Riverside Chronicles I

Note: This will be the first entry of a three part series.

There is a Valero gas station on Oltorf St. that I always frequent because it has the lowest gas prices in town (Austin). I decided to stop by and fill up after a late night Wal-Mart trip. I noticed a man in what looked like a trench coat sitting by the car wash drinking some coke. He started approaching me as I swiped my credit card to pay for the gas.

As this moment I realized it was a terrible idea for me to leave my keys in the ignition and leave my wallet in the drivers side seat in plain view of this man. I wasn't particularly scared because there were other people next to me filling up, so I am sure they would have had my back if anything went down.

Our conversation went something like this:

Him: Hablas espanol?
Me: No
Him: Do you want buy 3X movies?

It took me a second to realize what this guy was talking about. It didn't hit me until he reached into his coat and pulled out a couple of burned DVDs with some pictures on them. I immediately told him that I didn't have any cash on me and that I would not be able to purchase any three x movies from him.

I should have messed with him for a bit, but that would be dangerous...

Rain when it really isn't raining

There was very little traffic on my way back to Houston yesterday. However, one car decided it would be cool to pass me up, change lanes, get in front of me, and turn on their windshield wipers (along with the spray), to clean their windows while driving approximately 80 miles per hour. I say approximately because the speedometer on the van I was driving does not work anymore, so I guesstimate how fast I am going based on what limited view I have of the speedometers of other cars.

I have been reaching Houston in record times in the van. And the lack of a working speedometer could be the main reason for these records.

This guy was tailgating me for a while even though I was driving pretty fast. I had changed lanes to let him pass me up, but he somehow managed to get behind me about 10 miles later. This is when she decided to pass me up and try to show me up. I try my best to make sure there is not a car behind me when I want to clean my windshield while driving on the freeway. There is no place for the water to go except behind me because of the air trajectory patterns.

This reminds me of a time when a friend of mine was driving back from San Antonio with his friends. He had to use the bathroom really badly and there was no gas station nearby, so he decided to urinate through the back window of his SUV. He was caught by surprise when all of it came back into the car and soaked him wet.

Back to the story. I decided to be an asshole and sprayed her car with my Rain-X. She was probably two car lengths behind me so she did get a good spray. Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have done it because her windshield will now repel water and she will not have a chance to thank me for giving her some free Rain-X.