Tips For Driving In Bend

As the city of Bend continues to grow into a thriving metropolis, getting around in this town by car becomes more of a challenge than a joy ride. While out and about at lunch today I encountered some fairly oblivious drivers. Now I understand these aren’t the first and they won’t be the last, but because I see the same patterns of behavior throughout the entire city, I have to wonder if drivers really understand the rules of the road or about extending some common courtesy. So here are a few pointers to help make your motorized journey around Bend a little more enjoyable.

Pedestrians always have the right of way in the crosswalks.
Trying to cross any street (on foot) in Bend is like being in the Frogger video game. You know, the Atari game where you’re the frog and you have to try to cross the road without being squished by a car. In this town the pedestrian is supposed to have the right of way when waiting to cross at a crosswalk. If you happen to see someone standing at a crosswalk looking like they want to ‘get to the other side’, stop. If a car that is coming from the opposite direction has stopped to let a person ‘get to the other side’, stop. If you are driving down a one-way, two-lane street like Bond or Wall and the car that is ahead of you in the next lane over has stopped at a crosswalk there is a fairly good chance they are stopping for a pedestrian, so stop.

There is such a thing as ‘Roundabout Etiquette.
Bend has had this new phenomenon popping up all over the place the past few years and I believe we now reside in the roundabout capital of the world. I don’t know who at the City of Bend was elected to the Roundabout Committee, but they have done a fabulous job of organizing and managing the placement of roundabouts throughout this city of ours. Keep in mind that there are a few rules of Roundabout Etiquette that one should adhere to.

A. It is NOT the Indy 500 Raceway and you don’t need to enter it at Mach 1 as if you’re trying to win a race with the driver that is already in the roundabout. Doing so only makes that person have to slam on their brakes and possibly go into ‘road rage’ mode. It could get ugly.

B. Exiting a roundabout is the same as turning the corner onto another street and it’s a great idea to use your signal. Since 1942 or thereabouts, cars have had this neat little gadety-handley looking thing on the left side of the steering column. It’s called a signal or blinker if you will. It’s a wonderful thing and using it when exiting the roundabout is a spectacular idea so give it a try. (For those of you who signal BEFORE entering the roundabout you are either very proactive or just messin’ with those of us behind you.)

A little bit of courtesy goes a long way.
There is no doubt that chivalry is still alive in Bend as I have been on the receiving end of extreme courteousness by many drivers. I try to reciprocate and extend courtesy to others as well(you know the Golden Rule, “do unto others…”). It is an almost daily occurrence to do something nice for someone, (such as while at a stop light not blocking the entrance to the parking lot someone is trying to exit so that they can go ahead of you when the light turns green) and unfortunately they absolutely do not acknowledge you at all. Seriously, I’m not looking for anyone to throw me a party, but what happened to a little friendly wave when someone does that for you? Are these the people that BLOCK the entrance so no one can get in or out while they are stopped at a stop light?

Or what about the guy in the silver BMW X3 coming out of the McDonald’s parking lot by Costco today who just about ran over the pedestrian I had stopped for so she could cross the road. Had you just robbed BOTC and were trying to make a quick getaway or what? I know you saw the lady I was waving across the street. Would it have killed you to sit there for an extra 2.3 seconds so that she could SAFELY get across the road (because from the look on her face she thought it was going to be her death by YOUR shiny Beemer).

I know there are many more driving 'issues' I've not touched on and I'm not even going to mention the 'my light turned green but I still have to look both ways for the red light runners'. How about we all just slow down, throw some friendly waves around out there (and I emphasize friendly) and give some pedestrians a break. That would be brilliant indeed.

One World Humor

I like all kinds of music but my radio is primarily set to the Christian station (unless Jon drives my car and then he changes it to country. He's sneaky that way). I'm not a huge country fan but that is what he listens to and so I just go along with it. Sometimes, just for fun and to mess with him I'll break out into 80's songs by artists such as AC/DC, Michael Jackson or Boy George. The cringe factor is fabulous.

There are some Christian artist that I think are cool, but Toby Mac is probably the coolest. I mean, how many white Christian singers can use the word 'dope'(as in 'that's cool' dope, not the 'other' dope) in their songs and make it work? I was on YouTube trying to find the video for one of his songs that I really like and has a message we could all stand to listen to, when I came across this little ditty. It's brilliant and ridiculous and the family got a good laugh out of it.



Since I didn't find the exact video I was looking for, I posted the lyrics below (which was what I was really after). They're long, but worth a read.

One time
One world
Two times
One love
Three times
Rewind
'Cause I’m a dedicate this song to everyone of God's children

Come as you are
Come just like you be
It's the bumps and curves of our history
But no blocks in the road that we can't traverse
And no wounds from the past that can't be nursed

All hate gonna to dissipate from our fate
No check, together we got a checkmate
All hate gonna dissipate and fade away
To make room for a brand new day

We got one world 'til its time to fly
We got so it's one love 'til we say goodbye
We got one world its enough to share
Til we’re called home and we’re caught up in the air we got

One world
I'll look out for you, you look out for me
One world
Together we can be perfect harmony
One world
I'll look out for you, you look out for me
One world
And I’m a dedicate this song to everyone of God's children

One world oughta be more than enough
And if its not, is God looking in pure disgust?
Wondering what the dilly with the silly I see?
When I made each of these in the image of me
Everyday is a chance for a new stance
Like every song is the beginning of a new dance
And everyone of us was made to reflect the light

And glorify the most high so bright
We got one world 'til its time to fly
So it's one love 'til we say goodbye
We got one world its enough to share
Til the king calls us home and we’re caught up in the air we got

One World...

Lets come together and love, Lets come together and love, Lets come together and love...

I Love Mondays

I love Mondays. Well, I love this Monday. Today the weather has been awesome and Jon and I spent a few hours with the Boz-dog biking along the river from Big Eddy. As you can see, from the picture, Jon was ecstatic about riding (because that's just the way he is).



Boz is absolute craziness out on the trail and here he is in his most impatient way telling me to 'hurry the heck up'. He can be lame like that sometimes.



It's views like this...



...and this that make me thankful I live in such an incredibly beautiful place.



The End...

A Sweet Treat Indeed

I'm not much of a dessert person but every-now-and-then I feel the urge to whip up something sweet and this recipe caught my eye. If you're in the mood for a pumpkiny treat and want a new recipe for Thanksgiving, this is it. Seriously. It's simple and that good.

Pumpkin Trifle (makes 8 servings)

What you'll need:
Pumpkin bread, prepared
1 package of instant vanilla pudding
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Pumpkin butter (Trader Joe's is awesome!)
Caramel sauce
Chopped walnuts

1. Prepare and chill one package of instant vanilla pudding.
2. Beat 2 cups of heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar until soft
peaks form.
3. Cut 8 slices of pumpkin bread into cubes. (I cheated and bought a Trader Joe's
pumpkin bread mix...it was fab-o).
4. In small serving dishes layer the following: pudding, whipped cream and pumpkin
bread. Top the bread with a dollop of pumpkin butter, a drizzle of caramel sauce
and chopped walnuts. Repeat so that you have two layers per dish.
5. Enjoy!

Now it's off to the bike trail to work off the Pumpkin Trifle from last night and the biscuits and gravy from Pilot Butte Drive Inn this morning. Monday isn't so bad when you're off!

Oh Happy Day

This is my absolutely ecstatic daughter at the wheel of her new 4-Runner (well, new to her but not new-new). If you click on the picture and zoom in on the head shot you can see just how big the smile actually is. When Jon and I were test driving this car a few days ago (we didn't tell my daughter we were looking at a car for her), my daughter called and said she had found the most amazing car. She started reading off the Craigslist posting and the crazy thing was, I happened to be driving the car she was talking about.

Jon and I decided to surprise her and when my daughter and I pulled in the driveway after getting home from our volleyball game last night the 4-Runner was parked in a spot on the side of the house that she couldn't see. When we walked in the house, Jon pulled some keys out of his pocket and handed them to my daughter and she totally freaked out. I mean, FREAKED OUT! If I would have had a video camera, I could have easily won $100,000 from America's Funniest Home Videos. She couldn't stop shrieking and laughing and hugging and laughing. I thought the neighbors would call 911 thinking someone next door was being attacked. It was the funniest thing. I think she called everyone in her phone book and told them about her new car. In fact, today when she was going to move the car into the driveway to detail it with Jon she was still giggly and jumping and shrieking and laughing about her new car.

While this isn't the best picture (the whole it's night and the shutter speed and whatever there is some blur), she's clapping her hands after hugging Jon and climbing in the car and asking him "can I sleep in here?"
This is good stuff! I love seeing a kid get excited like this. It's what life is all about!



Memories...good memories..!

Regarding My Post of Earlier Today

So I had this issue at work and I wrote a post about it on my blog early this morning. It involved an outside person posing as an employee and making accusations towards me with the intent of getting me in trouble. After receiving a review from my most loved critic (my husband) I decided to delete it because he thought it was a little too harsh and sounded somewhat bitter. That wasn’t the intention I had and I guess my tough love approach was a little too tough. I’m ridiculously human that way and that is why I have my accountability group (again, my husband).

I would like to say one thing regarding the whole debacle and that is when we do things to others with the motive of hurting them it is never right. Never. No matter what wrongs we think have been amassed against us or how justified we believe we are, it is not OK to do hurtful, spiteful things towards others even though we think they deserve it. Every person is guilty of doing such things, and that includes me. I am the first to admit how humanly crummy I have been or can be at times but I’m not going to carry the burden of vengeance towards others around because the weight of that is crushing. That is like having a semi-truck sized bag of bitterness on my back and life is too short to do that to myself. Learning to let go is one of the hardest things to do but it's necessary to allow ourselves and those around us to live life to the fullest.

My One Rant Before The Election

My parents have had four McCain-Palin signs stolen from their yard. Now I realize they live on the 'west side' of town which demographically leans more toward the liberal persuasion. But, as I recall, it has been the liberal voice who has ranted the loudest about their 1st Amendment right to free speech. Having a political sign in ones lawn is exercising their right to the 1st Amendment.

On my parents street there are probably three houses that have McCain-Palin signs and 897 that sport Obama signs. One has to uh-soom that it is some cowardly, liberal, lame-o trespassing on to their property in the dark of night and stealing their signs because at any given moment there are still 897 Obama signs in yards on their street. Interesting that none of those are disappearing. I'm just saying.

Apparently this is not a phenomenon happening only in Bend as I was sent this picture in an email.



I guess some people take their right to free speech VERY seriously, and they should. The extremely liberal ACLU has fought hard for them to put signs endorsing the Republican Presidential Candidate on their property.