Ugh! The forces of evil were conspiring to keep me from getting home tonight.

Checking in on-line at 23 hours and 50 minutes prior to departure got me a B39 boarding pass and a seat in the very back row of a Southwest 737. The olfactory joy of sitting directly in front of an aircraft lavatory.

The Fastpass system to get out of the east economy lot at Sky Harbor crashed and was not allowing exiting. One parking lot attendant was running across 8 lanes of traffic manually lifting gates for people to exit.

The white Jeep Grand Cherokee in front of me got confused on how to exit Sky Harbor, came to a complete stop in the middle of the road, straddling the dotted white line completely blocking both lanes until he could boot up his navigation system and figure it out. Dude, really? Either find a place to pull off or wing it and make your best guess. Making a last minute lane change and cutting someone off while trying to find your way out of the airport is a far less likely way to get shot from a road raging driver than blocking the whole entire exit from the east economy garage.

I-10 westbound is closed at 35th Avenue with a huge backup way before getting to the I-17 exit. Why does ADOT completely close down entire sections of Phoenix freeways with seemingly randomness that makes a 17 year old hormonal ADHD teenager on a caffeine high seem logical?

The black and white F-150 with the light bar and Gila River Tribal Police markings driving 10mph under the limit on northbound I-17 creating a veritable rolling roadblock. People it's a tribal cop off of the reservation driving 10mph under the speed limit, you can do the speed limit, pass and not be pulled over.

Overhead information signs on I-17, "WARNING WRONG WAY DRIVER AHEAD!" This was not the smart assed overhead message signs I've come to expect from ADOT.

Last but not least was the driver of the red Ford Edge who almost got himself punted to east LA from the I-17 Loop 101 freeway interchange. Why in the name of Zuess's butthole did you think it was acceptable to come to the merge point of I-17 and Loop 101, come to a complete stop, activate your left turn signal and wait for a break in traffic to accelerate and merge onto the Loop 101?! If I didn't have pleated seat covers in my truck I certainly do now! Yes I'm the driver who passed you on the shoulder because I had no where else to go. I hope your socks are yellow and your zipper is rusty after that.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 2000Z-71,

Sounds like a fun trip!

There really are a lot of stupid people driving.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
There really are a lot of stupid people...

You didn't need to go any further...

My father in Tampa had a Mustang merge onto I-75 and slow down 10mph in front of him. Fine, he moves over. Mustang passes on right cuts him off and slows down again. Okay... father says his nerves are getting thin, but moves over one more time. He does it again.. Enough. This time the old man mashes down the gas pedal on his 10 year old full size Chevy 4x4, and smack.... blows out the rear window of the Mustang. Says he is prepared to push him off the road, but the Mustang pulls over and ends his little game. Why? Why act so stupid.

Dude - I hear yo0u.

I'm in Yuma for the last month and next few upcoming. Watching the "winter visitors" drive can be rather entertaining in itself.

My biggest bitch though is when driving up the 95 (about 25 each way per day).

Without fail when it is not safe to pass, the car in front slows to 45 in the 55 zone and when the road opens up (and no opposing traffic) and it's safe to pass - the car speeds up to 65 - 70. Oh for the love of Pete people - one or the other!!

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Checking in on-line at 23 hours and 50 minutes prior to departure got me a B39 boarding pass and a seat in the very back row of a Southwest 737. The olfactory joy of sitting directly in front of an aircraft lavatory.

I used to travel for work every week. For about a year or so I flew SW (because of the awesome rewards program). After a short while I became a A lister. At first I would select a seat over the wings, in the exit row. However, I ALWAYS had someone next to me. After a while I learned to take an aisle seat in the last row. Why?

Most SW flights are full. By taking a seat in the last row I was virtually assured no one would sit next to me unless the flight was 100% booked. Several times, the ONLY empty seat on the entire plane was the seat next to me. It's a bit of a PITA to sit next to the bathroom, but I prefer that over having someone sit next to me the entire flight. I'm a little on the bigger side, so it's great to have an empty middle seat next to you.

Funny, last time I flew I even took a picture of the empty seat next to me and texted it to my wife saying my strategy worked yet again!