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Backseat Driver: The roads are alive with the sound of music

Along with the greening of the trees and the trilling of the peepers, a sure sign of spring is the sound of other people's car stereos.

The warmer weather allows everyone to open their sunroofs and lower their windows and provide concerts for fellow drivers as they draw up to the traffic lights. It's a delightful custom, the only snag being that the concert being played next to you may not reflect your taste in music.

Sadly this happens to me all too often, and I think it most unfair. Instead of listening to a favorite composer or blues singer, I get something else altogether. Maybe there should be postings identifying the times and places of concerts and the nature of the music.

And then again, maybe I should become an impressario by playing my favorites at top volume with all the windows down. My taste in music is, after all, exemplary and playing it loud would be a treat for everyone.

Indeed, I would be admired far and wide for my selections and people would follow me in the hope of catching strains of my favorites. Children would wonder, men would gap in admiration, women in adoration.

Or would they? No, I think they would sigh in exasperation and roll up their windows, put on the AC and play their own music to themselves.

But please don't let such a possibility stop you from treating the rest of us poor noodles to your musical excretions at top volume. They are sure to be quite delightful!

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 1:29 PM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

As gas prices rise, driving for business changes

Even though he drives a fuel-efficient car, real estate agent Harlan Comee of Yorba Linda, Calif., says that unrelenting gas-price increases are forcing him to rethink his sales strategy, according to USA Today.

He's narrowed his geographic focus when looking for new homes to represent. And when with clients, he tries to show as many properties in one area as possible to curb some of the back-and-forth trips he used to make. "Now, I try to say, 'We're going to concentrate on the north today,' " he says.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:16 AM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 0