1st September 2006

Hi Folks,

Heartfelt thanks to all of you for reading and responding to my blog about Maria in the last week. I had no idea I'd end up doing this. It just kinda happened as a result of writing those other quirky little stories from the past. I guess the process of looking back to the past suddenly caused me to think about sad stuff as well as funny stuff. Other folk have been very open about themselves in poetry and I think thats what inspired me.
A lot of folk recently have been asking me how to embed video into a blog. I'm considering creating a visual guide to this for a blog later.... Will see how I get on.
After nearly 3 weeks off on leave, I'm due to go back to work tommorow. I'm really quite looking forward to it, having had a really good break away. Batteries recharged and all that stuff.
Here's some more scribbings as I continue to write......

A cautionary tale of driver etiquette

Christmas time is always a time of stress. Back in 1989, we had some family down to visit a few days before Christmas and it was decided that everyone wanted KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken as it used to be known then). So, it was down to me to drive into Margate and get this for everyone. I needed to stop off at an ATM to get some money first, so I drove up to high street, pulled over outside the bank and put on my hazard lights in the sure knowledge I would only be a couple of moments. Due to my impatience, parking the car in an appropriate car park was out of the question, besides, I didn't have any change to buy a ticket and most of the car parks were full anyway with folk doing last minute Christmas shopping. Anyhow, having got out of the car, a guy shouted from a truck across the road “Oi, you can't park there, its illegal!”. I replied that I was just getting some cash and would be gone in a second. This, however and stirred the guy to be even more angry and self righteous. He said that if I did not move immediately, he would call the police on his mobile phone which he proudly showed off to me. (Mobiles were of course pretty rare back then). I piqued with fury at this, got back in my car, slammed the door and pulled away. This guy was about to move on himself, so I decided to drive up to the top of the hill at about 3mph. This invoked mad sounding of the truck horn and flashing of his lights, to which I replied with a 2 fingered victory sign out the back of my window.

When I got to the the top of the hill and signaled to turn left and go back round the block, it was clear this guy was going to follow me. Next was a set of traffic lights which I managed to get through just as they turned amber. I thought I'd managed to get away from this guy, but he followed through after me on the red! By now I was becoming quite anxious. It was only a couple of years before that a guy I went to school with had been stabbed to death with a screwdriver following a road rage attack. After another left turn and up to a junction to the sea front, the truck followed and pulled up alongside. The driver jumped out and the look on his face showed he was in the mood for causing some serious damage to me. Terrified, I quickly locked all the car doors and sat stock still listening to a torrent of abuse until he eventually gave up and left. Too late, I thought of taking his number plate.

I then proceeded back to the ATM and got my cash, however, when I got to the top of the hill again, blue flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror and our boys in blue indicated for me to pull over. In a packed High Street I had to get out of the car and be questioned because the police had received a call that I had just jumped a red light! My explanation of what happened fell on deaf ears and I was issued with (what was then standard) yellow ticket to produce all my documents at the police station within I think was 7 days from memory.

I eventually got the KFC and returned home, however, the whole family came down with food poisoning as a result and were ill over that Christmas. I didn't eat white meat for months afterwards and only ventured to KFC for the first time last year (2005).

The lesson I learned from this experience is not to get involved in arguments with other road users. I was, of course in the wrong for stopping on a double yellow, but, at the time I felt angry that someone else was arrogant enough to be aggressive towards me. To respond in an aggressive manner myself just made things much worse. The guy in the truck got the better of me in the end because, of course, he had the advantage of a mobile phone.

Today's video is of one of my son's favourite bands and a track I really like too. There's plenty of video's on this, but I like this one coz someone has put a pictorial montage together for it...... Green Day.... Appropriately.. "Wake me up when September ends"

Comments

(8 total)

Hi Marty,
There's no doubt about you, whether its the story of Maria, or some idiot who doesnt know how to tell you he just bought a mobile phone, your writings are very rivetting, and hold an audience to the final word.
Are you a journalist, or something?
When you go back to work, dont think you get off writing a blog here and there, coz if you forget I'll just have to jump through the screen and kick your arse for you.....lol

Friday 1 September 2006 - 04:21AM (PDT)

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No ifiik, I'm not a journalist, but thats a very nice compliment. Thank you! Sometimes I sit down and have not idea what to write, get a slight idea and then it just seems to flow like a stream of water flowing down a valley. I need to stop it occasionally coz I'll end up writing too much in a blog.! Bless you matey..

Friday 1 September 2006 - 12:30PM (BST)

Green Day are a good band and American Idiot is an awesome album. The video embedding blog sounds very interesting. So Marty matey back to work eh, you know you love it but dont forget us will you.

Friday 1 September 2006 - 12:33PM (BST)

LOL, oh the joys of driving on the roads these days are a pleasure. I used to be a sales director of a large printing company and had the pleasure of knocking up an intergaltic milage year on year and I sure got into a few situations. I've had golf balls thrown at me whilst driving down the M1, a driver laen out of his car whilst we were filtering into roadworks and try and remove my wing mirror and been chased through the streets of a town.
I have to say though I have never got out of my car and approached someone in anger. These days I just sit back with the music playing driving at a sensible speed keeping out of trouble. However, just a few weeks ago i was sitting in two lanes of traffic approaching roadworks where it went into one lane. Some old guy was having a battle with an truck. It ended up with the truck driver getting out of the cab along with the car driver who was in his late 50's and trying to knock the living daylights out of each other... for what I asked myself whilst laughing at what was happening, but then the best thing of all happened, the car drivers wife got out and jumped on the truck drivers back and started punching him. I was in fits of laughter.. anyways, when they broke apart after a few minutes, probably due to the car horns and obscenities being shouted by other drivers they gat back into their own vehicles and drove off.... now I wonder if they thought afterwards if they actually gained anything by what happened.
As for the embedding video's in blogs, did a blog about it a while ago and I know that the yahoo 360 team also did a blog about it. It's a pretty easy thing to do so Marty, I think you should do a video blog about it with screen captures and real video and post it on youtube...LMAO, make it enetertaining for us.... and allow me to stick it on my blog for people to see as well. Afterall the Trombone video blog was highly entertaining (which reminds me... find my trumpet!)
After such a long response I don't feel the need to do a blog myself now.... but then again, I'm sure I will think of something to have a winge about!
have a good weekend
Tim

Friday 1 September 2006 - 01:05PM (BST)

Its a lovely song..

hugs
dormouse

Friday 1 September 2006 - 01:28PM (BST)

Right now Marty this song holds great emotion for me. There is a birthday for a little girl in america that is coming up on the 6th, she will be 5 and i will miss it, it pains me. Also Tyler gettin his operation on his legs on the 21st and Andrew is going to prauge on the 15th till the 17th.
Can you "wake me when september ends?"
smiles hunni
x
PS~thank you for sharing about Maria Laura, She's lucky to have such a great dad! x

Friday 1 September 2006 - 01:41PM (BST)

Loving the sleeping dog. x x

Friday 1 September 2006 - 03:43PM (BST)

Ha, people are expected not to pay attention to traffic laws here in Chicago. Not only do regular cars running in and out double park on the street, but allllllll the time you have delivery trucks double parked right on the street unloading their delivery as slow as possible. Thats why I quit driving 4 years ago, hell of a lot less stress (for me anyway) since.

Friday 1 September 2006 - 10:30AM (CDT)