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where everything else happens
I arrived yesterday afternoon. I apologize for making those of you that guessed the stats for the drive a bit, but in the meantime, enjoy the movie above, (or here to view) a timelapse of the drive. It starts just before dawn in Portland, Oregon, and finishes at the SF Marriott. There is a section of NoCal misssing due to a computer error. The WA portion was sort of dull to look at being in the dark.
More details of yesterday to come later… I have an important errand to run.
The Truth About Cars | German Speed Limits: I Can’t Drive 155?
I recall being in the back of a big Benz cab, going from the Munich airport into the city (a very long drive)… I was behind the driver, with my co-worker opposite me. It was his first trip to Munich, but I had been there many times before. I was just looking out the window, enjoying the scenery when I turned to say something to him. I stopped speaking when I noted his eyeballs were as big as saucers. He was staring at the dashboard in front of the cab driver with a look of fear. I glanced over the driver’s shoulder and he had the big S-class barge floating along at well over 200 Kp/h.
I just smiled and said to my friend: “Welcome to Germany.”
Up until that moment, I had no sensation of speed at all… just another cab ride on the Autobahn.
I also agree that the 80-110 MPH zone on most restricted access highways is quite comfortable, and would be achievable here in the USA if they made getting (and keeping) a driver’s license more stringent than it is now. My son is 16 and I’ve been helping him learn, but the testing – at least in my state – is laughable. 20 questions, easily half of which are concerned with fines and DUI, and very little about actual driving.
That is an embarrassment and pretty much sums up why Americans drive the way they do.
–chuck
To all my readers (all half-dozen or so of you!) I also wish you all a happy and prosperous 2007!
We’re spending a quiet holiday at home. Traditional dinner tomorrow night. Tuesday the rest of the family is heading south to Oregon to visit relatives. I’ll be working. I hope to use my spare time to wrap up my series of rants I started well over two months ago. I still owe you the answer to the Maxim Gorky riddle, which I promise before year’s end.
2007 looks like it will be an adventurous year for me and those close to me. I’m heading down to Macworld Expo in a few weeks to speak at the IT conference. Subject matter will be technical aspects of blogging (John Welch asked me to sit on a panel), and the session I developed with John, Julian Koh, and Shaun Redmond entitled “Total Network Awareness, which is focussed on one of my favorite subjects (though I never talk about it here), network monitoring systems. Should be fun.
The family are once again heading out to Colorado for our annual visit to my parents, along with the entire scattered Goolsbee clan – my siblings, their spouses and kids. They even have 802.11 now at mom & dad’s house! (whoo hoo! no more dialup!)
In February Christopher heads down to the southern hemisphere, to spend a a few months in Chile as an Exchange Student. He’ll be back in July (I’m thinking of cashing in the frequent flyer miles to head down there to pick him up… maybe get some MORE skiing in!) More on that later.
Summer of course brings the Jaguar out from hibernation and all sorts of fun… stay tuned.
–chuck
Today was a nice sunny, though cold, day. Instead of going for a drive in the Jag (something I should have done) I finished the job of stripping the down tree of all its branches and limbs. It is just a pair of trunks now. Next I’ll find somebody who has the skill and equipment to reduce it to small chunks of firewood.
That’s the extent of it, beyond a few branches from other trees. We were without power for 32 hours. This is a mid-sized Douglas Fir, at 103′, which came down in our back yard, roots and all.
I have a confession to make… I don’t like power tools. Most of them at least. I especially don’t like the ones with rotating blades… mostly because I am something of a klutz and always have visons of chopping vital parts of myself off. As such I do not own a chain saw, and really don’t forsee ever having one. I do have a saw, a hatchet, and a long-handled axe.
Above: Sue & Nick next to the tree roots.
Above: Nick clowning around in front of the base of the trees.
Above: the top limbs removed.
Above: about halfway done.
We spent the day removing branches from the downed tree… with the hand tools. It took a while, and I’m *real* tired, but nobody lost any arms or heads. I worked my way up and down the trunk and removed all the limbs and branches, while Sue & Nick pulled them away and started stacking them. Sue left us around mid-day to go ride her horse. Later, once the majority of the trunk was exposed, we chopped and sawed off the top 25′ or so of the trunks (there are actually two, as this tree is bifurcated. Once we uncovred the fence, we saw that it was salvagable. We brought the pickup truck out and hauled the top of the trunks away, then raised the one bent fence post. We tie-wrapped the wire mesh fence material back on and basically made it dog-proof once again, and released the hounds… just as it got dark. There are still a bunch of limbs to clear, but the hard work is done… I think.
I wasn’t able to photograph the finished work, as it was too dark. I really want to get this work done before the rains return, which will likely be Monday.
The trunk will require a chainsaw, so I’ll either have a neighbor do it, or we’ll hire it out.
VIDEO: Self-parking Lexus befuddles Automobile editors
I hate the introduction of useless technology to the world of automobiles. Satellite navigation, onboard DVD players, rear-view remote cameras, car phones, etc. All they do is distract drivers, cause accidents, complicate troubleshooting, and worst of all ADD WEIGHT. Cars already weigh too much as it is. They are, on average, way too inefficient and that is largely due to weight.
Adding completely useless gee-gaws, like a “self parking system” is an idiotic waste of everyone’s time. If you can’t park the car, your should not be DRIVING the car.
Ugh… it gets worse, every day.
The Seattle Times: Opinion: The other war we can’t win
Isn’t this the truth?
I am not a drug user, but I really don’t care if other people do use them (so long as they don’t put others in danger, by doing things like driving.) But instead of viewing drugs as a source of taxation/income, the US Government has been throwing BILLIONS of dollars per year down a black hole fighting this stupid “War on Drugs.” Like the editorial says, it hasn’t worked. People still use and still get addicted. Not only have we made criminals of users, we’ve created an economy that encourages both violent and property crime to support itself. It is ludicrous.