Is it me or has traffic gotten lighter over the past two weeks. Are schools done already? Or are people just too lazy to go to work these days and I was the last one to find out. I have been finding it enjoyable to drive the past week and a half. I keep constantly moving and not too many people cutting me off. I have noticed this interesting thing, that girls who go to work in the morning and arent wearing a hijaab seem to drive pretty well. I mean they do push through traffic but they are doing it a tactful manner, but the girls who wear hijaab seem to drive as if all the cars are bumper cars and they dont see neither left or right. Is there any scientific significance to this I dont know, but there must be something. Maybe they use their sideview mirrors. Maybe!

But driving to and from home hasn’t been too bad and I get around to some places without hitting too much traffic the past two weeks and I do find that enjoyable.

School Traffic or Work Traffic. Thats the choice you have in the morning.

I leave to work at 7:30am or 7:15am to get there at 8:00am in school traffic, and I have to say that the women driving their kids are nuts. I really mean nuts, they fly faster then me, and cut me off and everybody else. Its like the apply the rules of engadgement when driving and not giving a damn about the vehicles on the road. If there is any amount of space in the in front of me they cut me off. And they drive either really really slow or as if they are flying an F-16. Its not as if they dont have kids inside the car.

Then there is the work traffic with all the pick-up trucks filled to the top, and all the other trucks. They are a bit annoying but at least not life threatening.

I arrive at work at 8:30am instead of 8:00am, but it takes me 30 mins when leaving late instead of 45 mins when leaving early. And its also less life threatening to leave late then it is to leave early. I arrive at work 30 mins late, but I told them I cant make to work by 8 am because of life threatening issues, and my boss just laughs. He said you can come in at 7am everyday for week but you can never be here at exactly 8am, and I said if I get the work done then I dont care what time I come in and the guy just started laughing.

Today on my way back home from work this guy is sitting on a an exit that turns into my lane and decides to go, I had NO area to brake, none! I would have slammed right into him. I couldnt believe he pulled out since he didnt have any opening. I am really lucky that the guy on my left braked and gave me opening! I cut left and barely avoided him. I swerved around the car that was in front of me and managed to avoid a bad accident. I put the window down, and thanked him. He said he saw that the nut case behind me pulled out and I had no where to go. I was extremely grateful that I had such a considerate person driving next to me. The guy behind me was giving me dirty looks, and I really want to get out of my car and pull him out his car through his window. I thought to myself that it isnt worth it. When the light turned green he tried to get in front me when turning left under the bridge trying to overtake me from the right.. where there is no space.

This guy turned out to be a nuts so he slipped in front of me and slammed on his brakes. I was in the Landcruiser and he was in a white Nissan pickup truck. After the other cars moved away I decided to make my move since there wasnt going to be any collateral damage. It was the last straw, I dropped the Landcruiser a gear and took off in the left lane even though he was trying to cut me off I had enough momentum. Then when I got in front of him I slammed on my brakes hard enough to make him stop and I got out of my car to literally take him apart. Then he turned into Khaldiya and ran away. I got back in my car, drove home thinking that was surreal because then my cousin called me and she had something hilarious to tell me so it felt as if this whole thing didnt take place. Now that I think about I wish I got my hands on him. What a nutcase almost hitting me, then slamming his brakes in front of me just to make me crash into him, and giving me dirty looks. I really wish sometimes I think less of the consequences and just beat the crap out of him, after reasoning through it thats when I decided to get out of my car and go for it. Too bad he ran I would have gotten a good work out from breaking every bone in his body with my fists.

I think they should rename the Toyota Landcruiser to the Toyota Tank. This vehicle can really take a beating! Since we didnt have a chance to get into the water during eid it was pretty windy and decently humid so we decided to go ahead with other activities. Two ATVs and two SUVs into some relaly fun sand dunes. I have been driving back and forth to Fahaheel to fill up the fridge with all sorts of goodies, and I went back and forth while the Landcruiser’s fuel gauge said empty! This car keeps going and going non stop, makes the Energizer Bunny look lazy! I took some dunes like it was straight, I think my friend hurt his neck when he hit the roof… twice! hehehehe! It was like going back 6 years to some teen shinanigans! And we helped out some people who got stuck in some sand! It was a good time! I love building up vehicles to become purpose built off-road machines! A silver car always hides all the sand all over it! hehehe! Nothing a high pressure hose couldnt solve!

I have came to the conclusion after a while of paying attention to this. How people walk reflects how they drive. So if your a bad driver you probably dont pay much attention when your walking. You should try watching somebody that you know who is a bad driver and watch them walk through crowds, they will usually cause people to go around them without having to make an effort to find openings in the crowd in front of them.

There is a big difference between a reckless driver and a high speed driver. Some people will say driving fast is dangerous but all that aside I would like to explain the difference. A reckless driver doesnt take the traffic in front of them into consideration, and not being prepared for a bad situation, and not knowing the limits of the vehicle they are in. That is why you see a lot people flip cars here because they are reckless and expect an SUV to handle like a sports car. Those people are just bad.

A high speed driver is someone who can categorize the traffic in front of them in Zones. Thats why I call it Zone Driving, because they dont even know they are doing it. There are some people who I cant ride with because they are just horrible drivers be it at low or high speeds, they get stuck in a situation and dont know how to get out of it. A Zone Driver finds lines through traffic, figuring out the flow to the best of his/her abilities while taking into consideration the unknown factor to provide a decent safety cushion for themselves and people around them. Its not necessarily speeding the whole time, but judging traffic to find the best openings. Most everyone is comfortable when they have no traffic around them, and I usually try to find that spot. I will speed up to get away from traffic, but slow down to keep myself away if Im in no hurry.

At some points when Im in a hurry my brain kicks into high gear and I start looking at the road differently. It becomes lines on the road for me to follow with it changing every second, and taking the choice of choosing the best possible line to accomplish my goal. I have to factor how far the turn is, and how I could make it without causing too much of a mess or whether I should just wait. Some people will say that you should just be patient and wait, and if you want to wait then please wait. Im going on ahead.

Since a little while ago I have been a bit relaxed from the speeding cameras. And the other day I didnt notice that I was doing 150 Kph, and the camera went off. I was stunned! I was like “What the hell was that”. Then I realized it was the camera and so they started working again! So I was pissed that I wasnt paying attention, the funny part is that it took pictures of me and the guy in front of me. So I was going with the flow of traffic, but I can only imagine how many pictures it took the day it was switched on!

So everyone assume that the cameras are now operational! I think they took the time fix the melted parts! And I noticed a couple of times that they have been taking pictures again and again! So a lot of people have been relaxed about their driving thinking the cameras arent working. Since I got that picture taken a couple of days ago, Im wondering how the point systems will operate, and how they will be applied!
And yes I love Super Troopers!

Well I think some of you guys get the picture here! I decided to make my own U-turn the other day, because I was pissed off at traffic!!! no no no.. just kidding! Well that was what was going through my mind, but after my little incident I wish I did! Here goes.

I had to go pickup come clients from Crowne Plaza in Farwaniya, and I was on the 5th Ring Road, and Yarmouk is on my right so I take the exit. And I wanted to make a left, but I knew there was construction and no light so you are forced to exit right, which I did. And the first time I went through I didnt know about the construction so I went over the first side walk on my left that I could (thank god for the land cruiser) because I was in a hurry and I was going to be late for a meeting! And I hate being late! I like to set an example, even if my driving was slightly maniacal. Anyways the first time I did it I got away with it, and their was no police in sight. Did I mention that I had an older co-worker with me who was screaming his head off and asking for the help of God, but to me that is just background noise! hehehehehe!

Back to my story! So this is the second time I enter this road so I had previous knowledge so I thought I would go to the right and make the U-turn since there was no U-turn. I was on the airport road, Yarmook on my right, and Shuweikh on my left with the 4th Ring Road in front of me. I get to the light after two different light changes, I made it on the 3rd light change. And I made the U-turn, I see a police car as I am driving down the road on the right just after making the U-turn that has pulled another car over. I really didnt care I just wanted to make it to the Crowne Plaza and I knew I was making good time. So as I passed the police car he had his lights on from before, and he pulled out a few cars behind me and he just kept his lights on. I get to the 5th Ring Road, and he still behind me. So after a little while I exit to take the road to the Crowne Plaza, and he starts flying behind me to pull me over for some reason. Then he tells me to pull over so I do. Then I get out to talk to him, and he tells me to give him my license and registration. I really had no clue what was up, but then he said that he was told by his boss to take my license and registration, and he told me its because he saw me going opposite traffic. I was confused, because the first time I decided not to go over the middle partion I was told that I was going opposite traffic! Then he told I made an ilegal U-turn, but the light was green and there was rusted sign on it. So after arguing and convincing him to talk to his higher up, he said he had to act my license or regstration. So I told him to take my license since the Landcruiser wasnt in my name, and I feel responsible for it, but I was pissed and I had a meeting to go. To make the U-turn I had to go completely under the bridge and then make a U-turn! But at the next bridge you can make a U-turn at the light, and at the Damascus Street, and 4th ring road intersection you can make the U-turn at the light. So his boss was just being a dick, and the guy followed me for 1.5Km! He had nothing better to do. He was nice and was being nice towards him, he told me he would have let me go if it wasnt for his boss seeing me. So I asked for the name of his boss but he didnt want to give that up. And I didnt want to give the guy a hard time, so I told him give me the ticket, and give me the registration keep my license. He told me I can pick up my license that day on tuesday 11th of July. But my license wasnt available for pick up until Monday 17th of July! I went a couple of times to check I had the mandoob from the office to go check. And this all for a 15KD fine! I would have been fine with a ticket for the illegal U-turn, but taking my license was just plain stupid!

Also lessons for people to learn:

• Be nice only if the person is nice in front of you
• DO NOT! I MEAN DO NOT ever give them your car keys! Even they tell you! Tell them you will follow them, but nobody is driving your car but you. They will thrash your car, and you wont know what happened to it!
• And if worst comes to worse just drive home! But DO NOT give them your car keys!

All this mess was stupid and completely unreasonable! Next I want to see the cop try to chase me when Im on the bike!

After meeting up with some people, I drove off to go to another meeting in Shuweikh! And I was happy was in the landcruiser! I was in the left lane on the fifth ring road coming out of the salmiya area to go shuweikh. And its kind of like there was an earthquake there because the roads are all messed up. Anyways the road became straight and I was following the cars in my lane and then there was this guy on the phone in a camry. He was in the lane next to me, and the whole lane I was in was going around 140kph, and they seemed to be going 100kph next to us. Then the guy decides to turn left so I had barely enough time to cut left. I clipped his left side view mirror which scratched my passenger door. I was pissed, and I was still in the emergency lane, and the guy was looking at me with the phone still stuck to his head. I had to get to meeting, but at the same time I had the urge to get out and beat the living daylight out of this guy! I wanted to stick my foot so far up his ass that he can taste the dirt on my slippers! But I just drove off because the guy was an idiot and I didnt feel like dealing with him and being late for a meeting. Got to the meeting finished up, and I saw my landcruiser. It was cool, only a slight scratch from his car onto my with his sideview mirror ripped off and nothing to my car! hehehe!

Landcruiser > Camery

So I took in my land cruiser to have a quick service done and a few things fix. Because of my little escapades driving in the dirt a few pieces off the roof rack, so I thought they might as well fix it while they were cleaning the filter. I droped of the landcruiser and picked it up later the same day.

When I was driving this lady in the car next to me was shouting into the phone and kept turning left! So I honked… but wait no sound came out! She just kept turning left, so I just had to shift the car down hard to 2nd gear and hope I come out of it without a scratch! Made it! And she still kept turning left and leaned on the car behind me. But by that time I was preoccupied with why my horn wasnt working. I kept pushing it and nothing happened. But by that time I was on my way on.

I took the car in to have the filter cleaned and roof rack fixed, and they were fixed plus the horn wasnt working and the back left brake light was burned out. I found that to be funny and just thought it was my luck. I just thought I would take it in the next day or day after to get it fixed. So it has been two weeks since I have been with no horn in my landcruiser. And let me tell you that it is suicide to drive without a horn in Kuwait! People are oblivious to things around them and on top of that some people just dont care. The horn helps save you sometimes and gets there attention, and I havent learned to be extremely defensive the past week and a half. It feels like your going to battle with a shield only and you forgot your sword and you just have to make do! hehehe! I need to get my horn fixed! I have punched my steering wheel one too many times and I think the air bag is going pop at some point! Its only a matter of time til I get it fixed! hehehe!

I was driving to work early this morning. I had a few things I wanted to take care of before my meeting, and I slept early because I was so tired. Basically I passed out around 10pm I was so tired, but I woke up refreshed!!

I got the road driving normally, I was on King Malik Fahad Highway on my way to work, and I was on the exit to take the Fifth Ring Road. That exit is like a long curved bridge where you can see the temperature tower on your left. On that exit I was taking my time and when I see this 1988 Chevrolet Caprice with an old guy driving it. I didnt know what exactly he wanted to do, but was eyeing because he seemed to be acting wierd or he really doesnt know how to drive. Suddenly he decided to right and cut across three lanes to get to the exit which he still had ample time to get on. I dont know if it was his binoculars for glasses or something else that made him react that way, but he was lucky no car was in the way, well except for ME! I was all the way on the right. I thought he might stop, but suddenly I could tell his car wasnt going to stop. So I dropped the Landcruiser one gear down, no cars were close behind me, I had to go into the dirt on the right and quick, but he still wasnt stopping. So I gave the breaks all that I had and I gave the clutch one hell of a hiccup, and I managed to avoid him, BARELY!

It looked like he hit me, but I was just really really close. And it seem he didnt know that he did anything wrong! I backed off and then I pulled to the left quick and took off. He got back in the lane as if nothing happened! Everyone around him was keeping at least 10m away from him. I was happy I got out of that one with only a shock instead of crash. I really dont know whats wrong with the guy, but I didnt want to find out! Damn what a way to start the morning!