Trying to Relax/ Riiiiiight

Last Tuesday was the last time I posted. I had been feeling overly anxious, and I had trouble getting a breath, and my heart was palpitating. And it wasn't over pics of hunks in my files, either.

That night I just took my pulse and realized every few beats, my heart skipped a beat.

Well, sure, that had me and my husband concerned. So on Wed. morning he drove me to the local clinic and I had an exam. I hadn't been to the doctors for a while. Funny how not having insurance sort of puts you off on such things, but the visit alone was $140. I have no idea what the rest will cost.

The young lady who took my ekg promised to take only 2 minutes. That was fast. Right there in the office. This was amazing.

The doctor came in. Nice middle-aged man white hair and glasses. (Yes, notes for anything later, believe me I keep this stuff in my head for characters/scenes)

I had heart palpitations alright. That's what it's called. The Doctor said he didn't see anything serious in the read, or when he listened to my chest. Thus, he gave me instructions--both verbal and written. Gave me a prescription for a sleep aide--very nice, I slept very well that night--and suggested I could try cutting down on the caffeine. Sure. I don't drink that much, but yes I think it would be a good idea.

I drive a bus for a living. You get behind the wheel of your car, you take it for granted. Maybe. You have children. I hope you're careful. I could fill a book with what I see on a daily basis. The buss is about 32 ft. and weighs approx. 12 tons. Okay, if I'm going 30-35 mph, and I hit something, that's going to leave a huge dent. Believe me. And the bus may not even get more than a scratch on the bumper. But besides this--I don't care about the bus. I care about the people on my bus and yeah, even the stupid idiot on the road that did one stupid thing that nearly causes an accident.

This morning--wouldn't you know it, my day back and I get this:

I pull away from a stop, it's in a turn lane into a grocery store, so I have to wait for traffic to clear. But Also I have to watch what's going on in front of me, not just behind me.

I pull out into the lane of traffic. I see the guy in the black Jeep Cherokee trying to make a left off a side road just ahead of me. Well, I'm going slow so that in case he does pull out, I can stop. I wasn't going slow to *let* him pull out. This is a 4-lane road with a left hand turn lane.

So, he does exactly as I knew he would--pulls out in front of me. There might be about 50 before I hit him. My foot was on the breaks before he did this, and I had to stop. Why? Because someone was suddenly in that left hand turn lane BLOCKING HIM!!!

So he has to stop! He's still blocking me so I can't move.

What does the guy in the left hand turn lane do? Well, everyone stopped, so of course he takes that as his cue to go right ahead and make that left hand turn IN FRONT OF ME.

Then the guy in the Jeep proceeds. I remain motionless because I simply can't believe what one dumb jerks mistake could have cost had I not been the seasoned driver I am, and practically predicted he would do something so stupid.

What does the guy do when I'm sitting there? I've got my window open. He pulls along aside me in that left hand turn and says "Why are you yelling at me?"

I totally ignore him. What a jerk. I wanted to call him every name in the book. I wanted to take him by the neck like a vampire and shake him until his teeth rattled and explained exactly what he did wrong. And by the way, I may have yelled something, but he must have been reading my lips, because he sure didn't hear it.

My passengers all wished me a good day once they got off at their stops. They see what happened.

I don't just drive a bus for a living. What I do is I drive for every other person on the road--or is behind a wheel. Last week some guy pulled half-way out of McD's making me either slam on my breaks, or swerve into the next lane. Thank goodness I had a clear path to move over, because I didn't want to throw my passengers just for someone who had to go get his family a meal.

So. Any of you who drive anything--I don't care if it is a moped. DRIVE DEFENSIVELY. DRIVE CAREFULLY. WATCH OUT FOR SEMIS BECAUSE THEY WILL GO THROUGH RED LIGHTS.

Have a happy and safe 4th of JULY!!!!