NFL Week 15: Driving

This is my last week of blogging about the NFL in our house. On Friday, we move to a hotel - the Ritz, of course - and then Monday Dec 22 we are on our way back for good.

No time to reminisce just yet - the Browns are still in the playoffs and we have a few more topics to go. I've saved this picture up for a while to talk about driving and the roads in China. How crazy is it?

Well, it's not that bad. It's hard to describe - I'd say about 95% of the drivers out there obey the traffic laws. That's a fairly decent number, but other drivers are still very unpredictable in their behavior and a driver has to always be on their toes for everyone else.

Some general remarks about driving:

1. The rules, in general, favor the bold. If there is a space, you go for it! If someone cuts you off, there's no reason to be mad - it's your fault for letting someone in. Accidnets in merging lanes are rare, as more people here seem to back off an aggressive driver than in the US. Just my opinion.

2. Accidents? The worse one I saw was in the picture attached. If you open it up to the large size, you can see a red car at the top- and to the left of the car there are two outstretched legs. Those legs weren't moving when we passed, and we were in a traffic jam. I have no idea what happened here ( I can guess, however - see point 3 below), but it didn't look good. These kinds of accidents are few and far between.

The most unsafe I felt in the car was about a month ago, driving on the highway --- passing a truck with a light load; a 2x4 fell off the truck and struck the side of our car. I wasn't paying attention, and just heard an awful bam on the side of the car while going 100 km/h. The truck did not stop; we did, as the driver got out to inspect the minimal damage.

3. Pedestrians - holy shit. the worst, bar none. In India, where the roads are chaotic, at least the people walking in the streets are aware of the cars around them and proceed cautiously. Here - the pederstrians think they rule the world. Tons of people do not heed don't walk signs; they just walk out into the street and are shocked when a car is barreling at them honking their horn. Maybe shocked is not the right word - probably offended. Their attitude is "there's a cross walk here, buddy. You better stop for me, even though you were going 45 mph and you have a green light."

People are everywhere on the roads. I remember the first month we were here - the highways were decorated with flowers on the side. We are all going 60, 70 mph on the highway- and there is someone on the shoulder of the highway, walking along and watering the flowers. Crazy.

4. New drivers: there are plenty of new drivers every day coming on the road. Now, imagine you are 40, 50 years old, and just starting to drive a car......you head on the highway. Everything is fine until you get to a fork in the road. What do you do?

Of course, you slam on the brakes and stop , in the middle of the highway, as you take your time and read the highway sign. Should I head toward Panyu or Qingyuan? I think Panyu, correct? This all happens while they are at a dead stop. Just amazing.

5. Probably because of #3 and #4, drunk driving is not tolerated. Instant prison for drunk driving- any alcohol at all.

It's Johnny Football week. I am excited to see what he can do. Having the last 4 weeks of Hoyer, giving away at least one game, makes me open to the possibility of our boy Johnny. 38-3 Browns.

On to the quick picks: I have to brag, finally got an exact pick right with last week's 27-13 Houston over Jacksonville pick!

Atl 31, Pit 27.
Bal 20, Jax 10
GB 23, Buf 10
TB 20, Car 17
Ind 28, Hou 17
KC 27, Oak 7
Det 31, Min 17
NYG 24, Was 20
Den 26, SD 13
NYJ 23, Ten 16
NE 27, Mia 20
Sea 20, SF 17
Dal 34, Phi 27
NO 27, Chi 24.

Best bets: 16 of them. I really need to tally up the season totals. Next week there will be an update.

Atl +3
Jax/Bal under 45
GB -4
GB/Buf under 50
TB +3
Ind -7
KC -10 1/2
Oak/KC under 41 1/2
Det -7 1/2
Min/Det over 41 1/2
Den -5
Den/Sd under 50 1/2
NYJ -3
SF +9
Dal +3 1/2
Phi/Dal over 55

Supercontest picks: Last week: 2-2-1, thanks to the Vikes miracle "cover" for the tie. Overall: 37-32-1

TB +3 1/2
Ind -6 1/2
Det -8
Den -4
Dal +3