(Sorry, but this marquee applet requires Java 1.1+) :: Marquee just endlessly repeats: "dumb ... dumb ..."

Where I work, I park in a garage that has gate with a pivoted wood bar that swings up when you swipe a valid card thru a card reader, and then the gate swings back down after you drive thru (like in the picture, above). I have never tested to see how long one has after swiping one's card, to get thru the gate without the gate coming down and hitting the roof of one's car.   One morning, as I arrived to the garage entrance, I found the gate flapping up and down, probably as fast as it could, without stopping: Up, down, up, down.... Entering my badge in the card reader did not affect the gate's behavior.   Not thinking rationally, fearing I would not be able to get in the garage (there is nowhere else to park), I decided to make a run for it: I trusted my timing intuition, put my car in gear and pressed the accelerator ...And, sheerly by luck, I got thru without the gate hitting my car. [I have no idea how I would have coped had I not been lucky and the gate had damaged my car -- especially since I'm already paying a very high auto insurance rate due to several recent minor accidents.] A few minutes later I watched another person drive up to the still frantically oscillating gate. He backed up and went around the building to another entrance. I lucked out in an irrational emotional state; the other person did the rational thing and got what he wanted without taking unnecessary risk. I hope I have learned a lesson -- even though I was lucky and didn't "have to pay for" my stupidity.

http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/sq/dumb.html Copyright © 2003 Brad McCormick, Ed.D. bradmcc@cloud9.net 26 April 2008 (2008-04-26 ISO 8601) v02.08

Read how I keep putting my foot in my mouth (lingering effects of my childrearing). See example of my poor self-esteem. Yet more dumb things I've done in frustration.... Lockout! (29 April 2005)     Different kind of parking lot misadventure.... E-mail me dumb things you've done.   Take a NYS DMV eye test! Think about life as a journey.   Are you a prodigy? Test your pattern-matching ability (IQ).   Been smart? Reward yourself with Tiffany wheels!

(Sorry, but this marquee applet requires Java 1.1+) :: Marquee just endlessly repeats: "dumb ... dumb ..."

A couple weeks earlier, my wife had sent me into Mt. Kisco to pick up some take out food. The restaurant was located on the main street. My wife [sensibly!] suggested I should park in the back. But I wasn't sure I wouldn't have to pay to park there, and, as I was driving past the restaurant, I noticed a "perfect" space on the other side of the street, I did a U-turn, and before I was fully parked, the cop was asking for my license and registration.... (Read about: Yet another parking space I shouldn't have tried to get into)