Driving in the Rain - Come on, Sing Along

You know it hasn't rained here in San Diego in a record 181 days, since April 17 I believe of 2004. Well this week, rain finally came and so far there have been over 360 accidents in the San Diego County area.

Conclusion?

We don't know how to drive in the rain. Why? Because it doesn't rain here that often.

How does one drive in the rain, anyway? Pretend it isn't raining and drive normally, which is to say at 80 mph (lets be honest) with a cell phone in one ear and the morning talk show in the other.

Or should you drive cautiously like the blue hairs in RB, white-knuckling the steering wheel and turning our blinkers on 5 minutes before a changing lanes.

I'm never quite sure. But I hear a lot of complaining. "San Diegans can't drive in the rain." Heard it just this morning from a colleague.

It’s a rainy day driving dialectic-fancy word meaning two opposing views that are a contradiction to each other (English Majors, gees).

Here are my ideas, as a native San Diegan (heh) for driving and if everybody follows my advice World Peace can't be far away.

Go a little slower then normal, so less than 80 MPH or maybe even around the speed limit.

Allow for more space between cars. The roads are slicker and stopping distances are greater.

Take the phone out of your year and pay attention to the road. You should do this all this time, but when it rains, extra vigilance is needed.

Maybe some enterprising entrepreneur from Seattle can open up a Driving in the Rain driving school here in San Diego. I know the body shops around town are happy.

Blogs I Enjoy

I've been meaning to get these links out for a while. These blogs I read constantly and are mostly liberal but smart. Some are a little more partisan then others. Most are funny and snarky.

www.talkingpointsmemo.com smart and balanced and a well-respected blog. Josh Marshall is a So Cal boy made good in DC. He has a PhD in History. My personal fav.

www.washingtonmonthly.com/ Kevin Drum is from Orange County and is smart and snarky. He is an ex-high tech VP turned professional blog writer.

www.juancole.com/ Arab studies prof from Michigan-deeply passionate about the middle east. Must-read for daily news on Iraq and US/Arab politics.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/ Eric Alterman is a famous liberal journalist. His blog is funny and far to the left, but smart.

http://www.atrios.blogspot.com/ Famous liberal blog. Atrious is from Philly and is far to the left, but interesting. He constantly updates his stuff, so you can read it anytime. Reader comments are the best, especially some of the silly games they play. Frist! Always wanted to write that.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238 The Note is very famous in the blogsphere for being a comprehensive compendium of the daily political events. It also covers all major articles on the campaign and politics. It slants a little to the right.

Suggest reading the comments sections from these blogs. They are often very clever and snarky.

Lets Get Snarky - The Third Debate

The third debate was pretty boring and there where two playoff games on to boot. Not to mention the usual evening routines of homework, dinner, walking the dog, getting the kids through bath, etc. Who has time for 90 minutes of domestic policy debate?

On top of all that, my son had a fever, so I caught some of the debate, not all of it.

Bush's comment that the answer to outsourcing was going back to JC, was, eh, charming. The best line I read later was…"let them eat JC." IOWs, Bush is completely out of touch with the problems facing the high tech salary man.

With that, Bush proves he is basically a Bubble boy or a cocoon cowboy.

Kerry was his usual droll (is that a word) self. He seemed tired and had trouble getting to his points. Nothing new there. He did rally later. Wish he had not mentioned Cheney's daughter, I bet he does too.

Bush looked like he had a problem with his face. The right side (his right) seems to sag and he seems to have some spittle in the crux of his mouth.

Reminds me of my grandfather after his stroke.

And this fits in with the swirling rumors about Bush's slow speech and the theory he might be wearing a wire. Maybe he had a stroke and nobody noticed or there are not telling us.

Hmmm.

Didn't see a wire, but who knows. Frankly, I'm glad the debates are over.

October Surprise!

Kerry was the winner in the third and final debate, but not by much. But that isn't stopping the rampant October surprise (OS) speculation over the internet. The theory being that the debates put Kerry on the map and now Karl has to play hardball.

Hmmmm. If I where Karl, I would avoid a large frontal OS. There is a great deal of cynicism out there and something major like a terrorist attack or an elevated alert would make everyone sneer.

I would spring several small OSes in keys states, if I were Karl, things that might make only the local news in those states, but that might make a swing voter cringe.

We are bound to see Kerry windsurfing and Kerry sun tanning, but there are some other sneaky things in the works, I'm sure.

We've got Sinclair Broadcasting showing Swift boat stuff the week before the election. How about some democratic voter fraud in swing states? Or a Kerry mistress or an abortion when he was a young man.

They can't bring up drug use or alcohol for obvious reasons.

Kerry's success in the debates has forced this change in the OS strategy. The OS now is sure to be an attack on Kerry's character (mistress, cross dresser, etc.) or habits rather then a vision of Bush as leader and chief (terrorist bombing, finding OBL).

All you and I can do is sit back and watch Karl operate.