Pile (of Junk) Driver

My song was inspired by a number of elements:

1. I got a steady job.

2. An order from some months earlier had arrived.

3. I was notified that the Accord was ready to go.

On the day to pick up the latter, Mother told me that they had repainted the new parts. It was only then that I realized that it would have been a good time to have the car repainted. It had occurred to me that this would be an easy thing to do (the most difficult part probably being changing the description on the registration) some time earlier, but I hadn't gotten around to it. So they went to the trouble of putting that ugly yellow stripe back on.

Meanwhile, getting back to driving more often only drives home the fact that I find the fact that people make laws that are not intended to be followed really annoys me. I think that such arbitrary things should not be in official government documents. Even more irritating is the fact that people who actually do follow laws on principle (assuming there still are any) are punished by the fact that it's more dangerous to do so. For instance:

1. Speed limits are a classic. If you drive at the speed limit when there's anyone else on the road, you surprise other drivers because this is such an unexpected thing, and the fact that you're blocking traffic contributes somewhat to road rage. Of course, now that this has become the norm, it would be a dangerous transition if the government actually started posting reasonable speed limits. Also, it irks me that, if he really felt like it, a cop would be fully within his rights to give you a ticket for going 1 mi/h over the posted limit.

2. A similar problem exists if you make a turn into the nearest lane, as law dictates. This means that if there is someone behind you, you will likely not be able to change lanes, because that person will often turn directly into the other lane, allowing you too little space to move over for some time. I try to make sure I watch out not to follow the law when it could be this troublesome, but it's difficult to keep track of everything all the time.

3. This one isn't really dangerous, but it does irritate me that they make turn lanes that are illegal to enter in any way. At least, that's how I remember the law. I don't know any convenient way of looking up such small-scale regulations.

Speaking of driving, I've gotten back to killing time by playing a bit of MARIO KART DS, even though I've already won all the Grand Prix at 150cc. All of the other modes are rather pointless, and the main fun factor of the game is gone when you can't play multi-player with the basic set. It's also the American version, which doesn't bother me too much since it's a pointless game anyway, but I'm still baffled by some of the name changes they make. Back in the 64-bit era, the Americans realized that the original "Peach" was cuter than "Princess Toadstool," but for some reason they still insist on replacing "Koopa" with "Bowser." (Oddly enough, they didn't do that in the TV shows or the movie, although admittedly the latter has little to do with the series.) Anyway, the fact that I have terrible aim with items remains, but it is fun to drag them behind the cart and bash my competitors with them when they get too close. I'm somewhat tempted to get married so I can attack fellow drivers with tin cans and shoes on my way out.