I went to see Mom X yesterday afternoon. After a week back in the hospital, she's in a (different and far better) rehab facility, this one in Noblesville, the next County seat to the North. It's a long drive from the Skunk Works' downtown main campus, but I don't mind long drives.
She's doing much better, despite some annoying and unexpected side-effects. Still pretty weak but definitely getting stronger and starting to feel a bit less weighed down by events. 18 hours in a lousy rehab center was a real mood-breaker but it appears time spent in a good one has a very positive effect.
...And while I don't mind long drives, I do mind freeway drivers, very much. I hang in the right lane with the slow drivers, bumbling along at a mere 5 mph over the limit; the idiots who come charging up behind me at 25 to 30 mph relative, talking on the phone, and slam on their brakes at the last minute scare me silly and the witling who came to a stop -- on the freeway! -- a few cars ahead darned near managed to work synergistically with his blithe-speedster counterpart to accordion a half-dozen cars. I find the freeway terrifying and avoid it whenever possible.
Alas, my night vision isn't what it should be, either. Spending most of my night driving under city streetlights, I'd missed that my car's headlights are aimed too far down; so my trip home, while a little less nerve-wracking, could've been a lot better. At least now I know to get 'em touched up.
And it was a good visit with Mom. Worth the flashes of fear going to and from. Next time, I'll plan my time and route better.
Good to hear that she is better and in better care.
ReplyDeleteWV: Buctulsa?
Good news indeed!
ReplyDeleteExcellent news about mom, she will remain in our thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteDo yourself a flavor, buy a set of Sylvania SilverStar headlights. They're a bluer light than conventional headlights, (a color temp of around 4000), where "conventional" lights are yellower(color temp of around 3200) The reflected light is "whiter" by comparison and easier to see for people with night vision issues. If you don't like them for normal driving you can always switch the "dimmer" ones back in, just use cotton gloves to change them lest the oil on your hands shorten the bulb life. Take it from someone who has done the distance from the earth to the moon and back, several times, on mostly highways, you'll like your night driving better with the right equipment.
A little fear can remind you that you are still alive. A lot of fear can kill you. Terror and you can kill someone else.
ReplyDeleteGlad your mom is doing better and x2 on Og and the lights. The blue is better. Just be prepared to anger some sensitive oncoming on two lane roads.
Glad your Mom is doing better.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to improve night-vision -- bilberry. Indiana Botanical had some capsule-form once, and it dramatically improved my night-vision. The RAF anecdotes are upheld.
Og,
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, I must disagree that the "Bluer" light of the Sylvania SilverStar Bulbs are "Better". Look at all the shooting and driving glasses out there that have a light yellow tint to them to filter out the "bluer" frequencies to reduce glare. This is not to mention all the poor other drivers who have to deal with the harsh glaring lights those bulbs put out. More likely the "problem" has two causes, 1) as we get older the lenses of our eyes become less clear or why we get cataracts. 2) Since so few of us have whole headlights that get replaced vice just the bulbs, over time the lenses to those lights get "frosted" by the sand and grit we drive through on a daily bases, cleaning those lenses helps, a lot.
There's also the way the headlights are aimed too far down in my car, the Hottest Needle Of Inquiry. The old plastic lenses are badly frosted and I am not sure if I have the blue or "yellow" lamps in -- I've used both
ReplyDeleteGlad Mrs. X is getting along so well. Good news, indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd while it is cold, Simichrome does a fine job of polishing headlight covers. And adjusting the headlights to look where you are looking is easy enough. A level place and two minutes with a Reid and Prince should take care of that.
Blue headlights - will get you a ticket a lot of places. I leave 'em alone, but everyone to their own taste ez the goodman said ez kist the pig.
Stranger
Of course, ymmv. I have 390000 miles on this truck, 270000 miles on the car before that and 310000 miles on the car before that, I have a little practical experience, and for me, the blue helps. Of course, I'm just trying to drive, and not shoot anyone, so more light is generally better. There is no reflective glare from my blue headlights. 3m also makes an excellent headlight polishing kit, which fits in a drill and makes short work of the job.
ReplyDeleteDang. Right to Spam again. Must have the "a**hole" sensor set on "stun" again, the spam filters like me but never do zip to protect MY site.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the "Blue" lights most people see in the little "ricer" cars are NOT the sylvanias I mentioned, those are HID and you only get a ticket for them because they're too bright. 4000 Kelvin lamps just make the light closer to white than red, which is why they have a bluishj cast. You cannot get a ticket for a 4000 kelvin lamp anywhere, most new cars come equipped with them from the factory.
I'm glad your mom is doing better, lousy commuters between you and she aside.
ReplyDeleteJim
Glad to hear Mom X is doing better.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Josh