jwells' profile
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Name: Jay
Joined: September 10, 2000
Joined: September 10, 2000
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About
What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.
Contents*
Lessons learned from my long long commute
NOAA, the weather, and why you should care
_____________________________________________________________
Lessons learned from my long long commute
My childhood was a mix of extremes and I've been a student of humanity ever since. My favorite place to study is during my commute to work because it exposes me to so many different types of people and emotions. I enjoy indexing my negative responses to other people's driving habits and then trying to understand why they'd be that way.
Slow drivers used to confuse the hell out of me till the day my water pump blew. I couldn't drive more than a mile on the back roads before my car would overheat. On the highway, with the higher speeds and airflow, I could go as far as needed so long as I was doing 55mph. 55!
Occasionally you'll get a person zipping in and out of traffic like a mad man, a bit like my dad one day back in the 1980s. Why? I'd been crossing a road on my bike and hit by a van doing 50mph, flinging me 145ft down the road. He thought I was dead or dying, but aside from the road rash and having to regrow my left heal (it still feels different), I was ok thankfully. I still get migraines from it now.
The parents in minivans will annoy the heck out of anyone because their attention is so focused on their child rather than driving. I didn't get it until a friend from work had one and we went for lunch one day. Seeing the busy world from her child's eyes made me impressed parents are able to drive at all, let alone look five cars ahead and plan for sudden stops and the like.
Semi-truck drivers, landscapers, construction crews, taxis, and limo drivers all drive professionally. They go slow because they know the limits of brakes. I know them too because of that bicycle accident. Most people don't. Go slow, and leave five car lengths space in front of you.
If you see a ball roll into the road you can be damn sure a kid will follow it. Be prepared to break hard.
If an intersection is so difficult that there is a mirror there to help you, you shouldn't be using it. It isn't safe. Grade intersections to avoid problems like this. Don't go back to hard ones.
People's reaction times are responsible for a lot of problems. One lane change in crowded conditions will carry backwards, adding a quarter second delay with each car but the same amount of slowing in the same time period. If no one is leaving space that'll become a "sudden wall of stopped cars" pretty quickly.
No place is safe. The parking lot at your grocery store is a fender bender factory. Be aware of who is around you at all times and never assume someone will stop. Do assume they *aren't* paying attention to you and will cut you off. I didn't once and the guy broadsided me and then claimed it was my fault. Both of our insurance folks said that was physically impossible, so he paid. Still, I learnt better.
People tend to talk about "Situational Awareness" (SA) like it's a religion. It isn't, but it is good to be aware of your need to know what is happening around you and especially in front of whatever direction you are headed in. The problem is, your SA decreases exponentially the longer you aren't paying attention in a certain direction. That's why distractions like cellphones are bad, and "scanning" your environment is good. Look left, check left mirror, middle left, back mirror, middle right, check right mirror, then right. Rinse, repeat several times a minute, tailor as needed (the outside looks left and right aren't as needed on the highway unless changing lanes, etc.).
Bumper stickers are a sign of a territorial personality. Territorial people like their space. Give it to them.
People will sit there and watch an accident take place, believing the whole time it can't possibly happen. It's better to honk and feel like an idiot than not honk and serve as a witness. I've even prevented parking lot accidents with a loud "Oi!" as a pedestrian. It works!
While we're on it, if you aren't sure of another driver's intentions to your own vehicle (or unawareness of it), honk! Give 'em a smile and a wave too. Let them know you're just saying "hi". You were, right?
That brings up another hint. I make eye contact with drivers. You'd be surprised how often I get it back. It changes things from a bunch of disconnected drones that sometimes do stupid things back to a community of people with a shared goal (Arrive Safely).
Some roads used to have a trolley track running down the middle of the road. The track has been paved over so the lanes look massive enough for two cars to fit in, next to each other. It's a bad idea to do that when on a regular road but at an intersection on a red light there's a conundrum: how to leave the space on the right open so cars turning can do so, but avoid letting a bus in which'll cut everyone off and slow everyone down. You have to think quickly.
Don't even get me started on how people drive in different weather. In Mass they slow to a crawl for rain (which is easy to drive in with ABS) but speed up for snow... and then slow to a crawl due to the accidents they cause. Watch the weather reports people. For those in the US there's NOAA (see NOAA, the weather, and why you should care below). Outside I'm not sure.
Of course, mostly people drive like jerks because they are jerks. Hopefully the above will give you pause instead of getting angry about their actions. Why? Because once that happens you become one of the jerks!
In a post I detailed some of the accidents I've seen:
I've been the sole car between two 3-car pileups. The guy behind me and myself left enough stopping space, the others didn't.
I've been next to a drunk as they hit a deserted car on the highway and ricocheted towards me with just a split second to avoid the collision.
I've watched a Jeep hit a stopped van behind me at 60mph, twirl on one wheel, and only avoid tipping on it's side because of a guard rail.
I've watched a Volvo driver get angry at a Semi and proceed to have an impromptu demolition derby right next to me... WITH A SEMI!
In the end, after about a decade of this my wife changed jobs and started carpooling to work with me. I drop her off from work and then head to my place, and reverse the process when we go home. It's the easiest form of carpooling. Regardless, we rather quickly abandoned the highways in the afternoon commute for back roads. I bought an old Blue Book from the 1920s detailing the "highways" before "highways" were built. We follow one almost all the way home and arrive within a 10 minute span every day, even though it's a 30 mile drive and takes an hour. Rolling meadows, chicken, geese, and deer. You name it. I love my commute home.
It reminds me of the changes that have happened since the modern highways were built. Mom and pop stores declined because of the loss of business and with them, the old civic systems that built our societies, like Grange halls, Church dinners, and Diners. At the same time technology proceeded so rapidly that when we needed those systems the most, they weren't there.
Tort Law needed to be updated to help an open society deal with what could now take place in such a short amount of time. With the increasing numbers of people we needed to be instilling a sense of honor and brotherhood and sisterhood amongst us, when instead we learnt to ignore each other and extremists all around the world grow strong instead. Our product options increased rapidly too, with no guidance on what was best other than a few publications and "reviews" from "Johnny Come Lately" folks on the Internet.
That's why Metafilter is what it is. People here know and take care of each other. Is it a poor substitute for our former systems? I don't know, but I think we'd be better off having both. So get out there folks, meet the people in your communities and tell them about the wonderful things you know. You might just learn something from them in return. And when you are going to meet them, please drive safely too.
_____________________________________________________________
NOAA, the weather, and why you should care
Note: Adapted from this comment and a few others I've made.
My wife and I commute 60 miles round trip daily in the northeast US, together thankfully. We literally live off of NOAA's National Weather Service because the media weather people just always seem wrong about damage estimates and such. You can use www.weather.gov. You'll see the watches, advisories, and warnings in red. Watches mean they are 50% confident the thing they are about will happen in the next 1 to 2 days. When that percentage increases they issue advisories, and if a significant threat to life and property exists, they'll issue a warning.
Here's an example set of warnings from one incident:
Coastal Flood Watch
Hazardous Weather Outlook
High Surf Advisory
High Wind Warning
So, what they are saying with the Watch is there is a 50% chance you'll get some flooding but they aren't too sure or worried about it since it isn't an advisory or warning. The Outlook is just a FYI basically, very handy for planning the rest of your day. The Advisory means there's a solid chance you'll get high surf but again they aren't too worried about it (I assume that's quite normal by the sea), and then there is the High Wind Warning which they're saying is the big threat.
These folks are insanely good about giving ORDERS, when needed, so pay attention to what they are saying. If there's no cause for alarm they won't put it in. For comparison, on 12/13/07 we had a "heavy snow warning" which specifically said "All travel should be completed by noon. Significant threats to life and property ..." etc. That isn't a suggestion. They're flat out saying - be home by noon OR ELSE. Without instructions like that they just want you to be on your toes and mindful of what's happening. Don't setup a tent outside or go for a picnic sort of things. If they need to say more, they will. Keep your eye on the page though and read the warnings throughout the day. They do change them. Generally they'll make forecasts at 4am and 4pm but stuff like this they'll have someone on 24x7.
The forecast discussion can come in handy for planning too. It's on your city's main page, on the right, below the radar graphic. Start reading it now so you can learn all the lingo ahead of time. Most of it is just the names of the different models, some of which are better than others.
* Credit for the layout goes to mutant.
Contents*
_____________________________________________________________
Lessons learned from my long long commute
My childhood was a mix of extremes and I've been a student of humanity ever since. My favorite place to study is during my commute to work because it exposes me to so many different types of people and emotions. I enjoy indexing my negative responses to other people's driving habits and then trying to understand why they'd be that way.
In a post I detailed some of the accidents I've seen:
In the end, after about a decade of this my wife changed jobs and started carpooling to work with me. I drop her off from work and then head to my place, and reverse the process when we go home. It's the easiest form of carpooling. Regardless, we rather quickly abandoned the highways in the afternoon commute for back roads. I bought an old Blue Book from the 1920s detailing the "highways" before "highways" were built. We follow one almost all the way home and arrive within a 10 minute span every day, even though it's a 30 mile drive and takes an hour. Rolling meadows, chicken, geese, and deer. You name it. I love my commute home.
It reminds me of the changes that have happened since the modern highways were built. Mom and pop stores declined because of the loss of business and with them, the old civic systems that built our societies, like Grange halls, Church dinners, and Diners. At the same time technology proceeded so rapidly that when we needed those systems the most, they weren't there.
Tort Law needed to be updated to help an open society deal with what could now take place in such a short amount of time. With the increasing numbers of people we needed to be instilling a sense of honor and brotherhood and sisterhood amongst us, when instead we learnt to ignore each other and extremists all around the world grow strong instead. Our product options increased rapidly too, with no guidance on what was best other than a few publications and "reviews" from "Johnny Come Lately" folks on the Internet.
That's why Metafilter is what it is. People here know and take care of each other. Is it a poor substitute for our former systems? I don't know, but I think we'd be better off having both. So get out there folks, meet the people in your communities and tell them about the wonderful things you know. You might just learn something from them in return. And when you are going to meet them, please drive safely too.
_____________________________________________________________
NOAA, the weather, and why you should care
Note: Adapted from this comment and a few others I've made.
My wife and I commute 60 miles round trip daily in the northeast US, together thankfully. We literally live off of NOAA's National Weather Service because the media weather people just always seem wrong about damage estimates and such. You can use www.weather.gov. You'll see the watches, advisories, and warnings in red. Watches mean they are 50% confident the thing they are about will happen in the next 1 to 2 days. When that percentage increases they issue advisories, and if a significant threat to life and property exists, they'll issue a warning.
Here's an example set of warnings from one incident:
Coastal Flood Watch
Hazardous Weather Outlook
High Surf Advisory
High Wind Warning
So, what they are saying with the Watch is there is a 50% chance you'll get some flooding but they aren't too sure or worried about it since it isn't an advisory or warning. The Outlook is just a FYI basically, very handy for planning the rest of your day. The Advisory means there's a solid chance you'll get high surf but again they aren't too worried about it (I assume that's quite normal by the sea), and then there is the High Wind Warning which they're saying is the big threat.
These folks are insanely good about giving ORDERS, when needed, so pay attention to what they are saying. If there's no cause for alarm they won't put it in. For comparison, on 12/13/07 we had a "heavy snow warning" which specifically said "All travel should be completed by noon. Significant threats to life and property ..." etc. That isn't a suggestion. They're flat out saying - be home by noon OR ELSE. Without instructions like that they just want you to be on your toes and mindful of what's happening. Don't setup a tent outside or go for a picnic sort of things. If they need to say more, they will. Keep your eye on the page though and read the warnings throughout the day. They do change them. Generally they'll make forecasts at 4am and 4pm but stuff like this they'll have someone on 24x7.
The forecast discussion can come in handy for planning too. It's on your city's main page, on the right, below the radar graphic. Start reading it now so you can learn all the lingo ahead of time. Most of it is just the names of the different models, some of which are better than others.
* Credit for the layout goes to mutant.