Happy New Year

This post has nothing to do with the new year except for the fact that it is written on the second day of the new year. I just wanted to be cool like everybody else and say Happy New Year on my blog.

How did we spend the first day of our new year? We drove for 11 hours. Salt Lake to Burlington is a nice, grueling 11 hour drive. We decided to take our puppies with us this time. It was pretty uneventful driving with 2 dogs in the back. (Not nearly as eventful as driving with three girls in the back...Chris and Allie....) We only had to stop 4 times and let them out. Aside from McKay throwing up twice things went well.

We spent the second day of our new year with Zack's dad playing various versions of Pinochle and eating junk food. Good tiiiimes.

The experiment on this trip was to see how our puppies would do left alone all day (8 hours) in a hotel room. I'm happy to say they passed with flying colors. Nobody pooped on the floor! And hopefully our efforts to soundproof the room by keeping the fan and the TV on worked and kept our puppies from barking at any strange noises coming from outside.

We decided this time around to go with the cheaper hotel room and save ourselves over a hundred dollars. So far, we are happy with our choice. It's amazing how good saving money can feel. The more expensive hotel has an indoor pool and a Continental breakfast, two things we haven't missed so far.

This motel hasn't been that bad. Aside from the cigarette butts, beer bottle caps and one creepy chicken leg that litter the patch of lawn outside our door, the cigarette burn in the bedspread of our "non-smoking" room and the lighter and bottle of pills we found under the bed, our new, cheaper hotel has been just fine. At least it doesn't have bugs on the floor of the bathroom. I draw the line at bugs on the floor. That's just gross.

Bonuses to this room include: A patch of grass right outside the door for our dogs to do their business (so long as we keep them away from the aforementioned creepy things), a fridge, a motel that's so old they don't care if we leave our dogs in the room unattended, and ESPN on the night of the Sugar Bowl so Zack can watch Utah beat the pants off Blabablama.

Unsent Letter

Dear driver of the four-door, black Acura with the California license plates,

Thank you.

Thank you so much for not hitting me today when I changed into your lane. I thought I checked all my blind spots when I moved into your lane, but I must not have. You were back there somewhere and when I changed lanes you had to stop short to avoid hitting me. Thank you for being so alert and attentive! We both avoided a lot of lost time, painful paperwork, phone calls, and money thanks to your driving. I don't think I can thank you enough.

Thank you also for teaching me a great lesson. Not only did I learn to watch my blind spots more carefully, but I learned a little bit about myself and how I should treat others who make mistakes.
You were obviously very upset that I didn't see you. I understand completely. I'd be upset, too. And I can understand that you'd want me to know how close I came to being hit and how careless I was when I moved into your lane.

However.

It wasn't necessary for you to go out of your way to follow me so closely on my right side as I made that left turn onto another street. It also wasn't necessary for you to drive along side, roll down your window and yell at me. Honestly, I have no idea what you were saying because my window was rolled up. And I wasn't about to roll it down because I already knew what you were trying to say. Your driving said it all. Rather than listening to your screaming, my main objective at that point was to make sure I didn't get in another close-call because of your erratic driving. I was willing to drive slowly until you got your point across. You taught me a lot in that moment about being aware of the cars around me. I was now very aware of your car and was anticipating any move that it would make. That's why I was able to slow down and avoid rear-ending you when you shot in front of me and then slammed on your brakes. I know I am in no position to give advice at this moment, but, really, is that how you teach other people a lesson? I didn't really learn much from your lesson. All I learned was that you were a jerk. And I'm sure that you're not really a jerk. You were just acting like one to me.

Aside from learning that you have a temper, I did learn a few more important things. I learned to think about what I do when people around me do dumb things on the road.

When I'm the one who has to stop short because some careless driver didn't see me, is it my job to let that driver know what an idiot move they just made? Having just been the idiot driver, I can honestly say no. Believe me, I learned that lesson as soon as I saw you in my rear-view mirror and heard you honking. It's a good lesson to learn. I'm so glad it was just a lesson and not a consequence involving higher insurance rates.

So, for all the lessons learned, thank you.

Sincerely,
The driver in the four-door, silver honda, with the Utah license plates.