Pedro the Pain

It seemed like such a good idea to get a car; needed it for work...freedom...independence...convenience. But truly, it is a huge pain in the ass.
Pedro is named for his gold colour, which to me meant he was from either Arizona, or Mexico...and he suited Pedro better than Jack, or Bill or someother name befitting a transplanted retiree from Phoenix. Thus, he was christened Pedro The Mexican Jalopy.
And between his battery problems, what I'm sure is a fuel injection problem (don't ask me how I know, because I know zip about cars), and my pervasive and expensive parking issues, he is a handful and a constant stress for me. Who needs a child, when you have a car to take care of?? But seriously, in my lengthening pro/con Vancouver/Alberta list, a dearth of affordable/free monthly/resident parking in downtown is definitely a con. I will never ever understand how a city/province so rich in oil/drivers is so user un-friendly for said drivers.

Speaking of frustrating...this brings me to my beef with Alberta drivers. They must be the most passive-aggressive drivers I have ever encountered in my life. Drivers in Alberta seem to cruise along at two kilometers below the speed limit in general...but then you go to pass them and they suddenly speed up so as to prevent you from making any headway. Then back down to 48, and this continues until you pull a nifty Mario Andretti fake out, and pass them on the inside of the hairpin turn. And forget the two cars turning left through the orange light rule...drivers in Alberta barely stick their noses out into the intersection, and then wait until the red light is long stale before turning. Merging too, is a hopeless cause.

In all fairness, it's not just the drivers that make me want to tear my hair out. The city has no rhyme nor reason to its road management. I understand that there is a lot of construction going in on in the city, but is it necessary to clean the only remaining artery out of downtown right smack in the middle of rush hour traffic?? And how about an advanced left once in awhile, or coordinated lights through downtown. Ai ya!!!