Carolina Randomness

OK, so that last entry is rather sentimental. Sorry for the change of pace, but I’m sure that’ll happen a few times.

Moving on…I just figured that I’d share a few observations about my little area of the country here.

1) Radio sucks here. At least 60% of the stations here are either country or gospel. Rush Limbaugh is on FM. There is one sports radio station with no national feed (NASCAR, the Braves, ACC Basketball…that’s it). There are three country music stations on the AM dial…I didn’t know there was still music on AM. There is one rock station, and there are at least four Nickelback and Red Hot Chili Peppers songs per hour. Methinks I’ll be investing in XM if I ever want to hear “new” or “emerging” artists again.
2) Driving is an adventure. If there is an opening, people will turn out from side streets. I don’t mean “if there is a reasonable opening,” I just mean “if there is an opening.” You can’t coast here, because you have to be very vigilant at all times. Drivers here are worse than pedestrians in Ann Arbor.
3) Speed limits are suggestions. On the main highway that circles the city (I-485), the posted limit is 60 MPH. The reality, however, is that people are driving at speeds ranging from 50 MPH to 85 MPH.
4) The weather here reminds me of Jamaica. While on our honeymoon, we found that it rained every day at about 1:00 p.m. When it came down, it seemed like a hurricane: heavy winds and fierce downpours. It would end after about half an hour, and go right back to being hot and sunny. It’s been the same way here. At least half of the days, there have been serious storms, complete with heavy rain and near constant thunder. Like Jamaica, they always occur in the afternoon and never for more than 40 minutes.
5) Every fast food place down here can only advertise three products: fried chicken, biscuits, or sweet tea. We’ll still see the commercials that run nationally for Big Macs or Whoppers, but anything that is local (even from major chains like McDonalds) invariably focuses on chicken, biscuits, and tea.

That’s it for now.