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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Rules of the road

Rules of the road

by Libby Spencer|  July 5, 20117:55 am| 30 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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1) The more expensive the hotel, the crappier the internet connection. Fancy hotels always have great signal strength, but a ridiculous log-in system that takes forever to authorize and the connection regularly breaks.

2) The proper use of turn signals is apparently a lost art.

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30Comments

  1. 1.

    Cat Lady

    July 5, 2011 at 7:58 am

    If you use turn signals it provides knowledge to the enemy.

    /Boston driver

  2. 2.

    Freddie deBoer

    July 5, 2011 at 8:02 am

    3. If you are at an event where either all can sit and all can see, or some can stand and only some can see, it is best to sit.

  3. 3.

    Avi

    July 5, 2011 at 8:07 am

    When a lane is closed ahead or traffic is backed up near an on-ramp, alternate merge.

    /Former New York driver who wishes people would do this in Florida

  4. 4.

    WereBear

    July 5, 2011 at 8:11 am

    Florida drivers learning something! What a Utopian dream.

    I learned to drive in Florida, in high school. If I did anything wrong (purely because of my height, I got the yacht-long Oldsmobile with the mushy steering) the football coach would put his bullhorn inside the car to yell at me.

  5. 5.

    gravie

    July 5, 2011 at 8:14 am

    Turn signals! Or the lack thereof. The main thing that makes me curse in the car, and I live in the DMV (metro Washington DC) where there are many things to curse about on the road.

  6. 6.

    JGabriel

    July 5, 2011 at 8:19 am

    Turn signals are just another form of the government telling you what to do, you Commie Libtards!

    .

  7. 7.

    Disgruntled Lurker

    July 5, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Turn Signal?

    Why lose the element of surprise?

  8. 8.

    brantl

    July 5, 2011 at 8:25 am

    And actuall using turn signals in a roundabout to both let people initially know what your doing (like siganlling an intended left turn) and using the right turn signal to show that you’re getting out NOW, would be a gift from Dog.

  9. 9.

    brantl

    July 5, 2011 at 8:26 am

    First thing in the morning, and I can’t freaking SPELL.

  10. 10.

    Rommie

    July 5, 2011 at 8:26 am

    Using turn signals implies knowing right from left, and there’s too many people I’m not sure about for comfort.

  11. 11.

    Libby Spencer

    July 5, 2011 at 8:29 am

    My personal favorite is the guy who actually uses the turn signal and then never turns it off. He’s the same guy who will speed up to 100mph to stop you from passing, but when you fall behind him again, drops back down to at least 5mph under the speed limit.

  12. 12.

    TheMightyTrowel

    July 5, 2011 at 8:30 am

    @Cat Lady

    My non-bostonian friends and colleagues always end up white knuckled when i drive. It’s not that I drive badly, it’s that years of boston driving convinced me deep deep to my bones that turning on you indicator lights is just asking someone to hit you.

  13. 13.

    burnspbesq

    July 5, 2011 at 8:40 am

    If your Internet connection is breaking and you’re sure the problem is not your computer, call the front desk. That’s unacceptable. And they will try to fix it. The people who run business-class hotels understand that they are selling a fungible product, and that any shortcoming can kill their chances of any repeat business.

  14. 14.

    Mudge

    July 5, 2011 at 8:41 am

    The more expensive the hotel, the more likely they will charge you for internet use.

  15. 15.

    superdestroyer

    July 5, 2011 at 8:42 am

    the other problems is upscale hotels is they like to charge for things that are free at lower price hotel. Things like Coffee, internet, parking, newspaper cost you at the Hyatt bur are free at the Hampton Inn.

  16. 16.

    Morbo

    July 5, 2011 at 8:45 am

    This morning’s peeve: person on a 5-lane road who sits in the passing lane in order to turn left but decides not to use the center lane to slow down. Oh yeah, slow down to 30 in a 45 and make me slam on the brakes rather than use that middle lane for its intended purpose.

  17. 17.

    cathyx

    July 5, 2011 at 8:52 am

    You should be driving the speed limit or faster when you merge onto the freeway. Slower speeds merging can cause road rage.

  18. 18.

    dpcap

    July 5, 2011 at 8:54 am

    I really wish Bicyclists would follow the rules too.

  19. 19.

    Cronin

    July 5, 2011 at 9:02 am

    As someone who works for a company that installs wireless networks in hotels…I used to be regularly surprised at what upscale hotels seemed to think was adequate bandwidth. It’s not all of them, but it’s a majority. Then you’ve got the odd 50-room Super 8 with a T3 for reasons no one can fathom.

  20. 20.

    Cronin

    July 5, 2011 at 9:03 am

    @burnspbesq

    Funny thing is, from working in support, everyone thinks the problem isn’t their computer. They’re usually (but no always, obviously) wrong.

  21. 21.

    Ben Cisco

    July 5, 2011 at 9:30 am

    I support remote users who often cannot connect to a hotel’s wireless. I’ve become experienced and adept at finding non-inflammatory ways of asking if the wireless switch has been accidentally turned off…

  22. 22.

    Bill H.

    July 5, 2011 at 9:52 am

    In California you should never use a turn indicator to announce your intentions or the person in the next lane behind you, knowing your intentions, will do his best to prevent you from carrying them out. You have to catch the fuckers by surprise. Driving here is a very competitive exercise.

  23. 23.

    David F

    July 5, 2011 at 11:34 am

    Clearly you don’t recognize that blinker fluid is taxed SO much in some states that a working family cannot afford to use their turn signals except in emergencies like Granny’s diaper needs inspecting by the TSA; damm guv’t!!

  24. 24.

    Origuy

    July 5, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    I love the people who will change four lanes without a signal to get into the left turn only lane, sit there until they get a green arrow, and then turn on their turn signal, when it’s not necessary because it’s the only thing they can do. Clearly, they have been told that you must signal before turning, but they haven’t figured out why that is a good idea.

    The other thing is people who stop at a light with more than a car length in front of them, blocking access to the turn only lane that I could get into if they would only move up.

  25. 25.

    Catsy

    July 5, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    You should be driving the speed limit or faster when you merge onto the freeway. Slower speeds merging can cause road rage.

    He’s the same guy who will speed up to 100mph to stop you from passing, but when you fall behind him again, drops back down to at least 5mph under the speed limit.

    I really wish Bicyclists would follow the rules too.

    Wow, this thread is like an epic list of my major driving peeves. Also:

    In California you should never use a turn indicator to announce your intentions or the person in the next lane behind you, knowing your intentions, will do his best to prevent you from carrying them out. You have to catch the fuckers by surprise.

    If you use turn signals it provides knowledge to the enemy.

    Turn signals! Or the lack thereof. The main thing that makes me curse in the car, and I live in the DMV (metro Washington DC) where there are many things to curse about on the road.

    I grew up in NoVA as a kid and returned there for a visit a few years ago as a driver who learned in the Seattle area. It’s not so much that people don’t signal in VA, it’s that signaling is seen as a sign of weakness.

    Also, fuck people who make a point of driving five or more under the limit in the fast lane or on a one-lane road during peak hours. Or who sit there at the light for several seconds after it turns green and then come up to speed so slowly that they’ve barely approached the limit by the time they reach the next light. People like you are the reason we have traffic jams.

  26. 26.

    lightning

    July 5, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    When I’m on travel, one of the things in my computer bag is a 25′ Ethernet cable. Hotel WiFi sucks toads, but wired connections are reliable, if slow.

  27. 27.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    July 5, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    #18 – in the DC area, that is called Nestoring, after some douchnozzle whose last name was Nestor. He did it all the time, saying it was his legal right.

    Finally, as a Maryland DC Suburban driver, I heart the Metro. Get on, sit back, read a book. That’s civilization.

  28. 28.

    les

    July 5, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    2) The proper use of turn signals is apparently a lost art.

    I assume you’ve been to Kansas, where the correct answer on the driving test to any question involving turn signals is “No.”

  29. 29.

    Duncan Watson

    July 5, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    @dpcap The percentage of motorists who follow the rules of the road is so small as to be meaningless. And they are much more dangerous than cyclists.

  30. 30.

    Anne Laurie

    July 5, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    Then you’ve got the odd 50-room Super 8 with a T3 for reasons no one can fathom.

    Pr0n surfing… for the night shift desk clerks?

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