Through the Mists
Phew! THAT'S over, and it wasn't too bad. I'm talking about Thanksgiving here. However the drive to and from Michigan today was interesting.
When I first moved to Toledo I decided to program some local radio stations into my car stereo. I didn't research them or anything I simply hit "seek," and if it stopped on a song I liked it went into one of my pre-sets.
Most of the stations turned out to be great and I now have a good range of music to choose from while driving around the city. However one station slipped past my guard. Toted as "soft rock" I enjoyed number 3 on my pre-set dial (button whatever) for the first four months in the "Glass City." But a few weeks ago my "soft rock" went Christmas on me. A little early for my tastes, but hey, I like Christmas music all right so I didn't bother to change it.
I'm a perpetual channel surfer for both my TV and my car stereo. I also have radio controls on my steering column that I can operate with my left hand with barely a thought. This means if a commercial is playing as I'm putting my car in park I'll most likely be switching stations up to the moment I shut my car off and take out the key. That is the only explanation I have for why my car was blaring "Jingle Bells" when I got in it this morning. More concerned about getting buckled in and on my way I left the radio alone.
Once I got on the Freeway the music once again captured my attention. It was playing a Christmas song I had never heard before. After about fifteen seconds I wanted to drive my car off an overpass. It was by far the most depressing Christmas tune I have EVER heard.
It's called Christmas Shoes and not only are the lyrics beyond sad, but the tone of the singer's voice is soooo dramatic. Of course once they threw in the chorus of singing kids I wanted to bang my head on the wheel. I forced myself to listen to the whole thing, hoping and praying it was a sick joke. To me Christmas (or any Holiday) music should be peppy or nostalgic, not make you feel like pond scum.
Thankfully I have a six disc CD changer in my car and was quickly able to switch to some traveling music.
That was on the way there. The way home was a different story. It was foggy, like pea soup foggy. It's always debatable for me when weather conditions are dicey. I'm not sure if I want to be alone on the road, or surrounded by cars. Usually I opt for being alone since I trust myself to control my car better then I trust the drivers around me to control theirs.
Well tonight I got both wishes. At times traffic was so thick I hardly noticed the fog. Then a few minutes later I'd find myself all alone wondering where all the other cars had gone. It was kinda freaky. Except for the occasional muted light from cars going the opposite direction I'd go for ten minutes at a time and not see another vehicle.
Then like a flock of birds they'd swoop in and wiz around me only to disappear again into the fog. I don't understand why they were going so fast. Most of the time I could only see three or four road stripes ahead of me at a time. You just can't go 75mph and expect to be able to stop in time if something is stopped in the road.
Driving in fog messes with your mind. A change of lighting and it seems as if the road is dropping away in front of you, a curve in the road can make you think a car is headed straight toward you. Or maybe it's just me and my paranoia. In any case I made it home safe and sound and I wish the same for all the other travelers out there this weekend.
Gobble gobble, Happy Thanksgiving!
When I first moved to Toledo I decided to program some local radio stations into my car stereo. I didn't research them or anything I simply hit "seek," and if it stopped on a song I liked it went into one of my pre-sets.
Most of the stations turned out to be great and I now have a good range of music to choose from while driving around the city. However one station slipped past my guard. Toted as "soft rock" I enjoyed number 3 on my pre-set dial (button whatever) for the first four months in the "Glass City." But a few weeks ago my "soft rock" went Christmas on me. A little early for my tastes, but hey, I like Christmas music all right so I didn't bother to change it.
I'm a perpetual channel surfer for both my TV and my car stereo. I also have radio controls on my steering column that I can operate with my left hand with barely a thought. This means if a commercial is playing as I'm putting my car in park I'll most likely be switching stations up to the moment I shut my car off and take out the key. That is the only explanation I have for why my car was blaring "Jingle Bells" when I got in it this morning. More concerned about getting buckled in and on my way I left the radio alone.
Once I got on the Freeway the music once again captured my attention. It was playing a Christmas song I had never heard before. After about fifteen seconds I wanted to drive my car off an overpass. It was by far the most depressing Christmas tune I have EVER heard.
It's called Christmas Shoes and not only are the lyrics beyond sad, but the tone of the singer's voice is soooo dramatic. Of course once they threw in the chorus of singing kids I wanted to bang my head on the wheel. I forced myself to listen to the whole thing, hoping and praying it was a sick joke. To me Christmas (or any Holiday) music should be peppy or nostalgic, not make you feel like pond scum.
Thankfully I have a six disc CD changer in my car and was quickly able to switch to some traveling music.
That was on the way there. The way home was a different story. It was foggy, like pea soup foggy. It's always debatable for me when weather conditions are dicey. I'm not sure if I want to be alone on the road, or surrounded by cars. Usually I opt for being alone since I trust myself to control my car better then I trust the drivers around me to control theirs.
Well tonight I got both wishes. At times traffic was so thick I hardly noticed the fog. Then a few minutes later I'd find myself all alone wondering where all the other cars had gone. It was kinda freaky. Except for the occasional muted light from cars going the opposite direction I'd go for ten minutes at a time and not see another vehicle.
Then like a flock of birds they'd swoop in and wiz around me only to disappear again into the fog. I don't understand why they were going so fast. Most of the time I could only see three or four road stripes ahead of me at a time. You just can't go 75mph and expect to be able to stop in time if something is stopped in the road.
Driving in fog messes with your mind. A change of lighting and it seems as if the road is dropping away in front of you, a curve in the road can make you think a car is headed straight toward you. Or maybe it's just me and my paranoia. In any case I made it home safe and sound and I wish the same for all the other travelers out there this weekend.
Gobble gobble, Happy Thanksgiving!
posted by SassyJill at 5:08 PM
2 Comments:
I cant believe that you posted about radio stations playing holiday music too early. That was going to be my next post. When I lived in ATL all radio stations would start playing holiday music in November through new year. I hated it so bad. In the NW though, I can find one or two stations that are still playing listenable music.
Funny that I also pick my radio stations using 'seek' and then pre-setting the stations playing a good song.
Happy Thanksgiving!
You've never heard the Christmas Shoes song before? Oh you lucky gal that this is only your first time!!! That song is ALWAYS on and it makes me want to jab sharp instruments in my ears. I think I may have even written a post about it last year at this time. Either way, it's not the holiday music that does me in, it's the fact that every station seems to play the "Delilah" holiday music program (you do know Delilah, right? She ranks right up there with Oprah in terms of annoying). Man, that woman KILLS me.
Anyway, I thought we had the same car. If so, why does yours have cool features like a 6-disc CD changer and steering wheel radio controls? Mine doesn't have that - no fair! Stupid car!
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