Petty Annoyances

Yesterday I went for a haircut. It is something I will do as long as I live, I suspect. Because my hair will continue to grow until I die and, unless I fall back into my old post-Navy attitude, I will try to keep it under control.

You see, my hair does not look bad when it is long but it looks really bad on its way there... unkempt and unruly until it is hanging down past my collar. I am too impatient to wait that long (2-3 months or more). Also, as you may know if you read this blog much, I am lazy and long hair takes some effort to care for.

On the way home, I happened to get sort of behind a large pick-up truck towing some lawn equipment. He was in the lane to my immediate left, and slightly behind me, when I stopped at a light.

When the light changed to green, he roared off. The car ahead of him moved out quickly giving him the room to do so. His engine was a diesel. A cloud of black soot enveloped me and my car. It dissipated but not before the smell seeped into my car. Windows closed and AC on, the cabin filter did not have any effect. I could have switched the AC to "recirculate" but I would have had to do that before I knew he had a diesel engine and would pour it on when the light changed.

But it wasn't over. He pushed the pedal down again about a block or so later, picking up speed and blowing out another cloud of soot. It was like driving through the smoke from a fire only without the piney smell. Instead, it was the odor of city life... the commuter bus. We have no buses here in Paradise, no mass transit at all. So our only soot producers are diesel powered pick-up trucks and cars. Most cars do not create billowing clouds like this. Even small diesel powered pick-ups rarely do unless they are in poor shape. I know, I owned one from 1983-1986.

Maybe I am over-sensitive.