February 7, 2007 by Hawk.

The following letter I wrote was previously published in the Florida Today Letters to the Editor section several years ago:

To Florida drivers everywhere -

You do not have to wait for the car in front of you to make it completely through the intersection before you yourself drive through it.

Your car is not a race car, I don’t care what the salesman told you.

You are not Mario Andretti.

STOP does not mean pause.

Merge does not mean “cut me off”. When the lane you’re in ends that does not entitle you to some God given right to cut someone off by racing to the point your lane ends.

That distance between my car and the car in front of me is called “a safe following distance” not “plenty of room for you to squeeze in.”

When there are two lanes turning left and YOU want to turn right at the next intersection, don’t get in the left hand of the two turn lanes.

The speed limit is a pretty good idea. If you can divide your speed by the speed limit and get a whole number you might want to look behind you to see how many people you’re annoying.

If you need your high beams on while driving on a well lit road you might want to consider NOT driving at night.

Any phone call that is THAT important should probably be taken pulled off to the side of the road.

If your speaker system continuously loosens the bolts holding your car together you might want to think about turning it down a little.

If at anytime you’ve found yourself parked inside a building because you’ve mistaken your gas pedal for the brakes, please, sell your car and turn in your license.

Enjoy,

Hawk

Posted in Rant and Rave | No Comments »

February 2, 2007 by Hawk.

I always thought they were crap. Scams to grab your email address and spam the hell out of you. But that changed a while ago when a friend convinced me to sign up at MyPoints.com. Now, granted, you’re not going to get rich participating in these programs but for the most part it’s a quick, easy and painless way to get a little extra every now and then. I won’t say it’s all gumdrops and lollipops (yay, Brady Bunch). For example I recently signed up (to get points at MyPoints) for free health insurance quotes and since then I’ve gotten at least a dozen phone calls offering to sell me overpriced insurance coverage. But that too has its amusing side as I tend to deflect the calls with random excuses like “Sorry, he’s left the country and won’t return until the warrants expire.” which get some amusing reactions.

On the bright(er) side, in the months I’ve been participating in these programs I’ve earned and/or won:

• $10 Walmart gift card
• $25 Home Depot gift card
• $30 KB-Toys gift card
• A Kodak Z650 camera complete with printer dock
• 100,000 MyPoints points (approx. value $700)
• Various magazine subscriptions