October 9, 2010 -

I have a busy day today, so need to get my rants out of the way early. The first one is because there is someone in our neighborhood who is a repeat offender. The unfortunate thing is I can't say for certain who it is as they've never been caught, but I have my suspicions.

1) If you own a dog, it comes with certain responsibilities and if you can't handle them, you shouldn't own a dog. So this one is simple:

Curb your dog.

This doesn't mean keep it on the sidewalk. It means pick up your dog's shit.

This applies, but is not limited to, the following places:
- Anywhere public if you walk your dog or allow them to run free in the neighborhood.
- The dog park. This falls under the item one, but some people think it's an exception.
- Your yard, especially if you have kids and invite mine over to play.
- My yard or your neighbors yard, if you allow your dog to poop in it.

It's not pleasant, but it's part of dog ownership. So do it, or don't be surprised on Halloween to find a burning bag on your porch.

2) Merging traffic. It's been a long time since I took driver's ed, so I can't remember if they covered this - but here's a refresher course.

If you are entering traffic, don't stop. Adjust your speed to the traffic you are merging with and just do it. Now here's the important part. If you are on the road that traffic is merging into - be nice. Allow that car to come in front of you. One stinking car it won't make you any later for work than you already are. If you live in a large metropolitan area and it's wall to wall traffic - ZIPPER. You know, one car goes on the freeway, one from the exit, one from the freeway, one from the exit, one from the freeway . . . are you seeing the pattern? Now take off your grumpy pants and be nice. Everyone else hates the traffic as much as you do.