Another interesting commute

I had another interesting incident durring my drive in to work today. I was driving down the highway with my cruise control set to the speed limit as usual. I was approaching an exit and i could see a car traveling down the on ramp to merge with traffic at about the same time I'd be at that point on the highway. So with no traffic around me I did what you should do and I moved over to the left lane to allow the car on the on ramp to merge into the right hand lane of the highway. While i was in the left lane another car comes flying up behind me well in excess of the speed limit flashing his headlights at me to try and get me to move out of his way. This driver continued to flash his headlights at me the entire time I was passing the car on my right. Then when I was clear of the car on the right and moved over to the right hand lane the driver of the car speeding, driving recklessly, and breaking the law gave me the finger for driving safely and following traffic laws and using common sense. Yes HE gave ME THE FINGER. Yup that finger. And he wasn't telling me i was number one. I am not sure how i was the one that deserved to be flipped off in this scenario.

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Eastern Bluebirds Feeding Chicks

In the dew

The commute

I commute to work every day 1 hr each way on route 17/86 from Elmira to Endicott.  I feel like this is becoming an increasingly treacherous situation.  I almost always drive the speed limit.  I get on the high way, set my cruise control to the speed limit, and then adjust it when it increases and decreases.  Countless cars pass me every day.  Most of the cars are not going just over the speed limit and barely passing me.   Most cars go whipping by quickly disappearing into the horizon.  The same goes for tractor-trailers and construction vehicles.

On two occasions recently I became seriously concerned for my safety as tractor trailers came barreling down behind me  getting so close that the only thing I could see in my rear view mirror was the emblem on the grill of the truck.  On the first occasion, I noticed the tractor-trailer quickly catching up to me.  As I monitored its approach, I could see clearly in my rear view mirror the driver with a piece of paper in front of his face blocking his view of the road on several occasions as he approached.  As the tractor trailer became perilously close to me I had to move over from the right lane of the highway into the left hand lane, the passing lane, to get out of the way of the truck and the truck just continued on its way passing me as if the driver never knew I was there which I believe was exactly the case.  The truck driver either, never knew I was there or did not care that I was there.  More recently as I was proceeding through the construction zone as you approach the Elmira exit where there is only one lane and you are surrounded by concrete barriers a tractor-trailer repeatedly closed in on me from behind to uncomfortable proximity.  At one point, the truck was so close I began to swerve off the road as far to the side as I could without hitting the barrier to avoid an impact as best I could.

On occasions where there are cars in the right hand lane driving under the speed limit, as is their right, and I pass them in the left other cars catch up to me at reckless speeds and do not begin to slow down until they are right behind me.  They ride my bumper as close as possible as if they are NASCAR drivers trying to draft with me to increase my speed so I will be able to pass the other driver better.  Then once I am past the car on the right and I signal and begin to move over to the right lane myself they begin to pass me on the left before I am even in the right hand lane.  Commuting to work should not feel like a NASCAR race with all the danger involved and none of the safety measures. 

It has gotten to the point where I almost feel forced to speed in order to avoid the other dangers of the traffic around me.  Where is the protection for the law abiding citizens who drive the speed limit and obey traffic laws?  I am sure that if I decided to speed to lessen the impact of other drivers around me I would probably end up being the one who was ticketed.  With the pressures and dangers of the traffic around me it feels like I am the one breaking the law and causing danger for everyone else when it is the other way around. 

I am not saying I have never exceeded the speed limit in my life but as I have grown up and matured, I have realized how reckless and dangerous it is to oneself and everyone else around.  By the way, I am only 33.  I just do not understand what logic or lack thereof causes someone to speed.  If the speed limit is 60 m/h and you drive 60 miles, it takes 1 hour.  If my math is correct if you exceed the speed limit by 10 m/h and drive 70 m/h and still drive 60 miles it takes approximately 51 minutes to arrive at the destination.  Therefore, the point is speeding does not really even save a significant amount of time if that is supposed to be the logic for speeding.

Yesterdays Best

Here are some of yesterdays best photos from my visit to Tioga-Hammond Lakes in PA.

something new

I think i am going to try something new with my blog. The mainfocus will bo on photography and nature but I will also blog about other events or subjects that interest me such as politics, animal behavior, and psychology. In the past I have not posted as much as I would have liked to because I always wanted to have a long written post including several photos ideally. Now some posts will be like that. Some posts will have short text with a photo or two. Others will have just a photo. Still others may have just text and or links to supportive information. Please feel free to comment as to what you do or do not like and I will try to adjust accordingly. Thank you.

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