roads

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My Car Is Possibly Contracting The Corona Virus

I’m just wondering here, but can a car get the corona virus? I know it sounds like a crazy question, but I’ve seen some odd things on the roads lately.

My Car Is Possibly contracting the Corona virus
Single car parked on a top of a garage parking lot. View from the above.

Maybe it stems from what we are being told to do, as opposed to what we’re being told about how the virus spreads. 

The authorities want people to stay at home as much as possible. I’ve heard the Prime Minister even say, “go home and stay there”. 

That sounds pretty serious to me. It also sounds like a kindergarten teacher scolding his class of delinquent five year olds. 

But I get the picture that we are to stay in our homes. 

Yet we are also told that the virus is not floating around in the air everywhere. The virus doesn’t really float well; it’s more like it has to be flung at you. It gets passed when someone with the virus coughs on you, sneezes on you or maybe talks “on” you like Sylvester the cat. 

That’s why the six feet or metres rule. You can only fling the virus so far. Personally, I like the six feet over the six meters because it’s a lot less. 

But the one measurement that I like the best is the hockey stick rule: Stay a hockey stick length away. 

That idea was not really well thought out though because everyone’s hockey stick is different. For instance, I cut my hockey sticks way down, so they are well under six feet in length … maybe under five feet in length. … They wouldn’t do. 

I guess what I’m saying is that we need to stay clear of people, but we shouldn’t have to stay indoors. 

I played a little basketball on my driveway the other day. It was by myself, mind you, but I did win so I hope I don’t get in trouble for that. 

There were no people in the vicinity if potential sweat droplets got flung off my body. Then again, there was no sweat involved at all. The temperature was above zero but not high enough for any of my glands to be producing sweat particles. 

So that brings me back to the cars on the road … 

I’ve noticed people being very cautious when approaching an intersection. Any time a light turns red, I’m shocked at the number of cars that are stopping well back from the traffic lines. 

People are driving their cars like they are standing in line waiting to get into Costco.  

It’s like there is potential for my car to get too close and catch something, or like they’re afraid heat or exhaust from the engine might infect someone crossing at the lights. 

Let’s keep our distance. You never know if somehow something got into your gas tank and is now spewing corona to all the cars that pass by. 

… I don’t know for sure – and I haven’t heard any of our health experts comment on it – but I think we can drive normally … although driving like your car can get COVID may be normal for some people.

Here’s the thing: The message of what Christ did for us on the cross is the best news there is. It’s the news that everyone should know about and have a chance to respond to. However, for others to be exposed to the gospel message they have to have some proximity to it. Don’t be afraid of getting close enough to someone (while practicing social distancing) with the best news they can hear. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How can you stay social while social distancing? Leave your comments and questions below.

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No Way Your Streets Are As Bumpy As Mine

The Beatles sang about the long and winding road; I’m singing about the long and bumpy roads … but my song is not a happy one, filled with cheer and merriment.

The song I sing is more of a dirge, like you might find being sung in a funeral procession down the streets of New Orleans.

At this time of year, I notice the conditions of the streets more. Now that fall has come, on a weekly basis I make my way down to the K-Rock Centre hockey arena. Getting there takes me down Queen Street, which arguably is the bumpiest road in Kingston.

But it’s not the only one.

I’m concerned as they put in new sewers and things to update the city’s infrastructure. They are digging up roads or portions of roads and then just patching them back up.

I don’t like the time and trouble it takes to pave these roads, especially when over the long-term, the only ones who seem to benefit are the mechanic shops in town.

When I drive down Queen Street I feel like I’m in downtown Toronto many years ago, with its cobblestone streets and trolley car rails.

You come away feeling much like a James Bond drink – shaken, not stirred.

I understand that you can’t repave all the roads at once, but this street has been a mess for as long as I can remember.

When we got our new vehicle last fall, I thought the ride down to the arena would be a lot smoother.

Our new car is bigger, the shocks are firmer, but it hasn’t seemed to matter at all. The road has us bouncing around like a carnival ride.

I now know what it’s like to live in a Hutterite community and take your vegetables to market. I don’t have to ride in one of their horse-drawn buggies; I just have to drive down Queen Street in Kingston and I get the full experience.

Maybe that’s what they should do … There are some turn-of-the-century historical homes and buildings along the route. The city could turn the street into a pioneer village tourist stop.

They could add big windows to the fronts of buildings and we could watch a woman in period costume stoke the fire in her kitchen, or watch as the children milk a cow by hand in the yard.

They could put a toll booth at the top of the street, and we could just throw change into big receptacles as we turn onto the street, as a charge to ride the bumpy road and see the village people do all their chores by hand.

It would give us all a fresh appreciation for the conveniences we have in 2017. It could be a real teaching moment for parents with their kids.

You wouldn’t even have to get out of your car. It would all be drive-by learning.

Oh, and what they could do with all the money they collect from this fabulous pioneer village ride is PAVE QUEEN STREET!

Here’s the thing: When we experience inconveniences in life, interruptions to the good life we live, we should remember the inconvenience God willingly took to come to earth as a man to rescue us from the path we are on – a path that would take us to a place we would never want to go if we knew what it was really like. Be thankful for what Christ has done, with a new appreciation for the inconvenience you are experiencing.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What inconvenience really has you exercised? Leave your comments below.

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How Driving Around Potholes Is Good For You

I’ve never been into monster truck racing, but lately I kind of wish I owned one. In the aftermath of winter – not that I’m saying it’s over, but it better be – I need to be driving something a little more substantial than my Hyundai Accent.

potholes

The road conditions in my town are like a war zone. My apologies to those who actually live in war zones; I’m sure it’s nothing like it. But from my perspective, I’m dodging bomb craters every few minutes.

It’s our crazy winter that has created these conditions, and if the city doesn’t soon get the road crews out there fixing the potholes, the mechanics in my town will be rubbing their hands together with sinister smiles on their faces. I think my car might already need new shocks or something.

I feel like a rally driver bobbing and weaving around land minds that want to take my car out. I’m not even using the double lanes to pass cars any more. I need that other lane just to get around the missing pavement so I don’t have to drive into oncoming traffic.

I’m sure in other Canadian cities the state of the roads are the same as they are here. … Now I’m starting to worry about an asphalt shortage!

I’m not sure that it’s even possible for us to have an asphalt shortage but I can see the construction companies starting some rumours to drive up the prices. We’ll all be paying for that if it happens.

I’m also predicting a tax increase this year. The bill for road work is going to be astronomical and I’m afraid it will take them until next winter before they make all the repairs that need to be done.

When I was a kid winters were harsher, but the roads seemed to last longer. Maybe they are skimping on the base of the roads. Is it possible that they are using cheap crushed stone from China under our roads? Maybe that’s why our roads aren’t holding up as they should be.

I’m in favour of starting a “buy Canadian gravel” campaign if it will help us drive on smooth pavement.

It could be that they are using a thinner layer of asphalt. They should lay that stuff down as thick as they do for airport runways. Those planes weigh tons more than my little car but those airstrips seem to last and last.

One area that is holding up are the speed bumps they put on some roads to encourage slower speeds. I haven’t seen any missing sections in them. I have, however, been secretly wishing the snow ploughs would push them off to the side with the snow.

No one would notice in the winter. Not until the snow melted would anyone see the piles of black top on the side of the road. They wouldn’t be able to replace them either with all the work they have to do filling potholes all over the city; there’d be no time.

Well, here’s hoping my vehicle will make it on another rally car race to work this morning!

Here’s the thing: In life there will be potholes. We can complain about them; we can blame others; and we can blame God. We can ask God to fill them, but most likely He will help us and guide us around them. We just need to stay alert to God’s direction in our life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are the road conditions like in your city, in your life?

I would love to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.