Best distracted driver ever!

I once saw a florist arranging flowers while driving. when I called her the next day she told me to
stuff it and hung up.

I have also seen mail delivery folks driving non-right had side cars sitting in the right hand seat
so they can stuff the mail in road side boxes without having to slide over on the seat. I am going
to write the local postmaster about this one soon.

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Oh yeah, I know you're thinking, "what, another cell phone user with an open laptop, screaming
child, lipstick tube and coffee mug?"

No, friends. as I was driving to the Tuesday Nighter, I paced a gentleman driving a 60s-vintage
Toronado driving with one hand. That was because he was using the other hand to play a trumpet.
Not just a little bit, either. I followed him for several miles, and he never put the thing down.

I opened my window, and he seemed pretty good. Better than just scales, anyways.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] sfu.ca~rcousineOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I once saw a florist arranging flowers while driving. when I called her the next day she told me
to stuff it and hung up.

I have also seen mail delivery folks driving non-right had side cars sitting in the right hand
seat so they can stuff the mail in road side boxes without having to slide over on the seat. I am
going to write the local postmaster about this one soon.

I would say a true majority of the residential delivery in my area is done this way. Very few of
them have right-hand-drive vehicles, and they drive sitting on the right side, reaching over to the
left side.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I once saw a florist arranging flowers while driving. when I called her

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

next day she told me to stuff it and hung up.

I have also seen mail delivery folks driving non-right had side cars

sitting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in the right hand seat so they can stuff the mail in road side boxes

without

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

having to slide over on the seat. I am going to write the local

postmaster

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

about this one soon.

I would say a true majority of the residential delivery in my area is done this way. Very few of
them have right-hand-drive vehicles, and they drive sitting on the right side, reaching over to
the left side.

Yup, this is a common practice, especially in rural areas. Of course, they also have their hazard
lights on, keep their speed down and usually have a yellow strobe on the car. I haven't seen one hit
anything yet. If it wasn't considered relatively safe, they wouldn't be doing it anymore.

-Buck

On the cable news this afternoon was an account of a woman driving along the Ohio turnpike
breastfeeding her baby. The cops lit her up but she drove on until she came to her exit and got off.

She didn't think she'd done anything wrong, said there is risk in being iin a car anyway.

She did an on-camera interview. Lots of attitude. Probably got right back on the freeway and
did it again.

In article <[email hidden]>, "Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p
. c o m> says...

Quoted message said:

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote in message

...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have also seen mail delivery folks driving non-right had side cars

sitting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in the right hand seat so they can stuff the mail in road side boxes

without

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

having to slide over on the seat. I am going to write the local

postmaster

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

about this one soon.

I would say a true majority of the residential delivery in my area is done this way. Very few of
them have right-hand-drive vehicles, and they drive sitting on the right side, reaching over to
the left side.

Yup, this is a common practice, especially in rural areas. Of course, they also have their hazard
lights on, keep their speed down and usually have a yellow strobe on the car. I haven't seen one
hit anything yet. If it wasn't considered relatively safe, they wouldn't be doing it anymore.

I agree. I haven't seen the yellow strobe, but all your other observations apply, plus around here
they have a big sign on the back which says something to the effect of "U.S. Mail - frequent stops"

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

around here they have a big sign on the back which says something to the effect of "U.S. Mail -
frequent stops"

You kind of wonder why they don't give them right-drive vehicles under the circumstances. We have
left-drive vehicles for street cleaning over here. Our posties mainly walk or ride special bikes
made by Pashley just for the Post Office.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ Advance
notice: ADSL service in process of transfer to a new ISP. Obviously there will be a week of downtime
between the engineer removing the BT service and the same engineer connecting the same equipment on
the same line in the same exchange and billing it to the new ISP.

Just zis Guy said:

You kind of wonder why they don't give them right-drive vehicles under the circumstances. We have
left-drive vehicles for street cleaning over here. Our posties mainly walk or ride special bikes
made by Pashley just for the Post Office.

Guy

Delivery vehicles owned by the Post Office are frequently right hand drive. However, a lot of mail
in this country is delivered by contract carriers, who supply their own vehicles. I have seen a few
of these equipped with dual controls, so that the mail man can do his rounds sitting in the right
hand seat, then switch to the left seat for normal driving.

There are cities where mail men walk, but that's not really the American way, is it?
--
mark

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

around here they have a big sign on the back which says something to the effect of "U.S. Mail -
frequent stops"

You kind of wonder why they don't give them right-drive vehicles under the circumstances. We have
left-drive vehicles for street cleaning over here. Our posties mainly walk or ride special bikes
made by Pashley just for the Post Office.

They don't *give* them anything to deliver the mail with; those are the carriers' own personal
vehicles. Most of the rural and suburban delivery is not done by USPS employees any more; they are
contractors.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

mark said:

Delivery vehicles owned by the Post Office are frequently right hand drive. However, a lot of mail
in this country is delivered by contract carriers, who supply their own vehicles. I have seen a
few of these equipped with dual controls, so that the mail man can do his rounds sitting in the
right hand seat, then switch to the left seat for normal driving.

My rural mail carrier (and they are ALL contractors out here) is a royal hazard. He comes tearing
down these narrow dirt roads in his truck far faster than is safe - I've nearly been hit by him
several times. I try not to be on the road at his usual mail delivery times. He comes roaring down
the middle of the lane, sees me coming, hits the brake and slides on all that loose chert. He's
going to get me one of these days ... LAST time, I was in my 3/4 ton Chevy pickup (I usually drive a
Geo Metro) and he was just in his wimpy little girly girl truck, you should have seen him slide over
toward the ditch rather than risk destroying his tin can against the front end of my behemoth. LOL!

BTW, he uses no flashing yellow light, no sign, nothing, just drives like a maniac. And loses half
my mail too boot.

Sojourner

archer ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com said:

Most of the rural and suburban delivery is not done by USPS employees any more; they are
contractors.

So the only vehicles provided by USPS are Lance's bikes? Well how about that! ;-)

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ Advance
notice: ADSL service in process of transfer to a new ISP. Obviously there will be a week of downtime
between the engineer removing the BT service and the same engineer connecting the same equipment on
the same line in the same exchange and billing it to the new ISP.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

archer ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com said:

Most of the rural and suburban delivery is not done by USPS employees any more; they are
contractors.

So the only vehicles provided by USPS are Lance's bikes? Well how about that! ;-)

LOL! Though I'm not sure the USPS pays for the bikes; Trek might provide them as part of their
sponsorship agreement.

I realize you're being humorous, but I'm going to give a serious answer anyway: AFAIK, the pickup
from mail drop boxes and much of the urban delivery are still done by regular USPS employees.

....

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

That's the way our carrier is -- he floors it between mailboxes, usually hitting one of them with
his pickup's side mirror. We complained to the local postmaster about him, but were told he (the
carrier) would only get worse if he (the postmaster) said something to him. After we had to replace
our roadside mailbox for the third time, we gave up and got a PO box.

mike

--
---------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the Thornhill Mobile HomePage webpages.charter.netthornhillmobilehomeOpen ↗ "Sojourner"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

mark said:

Delivery vehicles owned by the Post Office are frequently right hand

drive.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

However, a lot of mail in this country is delivered by contract

carriers,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

who supply their own vehicles. I have seen a few of these equipped with

dual

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

controls, so that the mail man can do his rounds sitting in the right

hand

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

seat, then switch to the left seat for normal driving.

My rural mail carrier (and they are ALL contractors out here) is a royal hazard. He comes tearing
down these narrow dirt roads in his truck far faster than is safe - I've nearly been hit by him
several times. I try not to be on the road at his usual mail delivery times. He comes roaring down
the middle of the lane, sees me coming, hits the brake and slides on all that loose chert. He's
going to get me one of these days ... LAST time, I was in my 3/4 ton Chevy pickup (I usually drive
a Geo Metro) and he was just in his wimpy little girly girl truck, you should have seen him slide
over toward the ditch rather than risk destroying his tin can against the front end of my
behemoth. LOL!

BTW, he uses no flashing yellow light, no sign, nothing, just drives like a maniac. And loses half
my mail too boot.

Sojourner

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (grisoft.comgrisoft.comOpen ↗).
Version: 6.0.489 / Virus Database: 288 - Release Date: 6/10/03

Ryan Cousineau said:

No, friends. as I was driving to the Tuesday Nighter, I paced a gentleman driving a 60s-vintage
Toronado driving with one hand. That was because he was using the other hand to play a trumpet.
Not just a little bit, either. I followed him for several miles, and he never put the thing down.

In Germany, a musician was once stopped on the autobahn for doing

Quoted message said:

160km/h while playing the violin (practicing on his way to a concert)

Buck' j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m said:

If it wasn't considered relatively safe, they wouldn't be doing it anymore.

People do dangerous jobs all the time. Many of us would consider the risks taken by farmers, miners,
smoke jumpers, and inner-city cab drivers to be unacceptable, but people do these jobs every day.
Think of the day-laborer who unknowingly works an asbestos abatement job without protection -- it's
not considered safe, but it happens all the time.

RFM

"Thornhill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

That's the way our carrier is -- he floors it between mailboxes, usually hitting one of them with
his pickup's side mirror. We complained to the local postmaster about him, but were told he (the
carrier) would only get worse if he (the postmaster) said something to him. After we had to

replace

Quoted message said:

our roadside mailbox for the third time, we gave up and got a PO box.

You gave up too soon. A metal post on the right side of the box would have fixed the problem right
away. As for his driving habits, a call to the Sheriff will usually take care of that.

I love the rural life. If only it had broadband access.....

-Buck

archer said:

I would say a true majority of the residential delivery in my area is done this way. Very few of
them have right-hand-drive vehicles, and they drive sitting on the right side, reaching over to
the left side.

All of the residential delivery mail trucks, plus all of the regular (non-contract) mail delivery
trucks in the rural areas in this area have right-hand drive and have had for some years now. Where
in the world (US) do you live?

Alexander Gilchrist

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

archer said:

I would say a true majority of the residential delivery in my area is done this way. Very few of
them have right-hand-drive vehicles, and they drive sitting on the right side, reaching over to
the left side.

All of the residential delivery mail trucks, plus all of the regular (non-contract) mail delivery
trucks in the rural areas in this area have right-hand drive and have had for some years now.
Where in the world (US) do you live?

All of the USPS-owned delivery trucks around here have right-hand drive, but the private contractors
who drive their own vehicles mostly do not, and most of the rural and suburban residential delivery
is done by the private contractors. I believe the urban areas use regular USPS trucks.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Thornhill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

That's the way our carrier is -- he floors it between mailboxes, usually hitting one of them
with his pickup's side mirror. We complained to the local postmaster about him, but were told he
(the carrier) would only

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

worse if he (the postmaster) said something to him. After we had to

replace

Quoted message said:

our roadside mailbox for the third time, we gave up and got a PO box.

You gave up too soon. A metal post on the right side of the box would have fixed the problem right
away. As for his driving habits, a call to the Sheriff will usually take care of that.

I love the rural life. If only it had broadband access.....

That's good advice, but I'd position myself in front of him one day to stop him from getting away,
ane then I'd tell him that, if he continued, he'd start seeing mysterious flying rocks if he didn't
change his attitude.

--
Robin Hubert <[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>, "Robin Hubert"

Quoted message said:

"Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Thornhill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

That's the way our carrier is -- he floors it between mailboxes, usually hitting one of them
with his pickup's side mirror. We complained to the local postmaster about him, but were told
he (the carrier) would only

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

worse if he (the postmaster) said something to him. After we had to

replace

Quoted message said:

our roadside mailbox for the third time, we gave up and got a PO box.

You gave up too soon. A metal post on the right side of the box would have fixed the problem
right away. As for his driving habits, a call to the Sheriff will usually take care of that.

That's good advice, but I'd position myself in front of him one day to stop him from getting away,
ane then I'd tell him that, if he continued, he'd start seeing mysterious flying rocks if he
didn't change his attitude.

Do you frequently make idle threats to contractors with bad attitudes and access to all of
your mail?

agree about beefing up the mailbox structure. Also helps prevent mailbox baseball.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] sfu.ca~rcousineOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club