Last week we were lucky enough to have several days of overcast and rainy weather.
A very welcome relief from those blistering hot days towards the end of February, and let me tell you my garden is loving it.
My husband on the other hand, who has to mow the lawn, wishes he had done so the previous weekend.
But, predictably with the torrential rain, our roads are also graced with what I like to call Solar Powered Drivers.
There are three types of these and once the sun disappears behind cloud cover, the Solar Powered Drivers shine, like only they can.
Oh and heaven help us if a few drops of rain should fall; this only makes the situation worse.
I am convinced that there must be a Solar Powered Driver switch hard-wired into most motorists’ brains.
The first kind of Solar Powered Drivers are those who slam on brakes at the first sign of a drop of water hitting the road.
From then it’s tickets for anyone driving behind them, never mind the passengers who are now eloquently splashed on the front windscreen.
First gear is where you’ll stay until the said Solar Powered Driver has decided to take a corner.
I’m talking 10km/h and at that speed you cannot change gears or your car will shudder, splutter and die in disbelief at how bad your grasp of driving is.
The second type of Solar Powered Drivers to grace our potholed roads are those who miraculously become qualified Formula One drivers and our little community roads then become their personal skidpan.
These Solar Powered Drivers race up behind you before slamming on breaks, undoubtedly “testing” the capability of their vehicle’s ABS system.
They weave between traffic and aim for puddles to splash on pedestrians.
You don’t need to worry about which car they are driving, you’ll see the badge clearly in your rear-view mirror. It’s so clear that it’s almost High Definition.
Now, if you are stuck behind Solar Powered Driver version 1 and encounter a Solar Powered Driver version 2, you’re in for a rough time.
Lights flashing and hooters going all while you’re praying he doesn’t rear-end you, which in turn would mean you rear-end the other Solar Powered Driver, which in turn will leave you standing at the side of the road on the phone to your insurance company, in the rain.
And it gets worse when you’re travelling on any one of the highways that surround our area.
The third type of Solar Powered Driver doesn’t need a cloudy day to flip the switch, they simply need to enter an underground parking area.
The parking area immediately becomes a drag strip to see which speed the driver can reach before slamming on breaks to enter a parking.
They most commonly drive large SUVs with big engines, or small cars with massive sound systems, which leaves everyone else in the parking area wondering what they could be compensating for.
This particular driver also has an uncanny ability to park a normal sized vehicle over two parking bays and they have exhaust pipes so large it looks as if they can service the car through it, also known as divorce-pipes.
If you are lucky enough you’ll encounter all three on a short trip to the shops and back.
