I swear to you that I'm not a bad driver. I'm not. I've gotten one ticket at 2am on my 20th birthday for running a yellow light. I had my (old) car in the body shop once, and that was when my neighbor hit my parked car in our driveway. I may have a bit of internal roadrage, but I don't do anything more than yell in my car. I don't tailgate, and while I might not exactly obey the speed limit, I don't go any faster than the state of the roads dictate. People willingly let me drive.

There is one person in my life, however, who thinks I am a bad driver. And I am constantly proving him right. Every time he's in my car I do something stupid. Every. Single. Time. (Luckily for my car, he's not in it very often.) It used to really tick me off, but the more I had to slam on my brakes, or passed too close, or made a left on red with him in the car, the more I was willing to let him drive. I simply cannot operate a motorized vehicle in his presence.

This weekend I went out with him and his fiancee (who happens to be my best friend). Based on past experiences, and to avoid screwing up my new car, I let him drive it. But on the way home I thought, "Screw it, new car, new luck right? I'm not going to let him jinx me anymore!" And I slid into Miranda's driver's seat. Adjusted my mirrors, turned the key, put the car in reverse and promptly backed over a stack of two railroad ties that were being used as a barrier in the parking lot.

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And speaking of driving, should this worry me?

My route to North Carolina Friday and the projected path of Ernesto: