Do I Know Why I Pulled You Over?

It was a typical Friday morning. We were driving up the highway towards Plymouth, heading to visit my Nana. Jack was in the front-passenger seat, while Mike and I were in the back. I was listening to Green Day on my iPod, the volume turned up just enough to block out the noise of the traffic rushing by us outside.

Then, I heard my mom say something in the driver's seat in front of me. I didn't pay much attention to it. We were in the left lane of the highway, and my mom kept driving until she saw her chance to cross over to the right lane. It was when she pulled over to the breakdown lane that I took one of my ear buds out to ask what was going on.

My Mom was silent for a minute. Had the car broken down? Were we out of gas? Did we run over something?

Then, I saw someone walk by my window, and I realized he was a cop. That's when it hit me.

My mom had gotten pulled over.

He was fairly tall, dark skin, wearing a blue button-up tee shirt, along with black trousers, a police hat, and to top off the intimidating cop-look, a pair of large, dark sunglasses.

He cautiously approached the driver's window, most likely to make sure my mom wasn't some lunatic bearing a handgun, or some other type of weapon. Yeah, I thought, Like a married lady, with three children is prepared to attack a policed officer.

"The speed limit on this highway is 60 miles per hour," he told my mother in a deep voice.

"Okay," my mom replied, "What was I going?"

"Seventy-four," he said earnestly, all this time keeping a serious, no-bull face, behind those dark shades of his.

"Oh," was all mom could say.

"You were also driving in the left lane, which is strictly a passing lane."

"Okay," my mom agreed.

"Is speeding a habit for you?" he asked.

"No," my mom said, curiously.

"Is driving in the left lane a habit for you?"

"No," mom replied again.

"May I see your license and registration?" he requested.

Oh boy, I thought. Speeding ticket.

The police officer walked back to his cruiser to look up mom's record, and do the usual legal stuff cops do when they pull someone over. I've watched episodes of "Cops" with my dad before, and I pictured the officer talking to the camera guy, narrating the current situation at hand;


"We've got a typical soccer-mom here. She's showing signs of road-rage, which could explain the speeding. She's most likely in a hurry to get one of the three kids in the car to a practice, or something. I'll check her record, and then search the car for any cocaine, alcohol, or weapons, and probably give her a sobriety test as well. Just to be safe."

I then pictured him sending a message through his radio, requesting back-up in case "things got messy."

We waited for about five minutes, until he came back, holding some papers.

"Well," he said, "You haven't had a speeding citation since the nineties, which is good. But I did follow you for two miles in the left lane. Now, a ticket for driving in the left lane amounts to around one-hundred thirty dollars, but I've knocked it down to twenty dollars for you."

He continued to explain just how important it is to avoid staying in the left lane on the highway. As he did so, I tried to count the dozens of other cars on the highway that were driving in the left lane, most likely going seventy-plus mph.
After his speech was over, he directed mom to- and I quote- "Accelerate, get up to highway-speed, then verge over to the right lane."

Emphasis on "right".

I figured this guy took his job very seriously, and hadn't seen too much action in a while. I assumed he was clocking everyone's speed on the highway. Then, out of the hundreds of drivers going seventy mph. on the highway, he picked one car (in this case, a red Toyota Camry), and pulled it over, hoping to use up some of his tickets on some innocent citizens. Once he pulled mom over, he gave her the usual "Do-you-know-how-fast-you-were-driving?" lecture. Then, to add to the seriousness of the matter, he informs you that you have committed not just one misdemeanor, but two, and sucker-punches you with a twenty-dollar ticket for driving in the left lane.

Now, I'm not criticizing this guy for being a jerk, and ticketing my mom just because she was one of the many who were in the passing-only lane, but you gotta admit, it's kinda ridiculous.  Her record is almost spotless (or so she tells me), with the exception of one or two minor speeding violations. You'd think the cop would let her off easy.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Drive safely.

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

By now you've probably noticed some changes to the way the blog looks. How do you like it? I did it all myself, using my nerdy ability to edit HTML and CSS coding on a blogger template, which can be more complicated than a normal layout.

Did you get all that?

I just felt the blog needed a bit more "pizazz." Notice how the blog posts and sidebar move up and down when you scroll, but the "awesome" background doesn't. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Anyway, not much else to say. Just wanted to let you know about the new look on the blog. Tell me what you think in the comments if you want!

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

The Care and Feeding of Little Brothers

As most of you know, I have two little brothers. They're twins, age 10. They have two very different personalities, all bundled in two separate packages that look almost exactly the same.

And if you were wondering, yes, it is hell.

Let me introduce you to Jack and Michael; the world's best, and worst, little brothers.

We'll start with the worst of the two, Mike. Mike is, as Jack and me call him, the youngest sibling, because he was born two minutes after Jack. Everyone knows the youngest sibling ends up being the most immature, and this applies with Mike. I guess being the youngest by just two minutes can still make you the most annoying.
In reality, Michael is the same age as Jack, but we call him the youngest anyway.

Mike is that one child you had in your class in school that had a bad case of ADHD. He's hyper, he's loud, he's obnoxious, and he's always looking for trouble.
Mike loves to pick fights, which can get very annoying. He's always trying to get Jack to fight with him just for the heck of it. No, he's not angry, or upset with Jack. He's usually not even upset with anyone else. He just wants to fight. Even if Jack says he doesn't want to fight, Mike will provoke him by tackling him, pushing him, and putting him in various headlocks. Eventually, Jack has no choice but to fight back, if only to defend himself from serious bruising. This usually ends up with at least one of them crying, and both of them sent up to their rooms.

As you can see, Michael is a very violent child. But when he's not picking fights, he's trying to be as loud and annoying as possible. He'll make obnoxious noises, he'll make weird faces, he'll throw things, he'll run around- he'll do absolutely anything to make you snap. It's like a game to him; pick a target, and try to get on their nerves as much as possible. Let me say this; he's obviously gotten a lot of practice at this game, because he wins every time.

Now, it may seem like Michael is a terrible kid, but he does have his upsides. He likes to play sports with me and Jack. He loves to play catch with me out in the yard, and always plays games of basketball with me out in the street. The best part of all this is after running around outside for a while, Mike is much more calm, and can be a much more enjoyable brother. Him and I always joke around, and play video games with each other. Him and I don't always get along, but when we do, he's a pretty cool brother.

So, Mike is obviously the brawn, which makes Jack the brains. Jack is much more calm than his twin. He loves to read, write, and draw. Him and I get along very well; we always joke around, play games, and just have fun.
Jack's not quite as talented in the athletics department as Michael and me, but I give him lots of pointers on his jump-shot, and his pitching.
Jack and I have a lot in common. We both enjoy reading, we both are quite humorous, and we both love to eat. In fact, Jack has earned himself the title of "The Bottomless Pit," because he never seems to stop eating. If he goes out for dinner he'll order the biggest meal he can find, and then for dessert, his favorite, cheesecake.

Jack is probably the smartest of all of the brothers. He gets straight-A's every year, and always does his homework. If Harvard has a degree in cooking, Jack's gonna go far in life.

As you can see, I have two brothers who have very different personalities. One's aggressive and hyper, while the other is calm, and funny. They can make my life miserable sometimes, but I have to admit, I don't know what I'd do without them.

(But if anyone's willing to trade for a pair of little sisters, let me know ASAP)

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

Update

Just wanted to let you all know I've changed the URL address for this blog to shorten it. The new address for this blog is http://yoursinawesomeness.blogspot.com

Please update your favorites lists accordingly (because I just know all of you guys have this blog on your favorites list on your browsers! It's just too awesome to not have it there!)

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

July Appreciation

As a teenager, I spend a good chunk of my time on the internet, whether it be on Facebook, another blog, or one of the many video game-related sites I visit. (I am such a geek) Sometimes I'll find some very unusual things while clicking around, and one of those things was a search related to "National Month of...". I was just curious to see what our current month celebrates, and you may be surprised by the list I found.

July is the national month of...

• Anti-boredom

If that's so, then why have I spent the whole day so far trying to find something to do? We've been swimming almost every day this week, so I don't feel like going o the pond, I can't find a single video game I want to play, all my friends are out doing something...... I'M SO BORED!!!

• Hot dogs

What a coincidence; I had hot dogs for dinner last night!

• Ice cream

We've got a container in the freezer full of it, along with some Champs! ice cream cones.

• Cell phone courtesy

 Be courteous to your Blackberry.

• Unlucky month for weddings

If you, or someone you know, were planning to get married this month, I'd advise against it. That is, if you're superstitious. If not, go ahead, get hitched! Just don't blame me when you get left at the alter...

• Blueberries

What can I say? Blueberries are awesome!

Then, there are the unusual holidays celebrated during the individual weeks, and days in the month of July.

• Second week of July- Nude Recreation Week

Go ahead, take it off. Take it all off.

• July 2- I Forgot Day

I have a funny feeling I forgot something that day......

• July 3- Compliment Your Mirror Day

Whenever I see someone gorgeous, I stop, stare, and when I get tired I put the mirror down.

• July 10- Teddy Bear Picnic Day

I'm not afraid to admit, I do have a teddy bear...... or two.

• July 13- Barber Shop Music Appreciation Day

Almost as bad as elevator music..... but more catchy. (Just don't start bobbing your head to the beat while the barber is cutting your hair. You just might end up with a bald spot.)

• July 15- Tapioca Pudding Day

My mom has some of this in our fridge. I've never had the desire to try it. Maybe on the fifteenth I'll try some.

• July 15- Cow Appreciation Day

Go give a cow a hug... while eating tapioca pudding.

• July 17- Yellow Pig Day

That's a pig of a different color!

• July 27- Take Your Pants For a Walk Day

I don't really have anything clever to say about this...

I guess there's more to celebrate during July than just Independence Day. Mark your calendars, and have a happy National Strawberry Sundae Day!

Yours in awesomeness,
~Ry.

***Information on these holidays was found here.