PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Is lane splitting legal in Washington or no?

 

No, not like that ever stopped me

 

Doesn't stop bikers here in PA either, but they only seem to do it when they want to be in front at a red light; I think it's only legal in California...

 

At a red light it's called filtering, and is legislated differently. WA has filtering come up every year for legality. I do it in some places, it's safer

 

I've had bikers almost sideswipe my truck while filtering...

 

Not that you asked me.
But it is 100% illegal in Tennessee and you will be issued a traffic citation for it.
The only thing you can do is proceed on a red light, after you come to a stop.
And at that, you need to play it safe. Just a stop and go will get you pulled over.
You need to do more like a stop and "wait".

 

As in stop and proceed in whatever direction? Yikes

 

The weight/magnetic sensors in the pavement don’t always pick up when a motorcycle is at the light. If it doesn’t, the light will never change. So, you can legally go, once you come to a stop.

The thing is, it has to be legitimate.
You know, you can’t just blatantly run all the lights just to because you can.

 

I ate a Granny Smith apple today and tossed the core to Amanda’s landlady’s birds…

 

I hit 214K this afternoon!

 

My truck in my driveway during the wind-induced power outage on February 16th, just before 10pm…

 

@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@Lt. Dangle
@shakerhood
@steelcity2

Amanda's birth mother, Barbera (Barb), is no longer with us.

Amanda forgot her TW password and doesn't really come on here that much anyway, but she gave me the okay to tell the story; Amanda has shared the story of her birth mother before, but for those of you just tuning in, Amanda and her younger brother Andrew were taken away from Barb by the state in about 1994 due to her alcoholism and drug use (specifically crack cocaine). Amanda's birth father, James, smoked heavily but was not a drug user. Unfortunately, he couldn't get Amanda and Andrew back because he was married to Barb. He died of esophageal cancer in 1997, when Amanda and her brother were still in foster care.

Amanda and Andrew were thankfully never split up and ended up with a lovely foster family in 1998, who ultimately adopted them in 2000; Amanda was able to reconnect with her Barb in 2012, and Andrew ended up living with her for a few years; Andrew was tragically struck by a hit and run driver in the summer of 2015 and died that September, passing away shortly after his 22nd birthday.

Amanda's relationship with Barb was tumultuous to say the least; Barb had been sober for about a decade by the time I met her in the spring of 2023, but she was bipolar and had numerous other health issues, most notably HIV. She hadn't worked in well over a decade by the time I met her, due to her significant health issues. She also never had a driver's license because while she knew how to drive, she couldn't pass the written permit test. She joined the Army at some point in the 1980s, but suffered a debilitating foot injury after five months, and received an honorable discharge. "Fucked up" does not even begin to describe Barb's childhood, but it was probably after leaving the Army that her drug usa got really bad.

Barb is a three-time breast cancer survivor, and I believe that she had cervical cancer at the time of her passing. She also chain smoked and had just been treated for skin cancer. She was a decent person deep down, but a lot of fucked up shit happened to her practically from birth, and she was not very pleasant to be around.

Amanda and I last saw Barb alive on January 26th, when we drove out to her apartment in Coatesville to watch the Eagles play the Commanders. We were promised dinner and were expecting to eat dinner as soon as we got there, watch the game, and go home; Barb hadn't even started dinner yet, and we didn't eat until halftime. Barb is obnoxiously "my way or the highway" and rubbed me the wrong way when she flipped out on me for having my cell phone at the dinner table, among other things. On top of that, a friend of hers who is homeless and a drug addict came over against her wishes, and we had to let him watch the game with us.

Barb flipped out on Amanda over unwittingly tracking dirt into the house, if I remember correctly, and among other things it was her overall treatment of myself and Amanda that led to us both vowing never to come over again; Amanda begrudgingly talked to Barb on the phone a handful of times from January 26th through February 11th, just to make sure she was okay. The last time Amanda talked to Barb was on the evening of February 11th. She complained of trouble having bowel movements, and mentioned a trip to the doctor because of those issues, but other than that seemed to be fine.

Barb's brother apparently repeatedly texted Barb between February 11th and today, apparently not calling or even thinking that contacting the police to conduct a welfare check might be a good idea.

Amanda's grandparents (Barb's father and stepmother), also hadn't been able to get ahold of her over the last few days, telling Amanda last night (February 18th). Amanda took it upon herself to call Barb, and got no answer, even thinking that her mom had actually ended the call to stop the ringing; I then promptly called Barb, and the phone rang numerous times before going to voicemail...

 

I attempted to contact Barb via Facebook yesterday at 7:05pm, then actually called her via Facebook at 7:18pm, to no avail; I really wish that I would have taken a screenshot at the time I messaged Barb, because Facebook showed her as being active/only. We will not know the exact time of death until the autopsy results come in, but I can tell you that she’d been gone for at least three days by the time we attempted to contact her last night…

 

I actually called her cell phone a few minutes later. Like I said above, her soul had left this earth at least three days before…

 

Amanda and I were in the same room when we were trying to reach Barb, and the call to Amanda was an attempt to find her phone, which ended up being buried in the sheets on her bed…

 

So, our minds were put temporarily at ease when I saw that she was active on FB. Today, Amanda was going to call Coatesville police to do a welfare check. One of Barb’s friends beat her to the punch and did the same thing. The police showed up and ended up having to kick in the door to gain entry to the apartment. Barb was found dead in her bed under the covers, and it was pretty obvious that she had passed in her sleep.

She also had two small elderly dogs who were alone this whole time. I cannot imagine what they did to that apartment while they were alone for three days or more. Those dogs could barely hold their bladders and bowels when Barb was there to let them out and routinely went potty in the apartment. They probably destroyed the fucking place, but luckily the ASPCA took the dogs in.

So, Amanda found out the news literally right when she walked in the door after getting home from work when her grandparents called her.

Amanda’s landlady also told her that a cop showed up at the house looking for Amanda while she was still at work. Her landlady was not paying attention, so she couldn’t tell what jurisdiction the cop was from. The cop did not tell Amanda’s landlady what was going on, but since Amanda isn’t exactly a criminal, we are assuming that Coatesville PD told the local department where Amanda lives about the situation, and the cop was trying to relay the news that Amanda’s mother had passed away.

I was driving an Enterprise vehicle and listening to the radio, so I didn’t hear my phone ringing, but I called her back while I was riding shotgun and another vehicle driven by a coworker. She was in absolute tears and told me that Barb had died; I was not particularly fond of Barb a lot of the time, but hearing my girlfriend cry, triggered me. my 75-year-old take-no-bullshit coworker for once fully understood the gravity of the situation and didn’t bust my balls like he usually does.

Amanda has epilepsy, and she has been placed on two days of medical leave due to bureaucratic crap at her job, even though she has not had a grand mal seizure in about a decade. I have Thursdays off, so it works out. Amanda‘s grandma will be getting the keys to the apartment and we are going there tomorrow to pick up a bunch of stuff that Amanda is getting. This includes some of her late brother’s belongings, Barb’s favorite Eagles jersey, an Oreck vacuum, and a curio cabinet. Also, if it’s metal and it will fit in the back of my truck then it’s going. I feel awful for Amanda and part of me is really going to miss Barb, but I can tell you that I am so glad I’m not gonna have to drive out to Coatesville anymore after this.

 

Tell her sorry for her loss.

But me, being me, wants to know how someone can join the Army, but not pass a written diving skills test?
Was the Army that bad off in the 80’s that they took anyone that could walk into the recruiting office?
Wow…….

 

My old coworker at NAVMAR joined the Marines in the 1980s without a license, and didn’t get his license until after he was out. You don’t need a driver’s license to join the military…

@ColoradoTJ and @wilcam47, did you know anybody when you were in the military who did not have a driver’s license during their time in the service?

 

Sorry to hear. Condolences.