Frustrating evening

So the thing about crewing for someone you don't know is that you DON'T KNOW THEM.
You don't know their style, you don't know their temper and you don't know their boat.
A good skipper would ask you what you usually do when you sail, what you're good at, and take your skills and put them to use.
What I got tonight was NOT a good skipper.
This was a women's race - male coaches allowed - so the boat owner had his 20 year old daughter at the helm.
Except he didn't let her lead, make decisions or follow her gut.
What we had was an unctuous man barking orders to a daughter unable to tell him to go to hell and take the lead.
He was unclear, unfocused and put the entire crew in positions to fail.
Add to those conditions almost no wind, which frustrates most racers.
I don't mind it - things go slower, are less panicky and generally a good way to enjoy the water.
But tonight, it just heightened anxiety and made things worse.

What I LIKE about situations like tonight are that I realize what good fortune I have to sail with the team I'm with on Wed'y nights. Also, it's a great way to practice patience and "rising above."
So tonight, I rose above.
I got yelled at.
Verbally abused.
Blamed for their piss poor leadership and communication.
And I rose above.
When we came back to the clubhouse I bought the crew their dinner.
Except the skipper and his daughter - I think they knew better than to stick around.

So the night ended well.
Until I decided to take East Ninth south at 10:10...
Cops were redirecting traffic onto EUCLID.
Tore up, slow ass, nasty Euclid (Fireworks at the Jake).
What should have been a 5 minute zip took 20.

Then I got to the hill that leads to Tremont through the Flats.
And just as I got down to the W. 3rd bridge, the god-damn lights started flashing and the bridge started to come down.
For some reason, that bridge takes more time to descend than it takes for the barge/freighter to go through the winding Cuyahoga. It comes down a little.. and it goes back up. It comes down a little more.... and goes back up.

So I did a bad-ass frustrated cranky driver U-turn and blasted up the hill a bit to get to the 'hood past Tower City.

I did get to Tremont, but at the top of the hill into the neighborhood, they're tearing up the on ramp to 90, so they have crabby construction workers on the night shift driving big trucks willy nilly and parking them perpendicular to lanes and making it just... inhospitable, I guess.

And, of course, it was Art Walk night in the neighborhood, which means all the people from all the suburbs come to my usually quiet street and take all the parking.

But by then I was so beyond frustrated, I couldn't gather the strength to write something snarky in the dust on the BMW with the licence plate that read "BEAMER."
Nice, Chad.
Or is it Josh.

Whatever.

Way to overcompensate....