When should a driver honk at another driver?

I've had drivers:

1) honk at me when I'm at a red light when I would be turning right.

Usually, there is a small break in the traffic that they think I should have pressed my car into. What I want to say to them is - I'm the driver of my vehicle and am thus responsible for the safety of those in my car and those around me. I know how my vehicle will react (slowly or quickly) when I press the gas pedal). Additionally, I have a different vantage point from where they are and SO I ultimately get to make the decision on when to move forward.

2) honk at me when I was waiting for change from a fast food drive-thru,

No point to this honking at all. I will still want my change back before I leave.

3) honk at me when I'm at a red light when I would be turning left.

Uh. Duh. The light is red. It would be ILLEGAL to turn. If you are in that big a hurry, go around me to take the turn. You get the ticket, not me.

4) honk at me when I was at a red light and the light JUST turned green and I was already moving forward.

If you are in that big a hurry, you should have left 5 minutes earlier. I'm already moving, so get a grip.

Honking should only be used when there is a danger that you want to make another driver aware of (ie they are backing out and will hit you unless you honk to let them know they are coming close to kissing your bumper). Unfortunately it has started to be used as a method of screaming at another driver... and frankly it is another version of road rage.

Back from Vacation

After two weeks abroad, I am very happy to be home. I love traveling, but everybody needs a homebase. We moved far too often from house to house to hotel to apartment... even country to country. I liked Scotland a lot more than England. Not to say I didn't like England, but I found the majority of the people there to be rude. The people in Scotland were far friendlier. I'd live there. However, while I know we had wonderful weather while we were there, I know it isn't the norm. And... would I be able to deal with liquid sunshine? I'm living in a state that has 300 days of sunshine a year. Do I want to leave that? Perhaps for awhile but I would always want to return home again.

Hmm.. Perhaps that's why the people in London are the way they are. They have permanent SAD. Perhaps the UK Government should buy everyone a natural light lamp for their homes and offices. And accounting for the Scottish friendliness when dealing with the same realities of environment? The architecture there is goregous and would put a smile on anyone's face. Yes - I know England has it's own beautiful architecture, but the hustle and bustle of the city and the greater number of people make it virtually impossible to actually enjoy it.

I would love to go back to Scotland and do research on the clans and their histories, including their tartans, mottos, and heraldry. It's really interestng.

As for the books I chose to read while away? I took the new Harry Potter - and didn't touch it (shame on me since I carted that heavy thing all over the place). I did read two books: The Mercy of Thin Air (set in 1920's New Orleans) and Pemberley, a Pride and Prejudice continuation.