These strange days of winter in Key West. The mornings brighten up before seven depending on the cloud cover which has been intense and the air is cold to the touch and when it's windy, which is often, it's cold enough to give you goosebumps if you aren't used to this sort of mild cold weather.
Rusty and I have been strangers to downtown for a while now and I have to say it took an act of determination to head downtown when I got off my sickbed. Key West is packed with people and of traffic there is enough that getting around is tedious. Our long lines probably aren't that long in a world where true traffic jams occur daily but around here the traffic is intense by local standards this time of year. And in my opinion this year is a heavy one.
At work we get a stream of parking complaints from people trying to cope with vehicles blocking driveways, abandoned and taking up space or badly parked and blocking sight lines on narrow streets. If you don't know how to parallel park you'd better get a bicycle because i have met people who break into a cold sweat when faced with a narrow spot and they prefer to drive around looking for something better. I have even parked friends' cars for them.
I have seen some pretty terrible road rage too as the city empties in the evening and the workers go back to the housing they can afford on neighboring islands. Now that I am working day shift I leave the police station at 6 in time to join the late departures from the city which started emptying at four in the afternoon. Mix in local commuters with people from out of town going home and losing their minds in slow lines of cars and some people drive very peculiarly.
I have stopped riding two wheelers as I don't want another catastrophe and the fun has gone out of riding when surrounded by angry drivers intent on dicing and slicing all in their way.
So I find it a great pleasure when I can slip into town, ignore my workplace and find a spot to leave my car before everyone is awake. I greatly enjoy walking the woods with Rusty to get away from the world but Key West is a great place to wander before the crowds burst out of their hangovers.
As Rusty laid into a bowl of water I looked around and saw all these abstract forms surrounding the parking lot. I had a drive to get home but I was going to be against the traffic flow, Rusty would be on the back seat and I had no plans to return to Key West all day. That I can handle.
My car was recalled last month to fix the airbag problem that has affected vehicles all over the world. I think about that as I watch the weird antics of the drivers around me on Highway One. Patience.
5 comments:
I always say “ not only do I have to drive my car, I now have to drive everyone else’s car. Trying to anticipate what another driver is going to do is getting tedious. Two near misses on two different roundabouts in the past week. They’re distracted, and I’m disgusted. I agree with you about the two wheeler, best parked. Great post as usual. Thanks for all the great pictures and stories.
That actually is a very good saying. I think I shall adopt it. Thank you for the kind words.
Michael, Sorry, I messed up my first comment. Even though your are barely 'continental' US, the Ford dealer there near Garrison Bight should be able to get airbag parts. I have found the dealers to be very accommodating, as I think they do not want lawsuits from defective Takata airbags. My closest dealerships are 50 miles and 80 miles away for my 2007 Honda and my wife's 2007 Audi and they were extremely pleasant and treated me as if I was actually paying money for service for the airbag work. A check ahead of time with your VIN handy and making an appointment made it painless. You can snap us cold folks in the mid-Atlantic some more photos in the "grocery district" as we called it while you are waiting!
Cheers!
I have actually been kicking myself as I can drop the car off for an oil change and walk fifty yards to work instead of wasting a morning off hanging around someplace else to get the work done. The airbag recall was a pain as my 2010 Fusion needed six hours of work to replace the part. However the car was perfect when they returned it to me. I hate having the dash removed as I fear all the electronic connections will get disturbed. I'm going to Keys Auto (formerly Duncan) for service work from now on.
Ah, good news, I didn't realize you had already had the airbag work done.
We never use a dealership for any service either, just recalls and the occasional parts counter visit, although in this day and age, I can get almost any OEM part on the internet too, provided I know what I am looking for. I am still young enough I try to do any work I can on my own vehicles, but it is getting tougher..I can't take an entire weekend and dismantle a car in the driveway anymore..the fear being I won't have it re-assembled by Monday morning. When we upgrade to our next round of vehicles, I will likely have to take them somewhere with better tools and a garage and lift.
Cheers!
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