I've recently come to appreciate that, statistically, the more time you spend driving around the more bizarre things you will see on the road. Now that I'm logging over 500 miles a week, the incidences of strangeness are going up dramatically. I'm thinking I could regularly post a LIE Obstacle of the Day and have plenty of material.
Last night's fun? Half of the highway was closed down because of a flaming station wagon. I kid you not; flames a good eight feet high emerging from the engine area, consuming the rest of the car. My first thought was that "The Flaming Station Wagons" would probably be a cool band (I'll now expect a message from my friend Kevin, who knows every obscure band in the world, telling me he just saw them last week). Blue Oyster Cult has a song called "Flaming Telepaths" that's probably my favorite from them. I can't fit "station wagon" into the verse properly, but "Flaming Minivan" works.
My boss says that since the commute is honing my driving skills, it's like I'm receiving free driving lessons. It's a perk, he claims. I reminded him that the company needs to open a Manhattan office soon.
This morning I didn't even make it out of Hoboken before my fun started. I got saddled with a cell phone yesterday so that work could reach me during my endless commute. Just as I took off and started driving around the park (that area near St. Mary's where you have to circle around a bunch to go anywhere), I got an incoming call. Picture this: I'm driving a car with a manual transmission through Hoboken while trying to talk on the phone. That's right, while shifting I have no hand on the wheel. It gets better: I ended up behind a police car, who proceeds to halt and start waving people to pass him. As one car passes he stops them and gives a lecture. I thought for sure I was next, but for once I escaped harassment.
PS: As far as "The Flaming Station Wagons" goes, Kevin tells me "Sorry, dude, they broke up last year. The guitarist and drummer went on to form "Malt Liquor Technologies", and the other two started up "Reagan's Empty Head".