the longer walk of consideration

I know, nitpick-y. When I'm waiting to turn right at a crosswalk I often encounter the ped who is trying to be helpful - and that should be good enough, right? - by angling his path further down (away from me) the target sidewalk. I appreciate the effort, but I'd be better served (and it's all about me) by you doing the old straight across the walk. It's math. I know you're saying, "Well, maybe he also picks up this pace; starts doing that officeworker jog." If that's the case, just do the officeworker jog straight ahead.

Hey, it's my Monday.

honk honk

Traffic flow and jams came up the other week while I was listening to a podcast and it reminded me of a traffic TV special on BBC or ITV while I was living in England. They were working on the M25 orbital and talking about two main issues: traffic waves and lane jumping. The nuts-and-bolts were that the less space between cars the worst the ‘jam’ and, you don’t get anywhere faster in a jam by lane chasing/jumping. Over the years I’ve sort of followed what I learned on the show – and this area certainly allows for it – but I ran down a video of a guy describing the theories while driving. It’s pretty good stuff and might lead to some discussion amongst the crowd. (His Web site is here if you want to read anything else or watch traffic waves.)

Breaking Up a Traffic Jam! - Watch the best video clips here

I managed to ‘install’ the new board in the kitchen on Sunday. I had to move a few things this way and that in order to make enough room; needless to say, working on such a massive surfaces is quite nice. We had the entire clan over for an early birthday dinner: figs with crème fraiche and salmon to open, homemade tortellini with lemon and sage, stuffed red bell peppers, and homemade pie. There wasn’t much left behind after the onslaught.

It’s my final week of class with just one final and a buffet plating/service for the other; Nothing too much to worry about. I’ve taken a tour of a smaller, and older, culinary school nearby that I might transfer to after the Holidays. My current place, enjoyable for the most part, is getting way too overcrowded for the space they have. They’ve got 11 skills classes and 7 Intro to Baking and Pastry classes (both make-up the first step of new students) beginning next month. As a measure, when I started, and granted it was autumn, there were two skills classes and two B & P classes going on. I honestly don’t know where they’ll find the room since there are only four kitchens (or 3 ½ if you consider that one kitchen is only set-up for baking). Not only that, I think having 20-25 students per class is too many by half. The other school only has three kitchens but they run essentially the same courses with classes along the lines of 8-11 students. If I transfer it won’t be anything significant as far as upheaval, just a new place for my evenings.

We’re thinking of a trip to Warm Springs in about 10 days. That’s good thinking.

it's math...or not.

I've been meaning to bring this up for eons but I always forget. The morning traffic reports that I hear on WAMU in D.C. always report morning traffic in this manner: "I-95 from the Beltway to the 14th St. bridge is taking about 19 minutes; that's 14 minutes than normal." Normal what? I've driven that fur piece of road any number of times on weekends or late evenings and it's a good four or five miles. Is 'normal' what it would take me to get from one end t'other at 1am on Tuesday when I can drive 60mph? Methinks that is the case. If I'm some K St. lawyer sitting on I-95 every weekday morning at 8am there is never a time when I'd consider five minutes to be normal. Normal is 19 minutes. If it's more than that what I want to hear is this, "I-95 from the Beltway to the 14th St. bridge is taking about 75 minutes because some jackhole in a HUMMER rubbed the barrier, careened right, and crushed a fucking Prius. That's 59 minutes more than normal. Now back to Steve Inskeep."

Along with my banking issues we are in the midst of swap to AT&T since The Hilltop falls into the fair service area for our old service. Of course, there's no easy way to move from bank-to-bank or cell service-to-cell service without death-and-destruction crossing your mind. Maybe if you added in an attempt at sorting out amalgam vs. composite filling within my dental insurance you could make my head explode.

My pal Buzz was working out in Denver this week and realized, belatedly (as Buzz is), that the Caps are in Denver tonight but he's flying out today. You can't teach kids anything.

I'm on hold with AT&T since my (and L.'s) new phones will dial out but not accept calls. Wish me luck; I'm going in...

love to all,

t

come together as one

I have issues with roads, lines, merging, and the overall ideals of the roadway. Today I’m feeling a little…irritated. I honestly believe that merging from a ramp or entrance lane should be the easiest thing in the World. Maybe it’s my race driving training (Brands Hatch, 2002), my vast experience (driving since February 1981), or my lack of impression with my road mates (always). The Eleven has covered this on numerous occasions, we aren’t generally yell drivers, and it always raises its ugly head when people either coming from or going onto a ramp don’t declare and maintain: declare and maintain. We aren't talking about the “construction ahead, left lane ending, merge right” high school debate; that’s a different issue for a different time. This is simply your everyday, driving to work, and merging often scenario. The example used today envelops a two-lane main road – very busy – that receives two merging veins (arteries? I guess it depends if you’re coming to or going from the heart) entering from the right in a short-ish distance. What you have to make yourself aware of, and you should be getting some aware in your diet if you’re driving, is that the first merge from my right actually becomes a third lane. (See the google map below…zoom in, zoom out, enjoy. I’m driving from SE to NW on the blue line. The big road we’re crossing is the Beltway.) The first merging jokesters are entering from the Beltway (and probably not getting back on the Beltway) but they’ll immediately slow down to a near standstill while the gears work in their little brains. Unfortunately for me, I’m actually trying to slot myself into their lane because I need to be over there in a few blocks. They never declare and maintain – if they’d just keep up the speed and acceleration I’d slide right over. If I know that a missile is moving at x speed then I can adjust. If you stop, start, stop, start, worry, have a sandwich, stop, start, we’ll get nowhere. Once we’re over the Beltway there’s little to concerned anyone's mind aside from the cloverleaf exit back onto the Beltway which is pretty simple and affects no one. But, just after passing under the small road you get another batch of mergers coming in from the (inner) Beltway. Say your damn prayers here. That wee ramp scoots in on my right and adds the fourth lane to the road – people who are going nowhere but straight on: you don’t even have to merge…the lane never ends! Ah, too simple. You see, I now need to get over into that new lane because I’m turning just after the big hotel complex. This second merge is the worst; since no one is actually in dire need of getting over (left) immediately they should be smart enough to just keep pace, the lane never ends: please, let me solve the merge and your issues...move!.

I wondered this morning if there was a standard for merging. I hit the internets and came up with a few nuggets on merging from the DMV.org – here a few of the greatest hits:

Still, the procedure requires extreme awareness because the last thing you want to do is have the driver in the vehicle that you are merging in front of end up in your passenger seat. Nor do you want to go into a panic and wander off from the acceleration pedal and land onto the shoulder. Here are some tips to help you become a major league merger.

Merging is designed to permit vehicles to enter and exit a highway without causing disruption in the flow of traffic. Highways are equipped with on-ramps and off-ramps, which generally connect to acceleration and deceleration lanes.

The idea behind this is when you pull onto the entrance ramp, you slowly begin building velocity. At the point where you can make eye contact with the highway, you need to immediately start assessing the gaps and the speed of existing traffic. From here, you should turn on your signal to reflect your intent to other drivers to merge onto the roadway.

Then use the acceleration lane to match the speed flow, and ease your vehicle into an appropriate gap before the acceleration lane ends. Some highways give you slabs of asphalt that are long enough for a jet to take off; others, especially on the East Coast, are so short you will need to make quick decisions or yield. A successful merge entails you entering the highway almost at or at the speed limit, while causing no disturbance in the speeds of the vehicles behind you.

And in rush hour, just in case you're about to pull out that ticket,

Sometimes [the bottleneck] is simply due to the sheer number of vehicles trying to enter or leave the road on a single stretch of asphalt utilized both as a deceleration and acceleration lane. But, you can also bet there is some improper merging going on, causing the entire system to break down into the proverbial bottleneck.

Maybe I’m not crazy.


View Larger Map

traffic report

Every weekday I catch snippets of the local NPR station, WAMU. In the mornings it’s for just a bit while we’re trying to get the launched from the house; in the afternoons I’ll tune in while running errands or cheffing up some dinner. Most know that the D.C. area is notoriously bad for traffic and I think the rush ‘hours’, from 6-11am and 3-8pm, have ballooned to a total of 10 or 12 hours per day. Even during the middle of the day, the slow period between 11am and 3pm, they are giving out ‘the traffic’. I think the basic tenet of a traffic report is to let us know changes to the traffic status quo so we can possibly adjust our plans. Changes. Even if you accept that you might change your route due to an in-depth and well thought out radio traffic report, I don’t know that I’ve ever changed my route because of a report, but someday I might. Anyway, since the beltway (Interstate 495), I-66 in Virginia, I-270 in Maryland / D.C., and I-95 in Maryland / Virginia are always jammed during rush hour, I don’t need to know just how jammed they are, that’s not a change. If I’m a driver and sitting in that jam, I don’t need to know the average speed is 11mph. All that’s going to do for me is get me off on some mathematical game to see if I’m actually moving along at 11mph. If I’m sitting in crappy traffic do not rub it in my face. A report on an accident that’s blocking the left lane of 66 eastbound in Virginia? Doesn’t help me. Here’s my idea of a useful traffic report for the greater D.C. area:

Let’s go to John with the traffic report.

Good morning, Julie. The Dulles toll road is completely empty this morning, average speed is 70mph. It looks like everyone decided to use Highway 7 and I-66 eastbound this morning, so if you’re heading in to the city and can get on the toll road, I’d recommend taking it – hey you, in your car, you’re the only one who can hear me, take the toll road. Also, for those heading into the District on 95 northbound in Virginia, the two right hand lanes are open and troopers are restricting those lanes for Honda and Toyota sedan drivers only. The SUV and Toby Keith-loving pick-up drivers are sitting in the left lane averaging about 5mph while listening to Opie and Anthony on the radio. That trip will take you about an hour to get into the District. The Hondas and Toyotas are doing about 75mph in their lanes. I’m John Doe for 95.3 WWKK.

That would be just fine.

I don’t drive to work, but if I did…

T.

crossing the walk

I’m a hardcore street crosser. I’m adamant about using applicable crosswalks and signals, but even officially sanctioned traffic signals with little lit walking people on signs require a measure of patience and hate. X and I differ on crossing and driving technique and these differences are reinforced when we’re walking together. My stance is that if I’m the walker, I expect the right-of-way in a crosswalk, lighted signs or painted lines; if I’m the driver I always give way (and room) to those crossing the street whether in a crosswalk or not. X is the opposite. My theory being that, right or wrong, I don’t envision a time in court where mowing down a pedestrian is going to be a good defense. It wouldn’t be such a good idea if I were the crosser and she were the driver, that’s why I stay close to her. Truth be told, my supporting data has been gathered mostly in parking lots rather than the mad streets of the greater Metro area – she doesn’t much threaten those on the streets.

The showdown this morning occurred on the usual corner, N. Carlin Springs and N. Park Dr. (click here for a map…if you zoom in on the corner you can see the crosswalk). I know I shouldn’t expect much from the driving clowns of the city but I refuse to be bullied by idiots. This morning there was an opening on my side of the street (the NE-bound lane) which I stepped into in a mad attempt to signal my crossing intention to the fools driving southwest. I’m not dumb enough to step in front of Joe Bob doing 40mph so sometimes I have to hold steady in the middle of the road. The problem with this is that eventually (usually in a few seconds) cars start approaching in the lane I’m occupying and these drivers aren’t quite evolutionarily developed enough to recognize a 6’3” person attempting to cross the street. Since the woman this morning clearly had the analytical ability of a black Labrador, and the intelligence of a wedge, she keeps right on truckin’, and gives me a little honk as she skitters her Audi by me while wondering just what I could be doing in the road? After all, she has a line of 50 cars sitting at the stoplight just 25 feet away. In order to make my opinion known, I respond with this statement through the small opening in her window, “Excuse Miss. I was simply trying to cross the street here in the crosswalk. I’m ever so sorry. Maybe later on I can come over to your house and apologize from my misbehavior.” For some reason, she must have misheard me; I think she gave me a look.

While I’m on about traffic, I’d like to point out to all those driving in this big old world that when turning a corner, if you stay in your lane everything will be peachy. Not only don’t they stay in their own little piece of line-marked terra firma, they refuse to turn right onto a three-lane road when the middle and far lane are occupied with oncoming traffic. Why? Because they can possibly fathom the idea of staying in a lane…they need at least 2.5 lanes of open turf before their little plankton brain can get the car going.

Seems like a Monday.

Hugs.

T.