gosh, i live in orygun and even i know you don't stop on the freeway.

also, you think YOUR mayor is bad news...

I don't know who is in charge of declaring National Drive Like A Crazy Person Day, but I wish they would only do it once a year. And tell us in advance.

I do believe that there are some people that get their drivers license from a box of Cracker Jacks!

I was almost hit and earned a dirty look (I think I'm glad I couldn't hear the words) last week for dealing with an emergency vehicle on a side street as above. The other vehicle was not around when I pulled over but tried mightily to sideswipe me as the emergency vehicle passed us both--apparently I took her spot?!

You live in the granola state (full of fruits nuts and flakes!). If you choose to live there knowing (and regardless of) the crazyass people you have to deal with, then you can't complain. I'd say get out before you become one of them by osmosis. I'm just sayin.....

What a timely post. I was stopped in the right lane of a line of cars yesterday as we waited for an emergency vehicle to pass through the intersection in front of us an some wacko in a lifted red truck with roll bars decided that HE was too important to wait. So he DROVE UP ON THE SIDEWALK to get around us, nearly hit an old man in a wheelchair who was on the sidewalk, and then roared through the intersection and around the corner at high speed. How come the highway patrol is never around to ticket for THAT kind of behavior?!

I am constantly baffled by the people who can hear the siren coming so they decide to drive faster to get through the intersection before it arrives. How many cars do you think get side swiped by fire trucks, or vice versa?

To the person who complained about my complaining: Complaining is my cardio. It's probably best if you don't read this site again since it's a full complaining workout. It will just upset you.

Marita -- on the LAPD site I listed above they say:
In the past five years, there have been nearly 200 traffic collisions involving Department vehicles responding Code 3. These traffic collisions have resulted in injuries to 41 citizens and 101 officers.

chook sez: slow the pluck down!

I am constantly amazed by how people drive. didn't anyone take driver's ed?!?

My husband and I sometimes feel like we turning into old coots because we constantly complain about the way other people drive on the freeway. He drives about 50,000 miles a year for work plus flies to other states where he rents cars. Stupid drivers, sad to say, are not confined to any one part of the country. I think it was in Indiana, he was coming over a hill on a freeway bridge and was faced with someone driving the wrong way on the freeway in his lane and headed straight for him. If my husband had crested the hill just a second or two later, he wouldn't have had time to swirve into the left lane and out of the way. I worry about him every day but that was the closest I've come to losing him. I thank God every day for protecting him.

We also think that if the sheriff deputies would start ticketing tailgaters instead of speeders, our state could solve its budget deficit in a couple months. Every day we see people driving 65-70 miles per hour with less than one car length of distance between them and the car ahead of them. Don't these people remember from drivers education that they're supposed to leave one car length for every 10 mph they're driving. Apparently the new rules say that you should stay one to two seconds behind the car in front of you. That rule must be too complicated because the majority of drivers don't seem to be able to count to two! The husband of a friend is a driving instructor. When he has students go for their road test and he doesn't think they're ready for a license yet, he quietly signals the testing agent not to pass them.

I wish we had more mass transit in this country as it would certainly keep a fair number of crazies off the road.

People are complaining about your complaining? That hurts my brain.

Man! That's insane! I thought the drivers were bad where I live.

This is the #1 reason I never want to live in a major city. Ever. Give me country roads baby!

Since I moved to the arm pit of the nation (Phoenix metro area) complaining about this heinous heat, the prehistoric looking and overly abundant insects and other various creepy crawlies, the complete lack of driving skills and the fact that how you look and what you drive obviously is the most important measure of who you are as a person....complaining has also become my cardio also. Everyone who claims 'this is Gods country' takes my complaining so personally....which due to an unfortunate personality flaw only fuels my level of complaining :-) Complain away sista :-) I love your blog!!

You crack me up.

Look up former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick some time. He had affairs, bought expensive cars for his wife on the city's dime, had a party at the mansion where his wife beat up a stipper who was murdered not long afterwards, lost a 9 million dollar whistle blower lawsuit because of the coverup of his affair. Good times, good times!

Keep on complaining, girl. Your cardio, my reading pleasure. (Although I do think I can one-up you on crazy political leaders. I'm from South Carolina, home of Gov. Mark "going-for-a-hike-in-Appalachia-oops-I-mean-Argentina" Sanford and Joe "you-lie" Wilson, not mention countless others who provide so much fodder for blog content. Y'all are welcome!)

My husband's #1 complaint (and I have to agree) is all the dense people who don't realize or don't care that the left lane is the PASSING lane, not the toodle along and enjoy the scenery/music on the radio/conversation with your passenger lane. It's so frustrating to be stuck in a long line of cars stacked up behind these dopes while meanwhile, there's a half mile or more of empty highway in front of them. Get a clue -- move into the right lane!

If you don't speak up, the powers that be don't realize that anyone is unhappy. Please tell me you've emailed the offending radio stations. I bet they don't think anyone minds and I'll bet my stash you are not the only person ticked by their changes.

Stella, you're right that the left lane is the "Passing Lane." What it's not, however, is the "Drive 80 mph in a 55 mph zone Lane." I get really tired of drivers in giant SUVs coming up behind me in that lane or any lane so close that I can't see their front bumper, supposedly thinking that if they intimidate me enough I'll get out of their way.

Rick Dees? OMG! I grew up in Memphis and used to listen to him every morning on WHBQ--I think-that was a long time ago. I don't believe he ever DJ'd at FM100...anyway, I didn't know he still did weekday morning radio. Very cool!

Ooo, channeling Jane Austen!

CAP: Complaining about your city and making fun of your fellow city-dwellers, especially the drivers, is one of life's few certainties and pleasures!

Ms. Austen: For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn? (Pride & Prejudice, ch. 57).

Wonder what Lizzie Bennet would have thought of LA traffic.

What? NYers are the best complainers!

wonder what lizzie borden would have thought of LA traffic.

:)

It's your blog, complain all you want. It's cheaper than therapy, and probably more effective. And don't move, people drive crazy here, too, and believe me, the politicians in Illinois can give California a run for their money! Love your blog and loved your book!

I love listening to you complain. You do it in a perfectly entertaining and not at all irritating way. I can feel vicarious outrage move through my system in a way that moves and cleanses my own irritational system.

There's nothing more catharcic (is that even a word?) than complaining about other people's driving. But I think Boston drivers have you beat... :)

First, I love to hear you talk about my old home state - it is funny to hear someone actually verbalize the things I thought for all those years! Second, we called it the "LA exit" when people in the number 1 lane (far left)suddenly realized they had to exit RIGHT NOW all the way to the right - and they would just go right - now warning, no blinkers, just a car moving at 70 mph heading right! Ahhh, the experience of the 101! What they call "traffic" here in Virginia would be the middle of the night in LA!

Sigh. I miss LA. I moved from LA to Panama City, FL, and it's sooooo boring here! They don't even have any freeways here!

LOL....Laurie your blog rocks..and your comments are a story unto themselves!!! It is great to see you inspiring so many!!

And really, if you can't complain about LA traffic, what's the point?

I always find it interesting when people take a "love it or leave it" attitude when others complain about something. Sometimes there is a valid point to be made--as in "if you're are so miserable perhaps it would behoove you to make some changes instead of marinating in the misery", but usually it's a comment made by someone who doesn't know if you're really miserable. A lot of times complaining is just venting. Some stuff I let go let water off a duck's back. Other observances of idiocy/lunacy I will rant about precisely because I DO care. I've lived in California for half my life as a transplant. No, I don't think it's Utopia. It is where I live and whether by choice or circumstance is entirely my own business. There are things I like about it and things I don't--just like the other 7 states where I have lived. No place is perfect. I think it is appropriate (and sometimes necessary and responsible) to call bullshit when I see it. To not do so is tantamount to saying "screw it, I don't care". How wretched would it be if no one cared when things went weird and/or wrong? "Oh, I have to absolutely love everything about this or have nothing to do with it at all." Really? Those are my only options? I think not.

Complaining as cardio--Laurie, I love your style. How boring would life be if everything was perfect?

The DMV closings are the fault of the state financial black pit, not the city. Not that the city is doing much better, but just wanted to be factually correct!

Let's talk about people who don't understand one-way streets, like my roomie who made a left turn from the right lane of a one-way street by the hospital where I was going for x-rays. I commended him on his stellar driving and he said his usual "TY" only he got the "T" confused with an "F". Later, we almost lost our front end by some other IDIOT MAN doing the same damn thing.

Oh, don't get me started. [Oops! Too late!]

Complain away. I lived there in LA. I feel your pain.

Love YOUR Blog. Love YOUR kitties. And Love YOUR attitude.

Its NOT just LA. I learned to drive in LA 30+ years ago and now live in a BIG town/county of 500,000 and the people here drive REALLY REALLY bad. (My local NPR station doesn't give traffic reports 'cause I guess that is too plebian.)

I recall the addition of a new freeway about 15 years ago and the merging traffic never reached 45mph. What a mess!

And try driving in the fog when the folk don't turn on their headlights and don't slow down.

"Complaining is my cardio!" I finally have a reason for how I spend at least 50% of my time. I am so stealing that.

One of the biggest benefits of having a blog is using it to vent and complain! People are nuts.

Preach it, sister! But LA doesn't have the only stupid drivers and crappy government and shady mayor. Just sayin'. Whoever said you should move instead of complain, well, just where would you move? We're surrounded by idiots, even over here on the east coast.

The latest driving habit in Canada (small town Canada -- no freeways here in our part of the country) seems to be treating STOP signs as if they were just a suggestion.

Idiots are everywhere!

And if anyone accosts you in person for complaining, just give them the same line I give people who tell me I'm talking to/with myself: "It's about the only way to have an intelligent conversation around here!"

pfffffft on 'em.

In this area have the deadly combination of pedestrians who insist on jaywalking through dangerous intersections and drivers who don't yield to pedestrians who are legally crossing the street. Someone gets run over about once a week.

I complain a bit myself and usually I'm just venting not looking for a solution. People always want to 'fix' things. No -- please just let me complain!

Complaining (what I call 'Ranting and Raving') makes me feel better, and reading your Rants is FUN!

There are stupid people everywhere, so moving wouldn't be a good answer anyway.

Complain away! It's not as if you complain constantly and clearly complaining about people who stop in the middle of the freeway is warranted. How do people live anywhere without having to complain once in a while? If we all upped and moved everytime our town's pissed us off we'd all be nomads.

Personally I'm starting to think we should be allowed to cull some of these idiots. I mean really. If we were allowed to shoot the morons driving while talking on their cell phones or stopping in the middle of a freeway it might cause a few of them to think twice before doing it. Nothing else seems to work. lol

I'm totally kidding, btw.

Go Laurie! complain away! It is your blog and your content and you get to say what you want. And I find it damn entertaining!

I remember being taught as a kid (pre-driving age) "Pull to the right for sirens and lights". (That, along with "Get this thought into your head: always stop at flashing red" will be the last two things I remember when my brain has turned utterly to tapioca someday) I grew up in Pittsburgh, and everyone did just that - pulled over to the right, and stopped. So, the ambulance/fire truck/police car could safely travel in the far left with pretty much no issue. Now, I live in Maryland, and O. M. G. People here will pull whichever direction strikes their fancy, which leads to the emergency vehicles needing to bob and weave through the stopped cars. It's completely nonsensical.

You crack me up. If complaining is cardio, then my local "Stith & Bitch" must actually count as a full workout.

Laurie - I LOVE my satellite radio! It even has news and traffic by city! But I hear you on the posibility of break in and theft. I actually have mine attached via cassette (how 90's of me, I know) and I can just pop it out and shove it in my bag and voila!

haha blogs were invented simply to vent on!Complain all you want! If someone complains about complaining....doesnt that defeat the purpose of the original complaint in the first place? =P

So true! The ranting about one's town. I've enjoyed every city I've lived in (more or less) but I definitely play up their faults (surprisingly, there's more to complain about in the midwest than there was in NJ!).

Plus, in NJ? Yeah, we race the emergency vehicles.

I was driving home on the highway (limited-access) recently and there was a police officer ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, and the person in the left lane didn't just slow down, she came to a dead stop. I could not believe it. She didn't stop texting, though.

For the record, I LOVED living in Los Angeles. I'm with you Laurie. It is a wonderful city!

And also for the record, the crazy behaviors for emergency vehicles is exactly the same up here in Oregon. I saw an article not too long ago where they polled people on what they are supposed to do for emergency vehicles and people really believe they are supposed to just pull over and slow down or stop where ever they are. Part of the problem is that when we take the driver's test, they don't tell us what the correct answer is to the question we got wrong.

So there are a LOT of people who don't know the correct procedure.

Next week, I'd like to talk about the passing lane. People, you are not supposed to just toodle along in the passing lane. It is for PASSING. [exception being LA where you just find a lane that is moving and go with the flow]

Hey, your drivers sound a lot like drivers in the Greater Toronto Area, only we do this with snow. Snow, people! Like rain on 'roids!

In other news, I love to complain about where I live; people who don't are just kidding themselves.

Keep it up, girl! (By the way, the new digs look fab!)

I personally LOVE reading about your complaining! I think we should start a complaining cardio class. That's right everyone move to the right (your other right) and complain away!

Have an AWESOME day!

Last time I checked, this was YOUR BLOG!! You may complain to your hearts content and I will joyfully come back EVERY DAY!!

I live in the RED state of Idaho. I am tinted deep blue. Believe me, when I complain here and people tell me to leave...MY HOME...the gorgeous place I have lived for 52 years, well, they'd better run, because I will come after them.

People act like idiots when the sirens go off here too, it's not like sirens are a rare occurance locally; I cannot imagine they are rare where you are; therefore, I don't think moving is an option as far as avoiding bad or insane drivers. One needs to come to terms with living with the impoverished beings, however one can. Informing them has got to be a step in the right direction.

I do hope your news returns to regular air time. I never listen to the news and someone needs to. You're it! ; )

Laurie, I get laughs from you all the time. I especially like the description you have above about "seeing the sirens" coming and complaining as cardio. Funny!

I live in the biggest city in Montana, with 100,000 people on a good (bad?) day. Our latest traffic controversy is the ROUNDABOUTS that are being installed at a number of locations, including the ONLY access road to the airport. You'd think people were being asked to, I don't know, move to LA and give up their guns and Hummers. "It just ain't AMURICUN," it seems.

They already don't stop or pull over for emergency vehicles . . . I'm waiting for the first emergency requiring people to figure out where to pull off the roundabout! (For the record, it qualifies as an intersection with the attendant rules.)

Uh. Muh. Gah. "Complaining is my cardio" might be the BEST LINE EVER and I will be totally claiming it as my own!

Also, to Haley - I live in the country too, and while we might not have Stupid City Drivers, we do have the Geezers. You know, the ones who flip a coin in the morning to see which turn signal they are going to leave on all day.

Phooey on people who don't like complaining! I lived in Seattle for 4 years, and the traffic there is always in competition with LA for Worst Traffic in the Country. It's like a badge of honor - "It took me an HOUR to get across the bridge!" and so on. I actually knew someone who would come to work at like 4 am ostensibly to miss the traffic. Or, as some people thought, to take a three hour nap, get paid for it, and leave at 2pm.

Complain all you want, Laurie. I used to live in LA and completely agree with your assessments of the crazy drivers. In fact, after driving in Los Angeles, NOTHING and I mean NOTHING disturbs me or surprises me on the highways and byways of our great land. People complain about driving in ATLANTA and I scoff at them. Driving in Atlanta is a picnic in the proverbial park compared to driving in LA.

Another thing that I've experienced makes LA drivers STOP on the FREEWAY--snow flurries. You think it is bad when it rains, just let a flutter of white hit the windshield and it looks like a Will Smith post-Armaggedon scene on the 10.

Hahahaha laughing out loud at possibilities of Lizzie Borden's views on L.A. traffic!

What, you didn't mention the rain?

Personally I find your complaints more entertaining then most....you complain with a sense of humor.

just delete the ignorant comments. we are guests in your home/blog, and you have the right to refuse entrance to anyone you choose. personally, i like the whines.

In Nor Cal they ignore emergency vehicles completely! Makes me insane.

For Sheila in SC:
Me too! And I live in Joe Wilson's district! No applause - just throw money.
Not complainin'. Just sayin'.

Ha! Last week I turned on my favorite radio channel in the car (Syracuse, New York) and heard French...as in Canadian! We're a couple hundred miles from the border! Turned it off (I can't understand fast French!) and turned it on later and had my station back. I sure can relate!

Laurie,

I was in Vermont last week and nearly got run over on dirt roads...kids flying by me on a corner...jeez.

I REALLY love reading your blog. I work by myself with limited contact with people. I enjoy hearing everything you have to say....I say block the sender of the negative comments. This is YOUR place to say want YOU think...I think it is gracious that you take the time to read the comments.

It really shows all the diverse people that you attract.

THANKS for writing...please keep up the good work.

By the by....just think you might of saved a life for maybe one of the people who STOP may read your blog and now would actually KNOW what to do.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself stuck in Chicago rush hour traffic, on the Eisenhower (which would be a freeway - my GPS calls it the "Eisennower"). We were bumper to bumper, and moving about 3 miles an hour. Sirens came up behind us, and I have to say I was impressed. All four lanes moved towards the edges of the road (left and right, which in this case made sense), and let the ambulance through, right down the middle. This didn't happen very quickly, but people knew they had to get out of the way. ( I have to say I'll take Chicago rush hour over Houston's any day! I've never driven in LA's but I'll take your word that it's crazy.)

Not to be a negative nelly, but no one who knows basic math and accounting will ever run for mayor. Because they've seen the numbers and know it can't be done.

People in L.A. may respond poorly to emergency vehicles, but at least they respond. I've been told from residents in both Thailand and Korea that emergency vehicles don't mean jack to drivers over there. I actually had a Korean friend in my car one day, and she was amazed at how everyone pulled over to let an ambulance pass. I don't get that. It's not even so much a matter of doing the right thing as it is hoping that if you're ever in the back of an ambulance or in need of immediate police assistance, people will get the heck out of the way and let those vehicles pass, so you do the same for others.

Laurie... I moved to Tucson AZ from Southern Cal (La & San Diego) I learned to drive in Southern Cal and felt that after driving over 20 years in LA, etc I was a very experienced driver. Especially after driving the freeways, learning the shortcuts... for example I could take sidestreets from Glendale to Westwood in 30 mins

My pride was dashed to bits in Tucson Almost all driving is done on city streets (I-10 goes around the edge of town).... thus we have a huge amount of tailgater's, red light runners, snowbirds, university students etc. etc. etc.!!!!!!!!!!

So please vent away! 'cause it could be worse. As others mentioned... each area has it's pluses and it's minuses. That's why recalling Darwin's phrase "adept or perish" helps me a lot.

Fortunatly I've recently moved one block away from work and now walk to work. For some odd reason I'm a lot calmer and more at peace!!

I knwo what you mean about the city going bankrupt. I live in Philly now, and you may have heard of PA's budget crisis. The state hasnt' been able to pass a budget, so no state funds have been released. And, until it is passed, no state funds will be released. Our libraries are largely subsidized by the state, as are our police force and fire fighters. If they dont' pass a budget, all libraries will close at 5pm on Friday October 2. There will be a number of layoffs in the police and fire departments that are already ridiculously understaffed. It is going to be a mess here. So, yeah, i feel your pain.

sorry, me again. I forgot to address your radio concern. i really think it is horrible of them to do that to you and not actually consult you first. just plain rude if you ask me. it reminds me of the time when i went to bed one night listening to the local soft rock station and when i turned it on the next morning, it was country! what a surprize.

Please consider satellite radio. It's so fabulous! Where else can you listen to non-stop 80's new wave, or a whole station of cheesy love ballads, or Howard Stern shocking...no one.
But anyway, the radio is so easy to just pop out of the car kit and into your purse! So it won't get stolen! Unless someone grabs your purse. It IS L.A. after all.

Drivers seem the same the world over! Ignore those rotten comments - if they haven't got anything nice or funny to say, they shouldn't comment (or read this blog!). What happened to manners? Love you Laurie!

I'm from Minnesota and people here are terrible drivers (seriously, Minnesota-nice disappears once we're behind the wheel - it's ugly), but one thing we're good at is dealing with emergency vehicles. My friend from L.A. was in the car with me and watched in awe as a long line of cars (including me) saw the flashing lights of an ambulance, pulled smoothly and carefully over to the shoulder, waited for the ambulance to pass, and pulled just as nicely back into traffic, where we proceeded to cut each other off and refuse to allow others to merge just as we had been doing before. "That never happens where I'm from," she said in awe.

.... I understand just a little.
No comprende it's a riddle.....I'm on a Mexican ( wooooaaah)Radio.!
What does he say?.........radio
hahahah I couldn't resist.... I love that song.. thanks for putting it in my head!
Awesome workout BTW........!( heh)

Complain away. You're so right about emergency behavior. You didn't mention the behavior of the pulled-over cars after the emergency vehicle has passed. It's like the Daytona 500 with all the cars trying to improve on the position they held before they pulled over.

You might want to write a primer on behavior at a 4-way stopsign next. Talk about bizarre.

You realize morons are everywhere and most of them are on the roads. If only people would use their heads and YES read the drivers ed manual and then do what it says. Really, how hard is it already?? But then these are probably the same people who slam on their brakes when they are speeding and see a police car in the median strip...I mean you are busted already sheesh...

im so glad you have comments back... and i agree... people do not know how to deal with sirens. i had an incident just 2 nights ago in my town where people were stopping 4 lanes wide and then after the trucks passed - the people in back of the line jumped out and raced by the rest of the stopped cars making the line that much longer and more dangerous. terrible manners in my opinion. :)

I feel your pain. Here in Atlanta, NEWS FLASH, it's raining - a lot! My usual 20 minute easy commute took 1 hour 15 minutes, because it WAS RAINING. Seriously, WTF? Halfway home there was a cop sitting on the side of the road - no doubt taking a nap- and everyone hit the brakes - in the RAIN - because it was RAINING.

Can you tell I just don't get it?

People are silly, venting is great! Besides it makes, at least me, miss LA. Lovely lovely California crazy.

People are silly, venting is great! Besides it makes, at least me, miss LA. Lovely lovely California crazy. ^.^

Dadgum, if we can't complain, then what else are we supposed to do? I suppose it's different if you just complain and don't do anything about it, but a "love it or leave it" attitude isn't going to accomplish anything but a lot of repressed rage. Not to mention, NOBODY would stay ANYWHERE, not even married, and it wouldn't be one whit better, either.

Once I was in the superstore parking lot when I heard the sirens blaring down the road. With every intention of being a looky-loo, I watched as the ambulance driver and his co-worker parked in front of a local diner.

I silently said a Hail Mary for the person I figured they would be bringing out on a stretcher that probably choked on Jimmy's house special.

Ten minutes later, I see the driver and his co-worker sitting at a table - having lunch! Apparently the siren meant, "Out of my way! I'm hungry".

Still, I move to the right and stop.

KFWB still does news and traffic in the AM drive time. You can change channels before Dr Talksalot comes on. You could also try KNX, altho I burned out on their people a few years ago. Too much blah blah. (I personally love LA but my DH has decided he hates it here and wants to move. ugh.) (And I love your blog; and the cats. Keep it up.)

By the way check out this blogger discussing drivers in Canada.
http://thistrainisforgourock.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/driving-in-canada-and-the-uk/

More Pics Of the Apartment Please...Love seeing how you and the kitties are adjusting..

You tell it like it is! I think a lot of those are unlicensed drivers who just don't know what is happening. Wait until you get a "roundabout." In my town, there are folks coming off the freeway directly into a roundabout and there are no signs telling them what to do. This town put in roundabouts to lower the accident rates at busy intersections. Now accidents are double or triple what they were before.

Do you have an i-phone? They have an ap that shows LA freeway traffic real time. Very useful.

Oh, and the mayor doesn't run the DMV, the state does. You can blame Arnold. Anyway just join the Auto Club and do all your DMV business there. Voila! Problem solved.

''Complaining is my cardio, people.''

this is why I keep coming back to read your antics. stellar.

What par88 said...and, although I don't work for the DMV, I'm a state employee (higher education)and most all state employees have been furloughed, hence the closures. Furlough means our meager (seriously meager for many of us) have been reduced. It's a more serious problem than most Californians realize...really frosts my gizzard!

But on a lighter note...you crack me up and I depend on your posts for my daily smiles. Thanks, Laurie!

I have a great LA crazy story too. My coworkers and I were sitting at a stop light when we could see and hear a fire truck coming down the cross street to us. The light turns green at that point and the car to the right of me starts driving into the intersection right into the path of the oncoming fire truck. So I am honking at him and yelling to stop and he rolls down his window and practically hangs out of his car to give me the finger. Then just keeps on driving through the intersection totally oblivious to the fire truck that had to slam on its breaks, swerve to avoid him and almost crash right into us law abiding citizens still waiting behind the crosswalk. Crazy is right!

hehehe!

I thought traffic in the bay area was bad. and then I started driving an ambulance every day, and then- the badness of traffic was just exponentially worse. my theory is that the bright shiny colors are like urban camoflauge.

I hear ya, sista. We have the crazy here in Kansas City, too. And when I stop (On the right side of the road) - I get looked at like a freak. But I love my city!

It's Mercury Retrograde! People are driving worse than usual during this astrologically challenging time. P.S. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and while I find many faults with our city it is my home and I love it. I have never been offended by anything you have written about L.A. Most things I have read, I come away feeling prouder than I was before to be an Angeleno (Angelena?) and grateful for the little things like, say, access to Botanica Warehouses in downtown L.A. :)

Holy crap - DMV is only open 2 times a month there now????? Man, I didn't think it was that bad - yikes!

And girl, gripe away - it's your blog and you can discuss whatever you want :) And you're right, we all have our gripes and loves about the city we live in.

I suppose I'm a semi freak-outer when I see the flashing lights. But not to the point where I'd come to a dead stop in the middle of the freeway! :)

Maybe the mayor of Oakland could take the mayor of LA out to lunch. They'd have a lot to talk about.

I once had a lady driving a few cars in front of me on the interstate pull over into the right emergency lane when she heard all of the sirens behind us. Two emergency vehicles were in the far left lane and the cars were getting over to accommodate. She rolled down her window when she got next to me (I am the *only* person she did this to) and started screaming at me to pull off the interstate and into the emergency lane because the "ambulance is coming". I ignored her for as long as I could and then she started honking at me non-stop. So I finally rolled my window down and yelled back "When the emergency vehicles come screaming by, what lane do you think they drive in??? The EMERGENCY LANE!!!" She was not happy and kept honking. Then the cop drove up behind her. Freaking. Made. My. Day.

Do you have a complaint department? I'd like to file a formal complaint about the person who complained about your complaining.

Complain away, girl. Your blog is my therapy. :)

I'm not even an American and I love your line about LA's mayor. There is such a universal truth about the need for a decent accountant to come in while the Mayor is off attending the opening of yet another envelope.

Thanks for that PSA! I'm actually in EMS and see that nonsense quite often. I've had people JAM their brakes at highway speeds and stop when I'm right behind them. Most don't even move. Or if they do it's to the left... where does the drivers handbook say anything about moving to the left!!! They don't want to move out of the way, but are the first to complain that it took too long if they're the ones waiting for the ambulance!!! C'mon people.

The emergency vehicle behavior that really drives me nuts is when they stop on the freeway for police cars ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FREEWAY!! Either that, or jam on their brakes suddenly because they were speeding and are afraid they will get a ticket by osmosis or something. My husband wants a license plate that says O2BACOP - he'd love to hand out tickets to all the idiots.

Delaware, in addition to having more than its fair share of New Jersey drivers, has its own quirks. The one that confuses me most is how they drive in the snow. If you are driving in the snow, you'll often find a car abandoned at the top of a bridge. And not abandoned by the side of the road, but sitting right in the middle of the lane. The first time I saw it, I couldn't fathom what had happened. Had there been an accident? Did someone get to the middle of the bridge and think "This dusting of snow is just too dangerous to drive in"? And where did the driver go? Did they walk home? Did they call someone to pick them up? Now, I just shake my head, pull on to the shoulder and pass. And don't get me started on the U-turns.

Why is no one else complaining about the fact that you have caused me great mental stress. I now have that 'whoa hoa Mexican radio' song in my head. It has been there for awhile now.

When I finally kill someone today because of said mental stress....Im blaming your cardio workout.

;)

Laurie - I tried to comment on the stair/kitty post but the comments must be closed. :(

I lived in a 3-story townhome with stairs just like yours. I also had three kitties living there. The kitties had all sorts of rules about who could be on the stairs at any given time. If someone was coming down, another kitty couldn't go up at the same time. If one was sitting at the top, another one was not allowed to walk down past the other kitty. Many a mean look was exchanged on those stairs. There was some sort of deranged kitty hierarchy involved that mere humans could not grasp. Once we moved to our new house with a wider open staircase, the rules changed. Everyone seems to co-exist happily on the staircase. Hope your kitties are adjusting well!

Traffic is like the weather here, but weather is too boring so we talk about all things traffic. It is the Los Angeles area universal topic. For people like my kids who don't drive yet there is always public transit.

You think it is bad here, the year we live din Mexico no one moved at all for emergency vehicles and I remember seeing them stuck in traffic and imagining the people inside dying.

Mayors are just non stop entertainment, think of Marion Berry, besides being named after a variety of blackberry developed in Oregon, he was lots of fun to read about. Detroit offered lots of fun as have many other cities. Talking about all this and traffic is a sport and does not even qualify as complaining. Maybe some of the viewers just don't like aerobic exercise and don't understand. I have been known to burst in to hysterical laughter as I see stunts of the freeway in LA.

I just took a cross-country trip and the really scary drivers were in Tennessee on the freeway. They slow for nothing, not cops, not construction, that traffic flew and they hardly had any lanes. Every state has its quirks. Oregon is so slow they almost drive backwards, but it is necessary there because the signage is so bad. New York State also had terrible signage to a point of being comical. In Texas everything was bigger. Big lanes, big cars and a huge rest stop building. Driving is fun.

I assume that when (if) you want our opinions as to where you should live, you'll ask. Til then, please feel free to exercise your right to free speech on your own damn blog!

And it's a good reminder to all of us that when someone complains, they're not always asking for a fix.

Now, that being said....

Traffic? You want traffic? Try Metro (or Greater) Vancouver (every once in a while, they change the name - they do that with the bus system too, I think it's mean to confuse the passengers into giving it another try). The whole area is made up of a some delta islands (one of which has the airport which, gasp to some people, makes noise! but that's another rant), some marshy bits, a major forked river (hence, the delta islands), an ocean inlet, and a big bay. Oh yes, and some mountains, which curtail movement somewhat. No ring-road system, no throughway to get you from one suburb to another without going thru the city. In efforts to curtail streetracing, there are traffic lights approximately every 1.5 meters (well, ok, maybe not that frequently, but it sure seems like that).

Yowza!!

How about those folks who approach a right turn lane (the kind where there is a triangle of sidewalk between the main intersection and it),with a football field length of dedicated lane succeeding it and the dang fool in front of you comes to a dead stop waiting for the traffic in the other lanes to clear? For heck's sake, you have your own dang lane to turn and get up to speed before merging! ARGH!!!!

Complaints show you care. I think you really care, you posted the correct way to respond to sirens.

Hee. I'm an inveterate complainer. But I find the humor in it, too (as do you). My BF complains that I'm "too negative" -- he doesn't get that it's just venting and is my way of letting go of the minor daily annoyances.

Move instead of complaining? Nah, that would be silly -- every place has its problems.

Also I think that you've got a public forum and are doing a public service. Maybe one of those doofae stopped on the freeway was a knitter from outer Elbonia who now knows how to respons properly to American emergency sirens because she reads you faithfully! Or you might help prod someone into direct action -- like maybe Bob from Accountemps will run for mayor next year.

We in CT wish you luck...heck, our previous governor gave up his job to make license plates in the pokey.

MaryHS

I agree with everything you wrote. Nothing more needs to be written!

I have to share this one with you... my 80+ year old grandfather lives in Maryland in a residential neighborhood of the DC metro area. One morning he was having chest pains so I had to call an ambulance for him. The streets where he lives are very narrow and when the ambulance arrived they ended up pretty much blocking the road. While the EMTs were wheeling him out of the house on a stretcher, some lady pulls onto the road (my grandfather lives in a house on the corner), sees the ambulance, rolls down her window, and proceeds to REAM OUT the EMTs at the top of her lungs for blocking the road. Unbelievable. In not so kind words I told her that there was obviously an emergency taking place and suggested she take the next road down the block. With more attitude than I can describe, she rolled up her window and left. The EMTs actually thanked me for what I said to her because they weren't permitted to speak to people that way!

I was on my way to Ensenada when a car in front of me stopped in the middle lane of the freeway and BACKED UP. Fast! I was just barely able to get out of its way. So far, in my driving experience on this side of the border, most everybody's at least going the correct direction most of the time, and I am grateful for this. Also for the public service you've done by clarifying this important issue of emergency vehicles for your readers!

Wow, this was such a great read. I so glad to know that I am not the only person on the road that knows to move to the right when emergency vehicles are trying to get by. I live in Las Vegas, and I swear 95% of the driving populace lose all mental capabilities when they see those lights. If they're not apart of that crowd, they're the 4% who believe that they can out-run the lights and that stopping is optional. Stopping for 10 seconds while these hard-working people try and save lives, will not screw-up your commute. I hate seeing that on the roads. So selfish, what is the world coming to?!

We're all used to certain things in our lives being the same, we're all creatures of habit, routine. When I was younger, I used to joke about the co-worker who ate the same lunch every day, including 5 Kraft Caramel. Here I am, after 30 years, packing the same lunch, every day.

Anyhow, same goes for government offices being open, we expect it like we expect the sun to rise and the traffic to be crazy. When we drive up and see a closed sign on the door, it's upsetting and we complain. It seems like the DMV offices are the ones that folks get upset about the most. Word to the wise, state employee furloughs are happening all over the country, if it hasn't happened in your state yet, it probably will soon. If you have to go to an office, check the DMV website first, they should have the closure dates listed. In California, there will be 36 days when state offices will be shut down. For the employees, that's over a month without pay over the next year.

I'm a state employee in Wisconsin (no, I don't work for the DOT or DMV). When we were mandated to take 16 furlough days over the next 2 years, we didn't like it but, "all the cool kids are doing it". Basically, it's like being forced to buy 16 more days of vacation and not being able to decide when you are taking them.

I'm a (former) Angeleno, born and bred, and girl, you crack me up. When I moved to Seattle 20 years ago people would complain about the traffic and I would throw back my head and howl with laughter. Nobody can drive crazy like the residents of the City of Angels!

I have a theory that people really started driving poorly when they did away with Driver's Education in public schools. Now kids learn from driving schools or parents or other people who may or may not be good drivers who know the rules of the road. At least with Driver's Ed. we all got the same basic information.

Man I'm old...

You can get satellite radio that is removable. Easily removable. And if you pay a little extra, you can get units that can go hiking with you and still pick up the signal.

I'm a believer, but then again I only have to drive about 50 miles from home before I'm in the zone where there are only 2 radio stations: country music, and Spanish language.

can you come teach this to the drivers in my city?

Here here on your edited to add! After all, as Mr. Bennett tells his lovely daughter Lizzy,

"Well, well, what do we live for, except to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?"

:-)

The streets of Boston and environs were laid out by cows and drunken sailors. There are far too many places where two lanes become one, or where you have to cross four lanes of traffic within 50 yards to get to your exit. You could wander for days trying to figure out how to go the right way down the one-way street on which your destination is located. Should you actually arrive, you will then have to deal with all kinds of crazy parking restrictions. Dealing with all of this has made Boston drivers surly, rude, and selfish, even if they are perfectly charming people when not behind the wheel.

Do not even get me started on the vicissitudes of local government, or the propensity of the populace to litter mindlessly and constantly, or the weather.

Come visit! You'll love it here!

LOL! I love your ETA. So true! It's fun to complain about the city you love. heh. ;)

This is probably stupid, but I'll ask anyway -- Is LA traffic almost always congested/stop and go? Do you ever get to drive fast?

Heh. People complain. It's human nature. Heck, it is probably even cat nature.

My cat complains about not getting fed often enough, because we don't free feed her (she would be a balloon cat if we free fed her). I'm sure that she sees birds and squirrels and other cats from the window and grouses all the time. I would never criticize you for complaining about the types of things I complain about all the time (though I admit I complain about the crazy drivers from an unhappy pedestrian standpoint).

Oh man, I've totally done C. I'm not proud of it, and it was certainly embarassing to explain to my insurance company.

And the cop with his lights on behind me had to decide whether to continue to his emergency (which I suspect was donut-related) or stop and deal with the idiot who bumped into the car next to her while moving to the right.

I'm a little behind but congrats on your new place!

Colorado also has a law that states that if an emergency vehicle is stopped (traffic stop, accident, whatever) traffic should move over to leave the lane next to the emergency vehicle free (for the safety of the cops, emergency personnel, accident victims...) IF THEY MAY SAFELY DO SO!!! The two most common reactions I've seen so far are 1) swerve wildly without checking to see if there is already a vehicle travelling in the lane you are swerving into or 2) slow down and gawk so the person behind you rear-ends you and gives the emergency personnel another reason for being there. Gotta love urban traffic.

I'm horrified that KFWB now has Dr. Laura - that station is supposed to be news and traffic and that's it. I know your pain. It's supposed to be the alternative when KNX 1070 has too many people talking. Maybe it's their little way to try and make people buy the Garmin Nuvis (or other GPS things) with traffic news.

How funny--my husband called me this afternoon after taking the California motorcycle test... The question: If you are on a motorcycle and fleeing from police and you cause a fatal accident, how many years will you spend in jail? 4, 6, 8, or 10 years?
(I'm sorry, why were you running from the police?)

You don't have a corner on the market of nutty drivers. I live in a small Alabama town, and a couple months ago, a 16-year-old ran a stop sign, hit my car in the rear, which resulted in my car being totaled. Scared me to death. Never been in a wreck in my life (age 57), and never seen him coming from the intersection behind me and plunging into the rear of my vehicle.

Death by auto accident is seriously a problem here in the South; crooked, hilly rural roads are definitely part of the problem, but also people in general are just not careful. Don't get me started on people driving while talking on a cellphone, argh.

It's the STATE (the Governator) not the City that closes the DMV offices. But if they were in the City's jurisdiction, I'm sure they would have done the same.

What's freaking me out about L.A. is all the 50-year old water mains are breaking, like one or two a day. They aren't supposed to do that for 100 years! Is IF.

Oh well, keeps it interesting.

I always found the phrase "Mike Nolan in the KOST-103 airplane" inexplicably cute and endearing. The KOST-103 airplane. Sure. But who needs cute when you-need-to-know-right-now-before-you-get-on-that-bleepin'freeway!

A fellow Jeep owner here! My sister was shocked when I had to put something big in the back and started unzipping "windows". She thought there should be a lock on the zippers somehow. But now she understands why I don't lock the doors either. If they want in, they'll get in and I'd rather it not involve me replacing the soft top after they cut through it.

Laurie: Sirens are the background song to Philadelphia life. There are ALWAYS sirens going. People stop dead, crawl over a little bit to the left, race the the emergency vehicles, or ignore the sirens entirely and ve-ry sloooowly continue what they were a-doin', ayup. I know ONE person who pulls over to the right and stops. He's from out of state.

Karen: All those 50-year-old water mains that are breaking? Are supposed to last 50 years. I'm a faithful watcher of all the shows on The Story Of Water and The History of Sewers, and Plumbing Throughout History. The scariest shows I watch are all based on Our Aging Infrastructure. Basically, most of the roads, bridges, levees, dams, and sewer pipes are reaching or have reached the END of their expected lifespan, and a good many have considerably EXCEEDED them. You can expect to continue seeing one or two water mains breaking a day in Los Angeles, except when there are MORE, because yeah, I watched THAT show, too. Unfortunately, I don't expect money to be found to make the needed repairs until things start breaking beyond their ability to be patched, and people start dying in droves. Visit Nashville while you can; it's two days downriver from a dam which is very bad shape. You'll need scuba gear to visit, if something isn't done about it - most dams in the U.S. are at "D" on their report cards.

Speaking of road rules, you really must enlighten your readers regarding funeral processions in the rural South. We may be no better than Los Angeleans when it comes to life saving emergency vehicles, but we all (locals, that is) know what to do when we see a funeral procession lead by a deputy sheriff (or State Patrol Major General 7th Degree, depending on the status of the departed) coming down the road. If you want to be the subject of a scathing letter to the editor of the local newspaper just let those tires roll one inch! You will be written up faster than a New York minute.

Haha...I love the title. Grease is my favorite film of all time.

Also, I had a car for only 2 years, and during that time I never had to pull over for sirens (I lived in a dinky little town where sirens were only needed right when I was trying to fall asleep...hmm). But I still know what to do, even though I haven't driven (or taken a driver's test) in almost 3 years. Seriously....people these days.

Clearly there's a large Idiot Population in North America, as proven by those you describe and those who suggest you move. PEOPLE! There are places with WORSE behavior! And geographically-impaired as I am, I still know that cities don't become centers of culture, &c like LA by virtue of irresponsible drivers. Sheesh. I'm always amazed by people who view some Major Event (emergency vehicles, the first snow of the season) as though they just landed from Mars and have NO CLUE what to do. Mind you - we've had snow every winter since two days after Jesus here, and yet, right as rain, every year there are people who become Lifelong Desert Dwellers overnight. I decided that sort is the Creator's entertainment.

Comments are closed for the weekend, thanks!