Previously, this was a blog mostly to harass my poor friends and family with the details of my life. Don't worry-- that will continue. However, I'm also going to use this as a terrible forum for dialogue about green tips and eco-revolutions. Hopefully it will be helpful and entertaining...

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Vinegar to the Rescue! and All Cars Hate Me

We have had some mold problems due to previous flooding and whatnot, and we've been meaning to clean it up and hope for the best for a while. So, with my new found eco-lution, I decided to go after it with vinegar. It was pretty amazing. The mold immediately started running down the wall, and I was able to wipe up a lot of it (which I think you're not supposed to do, but I didn't really think I should just let it all run down and soak at the bottom of the wall) and then respray and let it set. We'll see how it works-- hopefully it will keep it from growing back. And hopefully I haven't inhaled a ton of mold spores to my lungs. That would be unfortunate.

In other news, all cars hate me. Yeah. For real. Yesterday, driving from Durham to Baltimore, I parked at a 7-11 to pick up some brand new Dr. Pepper Cherry (mmm so good) and then had a tight spot to back out of-- there was a car at the gas pump directly behind my car. So, being a good and responsible driver, I slowly backed out. Inching closer and closer to the car, staring out my back window calmly. Just as I got close enough to begin point 2 of my three-point turn, I hear a honk. I assumed someone must be trying to come up somewhere and that my next turn would bring me into their path... No. It's the lady in the car that I'm still a good six inches away from, honking and staring at me with abject terror... I just looked at her, thinking, "Really? Am I not backing up slowly enough?" and then pulled out. Honestly, it pissed me off quite a bit. I can understand someone getting nervous if the other driver is moving quickly or if you're not sure that the other driver sees you, but I was clearly moving VERY slowly (as I myself get nervous in tight spots) and STARING out my back window. So it just seemed absolutely unnecessary.

This morning, as Marlie and I went to Starbucks (evil, but I did use a travel mug), I was backing out of a spot with a car in the drive through directly behind me. I started to tell Marlie the story, and right as I said, "And then she honked!" We hear a honk. I laughed, and continued to slowly and carefully back up my car, staring at the car behind me... And then the honk became sustained. I stopped and looked and the lady in the car was staring angrily at me, waving her hand. Again, all I could think was "Really? I am at least six inches from your car and this is the only way to get out of this spot!" I, in fact, was so annoyed that I rolled down my window and said, "Was I REALLY that close to you???" And the lady, without rolling down her window-- because clearly I am an impolite hoodlum of a rascal that would knife her, said, "YES YOU WERE THAT CLOSE!!!" Too which I just shook my head and drove off. Admittedly, I was shaking with anger. But I came up with a plan for if this situation occurs again: I will park my car and go and see how close I actually was... I am pretty sure that, again, I was at least six inches. But this way I can check and show them that they are, in fact, being friggin' absurd.

After all that, I decided to walk up to Walgreens rather than drive (plus it's a nice walk and hurray for not using a car when it's not needed), and crossed oh-so-legally at the crosswalk. Madame le Left Turn decided she didn't really want to watch for pedestrians-- and stopped about 3 feet from me. Didn't say like, "Oh my bad sorry or any such thing-- just stared at me as if I shouldn't be there.

So, dear cars, and more importantly drivers, please stop hating on me and be nice. Please.

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