Dark and Disbelief

Whilst driving into work this morning I had a few “shake my head in disbelief” moments.

First up were the drivers who failed to switch on their headlights. It was pretty dark as dawn hadn’t yet woken up.

I’m amazed at how many people fall into this category. That is no headlights, not the woken up bit.

Just Flick The Switch

I can’t decide if it’s just because they can see everyone else coming with their lights on so they don’t have to worry.

Or maybe it’s down to them actually sleeping at the same time as dawn, perhaps even with dawn. It could of course simply be that they just don’t care, and as a consequence are just too daft to understand the need to switch their lights on.

I’m not sure, but what I do know is I found myself shaking my head from side to side in disbelief. Either way, it was turning out to be pretty dangerous.

Now, talking of dangerous…

Push It And Run

I saw a young woman crossing the road whilst pushing a child in a pushchair.  Now this doesn’t sound too risky does it? Well I’m afraid to say it was and it was pretty irresponsible in the manner that she did it too.

It all happened at a busy crossroads that is controlled by traffic lights. When used correctly it is perfectly safe to cross, even with a child.

As I approached the junction the lights turned red.  So naturally I stopped, as did the vehicle in front of me. So just as well I did really. I then noticed that the traffic in every direction had stopped. That’s it, we just sat there, motionless.

Beep… Oh, Too Late

Then the reason came to light, a loud repetitive audible “beep” could be heard. This of course is for the pedestrians to cross safely in any which way they desired. After all, they pushed the button.

Oh, hang on a minute. No that’s not right, they’ve crossed already!

Why do people do that? Once again I found myself shaking my head from side to side.  She had risked her own life and that of the child.  She had acted responsibly in pressing the button to clearly demonstrate to the child that it’s the correct thing to do but then proceeded to do something else.

Anyone For Frogger

Not only did she risk their lives by playing Frogger but it could have resulted in potentially devastating an innocent driver who could have been caught up in it all.  She did make it safely to the other side and fortunately with her child. The worse that had occurred was that she’d managed to frustrate the early rush hour drivers by forcing them to wait for absolutely no reason what so ever.

Maybe there should be a cancel button on the other side of the road?  No, best not. I can foresee that matter turning into more trouble than it’s worth.  Better leave that idea alone for now.

Wakey Wakey!

So, once the lights had turned back to green we started to pull away, albeit very slowly…

You see, the vehicle in front of me drove slower than I can run, and believe me I don’t run very often or anywhere near Olympic speeds.

I found myself saying things like “if you drove at the usual typical speed for this road you could have an extra 15 minutes in bed”, maybe even with dawn. Who knows.  I shook my head in disbelief. Eventually I reached a three lane road and went on my merry way.

Move Over Please

Then once again… this time in the middle lane, was an ambulance travelling at about 40mph.  Now there could be a very good reason for this reduced speed on a 70mph road but why the middle lane I wondered?

The inside lane was clear. Not a driver in sight.

No one dared to pass on the inside of the ambulance as the law clearly doesn’t permit it. So one by one we squeezed into the outside lane to drive on past. It was at this point I shook my head in disbelief once more.

Gobsmacked!

The ambulance driver was taking off their official green jacket!  Yes that’s right, whilst driving an ambulance in the middle lane at an awkward speed he was irresponsibly risking the lives of many others by getting undressed!

I tried to forget about all of this and settle down for the remainder of my journey.  After all, my head was starting to hurt with all of the sideways shaking.

So Finally

So after all the build up of these stressful incidents I longed for something to make me feel better. Something to calm my body down for readiness of a hard day’s work in the office. Just a little chuckle would do, or perhaps a curious thought.

It was then one of those very fortunate moments occurred. I happened to notice the wording and artwork on the back of a small truck that I had been following.  It said, “SOLAR Self Drive”, and I couldn’t help but say to myself…

Wow! Really? That’s very clever, especially in the dark.

Think I'll stop for a coffee

Children have always looked up to others, and I don’t just mean literally. I’m sure we’ve all had at least one dream of becoming someone special in our lifetime.

For example, a little girl might have aspirations to become a famous singer, or perhaps a Hollywood actress.

Not all girls want to be famous though. Some may be thrilled at the thought of being a school teacher or a nurse and the rewards that those roles provide.

And Boys Want…

For boys it tends to be a little more action and thrill based.  Their desires focus more towards being a top fighter pilot hurtling at Mach 1 through open and clear skies. Some boys dream of becoming a motor racing driver with the adrenaline rushes that blow your head off at high speed as your backside sits inches from the tarmac.

I guess nowadays most are aiming to be the best footballer in the world, but I’m not sure if this is connected to being in front of thousands of fans each week or the receipt of a lottery win into your bank account every month.

Not Many Make It

For me on the adrenaline rush side of things it was one of two options, either to become a basketball player or a formula one driver.

Clearly the latter is incredibly difficult to achieve. Not that playing basketball is easy of course. To be in F1 is an incredible achievement. With only 24 drivers competing in any one race it highlights the niche market of talent.  It’s completely different to some other sports, take football for instance.  Football clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United each could have 30 or more players vying to play every match. It’s a complete contrast.

As for basketball, I loved playing it, and to be honest I still do when I get the chance.  My height helps hugely, which is a perfect excuse as to why I never chased the dream of an F1 driver. There’s no way I could fit into an F1 car!

All Things Disney

On a different theme altogether, one dream I had was to become a top Disney artist. Even today I’d still love to fulfil that dream. I wanted to be in the world of creating characters, story lines, animation, movies… the whole lot.

What a wonderful and rewarding life that would give, and even now just thinking about it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I love to draw, sitting at my drawing board and letting my imagination take over.

The Routine Commute

So given that I ended up in IT, designing and developing computer systems, means my aspirations that I’ve had since I was a little boy will remain unfulfilled forever.

Even my current location of work doesn’t deliver much excitement as I have a commute of over 60 minutes. That’s a minimum of 2 hours a day for 5 days every week. I’ve driven the same route for the past 15 years. As you can imagine, it’s a bit boring now. I could take a different route but that would just mean I’m spending even longer in my car.

F1… Worlds Apart

Despite this mundane driving experience each day I recently started playing F1 2011 on my PS3. Essentially the latest Formula One game to hit the shelves. I have to say I’m finding it a joy to play. It’s not quite reliving a dream but it is excellent. The intensity of the concentration and commitment required is truly amazing.

Now, whilst playing it I started to think about the reality of my commute compared to being an F1 driver.  My initial thought was that they are worlds apart, but I’m not so sure.

Round and Round and Round Again

You see, I might complain about my long tiresome repetitive drive but let’s just think about an F1 driver for a moment.

During each race he’s required to drive around the same short distance over and over again. Given a race may last 50 or 60 laps, and they do plenty more besides over the course of a race weekend, that actually seems quite dull when I think about it.

I Can Do Lots More

My scenery has changed on and off over the years and it’s pretty much in focus wherever I look, so somewhat different to a race track. They do get to drive into the pits, but I get to stop at petrol stations. I could even stop for a coffee without any penalty.

Talking of penalties, I get to stop and hold up traffic without any issues. Unless of course the vehicle behind has a flashing blue light in which case it’s no different to a safety car situation. They should be in front and it’s a good idea to not overtake them. Yes I know, they have a yellow light and not a blue one but you get the gist.

More Flexibility

I can switch lanes too, or drive slower, or start later, or arrive later, whereas they of course can’t. They have to drive the exact same line at the same high speed for every single lap. It’s a completely different concentration level for them and no denying it’s one incredible ability.

I do have hands free access to my mobile phone, so that’s similar to them talking to a race engineer on the pit wall. Oh, and I can drive my route in reverse, something that would be frowned upon and receive a lifetime ban for sure in the world of F1 obviously.

Conclusion

So you see, an F1 driver may get to experience a bigger buzz than me but taking everything into account my commute doesn’t seem so bad after all.

There’s one big final plus point for me. If I arrive home at the end of the day 5 minutes slower than yesterday, I still receive a great welcome home from my family. Which is better than being told I’m no longer needed and that I’m being subsequently dropped for someone better.

Right then, time to head back to the drawing board.