More city driving challenges

An incident on Avenida Balboa yesterday left me wondering if someone at the Electoral Tribunal was over-reacting to comments on the mish mash of decisions produced by the magistrates during the run up to the May 3 elections. But on reflection, probably just another incident of dangerous driving, especially when the vehicle doesn’t belong to the driver.

A group of vehicles were standing at the lights on red in front of the British ambassador’s residence. As the lights changed to green, and the cars started to move forward, a Tribunal pickup truck, coming from the opposite direction, made an illegal U turn, and narrowly missed being hit. A slight toot on the horn to warn him that cars were heading his way got the finger and a perverted reaction.

As we drew level with Cafe Balboa, and prepared to turn right the pickup swerved across the road, almost sideswiping the car and forcing us onto the sidewalk. The driver sped away before we had time to get his plate number.

No, it wasn’t the wife of one of the magistrate’s using an official car for her shopping errands.

Maybe the male driver learned his skills at the same driving school as the taxi driver on Calle 50, who after jumping the lights and cutting me off, changed lanes six times between Dante’s store and Brazil Avenue, only to end up alongside of me at Brazil.

A study of speeding cars in Toronto, showed that on a 90 kilometer stretch of highway north of the city, people driving at over 20 km above the speed limit, and constantly changing lanes, arrived at their destination two minutes earlier than cars traveling at the posted speed and staying in one lane, and no chance of a hefty speeding ticket.

AT THE TROUGH. There’s always a way to make a quick buck, and fear is a wonderful sales tool. An acquaintance told me last week that he had just paid $600 for flu shots for his wife and three children.

Not some wonderful new anti-swine flu injection (that will take months to develop) but the regular flu shot that thinking people get each year. It’s always out of date, as a new virus has mutated by the time you get it, but it has proved effective for millions of people, and if it doesn’t keep the latest virus at bay, it does help reduce its severity.

So, while many parents scoured hospitals and pharmacies for flu shots, a friendly local medic was offering injections at $150 per adult and $100 per child.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Health was offering free supplies to businesses, who had to provide their own nurse and disposable syringes. The going price for a dose from a pharmacy.. around $20.

LIFE’S LESSONS. Shed a tear for former top model Brooke Shields, for whom life has not begun at forty. Instead she is finding that she is getting fewer offers for movie parts. When roles are offered for looks rather than prowess, time to head to acting school.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME. Wouldn’t it be great to abolish those egocentric advertising logos that adorn everything from shirts to shoes, and everything in between. The problem is, if you spot a shirt that you like the look of, it has a company logo tacked on the front.

What about “No Name” branding?