I don't find that my failure to understand traffic circles has hampered my life in any way.
Also true of croquet, plate tectonics and pickup artistry.
I think what I find, and I find what I think.
Two lane traffic circles with merge points.
The umlaut/diaeresis distinction.
1. Traffic Circles
Then again, some people understand them very well.
Two land traffic circles with merge points and roads covered in margarine.
Seven sea traffic circles with merge points and sharks.
One traffic circle, suspended in air, with six lanes, one of which is occupied by a helicopter flown by a lemur.
Traffic circles shaped like umlauts.
14: Speak for yourself. Most of us figured that one out long ago.
That works of non-fiction are not "novels". Or at least not often.
Yes, I'm feeling a bit cranky about my students. What makes you ask?
Wait, you mean confusing fiction with non-fiction? Hmm.
Not understood: traffic circles surrounding a roundabout, comprising a rotary: Swindon Magic.
Other: It will be on you left.
Econolicious, modeling in NYC: Does it matter if I am coming from the north, or from the south before I deside to expect it on my left ?
Other: It's on your left.
Econolicious, still modeling: If I was hanging upside down from the back of a bus, would it be on my left ?
There's a town in southern England that has a "traffic circle" (roundabout, as they are really called) which is made up of 6 (six) separate smaller ones surrounding a big one in the middle. Like this.
You guys don't know you're born.
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
re: 22
Yeah, there are similar almost as extreme versions all over the place.
This one, in Swindon, for example:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Swindon_Magic_Roundabout_eng.svg/565px-Swindon_Magic_Roundabout_eng.svg.png
There used to be a really huge one on the western edge of Edinburgh that used to give me the fear when I first started to drive. It was a single roundabout but it had six lanes and no lights. The roads that fed into it were dual carriageways and it made for a fairly scarily unpredictable experience: conceptually easy, but practically hard. They've added lights now, narrowed it and put an underpass underneath it, so it's not the same.
The US aversion to roundabouts is one of the things that always baffles me when I visit. I understand they're more common in some states, though.
26: They are, but even in those, most people never figure them out. I lived in Somerville (MA) near a roundabout for about five years, and the daily level of near-accidents and angry horn-blowing was something to behold. There just aren't enough roundabouts/rotaries to sustain a learning curve, I think.
18: Heh. The one I used to get a lot was students referring to poems or theoretical articles as "stories."
One should use one's turn signal when one is turning.
21.2, 22 et al: Was actually ooking for one of those when I found the drift in 11, but from 21.1 and related videos on YouTube, drifting a roundabout and taping it seems to be a thing to do.
ooking = ineffective oogle searching.
The biggest problem with those magic roundabouts is that everyone's driving on the wrong side of the road and going around the circles backwards.
re: 22. I think that traffic circles and roundabouts are different things, though am not quite sure what the difference is - something like, a roundabout is a circular road whereas a traffic circle is a circular set of junctions.
You want a roundabout? (And no, I have no idea.)
32:I found driving in Australia that it was the frequent little mini-roundabouts (where there'd be 2 or 4-way stop signs in the states) that were actually the most disconcerting in practice. I'd go through them on semi-autopilot (unless I was making a right, which I had to think about), and then spend the next block suffering "Wait a minute, was that right OK?" unease. Do not recall seeing as many of them in England, but my driving/riding experience there is much more limited.
re: 35
They are common. There's one at the end of my street. A lot of people don't realise which side has the right of way. It's less obvious than with full 'proper' roundabouts.
The nature of the American presidency, as originally envisioned (and as actually created). That when the colonists were talking about 'the rights of Englishmen' it wasn't just, or even predominantly, about taxes. The comma.
Next to these, I would say the ordinary American understanding of the traffic circle is quite good.
I don't understand why people call rotarys "roundabouts".
They have those little mini roundabout dudes in California. Good for traffic calming.
Here in the heartland, roundabouts have become an issue of passionate debate. People have signs up in their yards proclaiming, "We're All About the Roundabout!" enclosed in a big heart.
38: Good for traffic calming.
Or not. The ubiquity of these drifting videos is something.
The nature of the American presidency, as originally envisioned (and as actually created).
Tangentially, this reminds me that I went off an a full-bore tirade over the weekend about whiny Constitutional originalists ignoring that, for all its innovations, the US Constitution was written by and for property-owning men of European descent. It annoys me when people elide this fact.
"We're All About the Roundabout!" is a cute slogan, but it's much too direct, given the subject matter.
43: Sure, but I bet you get all "That's unconstitutional!!!!" when someone wants to limit freedom of speech.
Well...that's what I do anyway.
I gots questions:
42: I can't access youtube at work. Can you explain what "drifting videos" are so I don't have to wait all day in agony to find out?
45: What does saying "That's unconstitutional!!!!" have to do with whether or not one is an originalist?
what "drifting videos" are
Skidding donuts around the traffic circle.
46.1: People doing extended four-wheel drifts around roundabouts, big and small. Some of them in the middle of traffic. And it appears that "drifting" is a hobby with a "legitimate" competition side. Who knew?
Driftworks is Europe's number 1 for Drifting. It's run for Drifters by Drifters and backed up with years of Drifting experience. Via our main website, Drifting Forum and online Drift Shop, we hope to bring the Drift community and anyone interested in getting involved in drifting all they could wish for, all from a name they know they can rely on.
46, part 2 -- you know, that is true. I'm being silly.
But putting aside the logical and legal analysis, Stanley's point is that the Constitution is old and yucky. Given that, what's wrong with something being unconstitutional?
If I ever encounter a roundabout, I will approach it as I do a normal intersection with stop signs.
54: Cryptic Ned is ready to face anything!
Those zebra stripe pedestrian crosswalks.
55: I heard that "no means no". Is that true???
I will approach it as I do a normal intersection with stop signs
As long as you don't go stopping in the middle of the thing to yield to cars who are waiting to enter, we cool.
54: I will approach it as I do a normal intersection with stop signs--going 60, accelerating, with one hand on the horn and the other waving a bottle of Wild Turkey out the window.
Back to the original topic: Things Scottish.
That which surpasseth understanding.
The proper limitations of ranch dressing.
29: One should use one's turn signal when one is turning.
Incomplete. One should use one's turn signal before one is turning, so others know one is about to slow down. If you're already turning, your signal is giving me no information.
The general ickiness of pedantry.
Why my brigade of light cavalry has been ordered to charge across that valley towards those cannon.
73: What part of "yours not to reason why" Mγtch fails to understand.
Why LizardBreath put the quoted part of 75 in quotes, seeing as it's not actually a quote from the poem in question.
76: The general ickiness of pedantry.
The fact that general rules have necessary exceptions.
Understanding when it is appropriate to apply an exception to a general rule.
1) How the Internet works.
2) Avoiding tailgating when behind me.
3) Getting the hell out of the way when in front of me.
My first driving experience in the UK was in a stick-shift Ford Ka I'd just rented for a week (I hadn't driven a stick in six or seven years) in Gourock or Greenok or Port Glasgow or somewhere. I stalled out five times trying to get through the four-lane roundabout that was the first thing I encountered after exiting their parking lot. After that I figured I could handle anything they could throw at me, and did.
82: The first time I drove in the UK, I found the cognitive load of having to drive on the left while sitting on the right (and thus shifting with the left hand) pretty taxing. Remembering that the car didn't end immediately to my right took a while to master. And I kept looking for the rearview mirror up and to my right, which was a point outside the car. Luckily, the pedals were the same. If I had had to clutch with the right foot I don't think I could have managed it.
Also helpful was having a co-pilot who could shout out "you're really close on this side! YOU'RE REALLY F&*KING CLOSE ON THIS SIDE!" as necessary. This likely prevented needless loss of the passenger side rearview mirror on several occasions.
83: The two I could not get past:
1) Turning on the wipers when I meant to signal.
2) Going to the passenger side door first. But then usually I'd have a bag or briefcase in hand that I could casually toss in before walking around to the other side calmly and naturally.
re: 86.1
Really? It's been a while in the UK since I encountered a car with the indicator stalk on the other side, but I'm pretty sure that's not always been consistent from manufacturer to manufacturer and I've definitely driven right hand drive cars where the indicator stalk is on the right rather than the more common left. In fact, googling, it's not that uncommon for there to be variation between manufacturers. So it's not a national thing, I'm surprised you've not come across it in the US.
Also, as a pedestrian, once I mastered which direction to look for cars as I crossed the street (helped, at least in London, by helpful instructions painted on the footpath), I still had trouble because I would attempt to make eye contact with drivers (to make sure they saw me) by looking at the passenger or the empty passenger seat.
87: Yeah, I've had that problem in the US when driving an unfamiliar car. I dont' think it's a national issue.
90: Easily solved, Will. Standpipe has a blog, you see.
(helped, at least in London, by helpful instructions painted on the footpath),
"footpath" forsooth. Why pass up a chance to say "zebra crossings"?
The difference between footpaths and zebra crossings.
What threw me off most, positionally, was having the individual gears in the same places even though I was on the other side of the shifter. It was very strange for 1st to be out-and-up rather than in-and-up, etc. (It wasn't what made me stall out five times - that was simply the result of having gotten extremely rusty at driving a stick.)
Driving on the other side of the road on the other side of the car never really bothered me much. Converting speeds on the fly didn't bother me much, either. When it was all over I wanted a Ka so bad my teeth ached, to be honest, because it was the perfect tiny car and it was a gorgeous color and yes I am that shallow. That first roundabout, though, was so harrowing that a dozen years later I still blush when I think about it.
That aside, I refuse to believe that the majority of cars in Europe are actually stick shifts. I think I've spent a total of maybe 24 hours in a stick-shift car in my entire life.
re: 95
They really are. I've only ever known two people who owned an automatic, and one was partially disabled and had a modded Audi coupé with automatic gears and some other tweaks.
I think I've spent a total of maybe 24 hours in a stick-shift car in my entire life
Wow, really? I believe you, but wow.
94.1: Yeah, I remember that being mentally taxing as well. And having to downshift while turning and looking for oncoming traffic in the traffic circle required all available RAM.
94.2: I didn't have any trouble remembering to drive on the left, but my sense of where the car began and ended was off a bit so it was hard to align the car in the lane properly, at least at first.
Yeah, and not just Europe. I am a shitty shitty manual driver (learned to do it and then never needed to) and renting a car in South America was an enormous pain in the ass.
My dad actually had to spend a night in jail in England for getting into an accident in a roundabout (I think he went counterclockwise, but I'm not certain). The police were very apologetic, but apparently they had no choice (I guess because he had no fixed address?).
I was 18 at the time, with my own past run-in with the law, so I was positively delighted. My mom took it well, but I think my dad is still a bit uptight about it, 18 years later.
The material they learned last semester in Cal 1.
HOW HARD OUR LIVES ARE, MAN!!!!11!!
It may be that my dad's 1977 Buick was manual. I never noticed such things before the age of 12 or so.
I never noticed such things before the age of 12 or so.
Is that when you started driving it?
Forza, In the UK it's a roundabout, but in MA they're rotaries.
In what sense mountains come out of the sky.
That when the colonists were talking about 'the rights of Englishmen' it wasn't just, or even predominantly, about taxes.
Hmm. So what was more important, in your view?
In the US, (MA area specifically) are there any driving schools which teach you how to drive a stick? I've never done it. I don't want to get in arguments with a friend or family member, and I don't want to make one fear for his/her car.
I've heard that eventually automatics will be more fuel efficient than manuals.
112: I doubt there's any driving school that wouldn't be willing to teach you to drive a stick.
My dad's '68 GTO is automatic, but he doesn't have a right hand, so I give him a pass.
Jury trials for people accused of smuggling.
.
113: Actually, I couldn't find one back in the late eighties. My parents always drove stick (until the mid-90s, when their last stickshift car died), and I was learning to drive away from home at college, so I wanted stick lessons, and couldn't find them in Boston (ended up not getting driving lessons at all) or Chicago (where I got lessons on an automatic).
I drove my parents' stick a couple of times, and my sister's stick a few times as well, but I haven't driven stick since maybe 95, and I figure there'd be some horrible grinding of gears until I got the hang of it if I tried now.
I've heard that eventually automatics will be more fuel efficient than manuals.
I thought that crossover had happened already for all but the most skillful drivers.
117: well, I guess I shouldn't speculate when I don't know what I'm talking about. But that's surprising. I know that wasn't true in my home town (and still isn't today)--every driving school around asked if you wanted lessons on a manual or an automatic. I don't think the percentage of manuals there was higher than anywhere else, but maybe it was.
The Massachusetts Government Act and the Administration of Justice Act were "intolerable" enough, I'd say, and not about taxes.
And on the dark side, I think that plenty of folks in the South were more interested in preventing the extension of Somersetts' Case to North America than in whether the had to pay some small extra amount for tea.
116: Thanks. I thought that's what you were referring to, but I wasn't sure, and suddenly was worried that my entire conception of such rights was out of whack.
120: Yeah, I think taxes were a decent rallying point but obviously not entirely what was concerning everyone; I've been relooking Woody Holton's Forced Founders recently and enjoyed the role that debt plays.
When Mrs OFE wanted to buy an automatic last year (teno) she actually had to find a specialist dealer to be able to afford one.
(Rights of Englishmen: cops Hessians bothering decent people about trivialities instead of arresting real criminals.)
Now I want a stick. They are more fun to drive, even if it'd take me a while to remember how.
I would be somewhat surprised to learn that Buick had made any stick-shift cars at all in the last thirty or forty years. The last stick I owned was a 1987 Isuzu Trooper II and it got, I can assure you, unbelievably terrible gas mileage despite driving like its weight could best be measured in ounces. At least some significant portion of that was my own history of mostly having driven automatics; another was that it was about as aerodynamic as a brick. Hella fun car, though. I nearly bought a used Saturn sedan instead of the Prius purely because it was a stick and I do really enjoy driving a manual.
I learned on a stick-shift, because my parents wouldn't own anything else. I think my mom's current car is her very first automatic transmission. Between Roberta and me, we have one of each. Generally, I prefer the stick shift because I like real driving, but that breaks down whenever I go to DC and everything slows to a crawl around Manassas. By the time I hit the district proper, my clutch leg is usually cramping.
I drive a Passat with a stick. Come visit, LB, and I'll let you drive it.
Oooh, tempting. My big sister won't let me drive her current stick, so I'm deprived.
My last car was a stickshift, which I much prefer. When my baby siblings were little, I always had the one in the passenger seat work the gear for me. I was delighted to hear my little sister say that she learned to drive a stick faster than all her friends, because she already knew how to listen to the engine.
It is funny that making accurate vroom-vroom noises can be an important part of learning to drive.
128: 'Cuz it's Pittsburgh and she doesn't want to turn over her clutch to you on the hills? There are a few intersections that still give me the willies in a stick even after years of it.
I get worse gas mileage with a clutch because it accentuates my tendency towards jackrabbit starts and other maneuvers involving sudden bursts of acceleration.
I think it's consensus, then, that Stanley should add:
-- driving a car with a manual transmission.
I thought that crossover had happened already for all but the most skillful drivers.
I think there are a handful of models for which this is true, but you have to design the auto tranny for max efficiency, not nec. smoothness or power. It's also true that, with these fancy 6-speed autos, the difference is usual nominal (maybe 1 MPG). But it's not the case that the typical manual is less efficient than the typical auto.
That said, I probably am a bit more aggressive with a stick than I might otherwise be (OTOH, to get an auto to really GO, you need to mash the pedal in a way that you don't when you can simply put it in the correct gear).
I will also let you drive my Passat when you come to my town. AB loves it because it has AWD, which means that it is impossible to squeal the tires (her personal fear about driving a stick), even on hills.
113
I doubt there's any driving school that wouldn't be willing to teach you to drive a stick.
This is problematic if all their cars are automatics.
||
Hey guys, act before it's too late. They probably want to get this in place before the G-20 comes to town, so I'd say you've got 2 weeks, tops.
|>
I'd also like to take one of the defensive driving classes. I had a classmate whose Dad worked for All State or State Farm, and he took one to get lower-priced insurance.
My BF's Dad has a company vehicle. The company self-insures, and they made everyone take a training course.
Finally, people in Pittsburgh will be able to void where prohibited!
I'd also like to take one of the defensive driving classes.
I'm nearly always playing offense when I'm driving.
Wow, Pgh's really inviting everyone to take the piss there.
A Google search for "the auto tranny" returns results that are distressingly mundane.
That you can't squeeze blood from a stone.
Or a turnip for that matter.
Why bad things happen to good people.
That I'm okay, and you're okay too.
That two wrongs don't make a right (but three lefts do).
Al Groh
His kids went to my GF's HS when he became a coordinator for the Giants. IIRC, his son instantly became the star QB for what was already a really good team.
Why fools fall in love with fools like you.
Images appear before my eyes of criminals in their dens, wallowing in sensual joys, the most abandoned of them plotting renewed false accusations, while good men are prostrate with fear as they survey my danger. I see evildoers, one and all roused by their impunity to venture on wicked deeds, and by rewards to see them through; I see innocent men deprived not only of safety, but also of their right to defend themselves. This is what stirs my cry of lament.
Gobisch munsha Shiva trapdoor 99 †r U dagger
‡ 8225 Dagger U double dagger
⇓ 859 dAouble arrow
↓ 8595 dardownwards arrow
° 176 deg 1 degre
Δ 916 Delta G greek capital letter delta
δ
♦he goal of this protocol is to lay a compatible foundation across different environments, no new power is provided beyond the capabilities of the CGI interface. Firewall software can watch for POSTs whose Content-Type is text/xml.
Qvfpbirenovyvgl. Jr jnagrq n pyrna, rkgrafvoyr sbezng gung'f irel fvzcyr. Vg fubhyq or cbffvoyr sbe na UGZY pbqre gb or noyr gb ybbx ng n svyr pbagnvavat na KZY-ECP cebprqher pnyy, haqrefgnaq jung vg'f qbvat, n
Those That Belong to the Emperor
Those Drawn with a Very Fine Camelhair Brush
Those Included in the Present Classification
Those That From a Long Way Off Look Like Flies
Fabulous Ones
The role of semantics in sheep-herding
The role of sheep-herding in semantics.
That you don't have a right to have things the way you're used to.
Why this sentence belongs in this list.
The importance of being earnest.
The categories in 157. (I love them, and refer to them moderately often, and usually encounter befuddlement.)
It's not a balloon! It's an airship!
enjoyed the role that debt plays
This may explain why Americans appear to be constitutionally (heh) unable not to rack up mountains of debt.
166: I'm waiting for a really great book on debt to come out. (I should probably read Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence before I insist that it hasn't yet been written, though.)
Ironically, the proper usage of "ironically."
168: Isn't that ironic? I really think it is.
Oh, just go look for a damn spoon, would you?
What I'm going to do with all that junk (all that junk inside my trunk).
Why birds suddenly appear any time you are near.
170: No, no, no. Alanis had *plenty* of spoons. It was a knife that was all she needed.
Why we don't do it in the road.
Wouldn't it be ironic to do it in the road?
173: I've often thought that all Alanis needs is a knife.
That I like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
Why oh why oh why oh I ever left Ohio.
178: additionally, why oh why oh why oh we're so in denial.
There are shuttle buses that ferry people between the multiple campuses of my institution. One thing that people JUST DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND is that the destination of a given shuttle bus is written on the side of the bus, and as such, rather than asking the driver where he or she is going, you can find out whether a given bus will take you where you want to go by LOOKING AT THE TEXT AND GRAPHICS ON THE SIDE OF SAID BUS.
Similarly, people just don't seem to understand that the lights above each elevator indicate whether that elevator is going up or down.
Why, if physical relationships can be described with equations that are symmetric with respect to t, time can't run backwards.
That Otto doesn't do it for the lulz.
One thing that people JUST DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND is that the destination of a given shuttle bus is written on the side of the bus, and as such, rather than asking the driver where he or she is going, you can find out whether a given bus will take you where you want to go by LOOKING AT THE TEXT AND GRAPHICS ON THE SIDE OF SAID BUS.
It may be that the words on the side of the bus only tell the final destination, but it makes multiple unlisted stops along the way.
180: We're in denial, killing your crocodiles.
How crazy it gets me when people in my building leave the faucet in our kitchen running on full blast, while they wait for it to heat up.
179: YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!1!!
186: wait, what's wrong with that? Is there some easier/more efficient way to get hot water, that they're overlooking?
Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
186: Microwaving it.
Which isn't very practical if they're planning on washing dishes, which occasionally they are. But we're in the worst drought on record, (although it appears to be ending), and it just drives me batty when there is no one in the kitchen and the water is going full force.
That the bug jar needs air holes.
just what in the hell is wrong with people
That it's okay to sleep in past 5 am.
basic notions of traffic flow that ought to effect decisions such as whether or not to sit on the subway stairs, and where to stand and talk once you've filled your plate at the buffet table
Whether to use "affect" or "effect" in 204.
Cars. Roundabouts. Humanity. The line "The words will make you out 'n' out."
the extent to which a "fourfold increase" is insignificant if it is an increase from 0.03% to 0.12%.
Unless the interesting threshold occurs at .04%.
Probably "affect", but a tortuous case could be made for "effect".
199 is a paradox that could bring down the whole internet.
Whether or not it is a good idea to write out the tortuous case of 209.
Whether the "p" in "corpgress" is silent or not.
It's a backwards q. Does that help?
That the opposite of Congress is Progress. BWAH-HA-HA!
That you don't have keep on writing comments after all of the good ideas are already used up.
That one day getting sleeve tattoos will be out of style.
Why JP Stormcow is such a buzzkill.
Any why he keeps putting that extraneous "r" in his pseud.
209 That such a case could only be made by someone who is WRONG.
I am trying to make a comment about how 219 sounds like it's got a southern accent, because of the "anywhy", and then I remembered the euphemism "thick southern drawl" and it made me laugh all over again. But I couldn't figure out how to make a funny reference.
That the opposite of Congress is Progress. BWAH-HA-HA!
I'm holding out hope that the Obgress will craft a better law.
Why the reason is because.
Why JP Stormcrw's mom wears combat boots.
Why you gotta be like that.
Why all these homosexuals keep sucking my cock.
Why people didn't find the cat erection trivet hilarious.
Or rather, why she would want to leave us. Or Ogged. Or others. But not certain others.
Any of this, but particularly the pursed lips.
Why all these homosexuals keep sucking my cock.
Oh, I'm pretty sure everyone understands that pretty well, actually.
Where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours.
Why God left me that time in the sand with the two pairs of footprints.
That only God can make a tree.
Why my mom laughed at M/tch's mighty sword.
That there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Why you wouldn't want to watch the afternoon session of the California climate change research convention. This is the good stuff, researchers saying what they learned last year. I'll mostly be watching session B.
Here's the agenda. Here's the streaming video.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
That all the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills, in somebody else's name.
Why you have to keep on trucking.
That you don't have keep on writing comments after all of the good ideas are already used up.
Hmm. Your commenter contract must include much more favorable terms than mine.
That everybody else commenting here is doing it for the money.
The guy from the rice growers' association is on. From now on, if I quote research to make some opinionated point, and you can't dispute it, it is your own fault.
245: No, it's your fault for being so knowledgable.
Also, your fault because the link to "agenda" in 238 doesn't work.
Yeah, only jerks know stuff.
Maybe this will get you close?
It has been boring so far, despite the cute speaker.
That Jesus is not a Good Luck Cat.
Why must I be like that? Why must I chase the cat?
That Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute.
Why it takes longer than 20 minutes to do well on a final exam.
Following 252, that the immaculate conception didn't have much to do with the state of Mary's hymen.
That punching somebody in the face, like in the movies, is a good way to break several bones in one's hand.
256 is just restating 255 with more detail.
Speaking of learning to drive on the other side of the road, have you heard about what happened recently in Samoa? (Made the news in Oz, not sure about the rest of the world).
How that can possibly not be butter.
How I could just kill a man.
My association with that phrase is the Charlotte Sometimes song, but I am guessing that is not the canonical reference.
This is the talk I've been waiting for, the effect of climate change on energy infrastructure. Ever since I heard that the increase in heat days is going to force us to replace transmission towers, I've been super curious about this.
This is the talk I've been waiting for, the effect of climate change on energy infrastructure. Ever since I heard that the increase in heat days is going to force us to replace transmission towers, I've been super curious about this.
So where should we look for your reporting about the talk? Here, rhubarbpie, or your other blog?
I figured we would all watch the talk and chat about it in real time.
If you're liveblogging, I'm reading. But I'm not going to be able to watch it myself.
That's the only possible explanation for slow commenting this afternoon, right?
This is the talk I've been waiting for, the effect of climate change on energy infrastructure. Ever since I heard that the increase in heat days is going to force us to replace transmission towers, I've been super curious about this.
I'm interested in this too - I want more details! Live blog away. (Or, uh, could someone direct me to that other blog?)
Oh, there's no way I'm gonna summarize the talks on any blog. I don't know enough energy stuff to do that well. They just got done talking about efficiency losses in natural gas power plants from temperature and humidity rise (about 3-4% for a 2 degree Celsius rise, probably underestimated).
Now he's talking about the power plants that are in the way of sea level rise.
(My water blog where I talk about water stuff is www.onthepublicrecord.wordpress.com.)
Thanks, Megan. I forgot that you linked earlier to the site, as well.
It is pretty insider-y stuff. I'm touched if you like it, but it is mostly for the junkies.
A lot of my friends are junkies on water issues - I'm trying to catch up so that I may converse with them, so it's fantastic.
junkies on water
UR DOIN IT RONG
I missed a chance to talk history books with (). Oh well. I wasn't all that impressed with Forced Founders - though it does have one of my favorite footnotes. Lots of people really like Republic of Debtors, but my friends who read it for orals were sort of mixed. I haven't read it (as usual), but I keep meaning to (also as usual).
That when a bus is getting crowded, you should move as far towards the back of the bus as you can, not just in the general direction of the back of the bus until you feel like stopping in the middle of the aisle.
258: Excellent. Somehow I doubt they were as organized about it as the Swedish. On the other hand, unless things have changed a lot in the last fifteen years, they have much less traffic.
I'm always around, eb. (Ok, not entirely true, but a little too close for comfort).
I remember having some issues with Forced Founders but it was one of those books read early in grad school and I'm totally hazy on what they were. What I remember of the thesis seemed to square with the other things that I was looking at recently (in order to write a lecture), but I'm open to hearing a more critical take on it. Discuss away.
(And I liked Jill Lepore's use of Republic of Debtors in the New Yorker somewhat recently, part of why it's on my to-read list.)
It's been a long time since I read it, so I don't really have much to add. It was also an early read for me. I just remember it being a case where the evidence for the arguments didn't seem particularly strong at a number of points.
277, 278: I know nothing of this book, but the first Google hit is an unbearably smug review by an economic historian who looks down his nose at "social" historians and their obviously shit excuses for evidence.
I wish John were here.
That looks like a sneer at all historians, social in particular of course.
By the way, do you check your e-mail, ()? (If you're still reading this thread.) I sent you something history-related.
