parking lot hysteria and debris

After a long day of training, Lauren and I headed to the Co-Op to pick up some things for dinner. She found a really good recipe for this Chick Pea, Cauliflower and Kale soup so she invited me to come over, to help cook and of course to help eat it. It turned out amazing. Anyway, we pull into the parking lot, which is quite small for a grocery store, and of course, there are very few parking places. Fortunately, they are smart enough to have a "parking manager" standing in the lot helping to direct customers in and out of spaces.

So, the one space available was, obviously, between two large SUVs. Lauren's car is a little one but the woman who had parked to the left side of the space was clearly not very competent with her large vehicle. Her rear wheels were not even remotely close to being within her space. I rolled down the window to see what the "parking manager" wanted us to do and said, completely joking, "apparently that woman needs a lesson in how to park her SUV." He laughed and, much to my amazement, quickly walked over to her and made her get back in her car to adjust her parking job. It was a great thought, and valiant attempt on his part, except that even with a complete back out and re-pull in she was still incapable of putting the car between the white lines.

It's amazing to me how unaware some people are of the world around them and how many people really have no business driving the massive vehicles that they drive. Or maybe, they are aware but just don't care. I'm not sure which is worse.

Items spotted in shoulder on 3+ hour ride today:
Large gardening shovel with 1/2 of a splintered wooden handle still attached
Lots of road kill... apparently a rough time of year for the possums and squirrels in the area
Massive rocks, almost classifiable as boulders
A small "voodoo" doll
Splattered strawberry milkshake... all over the road
One Jetta with missing rear view mirror and completely destroyed left side... Lauren did a bit of rubber necking over this. Meanwhile the owner sat calmly on the guard rail listening to his Ipod.

Time for bed. Big session tomorrow and the exhaustion is ever increasing.
One week to race day in Valle de Bravo!!!