Between Airdrie and Edmonton the mind wanders

Observations.

I have driven to Edmonton and back twice within the last few weeks. Close to three hours one way.

I like to drive. I like to drive alone. It’s a form of meditation. Distance does not matter. There is time to think. My own music gets played with no complaints. I can transition from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” performed by The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields to Scandinavian Death Metal. Why Scandinavian Death Metal? The iTunes Genius recommended it. Maybe it knows something I don’t. The jury is still out.

I just love heated seats. Especially when the car heater wants to blow only cool air.

Why do so many drivers hog the passing lane? The QE II (Queen Elizabeth II) Highway in Alberta is largely a freeway with two, sometimes three, lanes in either direction and filled with drivers lacking sense and etiquette. I freely admit I tend to speed. I pass someone by pulling out into the passing lane, zipping by, then back into the right lane. People irritate me by driving mindlessly for miles in the passing lane and clogging traffic. Not to mention those who when passing barely increase their speed and ever so slowly inch past their target.

I kind of like gas station hot dogs. Got to have mustard. That part is a deal breaker. Come to think of it, you never see gas station salads.

Gas prices are all over the map. I left Airdrie on Friday night and gas was 84.9 cents per litre. I get to Edmonton and it is seven cents per litre higher.

Johnny Cash is a must for any road trip. Mary-Chapin Carpenter got some serious listening.

Why can’t car manufacturers put the hazard light switch where you can easily punch it in an emergency? I am driving at night and a semi hits his brakes and is flashing all his lights and I see it will be blocking my lane in a matter of seconds. I am far enough away that it is not an issue, I quickly check the rearview, drivers behind me are a ways away but I want to warn them. I look for the hazard button to flash them a warning and spend a few precious seconds before I see it hidden from my line of site behind the wheel of the steering wheel. All of the stereo stuff is easily accessible, the important stuff not so much. Priorities.

Dating is an interesting experience. I am on a dating site and a lot of women’s profiles say they have degrees or are professional and yet are incapable of simple sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. I must be missing something.

These are the days of winter that I have a hard time liking. The temperature warms up for a few days and then a day or two of light snow. I can’t ride the motorcycle just yet. Still traces of ice and loose gravel. Going to the rural areas makes me hesitate with the freeze/thaw. Winter is losing its grasp but refuses to die. Just die already, the open road is trying to call.

There is nothing like a comfy bed. The bed in the guest room at the cousin's place is absolute Nirvana. A great mattress, a feather duvet, a good book, decent pillows, I have a hard time justifying getting up. My needs are simple.