risk assessment

I'm roadtripping this weekend (remember this? No, not the faire, the other one). It's not that long of a drive - about 2 1/2 hours or so.

So why am I already hunting directions and plotting in uneccessary detail when I need to get up, where I need to fill the tank, how much coffee do I need to brew to be awake, etc.? Hell, why am I even listing all that out, when I've 1) made MUCH longer solo drives without incident (well, minimal incident), and 2) am (reasonably) comfortable driving in the doGforsaken traffic that IS my local freeway?

Not so dirty not so secret: I had two wrecks before I turned 17 (going back a long way, but I have a point, and I WILL get there). My dad pulled my license and through senior year of high school up until I graduated college, I was extraordinarily rarely allowed to drive without an "adult" in the car with me. This was on the grounds that if I so much as backed out of the driveway, I would surely have a fatal car wreck. My parents rationalized that it was better for me to be bored than dead. I rationalized that having a life beyond my parents 4 walls during school breaks was worth a little risk.

And indeed, in the ~12 years past graduation, I've become a fair driver, at least on open road. I've even had a teeny fenderbender in the middle of a 7 hour drive and not only lived, but kept my head on when dealing with insurance cards, finishing the trip, and the like.

But still, when I'm driving to a new place for the first time, I get into this hyper-prepared state where I want to have everything I could possibly need for the trip laid out days in advance. It's all because even though I know better, some part of the back of my head still screams "But you've never driven there before and you're by yourself and if you don't do absolutely everything possible to know EXACTLY where you're going and when and how you could DIIIIIIIEEEE!!"

As such I have an [ahem], somewhat skewed sense of how to prepare for a safe road trip :P

Yes, this is stupid. Yes, objectively, I do know better. Once I'm actually on the road, I'll be fine.

I'm just marveling at the incredible staying power of staggeringly stupid shit.

Fear truly is the mindkiller.

vicious predators

The cats are hunting.

Or, more specifically, Spice is hunting. About an hour ago I set them both on a large cricket I found in the basement. Kisia wasn't sure about it - she didn't like the jumping, but when Spice saw it the world ceased to exist.

( blurry photo, but you can see Spice's determination if you squint )

I'll add to the chorus of whoever says that cats are mean little bastards - Spice has been hammering on this thing for an hour and what you see in the photo above is the patient waiting during the final death throes - the cricket is now under the sofa and the last time I saw it it had a broken leg. Kisia is sitting at a discreet distance - while she's fascinated, she seems to think the Tiny Jumping Thing is kind of icky (she much prefers house centipedes).

Ah, mini-Wild Kingdom...