Flat Tax on Gas?

Hey, Ziggy.........I was just moving with the flow of traffic, and that's no joke, no exaggeration, no bull. The person to the left of me was passing me on that curve!

70 is the speed limit there. Whoever put a box containing a wicker chair in the bed of their pickup without securing it and then getting on that highway is to blame, not me.

That doesn't fly with me. The chair was there before you were. You are not supposed to hit it- the "flow of traffic" notwithstanding.

As a driver, I am responsible for my own vehicle. I am the ONLY one responsible for my own vehicle. 70 MPH is the MAXIMUM speed- not a minimum speed. If the road is too curvy / hilly to drive 70 MPH and see and act within the assured clear road ahead, then 70 MPH is too fast for that stretch of road- again the "flow of traffic" norwithstanding. Just because other traffic takes that stretch of road too fast is no excuse for you or me to do so.

In defensive driving we are taught that the only good that ever comes from an accident is when something is learned from it. Did you learn anything from this accident, Stephanie?

ziggy wrote:That doesn't fly with me. The chair was there before you were. You are not supposed to hit it- the "flow of traffic" notwithstanding.

As a driver, I am responsible for my own vehicle. I am the ONLY one responsible for my own vehicle. 70 MPH is the MAXIMUM speed- not a minimum speed. If the road is too curvy / hilly to drive 70 MPH and see and act within the assured clear road ahead, then 70 MPH is too fast for that stretch of road- again the "flow of traffic" norwithstanding. Just because other traffic takes that stretch of road too fast is no excuse for you or me to do so.

In defensive driving we are taught that the only good that ever comes from an accident is when something is learned from it. Did you learn anything from this accident, Stephanie?

Did you learn anything from this accident, Stephanie? I hope that she learned to not discuss her accidents on this board.

(Who owns a wicker chair in the Dunbar area of WEST VIRGINIA? I will tell you: Arab terrorists hiding in the hollers! That's who! They knew their cover was blown when the young jihadist had to help you recover the remains of the chair. Stephanie, you might just have saved America from WMDs--Wickers of Mass Destruction! Thank you, Stephanie! You are a great American!)

Stephanie wrote:

lindaredtail wrote:Stephanie I would really like to hear this story. It sounds like a good one.

Geez.......there really isn't that much to tell. I was doing about 70 traveling down the center lane of I64. Just after the Dunbar exit there is a curve in the road and you're sort of cresting a hill, so you don't see too far ahead of you. I get to the top of that hill and I can see this large cardboard box in my lane! I couldn't switch lanes without hitting another car, so I just hit the breaks and then the box!

I was freaked out because I didn't know what was in that box. It was a good size......could have been a television or microwave or who knows. So now I've hit this box and it's trapped under the front end of my car. Here's where it gets good.

All these people are whizzing past me.....many of them stuck behind me momentarily driving around me and for a couple of minutes I'm sitting there trying to calm myself and my little boy. Who stopped to help me? Some nice young man I believe came here from some Middle Eastern nation. lol He stopped along the road, crossed the traffic and helped me get that now crushed box and the heavily damaged wicker chair out from under my car so I could get rolling again.

I busted a headlight, but the car, and me and most important, my son were fine.
I faced an interrogation from my husband on "why couldn't you stop it's a straight away there you should have seen it" until Monday when he had to drive home from work and he realized I was right about that location........there is a bend with a hill and you can't see much ahead of you until you crest that hill.

Car Accident Reports That Are More Believable Than Stephanie's:



Ü "A pedestrian hit me and went under my car."

Ü "The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intention."

Ü "I had been learning to drive with power steering. I turned the wheel to what I thought was enough and found myself in a different direction going the opposite way."

Ü "Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have."

Ü "I thought my window was down; but found it was up when I put my hand through it."

Ü "No one was to blame for the accident, but it never would have happened if the other driver had been alert."

Ü "The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him."

Ü "I saw the slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the hood of my car."

Ü "I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident."

Ü "I was taking my canary to the hospital. It got loose in the car and flew out the window. The next thing I saw was his rear end, and there was a crash."

Ü "I was backing my car out of the driveway in the usual manner when it was struck by the other car in the same place where it had been struck several times before."

Ü "The indirect cause of this accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth."

Ü "The accident happened when the right door of a car came around the corner without giving a signal."

Ü "I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows."

Ü "I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprung up, obscuring my vision."

Ü "I was on the way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident."

Ü "I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him."

Ü "I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat, I found that I had a fractured skull."

Ü "My wench slipped, losing my balance, and I hurt my back."

Ü "I was unable to stop in time, and my car crashed into the other vehicle. The driver and passengers then left immediately for a vacation with injuries."

Ü "To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I struck the pedestrian."

Ü "The accident occurred when I was attempting to bring my car out of a skid by steering it into the other vehicle."

Ü "When I could not avoid a collision, I stepped on the gas and crashed into the other car."

Ü "I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way."

Ü "In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole."

Ü "My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle."

Ü "As I approached the intersection, a stop sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident."

Ü "The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end."

Ü "A truck backed though my windshield and into my wife's face."

Ü "I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment."

Ü "The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him."

Ü "An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my vehicle, and vanished."

Stephanie I thought that was a good story. (Not good that you got in an accident) I'm glad that you and your son are alright. Now the questiion. Was the chair badly damaged? Or could it be salvaged? (Wicker is expensive) Did you bring it home?

Did you learn anything from this accident, Stephanie?

Yes!!! Actually I learned a few things from this accident! First, I learned that the brakes on that car aren't quite as wonderful as I thought they were!

Secondly, I learned that when confronted with such a situation, I would NOT freak out and do something stupid like just swerve to avoid the object. I'm serious, I had wondered that "what if"....

Thirdly, I did learn that although that particular stretch of road does not appear at first glance to be "hilly and/or very curvy", there is a curve and a small hill there that I cannot see over the top of in that car. In my little Geo Tracker I sit much higher and would have seen the box sooner.

My RMA friend keeps getting funnier and funnier.

Finally, I've learned not to discuss my accidents on the boards.

ROTFLMAO

Even though the wicker chair box had my name scribbled on it- probably by some kid just scribbling random letters- and some probably drug-crazed driver beside Stephanie reports seeing it fall off a truck bearing my license number, I deny being in that area on the day indicated. And if I need an alibi, I can come up with one in just a few days, probably.

Stephanie does a little Geo Tracker do alright in the mountains. When we traveled to AK we had a Volkswagon camper. The trip was 31 days. But we had a hard time in the mountains. Especially the Canadian Rockies. How is it in WV with a little vehicle? And you and Ziggy are a lot of fun. Did he put the chair there just so you could hit it? Or did you hit it just to trash his chair? Did it make good kindling?

ziggy wrote:

Aaron wrote:

shermangeneral wrote:Well Lindaredtail when comparing mpg please remember when loaded you are talking about 80,000 pounds.

That is as much as 20 big fullsize passenger cars.

So looking at it like that the big rig is more efficient than a car.

But your point is valid.


With the miles they run even an increase of one mpg makes a big difference bottom line.

Set your speed down to 62 and you'll get that 1 mpg.

Right on- at least on "level ground". .

But a feller and I were having this discussion a week or so ago- is it better to hit the bottom of the hill at 62 or so, or better to hit it at 70- knowing that the speed will drop to 62 or lower as the vehicle ascends the hill anyway? It seems to me that it would be better, fuel wise, to hit the hill full throttle at the higher speed, and get over it sooner, than one would to take it at full throttle at the lower speed- and thus take longer to climb the hill.

We set our trucks from 70 to 67 and gained 4/10ths last year. During the earlier part of this year, we set them to 62 with a 2 hour per day 'boost' that allows for exactly what you describe and have picked up about 1mpg.

As for leaving the fuel higher, the only problem is, drivers don't only max up when they're approacing a hill. Most drivers, as in 98.7284153446316463177% of them run one way in a truck with a governor;with their foot on the floor.

lindaredtail wrote:I am watching a Rhode Island television station (it is very close to here) and a comment was just made by a sportscaster that Arlen Specter should be worrying about $4.oo per gallon gas and not the Patriots. People here are beginning to get just a tad testy about Arlen Specter. Say his name and the frowning and swearing starts.

That's because the Patriots have been cheating for about 8 years now (for as long as Belichek has been there) and they don't want it to come out.

But I agree, Spceter shouldn't be investigating it, the NFL should but they don't have the balls to go after the Patriots. Kraft won't let them so they're stuck going after thug players.

But I digress.

Stephanie wrote:

Did you learn anything from this accident, Stephanie?

Yes!!! Actually I learned a few things from this accident! First, I learned that the brakes on that car aren't quite as wonderful as I thought they were!

Secondly, I learned that when confronted with such a situation, I would NOT freak out and do something stupid like just swerve to avoid the object. I'm serious, I had wondered that "what if"....

Thirdly, I did learn that although that particular stretch of road does not appear at first glance to be "hilly and/or very curvy", there is a curve and a small hill there that I cannot see over the top of in that car. In my little Geo Tracker I sit much higher and would have seen the box sooner.

My RMA friend keeps getting funnier and funnier.

Finally, I've learned not to discuss my accidents on the boards.

ROTFLMAO

It's not all bad Stephanie. At least you didn't swerve and take out another vehicle. That's one plus but the biggest one is that either Sherm or one of his buddies didn't come along behind you and run you over when you were stopped in the middle of I-64, especially since the bulk of them are in the center lane where you're talking about as they're not allowed to ride in the far left and most drivers won't ride in the right on a 3 lane interstate due to the on/off traffic.

Actually I think that the cheating has been owned up to. The Patriots have been fined and lost a draft pick. There was no tape of a Super bowl walk through. That video assistant has been pretty much discredited as an exaggerator of his employment with the Pats. Play taping has been going on for a long time. Not only the Pats do it. It happens in other sports too. Just a few years ago the Cleveland Indians were caught filming the Red Sox signals from a strategic place in the stands. Is it right? No. The Pats were the ones who got caught but are far from the only ones who do it.

lindaredtail wrote:Actually I think that the cheating has been owned up to. The Patriots have been fined and lost a draft pick. There was no tape of a Super bowl walk through. That video assistant has been pretty much discredited as an exaggerator of his employment with the Pats. Play taping has been going on for a long time. Not only the Pats do it. It happens in other sports too. Just a few years ago the Cleveland Indians were caught filming the Red Sox signals from a strategic place in the stands. Is it right? No. The Pats were the ones who got caught but are far from the only ones who do it.

And had Nixon been as smart as BB is, or had the backing of a Robert Kraft to protect him, there wouldn't have been any tapes to do him in either.

That video assistant said that HE HAD THE TAPE TO TURN OVER TO THE LEAGUE. That is what he has been saying right along. Also that he was part of the team's strategy planning, ect. which was also not the truth. How could he say I have a tape, turn the tapes over (after he persisted) and then it not be there. If he had said that the Pats had the tape I would say maybe it disappeared into someone's fireplace. What did it do? Get up and walk away? This video assistant is an exaggerator and an attention seeker. I'm not saying that I agree with what the Patriot's did. Frankly I was disappointed and it diminished my regard for them somewhat. But the players I still give credit too. BB well maybe he isn't the mad scientist people believe that he is. (That's what he is called here) Just another coach.

It is what it is.

You guys up there keep telling that story and sooner or later, the truth will be forgotten.

Except to those who know that the commissioner works FOR the owners, including one of the more powerful ones, Robert Kraft.

Aaron I am telling you that I do not agree with what they did. But that video assistant is not the most credible guy in the world. I also doubt that it will be forgotten. Many fans myself included stated their disappointment. If there is one thing Kraft understands it is disappointment that might spill over into ticket sales. He has already made it clear that this will never happen again.

shermangeneral wrote:Hillary's fuel tax summer holiday would be a big help. (about $20 per day)

It would be a "duct tape" semi solution to help keep drivers going short term.

Maybe they could make it a little longer till Bush is out even.

Well now, I guess that would be short term, ....... and short miles too, right?

With diesel at around $4.50 per gallon and those big rigs getting bout 5 miles per gallon,


that $20 savings will get them down the road another 20 miles a day.

GEEEZE, I figured that about right, ........ didn't I?

.

Stephanie wrote:Hey, Ziggy.........I was just moving with the flow of traffic, and that's no joke, no exaggeration, no bull. The person to the left of me was passing me on that curve!

70 is the speed limit there. Whoever put a box containing a wicker chair in the bed of their pickup without securing it and then getting on that highway is to blame, not me.

HA, zounds ta me like youse was "leading the pack" ....... iffen da traffic wasa flowing ....... and youse was da one dat hit der hairy wicker chair.

Course now, those other drivers were probably really good and experienced at dodging those hairy deer in the middle of the road ....... and being you aren't, ....... well ......

.

lindaredtail wrote:Aaron I am telling you that I do not agree with what they did. But that video assistant is not the most credible guy in the world. I also doubt that it will be forgotten. Many fans myself included stated their disappointment. If there is one thing Kraft understands it is disappointment that might spill over into ticket sales. He has already made it clear that this will never happen again.

This is where I cough and say bullshit while doing so Linda so that it doesn't appear that I'm saying Robert Kraft is a liar and a cheater when that's what I'm really saying but I can't find that smiley.

But you go right on believing what you want. Who knows, maybe one of these days NJ Jets fans might by his BS as well.

I don't have a reason to disbelieve Bob Kraft. I have been a Pats fan for some time. You can believe what you choose and I will believe what I choose. I think he is sincere.

SamCogar wrote:

Stephanie wrote:Hey, Ziggy.........I was just moving with the flow of traffic, and that's no joke, no exaggeration, no bull. The person to the left of me was passing me on that curve!

70 is the speed limit there. Whoever put a box containing a wicker chair in the bed of their pickup without securing it and then getting on that highway is to blame, not me.

HA, zounds ta me like youse was "leading the pack" ....... iffen da traffic wasa flowing ....... and youse was da one dat hit der hairy wicker chair.

Course now, those other drivers were probably really good and experienced at dodging those hairy deer in the middle of the road ....... and being you aren't, ....... well ......

.

I dunno, Sammy. I was telling my husband earlier about how Ziggy gave me hell for driving too fast for the road. Hubs says he's correct. All I know is the guy in the lane to my left was passing me. Perhaps it had just fallen off the damn truck.

I'm never fessin' up to another accident to you guys again. You're all blue meanies. I want tea & sympathy and I'mma not gettin it! *sniffles*

Ah, accidents happen, ...... consider yourself lucky ya didn't have CM on your breath and a Cop showed up.

Fer sure, you would have been charged with DUI and got your picture in the papers.

As you know, those damn DUIers are involved in more vehicullar wrecks than any other groups.

Steph, the really serious mistake that you made, ..... I think, I didn't go back n' check, ......... was to NOT get your vehicle out of the "driving lane", ..... post haste.

Of course I don't know the particulars ..... but never NEVER sit there in a stopped vehicle waiting for someone to rear-end you .......... because they will.

That "temporary hypnosis" causes more accidents than most people think.

.

Sam,

I tried but couldn't move the car. I mean, I could, but there was traffic flying by....nobody seemed to care I was stuck there like that. The car would move, but with that box trapped under the fron end between the two wheels, I was unable to manuever it properly. Point is, the first thing I did after hitting that damn box was to try to pull over, wasn't happening.

You did right.