Picking up the pace again

Well, I’m back in the fast lane. Literally.

I left Regina on a Wednesday, and headed into the US, via North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. All the way down...things were all right. The Interstates were busy at times, but traffic was OK. I was travelling at about 120 km/h (or about 75 mph) most of the time and I was usually in the fast lanes...but it was a nice, relaxed kind of fast.

In Chicago, the construction was amazing...and the routes were in rough shape. Lots of detours and congestion, but fortunately, I went through late at night and passed all that stuff before stopping for the night. Good thing too, because the next morning was terrible weather and the traffic in Chicago was backed up big time. But I was heading the other way, and it wasn’t a problem for me.

At least, I didn’t have any problems until I hit Ontario and the 401. I guess I’ve been away from Ontario for too long, but I couldn’t believe how fast things happen here. And the most obvious thing is the way we drive. I was only on the road for about 10 minutes, and I was nearly run off by someone doing about 200 kmh. At least, that’s what it seemed like when they came running up my rear end. I just about didn’t swerve out of the way in time. And that was just the first one...there were plenty more.

Coming into Hamilton, I was doing about 130 km/h and people were actually honking at me for going so slowly. Geez...I felt like I was on a different planet all of a sudden. Oh well, talk about life in the fast lane. I guess all those things that people in the rest of Canada say about us have some merit after all. So now, my goal is to start my own slow life crusade. I’m not quite sure what that’s going to mean, but I don’t want to get sucked back into the fast pace. I liked the pace I was working at in Saskatchewan. I’m going to try to keep that perspective out here, even if I do have to put up with a few horns now and then. I’ll have more to say on this as it develops. I suspect I’m not alone...and I also think that like me before I left for awhile, many people don’t even realize just how fast a pace they’re operating at most of the time.

Well, time to head off to multi-task some more...

PS — For those of you who have been nice enough to write...the latest update on my Mom is that she’s doing much better. She’s still in the hospital in Regina, but things are looking positive, and I’m hoping that she gets home next week. But just where “home” will be is still up in the air. These strokes are a tough thing to deal with, as I’m sure many of you know. But we’ll just wait and see...