Hard to be mindful?

This is going to come off as a tirade about bad drivers, but I get to thinking about frustration, mindfulness, and impatience a lot when I'm driving. I see more than enough thoughtless drivers making rather bad choices when I'm on the road. My path through life has reminded me that I need to be mindful of what I do, whether by thought, word, or deed. While on the road, I try to discipline myself to not think badly about the other folks on the road when they cut me off or tailgate me. It isn't the being cut-off part that truly irks me, but the fact that some of these folks do not think to signal does cause much frustration. Visited by my favourite bugbear, I try my hardest to be mindful. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. That's life, but I'm also trying to come up with reasons as to why these tailgaters and the like do what they do. I'm not condoning what they do, but I would rather have some reason as to WHY they do it. This keeps the frustration at bay a little longer and calms me a touch.
I admit frankly that I am sometimes impatient at the actions of 'slow drivers'. I do not call people who drive the speed limit 'slow drivers'. I drive the speed limit, and it bugs me when someone's close to bumping me because I'm not going fast enough for their liking. I'd rather they go around me than hang out there, trying to intimidate me. The temptation to come to an abrupt stop and let them crash into me just to press charges on them later floats just beneath the surface of my thoughts. I've never done it, but thought=word=deed. Definitely a bad choice no matter how it comes out. But I digress. I get a little frustrated by folks who DO drive under the speed limit (or at least seem like they do), or folks who are a little too hesistant when they seek to merge with traffic. These people are holding up the flow of traffic and that is what leads to traffic jams and other causes of frustration.
I know that sometimes a guy is late for work, and that's why he speeds. I don't condone it, and I do leave for work early just to make sure that I'm not late. However, I've been known to grumble at someone ahead of me who's being a little pokey even though I have lots of time. There. I've made my confession for the week (or month). I will probably have more to say on the subject of books next time. I'm reading a pretty informative book and should be ready around June 30th... maybe. BYE.

Greasy roads and 40s music

Anyway, my sister says my driving's getting better, and it's a good thing, considering Winter is firmly upon us now and I'm plugging my car in. Windchills of -30 or so = plugging the car in at home and running out during lunch to start it so it doesn't get hesitant and snarly at me when I need to get going in the morning and at 4 in the afternoon. I'd rather not have to call Mid-town and wait the who knows how long it would take before someone came to boost my car. Winter driving is stressful and rough enough; why make it worse by not taking precautions? I've done some winter driving since the snow-that-stays started falling in late November, and I have a few thoughts.
It seems that people's commonsense diminishes when they get behind the wheel and get'er started in the winter. The roads are apt to be greasy and slippery (especially during a snowfall), but some people keep going at or beyond the speed limit. My parent's voices ring clearly in my head; give yourself time to make the trip or face the consequences! Traffic lags almost every afternoon when I get off work and start the half-hour trek for home. It has taken me an hour and a half a couple of times to get home. Imagine the time it would take if I rode the bus? At least two bus rides between my place and either of my two workplaces. Still, when you're stuck behind the wheel and things are moving slow enough to make a turtle the next champion sprinter, patience wears thin.
What gets me are the cars that go from lane to lane, trying to find a faster lane and a shorter drving time. I liken it to a weird sort of ballet - the cars are doing a meaningless dance and going nowhere fast. People who cut ahead without signalling their intention are a universal bane that won't go away anytime soon. Luckily, I have the comfort of satellite radio and over a hundred stations to play with while waiting out my time. First I listen to the 80s station (child of the 80s I am) and then I go over to BBC radio 1 and listen to what's quickly becoming my favourite quiz show. After that's done, I usually go back to the 80s station. However, coming home one evening, I discovered a station that plays 40s music. Now that's become a new interest for me. Most of the music sounds the same, all groups of male singers for the most part, with the occasional big band thrown in for flavour.
I was listening to the 50s station yesterday, which was somewhat fascinating, although I went back to my favourite 80s station soon after that and howled as Frank Zappa sang about 'Valley girls' and his daughter bitched about teenage life. They really talked like that, eh? Stay tuned, for my next post might have me complaining about mall parking lots and a near-death experience. BYE.