If we were having coffee today, July 31st, we’d all be asking the same question:
“WHERE IN THE HECK DID JUNE AND JULY GO?”
Having no better answer than when we asked it last year, we’d sigh and change the subject.
We might spend a few minutes talking about how much we appreciate the co-hosts of the Cherished Blogfest. While I could have guessed a few Cherished Objects, most bloggers surprised me with your originality, your humor or your emotional attachment to something that had been inherited from a loved one. I was struck and saddened by the number of men and women who, as children, lost a parent.
I enjoy finding additional bloggers to read, and I appreciate receiving such positive enthusiasm from all of you for my own participation. Thank you!
I’d poke Dan and say, “Hey, guess what?!? My gift Keurig coffee-maker finally bit the dust so I’m aimin’ to purchase a more environmentally and wallet-friendly drip machine.”
Dan would hoist his coffee cup beer mug in my direction, foam masking his superior sneer of a purist who shunned Keurigs from the get-go.
I’d tell you how Hub and I look at each other and shake our heads when we see those news snippets about the promising future of cars which drive themselves.
You drive the interstates, right? You know how congested they are, right?
You know how both lanes are full and one or two A-hole drivers will impolitely squeeze into the least margin of space you leave between you and the driver ahead of you.
You also remember from Drivers’ Ed that we are supposed to leave one car-length of space between us and the driver in front of us for every 10 miles of speed in order to have safe braking distance.
Well.
On our cross-country to Michigan last fall in my new car, we tried the newest feature added to cruise control that automatically slows your cruising car when you are approaching a car ahead.
Uh huh. You got it.
There we were automatically slow-w-w-w-w-w-ing down to keep that preset number of car lengths ahead of us while every other car zoomed by or cut into the space our car so generously offered them (which then slowed us even more).
After about three times watching Hub test that automatic slowdown sucker, him not saying anything but getting that telltale tight pursing of his lips, I started laughing and asked, “how do you like that fancy gadget now?”
I couldn’t help it.
What are the car designers thinking?
Do they not know my tail-gating husband or those A-hole drivers?
Do they not drive the same interstates we do, where using cruise control – even without the automatic slowdown – is almost impossible because of the volume?
Do they not understand it’s dangerous to slow to a speed no other car is going, and it’s self-sabotaging to give up your queue in the lane?
How in the heck are self-driving cars going to mesh with human tailgaters and queue jumpers? Are they going to factor in that we have ALL become tailgaters and will fill any vacuum their preset spacing creates?
But wait!
It might make a marriage or two happier when we’re yelling at the car to “Speed up!” rather than at our tail-gating spouse to “Slow Down!”
Tomorrow is August. Let’s not get to the end of that month and wonder where it went. Live your moments; they’re all we got.
Life Is Good. Do what you like; like what you do.
bemuzin 
Comments on: "Coffee at the End of July" (50)
Hi Sammy, checking in to say hello. I enjoyed the cherished blogfest as well, there were some fantastic stories to read. I’ve had a busy July and have lots of trips and fun things planned for August as well, then it’s back to work in September. Trying to live a full life but also learning to stop and appreciate those special moments is not always easy but is always worth the effort. Take care and hope you and yours have a good month. xx
Great to hear from you, Eileen, and I’m happy you are living every moment as they speed by! Thanks so much for checking in and letting me know you are well. Take care💖
Oh my, I am so at one with this post.
I shun the cup coffee makers too. I truly fail to understand the joy people receive from them. Don’t get me wrong, when I am served a cup of coffee, I’m pleased regardless — but honest to goodness, standing around waiting for coffee cup by cup? Maddening. And the expense, and the waste…
That whole bit about the traffic holes, I KNOW! I am a safe-distance-leaver, which means other drivers think I have been saving a space for them!
June and July went to the garden. August will keep me indoors even more, but it will be much busier. August has five highlights which make it bearable, lol! September’s out there, crisp and cool, waiting for me. Mmm, September.
Have a great day, Sammy D!
Thanks, Joey. Your highlights sound intriguing and, of course post-worthy. I know you will share when the time is right!
June and July? Wait, you mean they are over? Damn, I missed them again. Kudus for killing off that gifted Keurig. I know, “it broke”…wink wink. I hope you get a machine that can produce a fine cup of coffee. One good thing about June and July is, I mean was that they weren’t too hot in the mornings, so our little group of Dunkin Donuts fans made daily marches for good coffee.
Driverless cars will be practical when there are way more of them than humans. Driverless cars will talk to each other and agree to keep a safe distance. My guess is they will agree to cut out. hem in and run the a-hole off the road too 🙂
If I were having coffee with you Sammy, I’d thank you again for your support of the blogfest. It was more successful than we could have hoped. I still have a few entries to read (but all have been read by at least one co-host).
Thanks, Dan. I am happy your inaugural blogfest was a success – i thought the 3-day format and word limitation were a perfect structure and, from the many I read, resulted in thoughtful, authentic posts. As Damyanti hoped, the theme elicited a positive mood and a feeling of connectedness among the participants.
I’m headed to a hike on one of my favorite trails and lunch with longtime friends in Boulder – a perfect ‘live the moments’ way to wave goodbye to what has been a memorable July.
I hope you have a fun weekend and I’ll see you at the pub tomorrow!
Have a great day Sammy. I’m going to spend mine in my workshop, making doors 🙂
For Thursday photos? You ARE hooked 😀
My car had that automatic slowdown cruise control feature too. At first I didn’t like it at all, but now I love it. Just took some time to get used to. And I agree–where have June and July gone?!
You’re a more patient driver than we are! We think we can use it if we ever go back to Montana where the interstates are relatively uncrowded 😀
Looking forward to your August posts with more creative photos of Carrie predicaments 😀
Thank you. 🙂 And yeah, for the more crowded interstates, I don’t even bother with cruise control.
Your post reminded me of George Carlin’s quip about drivers: “Have you noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” Yep!
Good for you for dumping your Keurig! I’d go even one further than Dan and get a French press. No filters and no electricity (you do need to heat the water so I suppose there is gas use, assuming your cooktop uses gas).
Summer doesn’t really even start to get good around here until August. Often September and early October are the best months – especially after the tourists leave and the kids go back to school and leave the beaches for us. My August has a lot of fun things planned – family visits and events… life is good!
Sounds like you have a great August planned! Sept & Oct are some of our best months too.
I don’t remember what I was doing at the time but I never watched George Carlin, altho’ I was aware how much people liked him, and how well he observed the ironies of our societal trends.
Thanks for reminding us of his accurate description of ‘other drivers’.
PS My new drip machine has a reuseable filter. When it bonks out I’ll ask Santa for the French one 😀
Hear! Hear!
I don’t like to be a naysayer but I don’t get the self driving cars either. What on earth have we become?
Just because we can doesn’t mean …
Thanks for reminding me! I’ll try to remember to say White Rabbit in the morning 🙂 Happy August, Sammy!
I’m laughing so hard. Sounds like you were traveling backwards to me.
Practically!! It really was quite comical. No one in our two-member household has suggested using that ‘feature’ on cruise control since 😀
I also remember George Carlin’s remarks about drivers – hysterical. Now that I live way out in the country I’m not driving the interstates too often and that’s fine with me. Summer does zoom past way too quickly. Next year I’ll save some precious summer days by scheduling doctor, dentist and eye exam checkups in the winter months instead of summer months. What was I thinking? Thanks for a fun post, Sammy!
But then I have the winter appts and fret about driving in the snow!!
We drive the freeways on those long trips but here at home, I take backways between towns or into Denver whenever possible. More to see and less stress.
Have a good weekend, Carol!
Have a great weekend, too, Sammy.
If that isn’t bad enough – realize that self-driving cars are designed by engineers……………. and lawyers.
Now that’s a non-user friendly combo if I ever saw one!!
I aired some of my concerns over “driverless cars” in a post last fall…let’s just say they’ll have to pry the steering wheel from my cold, dead hands (to paraphrase Mr. Heston).
I’m hoping to get up to the high country before long…time’s a wastin,’ right?
😀👏
Absolutely. We’ve been ‘up’ but just above us in wildnerness areas; not willing to battle the I-70 construction this summer. We do plan a hop to Buena Vista for a couple nights in August.
Enjoy whatever moments of RMtn High come your way!
See, that’s how bad my memory is. I went back to find your post and, of course, had read it and had commented with the very anecdote from this post about our cruise control!!
Your writing was worth reading again. My comment not so much!
Of course I had to slow down to re-read a few of your other posts. Good stuff – all of it. Especially the coffee ones 😀
Your writing is always worth reading again.
Thank you, Curt!
If it makes you feel better I also wonder where June and July went. So enjoy August, Sammy!
Merci! You, too, Evelyne!
Live your moments…I love that very much. Self driving you say? Now that wil be …interesting. 🙂
As if there’s room on any road for more cars! Road construction has run amok!!
A track of Denver’s light rail will be completed near our house in 2016, so visits downtown and to the airport will be smooth sailing (especially with senior rates).
Driverless cars, hah! Imagine the chaos when the hackers hack those computers.
Ooh I hadn’t even thought of that. Egads! Nightmares.
Self-driving cars? I won’t even use cruise control. If I’m going to drive, I’m going to drive. It’s an activity (think: active, not passive) I enjoy. I even have a little formula I use to increase my pleasure and decrease my frustration: if the speed limit is 70, and everyone else is going 75-80, I keep it at a nice, steady 68, and spend most of my time all by myself, in between clumps of battling cars. Works for me.
Of course, the best solution is always to choose a road less traveled. That makes all the difference. 🙂
I like the way you travel – 68MPH or less traveled roads! They do make all the difference which is why I frequent them whenever possible. Thanks for visiting, Linda.
I look forward to your August offerings 💖
I really can’t believe how fast this summer is going. It’s just not right! And I don’t think I’d be a fan of self-driving cars – far too scary a concept for me.
I agree on both accounts, Laurel. Will try to enjoy August every day 🌷
Now that we no longer own a car (car owning is super expensive here and with super-efficient public transport, not really needed) our marriage is a lot calmer.
I don’t like fancy gadgets of any sort, it took me ages to give in to smartphones.
I know what you mean about smartphones and gadgets. I am SO NOT a gadget person!
Our public transportation is getting better as congestion on the roads worsens. Within another year we will have lightrail lines to downtown Denver and the airport from our location on the western edge of the Denver corridor. We both look forward to leaving our car at home for those kinds of outings.
June and July are gone! Nooo!!! I want them back. Oh, well, gotta understand and be a big girl about it.
Oh, you made me laugh. Cars, cars, cars. I wish we’d do back to horses. Can we?
My car’s computerized sensor for the transmission died and the car locked down, would not move, some sort of safety devise, except I had barely made it to the side of the road, where I had to wait for the tow truck, etc. So … I understand. And am sometimes dreaming about living in Montana or some such place. 🙂
I think it’s kind of scary when we’re driving and something goes wrong because so many things shut down making it hard to get off the road, like you said, Sylvia! It’s really hard to steer, etc without power.
I just wish I could get a car with old-fashioned roll-down windows!!
It appears we’re too tech advanced for our own good sometimes. 🙂
I can’t even imagine these self-driving cars. Listen, every day something mechanical breaks down in my house. Usually something with a computer in it. So why do humans think these cars won’t malfunction and kill people? I swear, we are getting dumber by the minute. BTW, I think I heard that a drone flew some drugs into prison somewhere in the U.S. What a shocker.
Just because we can doesn’t mean we should!
So many things I could list as topics falling under THAT heading.
Yes yes yes.
Coffee? Yes, let’s meet at Crema Coffee Company in Portland, Maine, because they have a wonderful shop with comfy couches, terrific coffee and wonderful pastries. Then we could walk around to get rid of some of the calories. And while we were walking, I’d tell you that I really don’t know where June and July went, and I’m going to savor every day of August while eating every fresh vegetable and fruit I can get my hands on. 🙂
We loved our long ago visit to Portland and we both talk of another New England tour. That would be such fun!! Nothin’ like unwashed straight from the garden/orchard sunkissed with warmth and brimming with flavor. ENJOY !!
What is up with those guys who cut in?? I always feel like a sucker-pants for being courteous and not jumping the line, but I just can’t bring myself to actually become the A-hole I despise. And, no way – I’ll never trust one of those self-driving cars!
Hope you’re enjoying these last few weeks of summer, Sammy!! (Me? I can’t wait for school to begin again, lol!!)
I know! Sometimes it’s hard not to join the A-hole crowd after enough if them take advantage.
Yeah, I bet you are counting the days till you get a few hours to yourself!! Momhood is a 24-hour job for sure!