarm to get on site by 5. I can hardly wait, for it to be all over.