Turning would be different. You could easily underestimate the position of the car now that you would be sitting closer to the right wheel than the left.  Assuming the position of the brake and gas pedals is switched, you would have to get accustomed to that. And if it was a manual transmission, you would be even more challenged. If you are good at checking over your shoulders, that process would not be as simple as you might think. Blind spots are reversed, and your brain just doesn’t catch up right away.

The biggest adjustment would be if you wanted to pass on a two lane road. There would be no way to asses the dangers of moving into the oncoming lane in the first place.

This is why driving in adverse conditions, like heavy rain, or snow and ice, can be problematic. Not because cars can’t handle them, but because our normal driving leaves us in a state of simplified attentiveness. We have it mastered in most cases, and we think about many things while we are driving. When conditions get bad, we sit up, turn the radio down, and concentrate just a little harder.

Are you concentrating enough on your driving? How much do you rely on the other people sharing the road with you.

If we all turn our attention up just a notch or two, it’s possible we could reduce the total number of accidents on our busy highways.

And yes, I was at a complete stop before I even reached for the phone to take this picture, and no cars were moving at the time. Cars standing still also reduces accidents, but we just can’t get anywhere then!

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

1. The obvious thing – sunblock. You don’t have to be a global warming fanatic to know about the potential damage of your skin due to sun exposure. Use sunblock liberally and frequently. Grease stains are easier to get out than cancers.
2. Eye protection is underrated. Sunglasses can ease significant stress on the eyes, and prevent wear and tear on all the little eye-parts that many of us take for granted.
3. Consume liquids. I saw this being followed, but maybe water to beer in a two-to-one ratio would be a little better. Too much alcohol is a compounding problem – you may get dehydrated and you may also forget item #1 above.

I saw a number of people today neglecting 1, 2, or all 3 of these rules.  You don’t want to be one of them later today. Ouch!

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists and the others linked there always give you something to think about, and may even make you smile!

Before I moved to the Atlanta area, I connected in ATL dozens of times. You don’t even have to travel to or from the south to still find your way to the Atlanta airport as part of your trip. I met a passenger the other day who started her morning in Jackson, MS and was trying to get to Omaha. While it might seem logical that she was in Atlanta at that point, she got there by way of Memphis, and from Atlanta was headed to Milwaukee. Obviously, this is not the path from her original ticket, but once her first leg of the trip got disrupted it went downhill.

Yesterday I was heading to Milwaukee via commuter plane to catch a flight home. We were a little late pulling away from the gate when the attendant informed us that we still had to go through de-icing, and so some of our connections were in jeopardy. Almost everyone on this flight was connecting to somewhere else, and there was this collective groan that emerged with the announcement. It was a groan of discontent. I heard the person behind me ask his row mate, “Do you think that’s really necessary?”.

It was sort of painful to walk up to the gate in Milwaukee and see the jetway pulled away from my Atlanta-bound flight, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

When I buy a ticket, or when my company buys me a ticket, the money spent isn’t just for transportation from point A to point B. I am paying for the gate agents, the airport gate fees, the maintenance of the plane, the luggage handlers, and most importantly, the experienced experts who make the calls regarding the safety of a flight. In a weather situation like yesterday’s, I pay them to make the decision to de-ice, even though it will create scheduling ripples throughout their system. They don’t want to delay flights, but they don’t want disaster either. I sincerely believe that if the people on the plane yesterday could vote on the de-icing process, I would have been on the short end of the vote.

On the other hand, why the airline books tickets with a 25 minute connection, in Wisconsin, in February, is beyond me. The boarding process is underway before you even get there.

Do you have a peeve about safety practices that you believe don’t protect you? Would you want to put plane de-icing up to a vote?  Not me, thanks.

The words rang true for me today: Let’s be careful out there!

This morning we took a walk along the beach in the picture here, and a lone surfer was enjoying mild wave action. Later in the day, around lunchtime, this beach was very crowded. As we enjoyed a lunch in a little cafe overlooking the beach, we witnessed a mild commotion as a gentleman was pulled from the water with obvious head injuries. He did not have a surf or boogie board, he was simply pounded by the waves into a rough interaction with the sand.

There were warning flags along the beach that the surf was dangerous and you should not body surf, but people were diving into waves that were easily 6-8 feet. It looked like fun. Not huge waves, but big enough to bring on the hurt.

While we were at the same cafe, we noticed the family sitting nearby that included a child, about 4 years old, with curly red hair and fair skin. And sun poisoning. He had cream on his face, his eyes were nearly swollen shut, and they had a tube of SPF50 sitting on the table. I’m not throwing stones here, I did the same thing with one of my kids, and that’s why I would have prepared differently.

So while it is a long way from time to worry about surf and intense sun for many of my North American friends, its worth noting that safety is always a consideration. Being careful out there is a 24/7 concern.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

When flying, it looks to me like very few of us listen to the flight attendant’s speech. I mean really, who does not know how to fasten a seatbelt? But I think the relative safety of flying has kept us from paying attention. On any given flight, do you know for certain if your life preserver is under your seat or if you are supposed to use your seat cushion as a flotation device?

Next time you fly, pay attention to that announcement. It could make a difference you know. Well, maybe not in terms of how your seat belt is fastened, but at least you’ll know what to do in a water landing.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

If he had fallen a little bit to one side or other of the roots, he may have been bruised but OK. Bad luck was hitting the roots, bad choice was trying to reach too far. We should have gotten down and moved the ladder to where we needed it to be. I think of this every year when I get out the big ladder to do my Christmas lights.

Anyway, there are a few moments of personal safety that I would like back. None of them had serious consequences, but the outcomes could have been much worse. I can’t be lucky forever!

1. When Mikey Franco encouraged me to take the short-cut path down the hill to the valley by my childhood home. I tumbled, rolled, and screamed, and in the end I had a few scratches and bruises. It was not a short fall. It could have killed me.
2. When I drove my VW hatchback into the side of another car that had spun out on the freeway in a snowstorm. By the time I saw the other car, the best I could do is try and steer between the car and the guardrail, but steering wasn’t really working. I was driving too fast for the weather. Seatbelts saved my life.
3. When I was installing some new equipment early in the engineering part of my career. Long hours and frequent changes to machine adjustment led me to reach in where I shouldn’t have. I walked away with a contusion, and I’ve seen others lose fingers doing the same thing.
4. Driving in another snowstorm 10 years later because we had tickets to see a play in Schenectady. Nothing happened. It was just stupid.
5. Driving after alcohol consumption. I did it, more than a few times. But one time in particular I’d like to have back. Not because of anything that happened, but when you don’t remember how you got home, and you realize you drove, that’s just wrong. That was over 30 years ago and taught me a lot.
6. Oh yeah, and the time I picked up the hot end of a just-burned-out sparkler. You never do THAT twice, but wish you had never done it in the first place.

All things considered, I’ve been pretty lucky when I’ve made bad choices. How about you? Any do-overs?

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists and the others linked there always give you something to think about, and may even make you smile!

This year the restrictions have been loosened a bit, and we can use water outdoors three days a week.

Not having had much rain, people aren’t used to driving in heavy rain.  Rain like we have seen over the last week. Lawns are green and full, we haven’t seen the sun for several days, and it seems we hardly get a stretch of more than 2-3 hours with no rain. Good for the water supply, bad for driving.

When is it that most people realize they need new wiper blades? When it is raining and their vision is compromised.

When is it that most people realize their tires are overly worn? When it is raining and they realize their tires are drifting in puddles or they are hydroplaning when the rain is heavy. Not good.

As aware as I am about these kind of items, I was reminded again in the rain this week that my wipers need to be replaced. As soon as the weather gets better, I’ll stop at the auto parts store and get the replacements. If I remember.

Don’t just try and remember these little details. Schedule them. Write them down so you can get them corrected before you need them. Do you know the condition of your wipers? How worn are your tires – can you see the markers put there as a warning? Don’t let “I forgot” turn into “I regret”.

Let’s be careful out there.

Because I’ve had very few injuries in daily or routine activities, I rarely look at how to make my performance safer. With my son’s wedding this weekend, I got to thinking about why you should, at least once in a while, take a look at some of the most hazardous things we do and identify improvements.

1. It’s the right thing to do
2. We are self-protective by nature, but we are not inherently able to identify hazards
3. You owe your family you best self at all times
4. You owe your employer your best professional self at work
5. You owe yourself the opportunity to reach your potential
6. You make a difference
7. You want to see your children grow into adults, and watch them become their own best selves

My daughter and my older son have both asked me to perform their wedding ceremonies, and for that I am grateful. I would not have imagined how impactful it was for me to do that, and it would be a shame to not have been able to do so.

I have another son in college, and a most amazing wife, so I need to continue to work and live as safely as possible, and to take the best care of this one body I have.

What are your reasons to be your best self? Is any excuse to do less good enough?

Let’s be careful out there!

Anna at abdpbt is responsible for the effort to Fight Listless Mondays. Find other list links on her blog. Her lists are more clever. Lots.

With weddings comes travel and many celebrations. This week alone has had trips to the airport, gatherings for meals with relatives and members of the bridal party, and general errand running.

It’s sometimes hard to remember that each day is an average day for everyone else, and that the importance of what you are doing to prepare for a celebration is something others are generally not aware of. I could get frustrated by the lack of cooperation in traffic, or I could just take it easy and realize that worry and anger will not get me to my destination faster. And certainly not safer.

As we approach these last few days, I have reminded the young people involved to take extra precautions. Use designated drivers. Don’t get so caught up in the fun of the moment that you forget to stay grounded.

I’m excited about the next few days. I have family in town, as does my wife. We are thrilled that our son has found a soulmate. But each day, without being a bore to others, I will take the time to look at what’s happening and identify anything that we could be doing to assure just a little more safety for all concerned.

How about you? Do you take personal safety in daily activities for granted? Can you make anything you do just a little bit safer?

Let’s be careful out there.

This makes sense, especially given the level of automation that exists today. When things are running well, employees are monitoring the process and making sure there are adequate materials coming in and product is taken away. When the process starts to fail in some way, stress goes up, as does the interaction with the process. This presents an opportunity for mistakes or accidents.

I spent a good part of Thursday traveling, and saw a lot of frustrated people and unusual procedures that only added to peoples’ frustrations. The flight was a Delta flight, a Canadair jet that requires planeside check-in of a typical carry on bag. The smaller Canadair jets seat 48 people, and are boarded from the tarmac. You leave your bag on the cart next to the steps, and when you get to the destination you retrieve it the same way. This was a larger jet that used the jetway to board. So here in Atlanta, when you get off, people line the jetway until the bags are brought up to the jetway 2 or 3 at a time.

Atlanta was my destination, but people with connections were not happy. This is when the behavior got bad. A hot jetway full of people (August in Atlanta, remember) and they start crowding the little doorway to look down the stairs and see when their bag is coming up. If your bag did come up, and you weren’t crowding the front, you wouldn’t know. So people were upset with the process, now they are upset with each other.

Then there is the train you take from the terminal to baggage claim and the airport exit. There are three long escalators, and when the train doors open it looks like the post at the Kentucky Derby! Where are these people running to? Seriously, I timed the difference between the guy who sprinted up the escalator and my passive ride, and it was about 30 seconds. What will he do with that time? Can’t save it, time doesn’t work that way.

If he was headed to a family emergency, I hope he got there safely and in time for what he needed to do. But the hurry, the rushing, the dodging around people will, at some point, cost a person more time than they saved. And may cost more than just time.

So, the next time you feel hurried or catch yourself trying to somehow make up for lost time, don’t forget to breathe. Ask yourself if it will really make a difference. Time is a great equalizer, no one gets more minutes in an hour than anyone else, and no one gets less.

Do you rush through things, or work yourself into a rushing pattern when you don’t really need to? It might be a habit worth changing.

Let’s be careful out there.