August 13, 2006: Traffic in Michigan

A year and a half ago I was pretty hot around the collar about traffic and road construction around metro Detroit. Even if you could care less about what I have to say, I have to admit the Sopranos spoof intro was pretty cool at the time.




Click to enlarge

Above you'll see the I-75/M-59 interchange I mentioned in the video. You had better know where you're going and know the exit is coming well in advance or else you're not hitting your exit on the first pass.

Blinded by Your Crystal Ball

Driving along the road I get a sharp blip in my peripheral vision in the rear view mirror. "What the hell was that?" I mutter in my inner dialogue.

A moment later as the cars are picking up speed after the limit increased, I see police lights out of the corner of my eye, flashing at me and reflected through my mirror. I glance up for a better look, and I see no police car, no lights... but wait, something just blinded me from the car behind me.

"What the hell IS that?" I'm trying to keep my eye on the road, but there is some kind of disco ball hanging from the rear view mirror of the car behind me.

It's no disco ball, however. It's a crystal ball that supposed to create rainbows inside the car. It may accomplish that, but it manages to piss off the surrounding drivers in the process.

What do you think about these crystal balls hanging from people's rear view mirrors? Are the owners of these crystal balls aware of the visual distraction it causes to other drivers? Do you have one of these things in your own car? Has anyone ever complained to you about the distraction?

Or am I completely alone and nuts on this deal?

Photo by Flickr user shimown