FTP 39 - Road rage

     On my way to my internship this week (clear on the other side of Denver), I suddenly noticed that the car that had been following me a comfortable distance back had mysteriously been replaced my the grill of an SUV that was probably centimeters from my back bumper. Traffic was pretty decent, and we were all doing about 5 mph over the speed limit (because who puts a 55 mph limit on an open, 3-lane highway?), so I wasn't really sure why I was being gestured and shouted at as if I were a snail on the Autobahn.

     Since there was a car about 5 feet ahead of me in the middle lane, I didn't really want to slide over to get out of crazy lady's way, just to have to slam on the breaks when I got there. Instead, I figured I'd keep going til there was a clearing, and then get out of her way. Mind you, I have a bit of a wide following distance, but I was keeping pace with the car in front of me, so it's not like I was holding things up.

Readjusting

     Traveling to another country is always fraught with culture shock and differences, but it is expected and planned for. Coming back from other countries, however, can carry just as much adjustment as going to them, particularly if you don't immediately return to your home and routine. You have to readjust, not only to the fact that everyone speaks your native language now (so the nagging, subconscious mental command of "no english!" can finally be put to rest), but also to things that you've taken for granted in the past.

     In my case, coming back to the east coast instead of the midwest is as much of a culture shock as leaving the country. Even when traveling within the US, there is a huge variation in the attitudes, outlooks on life, and general behaviors between regions. Having been subjected to the general rudeness of Russians for the past month, I had come to cherish my memories of Colorado friendliness; it was therefor a bit of a shock to come back to the Baltimore/ DC area and realize that the people here are at least as rude, but now I can understand their language, and there's no excuse of "oh, it's another culture!"

Organization and structuring

     Taking a break from the deep, philosophical meanderings of recent posts, I'd like to say something about spring/ fall cleaning and the need for it to be done on many, many layers of life. To start with, here's a bit of background:

     I live in a nice, quiet little apartment complex in a fairly decent area. Unfortunately, it is in a no-man's land, stuck between Denver and its outlying suburbs, barely inside one district despite being 10 blocks or less from all the amenities of another one, and pretty much right on the line between two counties. For almost eight months, I have been able to work around, deal with, or ignore this, and life has gone on relatively sedately. Until my birthday last month...

     I adore my friends and family, really I do. I even love the fact that I only have one long-standing friend who lives in this state, and all the rest of them are horrible slackers, like me, when it comes to

Internal landscape

     As I'm sure you've noticed by now, most people in the world can be classified, more or less, into the categories of "neat" or "messy". Naturally, there are gradations within these categories, but in general, people have a tendency to lean towards one side or the other. I tend to fall on the neat side; I like to keep my house in fairly good order, because if I don't, I end up misplacing things and not finding them for a few days, weeks, or years.
     What I find interesting is that, many times, I will let things slide a little bit until something inside me says, "No, no more slacking, it's time to do something about this situation!" And it's not just that way about cleaning either. I'm sure everyone can think of a time where they saw something start to get a little off-kilter, and