Huckleberries: Slow driver jamming I-90 traffic wasn’t crazy, so Joe had a good laugh

So Joe Paisley was zipping along eastbound I-90 from work at KHTQ-FM when the traffic bunched up at State Line.

Those in the right lane were exiting. Joe’s only option was to follow a truck with a decal on the side advertising a local business, phone number and all. We’ll call the business “Frank’s Landscaping.” Alas, the truck was motoring along at 55 mph in the 70 mph zone.

Joe followed for awhile, wondering whether the guy was lost in thought, talking on the phone, changing his pants. Et cetera. After a few miles, Joe pursued on an impulse to call the other driver. “Frank” answered. After exchanging pleasantries, “Frank” asked: “How can I help you?”

Joe almost hung up then. But he stammered: “Could you please get out of the passing lane? There’s like 60 cars stuck behind you right now, dude.” Luckily, “Frank” was a good guy. Both laughed as “Frank” pulled into the slow lane. Joe passed him quickly but didn’t make eye contact.

Later, Joe’s wife wondered what would have happened if “Frank” had been a Road Rager and followed him. “He didn’t,” responded Joe. “So it’s funny!” Joe’s right. It is funny. But his wife’s right, too.

A wonderful place

Uber Phantom, who drives Coeur d’Alene area roads, has stories to tell, including a tearfest to Harrison, featuring a bride and two of her attendants. But that’s a tale for another day.

Uber Phantom has lived in Coeur d’Alene for some time. However, he didn’t know what a tourist destination the Lake City has become until he starting driving for others. On Thursday night, he gave a ride to a family of four from Los Angeles. The fam traveled to Coeur d’Alene simply to get out of the city for a few days. “Of all the places in the world that they could go,” Uber Phantom told Huckleberries, “they chose Coeur d’Alene.”

This story is not uncommon, he adds. Riders from Canada, the East Coast, and all over visit Coeur d’Alene to get away. Sums up Uber Phantom: “It helps me realize what an amazing place we live in.” Bingo.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: 600 miles beyond the shore/these lava isles of Ecuador/are where, with steadfast resolution,/Charles Darwin pondered evolution/of blue foot boobies and iguanas/and all the other offbeat faunas – “The Bard of Sherman Avenue: Poems by Tom Wobker” (“Galapagos Islands”) … Poll: 61.5 percent of Huckleberries blog readers say the Art Spirit Gallery shouldn’t remove a controversial art piece from its downtown Coeur d’Alene window. “Our Lady of G and Me” (an irreverent portrayal of Our Lady of Guadalupe) by Montana artist Chris Riccardo has upset some local Roman Catholics … Scanner Traffic: A woman was desperate to get into her RV on West Cannon Avenue in Post Falls Monday afternoon. Why? The door was jammed. Her air conditioning wasn’t working. A lock smith was an hour out. And her cats were inside. Huckleberries wants to think that this situation turned out well … In his latest Roll Call report, Sgt. Paul Twidt explains why Kellogg police regularly fix detour signs: “Some wise guy keeps moving them to point the wrong way.”

Parting Shot

If you’re going to drive drunk, it might be a good idea – a real good one – to remove your now-illegal snow tires. It’s August, fuhcryinoutloud. The Post Falls PD Blues working the graveyard shift Monday morning were first alerted to a potential 19-year-old drunken driver by the familiar whir of studs on concrete, according to the PFPD Facebook report. Mr. Studded Tires failed his field sobriety test but claimed he hadn’t had anything to drink, despite the two ice-cold beers that the gendarmes found in the car. And that’s how you begin your adult life with a bad driving record and expensive insurance.