When you approach the mid-century mark (your mid-50s) birthday presents go from cool clothes and sports items to humorous books, cards and CDs on aging, healthy living and memory exercises. Well, skipping the body function jokes and memory reminders, one comment from the humorist Dave Barry has stuck with me related to our driving habits: “It seems like everyone is going fast but me!” Last year, the president of the Bird Rock Community Council, Joe Parker, wrote a funny but serious view of his immediate neighborhood’s outrageously fast driving habits. Like Joe, and to the occasional dismay of my family, I’m the annoying guy standing in the street waving my arms and yelling at drivers. Another longtime Bird Rocker, Portia Wadsworth, wrote and brought the speeders to the mat ,challenging them to think through their bad (i.e., dangerous driving) habits. Yes, I admit to a bit of foolery and trickery to slow my fellow drivers down because I can — my Sequoia is so large. Intentionally slowing down for tailgaters and texters or the move to the middle of our small residential roads when a speeder is careening my way or maybe my strategic but safe creeping of my car door open when drivers whiz by with nothing but ignorance that someone may actually be in a parked car trying to exit (think Pearl Avenue). This is war and my tank is my tool. The consequences of speeding in our neighborhood can be devastating for all involved — in the blink of an eye lives change forever. Talk with your friends, your spouse, your sons and daughters. Please slow down — summer is coming — the streets are full of bikers, beachgoers and our children. — Trent Wagenseller lives in La Jolla.