I am back in Cotuit, doing the post-vacation inbox dance, but as it is lunch and I have much to bloviate, bloviate I shall.
- I need a vacation.
- Cruise control is one of those accessories that I never understood until driving 1,500 miles over three days. My right gluteus maximus, (aka, right ass-cheek) is seriously compromised from sitting too long in the same seat pushing the same gas pedal.
- Those wireless dee-vices that purport to enable an iPod through the car radio? A sledgehammer is too good for them. Why I didn’t get an IceLink installed is beyond me. I need to hardwire the iPod … and now. (and yes, Uncle Fester, you were right two years ago)
- Radar detectors are illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Do the police have detectors for detectors?
- (What is a “commonwealth” and are there any others than Massachusetts and Virginia?)
- Why do highway signs now set off radar detectors? Is it to create false-hits to freak out lead-foots like me? Or is it some brilliant thing that permits the sign to go dark when there is no traffic, thus saving power, and light up when the radar sees a moving vehicle?
- A Garmin GPS is one of life’s essentials and I am indebted to Fester for buying me mine.
- Driving the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah Vally on a foggy day is a moron move.
- Angry customers will call me even when I take three days off. This makes my wife angry. 12-hour car rides are a good test for marital compatibility, or is it martial compatibility?
- Charlottesville, Virgina is a better place to go to college than New Haven, Connecticut was in the late 1970s.
- Never take me back to school shopping with a daughter and a wife who is a professional interior decorator. I act like a four-year old.
- I need to tour some Civil War battlegrounds
- The best Mexican food I have eaten outside of California can be found in Front Royal, VA at the Jallisco Authentic Mexican Restaurant
Both Antietam & Gettysburg are a must!
Cruise: Yeah it seems half the world doesn’t know how to use it, even if their vehicle has it. I just finished a ~2.5 hour round trip and boths way there were jagoffs who don’t know how to use cruise and were driving 1mph faster than me. So they would stay in my blind spot forever and then nearly block me in when coming up on slower traffic. Screw gas mileage, I set my cruise higher and left those jerks behind.
Radar: Yes, VA cops have radar detector detectors. They have units designed to look for certain signals sent by radar detectors. Newer radar detectors have radar detector detector detector capabilities as well – they will let you know if it detects the signal of a radar detector detector so you can turn it off and whatnot. No joke.
I want a standalone GPS as well. Kat’s Accord has a nav built-in, but the interface & touch screen are terrible; updates discs are $200 and still not very complete. I pondered getting an all-in-one stereo unit for my car with nav, but realized that a standalone unit would have the benefit of transferring between cars. It’s on my wish list.
Welcome back 🙂
I think Tim covered it pretty well.
Another tactic used, is to position radar transmitters on bridges as you noted. The police officer then parks out of sight and watches for the brake lights. Invariably, the first thing speeders do when their detector goes off is … hit the brakes. Those that hit the brakes have detectors in operation. Busted.
My car has a heads up display and projects speed and some of the gauges up on the windshield, but alas, it falls far short of it’s fighter jet counter-part HUD systems. I keep waiting for it to project little brackets and an arrow pointing out the constabulary, while issuing an audible alert.
to reduce butt pain and subsequent lower back twinges associated with long drives, do not drive with a wallet in your back pocket. Take it out and put it somewhere where you can keep an eye on it, do not leave it in your back pocket!
There, I said it: Jim’s tip for the day!
JimF
Great tip Jim, I too use this pearl of wisdom on every trip.
Pennsylvania and Kentucky are Commonwealths as well, I thought Rhode Island but no