the ability to kill an elephant!

Not a second of sleep last night, despite all the booze. Oh well.

I do want to talk about one of the things I like to think about as I stare daggers at my spackled ceiling, willing my body to accept lying on my back and trying not to move as restful. I like to think about driving, and how impressive it really is. Think about it. We are these mushy little creatures and we regularly are in control of something that could easily kill any land animal in the world. Sure, a rhino or an elephant can flip over a jeep, but if you caught it unawares it would be toast. And that's not even the part thats craziest to me. Humans are an animal that regularly trips and falls while walking. We injure ourselves severely playing games (football, boxing, etc) and we tend to be so self absorbed as to not notice anything else. And yet, we are put in charge of these machines.

Driving has become second nature for many of us, but it is NOT easy. There are so many things to consider, and it all has to happen so fast. The world record for human running speed is 27 mph. I doubt I can go half that fast. Today on the 5, I hit 80. Didn't even break a sweat. And my mind has adapted that going that fast seems like nothing. You somehow stick a person from the middle ages in a car and see what they think. They wouldn't even get around to the complexity of controlling it. They would be utterly terrified of the speed they were going.

So when you're next in your automobile, don't take it for granted. I'm not talking about having the power to end a life (though don't forget that either). Just think about how cool it really is to go that fast, and be in control of something more than 10 times your size, and be able to put together the series of motor (ha!) functions necessary to drive. It's pretty damn awesome.

Listening to Shwayze