interrobang (‽)

And I thought that getting my car fixed would be the end of it….
As I mentioned in a previous post, the guy who hit my car was given a citation by the police. This is basically a ticket, and he has the choice of paying a fine, or (because this is the free world) he can contest it. Obviously, because his father is an Attorney, he decided to contest it. Generally, if you’re guilty and don’t have a chance of getting away with it, you contest it, because if the arresting officer or any of the witnesses don’t turn up […]

After four months on my new project, I finally got the chance to travel beyond my cubicle.  All the way to our refinery at ‘beautiful’ Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  We’re implementing (among other things) a new dock management system, and I had to go and train some of the users on how to use it. The site is on Scenic Highway, but I think this must be an attempt at suspension of disbelief, because you’d be pretty hard-pushed to find a place less ’scenic’ than this - it’s just a huge collection of tanks, pipes, and chimneys which takes up all […]

So last week, coming back from the Black Angels gig, I got pulled over by the police.  I shouldn’t be surprised - I seem to average one ticket a year, and I’d made it to December (actually, November 30th) without getting a ticket so it was about time.  What was a surprise is that this wasn’t for speeding!  (That radar detector I have is turning out to be money well spent.)  This ticket was for “failure to signal” when I turned a corner.  That’s right.  It was for not using my indicators.  At half past midnight, at an almost deserted intersection.  […]

This commute is killing me.  A couple of nights ago it took me an hour and 40 minutes to get home from work.  For a 20-mile journey, on a single stretch of motorway - the infamous I-10 (a.k.a. the Katy Freeway).  That’s an average of 12 mph - which just shows that the police are taking the piss by putting up “65-mph” speed limit signs.
And 12mph is an average.  For the last 5 miles of the journey I was hurtling along at closer to 80mph.  Yes, that’s over the limit, but I dare the bastards to pull me over and risk […]

OK, I’ve now been in Belgium for over a year, so I think I’m qualified to make a few comments without being dismissed as a ‘newbie’ who needs to learn to adapt.  There are some aspects of driving in Belgium that I just can’t adapt to.  Three of them, in fact:
(1) Giving way to the right.  The rule is that if you’re driving along a main road, and a car is joining the road from a side-road on the right, you need to give way. Unless of course there is a solid white line or a series of tiny triangles […]

My car sprang a fairly serious oil leak (to the point where it was getting through oil faster than petrol, and I was leaving a trail all down the road).  I’d noticed the oil light flashing on and off when I drove into work on Friday morning.  So I topped it up with a gallon of Esso Superlube (company man to the last!) before I left work, but the oil light was flashing again before I was halfway home.  I was just wondering where I’d find a garage open on a Saturday (this is Belgium, after all…), when the police […]

Last Sunday was ‘Car Free Day’ here in Brussels.  This is the one day a year when all traffic (emergency vehicles and the ubiquitous police excepted) is banned from the city.  I think it’s to promote exercise, or reduce pollution, or something.  To give them credit, the Belgians fully embrace these kinds of initiatives, so the main roads into town were blocked, and the police were on strict orders to ticket anyone who attempted to drive their car within the city boundaries.  Even the businesses jump on board - I saw a banner at one public car park in the […]

OK, I’ve had my first taste of country living. I was driving home from work in my tiny little 1.0 liter Opel Corsa, and decided to take what looked like a nice shortcut. I started hacking down this road that rapidly narrowed to only one (very narrow) lane wide, with trees on either side, clipping the wing mirrors. It was night, the road was very winding and I had about 10 yards visibility, but I gave it a go anyway.
After about a mile, the tarmac gave way to gravel, so I slowed down to about 60mph and kept going. The […]