Alternate Route

Oct 12, 2009 - Fall Drive Time

This looks like it's going to be the week to get out there and take some spectacular fall scenery drives here in the Northeast.

We had to drive from State College to Pittsburgh yesterday and the colors are really starting to come out. With expected temperatures in the 40's for the rest of the week (I had to scape the windshield twice already) the colors should explode this week.

It's a good thing to turn off the news every once in a while and just enjoy nature.

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Apr 19, 2009 - Wild Ride

We'll be making the return trip home from Richmond to State College, PA in a few hours and I'm looking forward to the wild ride as we tackle not one, but two loops.

That Griffon roller coaster at Busch Gardens has nothing on the defensive driving I'll be engaged in on the Capital and Baltimore Beltways.

Time for  a Sunday drive!

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Apr 16, 2009 - Beltway!

I'm taking the Alternate Route on the road for the next couple of days as we head down to Richmond, VA for an AAU basketball tournament. That means a short excursion on the Capital Beltway around D.C. sometime around 6PM.

I've been on the Beltway in heavy traffic at 4 AM so I'm mentally prepared, but every Beltway run always turns up at least one incident that would be blog worthy so coming up with material for the weekend entries should be a snap.

So if any of you CarSpace members in VA happen to see a sapphire blue Nissan Versa with PA plates tooling around, give us a toot and a wave!

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Sep 9, 2007 - Dazed & Amazed

Brace yourselves. There's likely to be a wave of do-gooders trying to save us from ourselves again.  According to a news story,  a researcher has informed U.S. government agencies of a popcorn lover who appears to suffer the same lung effects as people who work with synthetic butter. I'm all for workplace safety, and understand how working in a factory where you might be exposed to substances can have long term health effects and appropriate measures should be taken.

However, this mental giant wound up in his condition by having "...eaten microwave popcorn at least twice a day for more than 10 years and he liked it so much he opened the bag with the steam still coming out so he could inhale the smell." So like some lab rat in an experiment, he inhales his body weight in popcorn fumes every day for 10 years and someone is amazed that he has lung problems.

We have one case. There can be no doubt that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I wonder how long it will be before the class action lawsuit against Big Popcorn gets rolling. If you press your ear to the ground you might even hear the personal injury lawyers stampeding in the distance.

This reminds me of people who love the sporty feel of driving hard, running through the gears, and taking corners at high speed, then complain that they're not getting the EPA mileage estimates, their tires wear out too fast, and they're going through brakes like... well... hot buttered popcorn.

What's next? Finding someone who tries to drive 100 MPH every day gets more tickets than he thinks he should? That must be somebody else's fault, right?

Speed and get tickets?
Take a look in the mirror
and accept the blame

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