Dodged another one!

Today was pretty easy, even with having to cover several stops for Harry (my route had next to nothing, he was swamped. No biggie.) I made my last drop in Walnut Creek when I get bleeped for a pick-up at one of our Livermore vendors. Normally, this would annoy me no end, but since I knew I was getting out early (for a doctor's appointment) I went ahead and took the pick-up. It wasn't urgent, it could have been done Monday, but what the heck?

Driving through Livermore on 580 between Airway and Portola, traffic sudden;y came to a crawl. Normally, this means an accident or Caltrans sweepers. I turned off the iPod to listen to the traffic report. "Police action in the center median." WTF, over?"

A few minutes later I crawled past four Livermore PD cruisers, three CHP cruisers plus 2 bikes, and the freaking bomb squad truck. Traffic sped up after that, and I got to my vendor and played with the dog until my order was ready. That dog, by the way, is the most spoiled Labrador Retriever in the world. Every truck driver who picks up or delivers there gives her treats, belly rubs, and endless ear skritches. She's also a company Vice-President with her own office and phone extension. I like these people.

Back on the road, and I'm just getting on the freeway when I hear... this. Thankfully, the back-up heading west wasn't that bad, and I was able to get off and surface street to.. a hell, here's a map.

It's been my week for dealing with police oddities. Yesterday, I spotted a young woman by the side of the road waving and doing the "blow your horn" move at all the trucks. Alas, the road in question was California State Route 120 and at that point (pretty much on the ramp to Southbound 99) the side of the road was a guardrail and a 40' drop onto a railroad. Which, at that moment, had a very long freight train moving along it speed. One slip and she was freaking dead. Amazing how fast you can touch-dial 911.

So I'm very happy it's the weekend. Been fighting some low-grade virus all-week, burned the inside of my lip earlier in the week, and I'm already planning my defense when I go on my rampage. But everything is going to be better.. Netflix delivered Captain Blood today. kshandra has never seen an Errol Flynn movie.

Iconography

fearsclave boldly went forth and asked me to explain seven of my icons. Reply if you want me to do the same to you, knowing full well my tendency to let such things slip when I'm distracted by sports/Nethack/writing/beer/The 1812 Overture/beer/beer.



Can't remember where I found this, but it amused me in its resemblance to a famous photo of Peter Townshend. It is a detail from a work by Hieronymus Bosch entitled Beehive and Witches. I use it for frustration, anger, and my perfectly legitimate desire to beat people senseless with a lute.



Ah, the sticky spot on your radio dial... KOME was the rock station in the South Bay when I was growing up. This was back when you could listen to a DJ say things like "I'm going to play you a track from a record I found in the import rack at Tower." KOME had the best jocks, an incredible play list, and the Diamond Decal was everywhere. I remember a car that had literally been covered in the things. isomeme may argue, but I think Dennis Erectus was the best DJ ever. This icon is for nostalgia, especially of the musical kind, and for posts about my life as a teenager.



We all know I'm penguin-mad, so using an image from Poke the Penguin was a natural. Actually, I have three from that game. This is a pretty generic icon, I use it when I feel like it, or when I'm trying to get replies.



Blazing Saddles is possibly the most brilliant comedy ever made. Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr simply oozes evil. And the scene from which this icon is taken, is hysterical. I use this icon for when I'm feeling especially evil and devious.



Taken from Turn Signals on a Land Raider. This is a web comic about a bunch of Warhammer 40K figures who know they are figures, and revel in it. Fun stuff, especially if you've ever done any kind of miniature wargaming. I iconized this panel just because I loved the phrase. This icon has several uses. It's one of my "people die now" icons (scary how many of those I have...), it's a tech geek icon, and a general gaming icon.



Your basic symbol of magical wisdom. I use it for posts on ancient history, magic, or fantasy gaming where I'm doing metagame work on how magic and deities work.



kshandra and are both fans of The X-Files and Babylon 5. This poster is a spoof of the poster seen in Fox Mulder's office with a Shadow ship from B5 instead of a flying saucer. You really need to know both shows to understand why this is so funny. I use it for general weirdness and strange news.