Today we were out apartment hunting, and afterwards we had to drive up to Piqua to do our grocery shopping. I was going to take our normal route up Troy-Piqua road, but wouldn't you know it, there was a train coming through town at an incredibly and offensively slow rate of speed. Couldn't have been going more than 25 mph. So I did a three point turn and headed for Troy-Sidney road, an alternate route. (It goes *under* the train tracks farther out in the country.)


On your way out of town on this road, you have to drive through an intersection with a four-way stop and a flashing red light. As we drove up to this intersection, we noticed a police cruiser sitting in a parking lot on the opposite side of the road, presumably watching for speeders. I checked my speedometer, and I was okay, so I promptly forgot he was there as I coasted to a stop.

Then I suffered a mental lapse. My wife and I were talking, and I just sat there, waiting for the light to turn green. This is a blinking red light, mind you. It never turns green. You're supposed to come to stop, give the people sitting at the light on the intersecting street a chance to go, and then move on. But I was in traffic light mode, and kept waiting for it to turn green. I must have sat there for at least two minutes, oblivious, while other cars came, stopped, and moved on. It didn't hit me that I was doing anything wrong until Mr. Police Cruiser pulled up behind me with his lights flashing. Whoopsie.

Smacking myself in the forehead for my stupidity, I pulled through the intersection, but Mr. Policeman wanted to have a chat with me, so I pulled over to the side. He asked me if I was tired, drunk, or what, and took my license and ran a record check on it. I've only got one citation on my record, and that was three years ago. I sat in the car and laughed at myself while my wife made fun of me until he brought it back and said to please pay more attention to my driving. I didn't see it, but Mrs. Grishny said he smiled and shook his head as he walked away.

Boy, do I feel stupid. So c'mon now folks, tell me all about your brain freezes and make me feel better. I need some comradery here.

Gri"at least I didn't hit any MOOSES"shny