slipstreamed by a life ponder

As I go through my day, each day, I don't usually experience slipstreams of my own making, in my own head. However, today was a bit different. Usually life gets in the way of one reaching the next goal, the big dream, the ultimate thing that each of us aims for. Today, as I was just bimbling along in my life, a life 'ponder' came out of nowhere, slipstreaming what was a lovely kind of blissful easy day. Its not a

completely new life ponder, but one that I didn't expect to come up again in my quite wonderful current existence. Simply, 'how did I end up here?' I can't really comment further today, as I am still musing over this. I will try to continue on tomorrow.

This is not about slipstreaming, but its hilarious!

Okay so I was bored and I google mapped from Paris, France to Halifax....ummmm check out step # 20 for directions LOL Hilarious!

From:
Paris
France

Change destination



Drive: 6,884 km (about 29 days 14 hours)


1. Head north on Place de l'Hôtel de Ville toward Avenue Victoria 28 m

2. Turn left at Avenue Victoria 0.1 km

3. Turn right at Rue de la Tacherie 85 m

4. Turn left at Rue de Rivoli 2.2 km 4 mins

5. Slight left at Place de la Concorde 0.3 km

6. Turn right at Avenue des Champs-Elysées 1.7 km3 mins

7. Slight right to stay on Avenue des Champs-Elysées 0.3 km

8. Continue on Avenue de la Grande Armée 0.9 km 2 mins

9. At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto N13 2.6 km 4 mins

10. Continue on A14 (signs for Rouen/Cergy/Pontoise/Rueil-Malmaison/Saint-Germain-en- Laye/La Garenne-Colombes)Partial toll road 19.8 km 15 mins ...

11. Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie Partial toll road 90.1km 47 mins...

12. Take the exit toward E46/E402/Le Havre/Caen 1.3 km

13. Merge onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie Partial toll road 31.9 km 16 mins...

14. Take the exit onto A131/E05 toward Le Havre/Fécamp Partial toll road 15.0 km
8 mins

15. Slight right at E05 (signs for N182/Le Havre/Fécamp) Partial toll road 27.4 km
20 min...

16. Turn right at Quai Colbert 0.1 km

17. Turn right to merge onto Rue Marceau 0.3 km

18. Take the ramp onto Quai Frissard 1.0 km 2 mins

19. At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto E05 0.9 km 2 mins

20. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 5,572 km 29 days 0 hours...

21. Turn left at Long Wharf 0.3 km

22. Turn right at Atlantic Ave 0.2 km

23. Turn right to stay on Atlantic Ave 0.4 km 1 min

24. Continue on Commercial St 0.9 km 1 min

25. Turn right at RT-99 N 0.8 km 2 mins

26. Turn left to merge onto US-1 N toward Tobin Bridge 22.8 km 23 mins...

27. Merge onto I-95 N via the ramp to N.H./Maine Partial toll road
Passing through New Hampshire
Entering Maine 136 km 1 hour 21 mins...

28. Take exit 44 to merge onto I-295 N toward S Portland/Downtown Portland
Partial toll road 84.4 km 52 mins...

29. Merge onto I-95 N Partial toll road 324 km 3 hours 9 mins...

30. Continue on HWY-95 E Entering Canada (New Brunswick) 14.1 km 10 mins

31. Take the HWY-2 E/RTE-2 Est/Trans Canada Hwy exit toward Fredericton 0.5 km

32. Merge onto Trans Canada Hwy E Partial toll road Entering Nova Scotia 435 km
4 hours 6 mins...

33. Take exit 15 to merge onto HWY-102 S toward Truro/Halifax 75.0 km 42 mins...

34. Take the HWY-118 exit on the left toward HWY-103/Dartmouth/HWY-111/Halifax 0.7 km

35. Merge onto HWY-118 S 16.1 km 11 mins

36. Turn left at Victoria Rd 0.6 km 2 mins

37. Turn right at Nantucket Ave 0.5 km 1 min

38. Continue on Angus L MacDonald Bridge Partial toll road 1.5 km 2 mins

39. Continue on North St 1.3 km 3 mins

40. Turn left at Dublin St 74 m 1 min

41. Turn left at Willow St 11 m

Dangerous Slipstream

I can slipstream in most circumstances. Its kind of a natural thing for me, which I often don't realise I have done until I am done. However, slipstreaming a cop is dangerous stuff and I work really hard to not do that. There's nothing comfortable about being in a conversation with a police officer, no matter what the circumstance. They come into your life only when something negative has happened. Sometimes its because of what you have just done, other times its because of something that has been done to you or another person close by. Now, I am not talking about off duty police people. When they are off duty you can be quite social and normal with them, but usually only if you don't actually know what they do for a living.

whatcha doin' Willo?

I have slipstreamed myself, yet again! Ok, back on track. Cops don't 'get' slipstreaming. If you foolishly or unconsciously try, they come right back to 'the subject at hand' and are never happy about having to do so. And, an unhappy officer of the law spells danger, just a lot. Even if you are being helpful in their investigation of a break-in across the street from your house. One of my theories is that they think the act of slipstreaming is an attempt at diverting their attention and they become suspicious. A suspicious police person is also dangerous. You know when your mother used to make you sit on your hands to keep you still and out of mischief? I try to sit on my brain so that it stays out of mischief when I am talking to a cop. About anything. Ever.

feline slipstreaming

This is a lot more subtle than human slipstreaming. It also begs the question - Is the cat conscious of his actions, therefore knowing the name of said deed? Or does it go by another name in his world? 'A rose by any other name is yet a rose', comes to mind.

Feline slipstreaming can be vocal, which is not so subtle really, but may be viewed as simple interference of thought or conversation. It does not appear that the cat is actually concerned with the subject matter at hand, only that attention is now paid to him/her, thus breaking train of thought of his/her person and succeeding in getting fed, let out, let in, picked up or stroked. I have opinions on this matter. If only wanting feeding, letting in or letting out, then its a simple interruption and does not qualify as a bona fide slipstream. However, if said feline wants to join the group for stroking or lap sitting, then he/she will ensure that the conversation now centres on him/her. This is a slipstream. And cats are very very good at it.

Some cats prefer a non verbal approach to slipstreaming. This is so subtle, but highly effective and result is achieved every time. Suddenly appearing on a lap is common, or rubbing affectionately against a leg or two, or even just sitting at one person's feet and staring. Within in seconds, usually, conversation is centred on the cat. Less common, but just as successful, is the art of 'cute'. Bringing a ball into the visual sphere of those talking, or turning a somersault, chasing a tail, even raising a leg up to like private parts, all serve to ensure that conversation will be controlled by a 4 legged furry thing.

I give you Tjak, Prince of Feline Slipstreaming. He is not old enough to be King yet, give him a year. However, in his 10 months of living, he has fine tuned his skills in verbal slipstreaming and no human that enters his sphere is safe.

Non-verbal slipstreaming has not quite been achieved to the finesse of older and wiser cats. This still comes across as a simple interruption, often an annoying one that results in Tjak being removed from the conversation or distracted with one of his toys. I anticipate that he will become more skilled as he matures. I hope so, as his nonverbal attempts at slipstreaming are currently all about attacking our feet.

Queen of the Slipstream strikes again

Me again,
Talking about slipstreams, in their many guises. Tonight, I was Queen of the Slipstream, par exellence! Didn't slipstream myself though, which I think was a good thing. However, in 4 different phone conversations, I slipstreamed friends I have just located after a 20 year absence. Not bad! And only one of them commented that I haven't changed a bit! Now that just shows that he was paying attention 20 years ago too.
Human conversational dynamics are strange and curious things. Always fluid, evolving, and depending on the engagers, intensely creative. I could speak at great length about dynamics between introverts and extroverts on the telephone together, but count on you, my reader, to feel satiated with others outpourings. I could also regale the dynamics between two extroverts, or two introverts for that matter, but the same reasoning for not doing so remains the same. I would rather talk about the magic that happens when two people who really like each other talk on the phone after not talking together for over 20 years.
After tentative beginnings, both friends find the common ground they each remember, and the base energy of their chat changes dramatically. Suddenly, they are making plans to see each other, working out ways to accomplish that, giggling, slipstreaming each other as memories and questions come tumbling out of areas of their minds that have held them in check for all these long years. Transformation takes place in each of them, and although they know that they can now call each other whenever they want, having made contact again, there is an acute reluctance to end the conversation. Little pauses occur as the time goes on, each of them grappling in their minds for another question to ask, another sweet memory to recount, another topic of mutual interest to raise. Neither one of them wants the warm and fuzzy feeling of finding each other to end, but life in their individual worlds is going on without them and they need to come back to that. The magic that is going on will continue even after they hang up the phone, as they will not be able to keep quiet to anyone in their vicinity.
And if those who are required to listen dare to attempt a slipstream - beware!

Slipstreamed by Emerson

Dinner with a friend last night, catching up from 20 years of not seeing each other. She, immersed in the writings of Emerson, arrived with pages of his quotes and thoughts. The evening commenced with me reading aloud from these writings, to include my beloved and my friend. Initially, the reading was broken up by laughter, debate, questions, and all the things you would expect when reading Emerson aloud. My friend's enthusiasm about the father or existentialism rapidly enthused both my man and me, although it must be said I have always been enthusiastic about Emerson. His writing has always provoked my soul to encourage my intellect to embrace and process deep and meaningful experiences. As the evening progressed, the food tantalized and filled us, the wine flowed til it was gone, and Emerson slipstreamed his way into our conversation to such an extent that I firmly believe we all felt more enlightened about our existence by the end of the night.

slipstream definitions

The term "slipstreaming" is most often used in relation to objects moving through air, though not necessarily flying. If a following object, moving at the same speed, can position itself within the slipstream, it will require less energy to maintain its speed than if it was moving independently, because the front object blocks a significant amount of air resistance. Using this principle is called slipstreaming.

Consequently, the art of slipstreaming in conversation means the person who positions themselves in an ongoing conversation needs to exert less energy to join in than the original people involved. However, it usually means that the conversation will be veered to a slightly different subject by the slipstreamer. Are you with me?

I slipstreamed myself

A friend once crowned me 'Queen of the Slipstream'. Van Morrison wrote a song with that title. He doesn't know me, so I don't take it personally. There must be two of us. I know I slipstream a lot, its all part of linear thinking, or is that linkear thinking? When one word makes a link in your brain to another word, which takes you to another subject and you find yourself interjecting this new thought to the conversation going on. That's quite ok. What might not be quite ok is finding that in the middle of speaking a sentence, you slipstream yourself, thereby not finishing the sentence at all! I did that. Hmmmm......

A common slipstream

Life is full of slipstreams. You know, you and a friend chatting away on a subject of interest and another friend comes and sits down with you. Right in the middle of your brilliant delivery of most profound thought, he/she butts in and the subject matter instantly changes. You have just been slipstreamed! This common slipstream event is practiced daily by the majority of people living in the world today. Go on, you know you do it, too!