Close Parkers

So much to bitch about - so little time ! Well if there's one group of people I despise - worse than snowshoers or baby-torturers - it's the close parkers. For example you're the only car in a huge parking lot, and they park their vehicle right alongside yours, so close that you can't open your door all the way. WTF! Most recently this happened when I went skiing one morning. I was the only car in the entire parking lot. When I came back after my ski, there was another car parked right beside me, with still no-one else in the lot that can hold a hundred cars or so. Well I did pick the closest spot to the trail, so perhaps the other person was taking the second-closest spot. Fair enough. A few days later, again I show up early and no one else is there. This time I don't take the closest spot, but park about 10 spots further away. When I return an hour or so later, again a car is parked right beside me ! (Different car than last time). And as I'm putting my gear away, the owner of the car shows up. Here we are in the middle of a huge empty parking lot, getting in each other's way as we access our vehicles. And it is so UNNECESSARY! I don't even talk to the guy, but feel like asking him ''WTF did you park so close ?! Give me some space". But I say nothing, since don't want to come off as an anal territorial freak, which of course I am.

Fun with The Mouse

Quickie Book Reviews

- State of Fear [Michael Crichton]
Interesting parallel with real life, as fiction is weaved along with factual references. Centers around environmental activism and the myth of dramatic climate change from global warming. Entertaining but a bit implausable, as the 'good guys' are a ragtag team of ordinary people pushed to superhuman capabalities.

- Odyssey Three [Arthur C Clarke]
A good second sequel of the Space Odyssey series.

- Rising Sun [Michael Crichton]
Another fiction/fact weave, concerning the sell-out of American assets to the Japanese. Entertaining as usual.

- Mitla Pass [Leon Uris]
Stupid. Author trying to live vicariously through a drunken whore-mongering author main character ? I dumped it before page 100, and only got that far because I had nothing else to read.

- A Briefer History of Time [Stephen Hawking]
Supposedly made easier to understand than the original 'A Brief History of Time'. What ? I didn't understand that...

- The Theory of Everything [Stephen Hawking]
A series of lectures on the universe/time/etc. Thought-provoking, if you're into this kind of thing.