Saturday, December 23, 2006

Allrighty then...

I want to know WHO, exactly changed the traffic rules in Dallas, WHEN they changed them and WHY I didn't get the memo ?!?!?! Whiskey Tango Hotel? Over.

First of all, I HATE Dallas, I really do! I know some very nice people who have the unfortunate luck to live there. Shoot, I even LOVE some people who live there. But the city as a whole, I Absolutely Loathe, Detest, Despise, Abhor and maybe later I'll tell y'all how I really feel!

I think these negative feelings started when I lived there back in '77-'78. Then I escaped. Had to ditch ex-husband #1 to make good my escape, but it was worth it, trust me.

Here's what set me off on this rant:
I'm in Dallas with the Dearly Beloved tending to those Pesky Marital Vows, again. So there I am, sitting at the intersection of Walnut Hill and Greenville. I'm waiting for the light to change so that I can turn right and proceed North on Greenville. Silly Me! Since I hadn't gotten the Memo advising me of the Rule Change, I assumed I still had the Right of Way since I was turning RIGHT on a GREEN light. But NO! A veritable FLOOD of cars making LEFT turns in front of me, to also proceed North on Greenville prevent me from making my RIGHT turn without risking a collision! I just wonder, do they make a clanging noise when the drivers get out and walk, or do the drivers wear flannel or felt in their underroos to muffle the noise?

Later on, after I FINALLY got where I was going, I looked at my car. Just to be sure, you understand. Nope. No sign had been hung off my bumper or grill that said "Sure, go ahead and turn in front of me!" Or "I'm from out-of-town, I don't know the rules." No wonder the liability insurance rates are so much higher in Dallas! They are Bug-Nuts crazy down there.

No you may wonder how I've been gettin' from where I live, which is 40 miles North of Dallas, to Houston or Killeen for the last 28 years. Well, DUH. When I go to Killeen I take 35W and go through the MUCH safer and saner Ft.Wuth. I LOVE Ft.Wuth. When you signal a lane change on I-35W someone doesn't suddenly try to push their accelerator pedal to the asphalt so that you won't get ahead of them like they do in the East, Dallas is where I'm talking about.

When I had to go to Houston...I'd gut it up, and take 35E to Dallas, hop on Woodall Rodgers to get to 45 and then I'm almost out of town.
And speaking of Houston, I learned to drive in Houston. Lived there during the great Yankee influx of the early '70's. I can honestly say that I would rather drive in Houston than on Dallas' Central Expressway ! I like the improvements to Central. I drove on Central almost every day of the year and 10 months of the time I was forced to live in Hel... er, ah Dallas. The additional lanes on the expressway, the exit ramps and the additional lanes on the access roads make it nicer than it used to be. But it is still awful at rush hour. And rush hour is any weekday from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm. And I didn't travel any further South than Walnut Hill!

I stay up in my nice little town and complain about the pot holes and the 30 minute afternoon rush hour we have. The traffic tie-up around the mall and The D Crossing Shopping Center because they are building a new bridge over the railroad tracks and widening the "Loop" in front of those commerce centers from 4 lanes to 5 seems very small right about now. At least up here we still know how to yield the right of way!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for "popping over" to my place ....................
OK, here's Mair's cream cheese pie crust 'receipt':
1 8 or 9 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 sticks of butter {no cheating!}
1 1/2-2 1/2 cups of flour
"Extras" {not necessary, but your choice}
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Pumpkin pie spice
Brown sugar {rec. dark brown}

Allow cream cheese & butter to soften; beat until well-blended, headed to 'fluffy'. Add flour {I generally use all-purpose flour} about 1/2 cup at a time, mix each addition of flour thoroughly. After about 1 1/2 cups of flour are well-mixed, you might want to switch to pastry hooks if you have them. You want a texture almost of a loaf of unbaked bread. When your dough is as firm as you want it, divide it in half and put each half either in Saran Wrap or ZipLoc baggies. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Bring one 'block' out, and roll it out on a floured surface. Put it in your pie tin/plate. Do your fluting/pressing down thing. Prick the bottom. For the next part, you can get pebbles from a gourmet shop. I've used a same-size pie plate, inserted on top of the 'raw' crust. The pebbles and the plate on top are to keep the crust from 'bubbling' up. Bake the 'raw' crust for about 10 minutes @ 350 degrees.
The "Extras" I'll add before I add any flour - they blend with the butter & cream cheese, so the flavor is throughout. This is a great crust for pecan pie - no 'extras', as the pie's flavor is the reason for it's existence! ;)
Also, just a little last minute cookie suggestion - make regular Toll House cookie dough - rather than chocolate chips, though, get some Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips {I got them @ WalMart, in the same area as chocolate chips}; also, the Ghirardelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chips make good 'traditional' Toll House cookies!
If I don't get the opportunity,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Semper Fi'
Diamond Mair

Flo said...

I ALWAYS have right of way!

Merry Christmas to you and the family.