AUGUST 22, 2007 @ 11:12 am – SB 405 Fwy at 105 Fwy Interchange

Well thanks to Wil Smith and Universal Pictures, I was late to work today. Just when things were starting to improve around here, this had to happen.

Universal Studios is shooting a freeway action scene on the 105 freeway just west of the 405, adjacent to the SW corner of LAX. As I understand it, the shoot requires that the 105 traffic WB from the 405, and all associated on/off-ramps be closed from 6:00 am until 10:00 pm "for a number of days". Can someone tell me what that "number" is please?

Wait a minute! It's the middle of the week people. Why shut down one of SoCals most commute crippling and busiest freeway intersections? Commuters are beyond inconvienced by these closures. What show stopping scene had to be shot mid-week that couldn't be shot on weekend days?

Are you guys taking scheduling lessons from CalTrans now? I most certainly hope not. The freeways can't possible handle another asinine studio public relations stunt. The spin control for a Highway A-hole is almost always futile.

And boy are his ears pointy.

JULY 26, 2007 @ 2:10 pm - SB 405 at Hwy 110

Soccer moms in mini vans suck... and not in the good way.

A nice warm day, good visibility too, you could easily make out the Palos Verde Peninsula off to the west. Traffic was breezing along pretty well as busy as the freeway was. And then it happened - the soccer mom from hell decided she was going to drive in the #1 fast lane. That in itself shouldn't be a problem, but she decided to drive 50 mph, not 67 as most of us were doing.

Two cars ahead of me I see the silver Toyota Sienna mini van, license tag 5CGU664, with a black grill bra strapped to its front end flapping in the wind. The van had stick figure stickers of a family of 5 next to a soccer ball in the rear back window. The white Toyota Tundra between us was right up on her bumper. I played it smart and kept a decent distance behind the truck. It seemed that as the Tundra got closer to the soccer mom's Sienna, the soccer mom would let off the gas, further reducing her already slow speed. The guy driving the Tundra was getting pissed and eventually passed her on the right flipping her off as he slowly passed her. I'm not sure if she saw his gesture of love.

I slowly crept ahead and behind the soccer mom, but not to close. I sensed that she may not know there are people trying to pass her. I nudged over off center left so that my day running lights would hit her mirrors. She never glanced back. She was down to 50 mph again while traffic in the #2 lane to her right was doing at least 60+.

By Carson blvd I decided that I was done trying to get her to move over. I passed her on the left after I merged into the #2 lane. As I sped up to meet the traffic flow at 65 mph, it seemed as if she was driving much slower now that the 50 mph before. As I passed her, I saw the reason why she was oblivious to the traffic around her. She had her head down towards her steering wheel and she was thumb-banging a Blackberry. Blackberry use while driving a car should be illegal.