I too, have a dream.

My dream, in comparison to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream, is downright silly. But I have had this dream for such a long time it gets it gravitas from its longevity.

I like cars. Especially cars that are rare in their appearance on the road. Here in Spain I drive a Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign. This is the classic look of Jaguar, and most times when I take the car out I never see another one. Recently I drove from Valencia to Alicante and back and I was the only Sovereign on the road. Naturally that gets a lot of looks.

My other car is an old Volvo 850 which is becoming nearly extinct on its own. Apart from the fact that I have better uses for the cost of a new car at the moment, the Volvo does my daily heavy lifting without complaint. It is such a well built car, totally reliable and as comfortable as an old slipper. When the time times I will hate to get rid of it; unless I replace it with either a Mercedes S class, or even better, a Maserati.

The thing is that I was idly walking about a secondhand lot recently when I came across a 23 year old all-white Mercedes S class, that had evidently been well taken care of because it looked in showroom condition. It was for sale at 3,000 euros! The fact that it was twenty-three years old is not necessarily a blow against it because that car will go on for another 23 years, but its care and maintenance will be costly. That is a rich man's car, and a man who is that rich wants a new S class. Consequently, it's probably still on the lot: and I'm still dreaming about it.

What I need to do is make a lot of money and then I can take my pick, or perhaps simply have all three cars, Jaguar, Mercedes and Maserati. However, to work hard to earn the money in the first place just to own three top level cars does seem silly in the extreme.

Still, I can dream, can't I?

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

What are they thinking?

Lately I have noticed behaviour by some drivers that had largely been absent for some time. They have not only been acting completely without responsibility , but they seem to be trying to provoke disastrous consequences in the fashion of terrorists of the road. Here are some of the things I have observed lately:

At a major junction along one of the avenues in the city of Valencia with two lanes, which I will call (A) cross (heading north) where about six lanes of traffic (B) line up to filter down into two lanes heading east. It is vital that all northbound traffic be stopped when the east bound traffic begin to move, and of course, vice-versa. One absolute imbecile from the north bound traffic drove straight across all that mass of cars as they began to move. How the biggest pile up of cars and vans was avoided is anyone's guess. That driver should have been stopped and slapped around the ears until he got some sense knocked into his head. Then his car should have been taken from him, forever.

Traffic was stopped at a red light on a very large roundabout. Up comes a white van from behind that skirted around the cars that were stopped only to run the red light and carried on until he had to stop at the next red light as there was no way around. He needed to have been hauled out of the cab and persuaded that such behaviour is not acceptable.

I was driving in the city with my car loaded with children and adults. I needed to make a lane change to the left. I was signalling to traffic behind me. They could have given me the second I needed but no, they were all deliberately speeding up to overtake me. What were they thinking? Had I tried to enforce the change there would have been a crash. Then I would have heard from those same shit for brains idiots that it was my fault.

A car being driven by a driver who was clearly feeling his way turned into a one-way street, ignoring the Do Not Enter sign, and the fact that cars parked on both sides were all facing him. He drove to the end of the block and forced a car entering the street to stop and back up. What was he thinking? He wasn't!

The winners of this contest in stupidity were the three speeding cars that overtook me on a hill where they could not have known if there was traffic coming the other way, or not. Had there been one single car or truck coming towards them I shudder to think what would have happened. That would not have classified as an accident because they must have had an agenda to make as much of a mess as was possible. 

Vehicles that drive themselves will eliminate such human craziness and irresponsibility. Having such wonderful machines to move around in is one of the perks of living in our modern age. The only thing wrong is the human factor.

How sad is that?

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

A disaster just waiting to happen

This is May 14th, 2016.  Yesterday was Friday the 13th, the day when at least one very sick end demented person thought he, or she would set a light to millions of used tyres in an open dump, I suppose to get a thrill.

If authorities do bring that person to justice the first thing that should be done, in my opinion is that he or she should be soundly whipped.

The scene of this crime is just outside the town of Seseña, Toledo, Spain. That is located so close to the capital city of Madrid that the fire can be clearly seen from Madrid. The problem is that we motorists have to change our tyres regularly, and once changed we simply drive off leaving the old tyres with the garage. Apparently, we also leave them with a major problem that gets passed on down along the line where they end up out in the open in the baking sun. There are so many of them and the pile just gets bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, this is a disaster just waiting to happen, either as a result of a lightning  strike, or the dump becomes too much of a temptation for some lunatic.

Clearly no-one has come up with an efficient means of disposal that is kind to the environment. Some tires are re-treaded but that is just putting off the problem until later. As a product a tyre does an essential job, but add fire to it and a potent health hazard is created. This present dump consisted of millions of discarded tyres and that has led to one enormous fire. For that reason more than 9000 people have had to be evacuated and a warning given to those nearby, including the city of Madrid.

Not only will it be poisonous but the smell must be overwhelming. Tyre dump fires are notoriously difficult to knockdown. One of the worst such fires took place at Rhinehart, northern Virginia in America on October 3, 1983. That dump held some seven million tyres and produced a plume of smoke that rose more than 3,000 feet, and spread pollutants over 50 miles downwind. It burned for a full nine months! That is hard to take in. I can't imagine what that would have been like for the neighbours.

To think that this fire was caused deliberately. Not only should the culprit be whipped he should be whipped by all those so horribly affected, one at a time.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

Cameroon by river and dream

My blog today is a bit surreal because I had a dream sequence last night that was so pleasant that I arose and sat down immediately to relate it before I forgot it. It was one of those dreams that seem to go on forever, and because it was so exciting I stayed in bed long after I intended to arise.

I should explain that I am deeply involved in Cameroon as the treasurer of a small charity that has operated there over the past 17 years. We have been principally concerned with providing high quality education in The Extreme North of the country. I last visited in 2000.

My dream was that I returned with a group to take an expedition to trace the footsteps of the Portuguese explorers who are responsible for the country's name.

In the 15th century those explorers accidentally discovered that the rivers of the country were teeming with shrimp. They called one of the rivers: Rio dos Camaróes, or Shrimp River. This translated to Cameroon river in English, and Cameroun in French. The name has continued unto today.

In my dream I arrived in the country at Douala airport. Douala is located on the Southwest corner and serves as the country's economic capital and its chief seaport. In the market I bought a cored out tree which would be a two-person boat. We then boarded a train that would take us through jungle to the end of the line in the high plateau town of Ngaoundéré located in Adamouwa province. From there we would float downstream through the rivers Ntem, Nyong, Sanaga, and into the Wouri, back to Douala.

Once we entered the river we were totally committed because the rivers run through jungle that is teeming with wildlife, and that included colonies of pygmies who live completely isolated lives. My dream was free from any tragedies, and I could even smell the rivers as I slept.

For many years there has taken place the most extraordinary ritual performed by a man who has befriended a pod of hippos. The man walks out to meet them and takes them food. As gently as can be the hippos receive this food without making the mistake of taking him as well. I can only hope that he survives unto today. In my dream he was at his post as we slipped silently on past, observing this incredible sight.

We had no problem in finding the source of the name of the country as the rivers were all alive with shrimp. However, in real life I am allergic to shell-fish, so this was a case of shrimp, shrimp all around and nothing for me to eat.

When I finally awoke I was surprised and disappointed to find myself in bed. Normally our dreams are not remembered once we awake, but this was just too damn good not to commit to the written word.

This has been special to me as I have the feeling that my ancestors came from this very country, located on the West coast of Africa where a number of slaves were brought across the Atlantic. Maybe the takeaway from this dream is for me to make a return to my ancestral home soon.

When I do that I will record the experience in my blogs, of course.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

Uber Road Rage

Here in Spain we have recorded one of the worst cases of road rage there is. It seems that a car driven by a Moroccan man clipped a BMW driven by an off-duty police officer. Unfortunately the driver did not stop. He was chased by the officer who eventually caught up with him, and in a fit of rage put five bullets in the man's head.

I heard somewhere that the first two seconds following an incident are critical in determining what your response should be. I learnt that a long time ago and I have used it since and it has served me well.

First I turn to ice. I let all the energy go out from me while I consider even what has happened. Someone does something that is dangerous or stupid, or that causes inconvenience to me, and I turn cold and allow for developments to take place and I respond appropriately towards resolving the problem. No, it's not easy to control my temper, but somehow I manage until after its all over. Then I go off by myself and stump and swear. The other thing that I do which is even more important is to anticipate what people will do.

As a result I find that I am able to avoid a lot of situations that could flare into confrontations. It's amazing how predictable people can be. For instance, let's say that I am  following a car that indicates that it is taking the next exit. I could choose to then increase my speed now that he is out of the way, but I have seen so many drivers have last minute change of mind. They really intend to take the following exit, so what do they do? They re-enter the motorway, and in doing so they would run the risk of colliding with me.

So, I usually hold my speed while keeping an eye on that car for any sign of a change of mind. I also conduct myself in the full knowledge that other people are using the roads and I place my car where is should be before I see the oncoming vehicle. In doing so that avoids last minute emergency movements.

There can be no excuse for killing a person because of a minor incident. The offending driver should have stopped and sorted out the situation, but equally his actions did not merit a death sentence.

Two people's lives irretrievably damaged and lost because neither considered the two-second rule.

What a shame!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael