This winter has been very confusing...

Completely changing the weather every day. It's 70 degrees right now here in New York. No one is used to it, and everyone is still walking around with jackets and whatnot. I can't decide if "winter" is over or not. 


In other news, my local TD Bank really needs to do something about their ATMs. At least reboot them every so often or something. The lag between me selecting something on the screen, and it actually registering my choice is wayyy too long. I was actually starting to get concerned that something sketchy was happening when it took a pretty long time to acknowledge that I had inserted my card. 


I realize that ATMs are sensitive computers, but they've become pretty much horrible. I'm glad that they are able to sync my preferences between NY and VT, but if it takes that long to load, I'd rather select it manually. The TD ATM on campus at Champlain that must be at least 15 years old is still the fastest one I've seen!


There, I just sent them an email. 


In other news, well, I don't know, is there other news? I went to see "STOMP" last night with my cousin Magali and her boyfriend. It was quite the awesome show. The choreography was super great!


I'm not really paying much attention to school work, because well, I'm on break. I don't think there's *that* much to do anyway. At least, I hope not!


Huzzah!

Jury Duty?

If you're wondering why theres a SIM card,
its covering my ID number.

Blah, Jury Duty. Everyone complains about it. I was actually kind of looking forward to it. Getting paid to hear other people's cases? Sounds pretty cool! 


Well, now I'm not so sure. See, I was under the impression that when they "summoned" me to show up at 9AM, that meant that I was pre-selected for a specific case. I would show up, they would ask me a few questions, and I'd either be chosen as a Juror, or sent home, and that would be that. 


Of course, Matt has delightfully informed me that in fact, I have to show up at 9AM and wait around until 4:30, with only the *possibility* of getting called. And then, I probably get to do the same thing again the next day, and maybe even the one after that. 


Well, I don't know about you, but I can't simply sit in a room for the entire day. No way. That's not going to work. I can't even do that at home with all my stuff. I need to get out and about. But that's besides the point, because apparently I have to anyway. 


See, I'm kind of concerned that for some dumb reason, they'll tell me that I am not allowed to go back to Vermont on Sunday, because I'll be selected for a trial. Sure, I'll serve on a trial, but not if it prevents me from getting my degree. 


The summons says I can't postpone it if it's less than a week from the date I have to appear, but I went online and tried anyway. It was rejected. For the heck of it, I called their automated phone line, and requested to postpone it until May. Without being clear, the system simply told me that I would receive a letter in the mail in about two weeks with an updated date. So, now I have no idea if it has actually been postponed or not.


There's a number to call with questions, but it is almost always busy. When I am able to get through to the menu and request an operator, it rings for a while, tells me no one is available at the moment, and hangs up. 


So there. I'm annoyed. I'd just like a straight answer at this point. 


Quarter Waters. 

Me ranting about driving in Mass.

I have returned home again, on Spring Break.


This time, I have identified what I feel is one of the main reasons why driving through Massachusetts is dangerous.


See, for my short trek down 91, I noticed that new traffic lanes would randomly appear on the right. Now, usually, when one of these lanes appears, it quickly disappears again, by merging or  becoming an exit ramp.

That lane is here to stay...

In New York, when one of these lanes appears, and its going to stay, we get one of these signs to give us a heads up. Otherwise, the lane usually merges.


In MA, what happens is as follows: Picture a two lane roadway, slow traffic is sticking to the right. Suddenly, a new lane appears on the right. Now, the slow moving traffic is in the center lane.


With the incoming traffic from the merge, or just due to plain stupidity, the slow movers in the middle do not shift over to the right lane. At this point, cars in the two outer lanes are going faster than the center lane. 




If you are driving in the right lane like a good person, and you approach a vehicle that you would like to pass, you need to shift left. BUT, the traffic in the center lane is moving even slower! This means that you'll have to move over another lane, into traffic going twice as fast. And when you pass those two slow cars? Well, you're stuck behind another dummy going way too slow again. 


If you are driving in the center lane, doing what I'll refer to as medium speed, and the person in front of you is driving at a low speed, you can either pass them on the left, where traffic is going twice as fast (typical high speed lane), or pass them on the right, which is generally counter-intuitive and unsafe, due to the wide range of speeds. Both are risky options.


Over all, this leads to drivers literally criss-crossing between three lanes of traffic. And when cars in the outer lanes are shifting to the center, they often don't see each other, because that isn't the standard way of traffic flow. 


The point of my rant? UNLESS YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF PASSING ANOTHER VEHICLE, YOU SHOULD BE IN THE RIGHT LANE.