growing in the goo

Younger brother told me about a little known hero today. September 26th, 1983 Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, in charge of watching for an american nuclear missile launch against Russia, was alerted by his computer of several missiles on their merry way to his homeland. He had direct orders to launch a counter-strike on the U.S. in the event of an attack. Luckily - providentially - Petrov did not trust his technology and felt that the computers had malfunctioned, and he did not order a strike on the U.S. He was not praised for his quick thinking, rather, it was swept under the rug. In order to make this a meghan-centric event, I feel obligated to mention that I would have been incinerated at the tender (yet adorable) age of 8 months and 24 days.

Some info is right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

I vote that Sept 26th should be called Stanislav Petrov Day. Brother thinks that Earth should be renamed Petrovia.

A little rant on driving. Like all drivers, I think I'm the best driver out there. Or at least in the top 15%. Of course, we all have our moments...like when I almost rear-ended a truck today that had stopped at a stop sign (WHY DID YOU STOP AT A RED LIGHT AND LET ME HIT YOU DOING 80!?) when I was laughing at younger brother. Luckily, his high-pitched scream of terror jolted me to attention.

But take this as a fair warning. If you tailgate me, I will go slower. Especially if I am going faster than the speed limit anyhow. If you're on my butt and I'm going 35, do not think that I want to go wherever I'm going so badly that my speed won't immediately plummet to 25. I know this is akin to being an evil and dangerous driver, but I derive great pleasure out of making some loser who is tailgating me slow down even more.

And for you who live in Braintree, or visit Braintree, or plan on going to Braintree one day in the future, the rotary is only ONE LANE. It may be super wide, but it is one lane. When I am cruising around the circle, yes, I do notice you sneaking up on me on the right. You are not invisible. If you were, I would surely hit you, since I plan on bearing to the right momentarily. I wonder if you behind me can tell when I put on my blinker that it's done with a snappy anger, to put you back in their place. To say "NO! This is my lane. YOU JERK!"

IF I could, I would slam on my breaks and make people rear-end me. Just to throw that out there...