Useless Conversation

[Chimpy]

That's illegal in your state? I do not understand that.

It is probably posted "NO TURN ON RED".

[Rasix]

Nope.  I just didn't come to a stop.  There was a car in front of me that went, and I went behind him.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh hey, driving school is just about as much as the ticket, and apparently a failure to stop on red means I have to go anyhow.  YAAAAAAAAY.

$337 ticket.  How the hell do poor people afford this sort of shit?  This is not a trivial amount of money.

[Sky]

Now you see why I'm a dick about obeying the letter of the law. Bullshit ticket cost me a few hundred bucks and points. So now you can tailgate and beep all you want, my hooptie is going 30 in a 30 and coming to a complete stop.

It sucked for about the first year and now it seems weird not to.

Also, other drivers are super entertaining.

[HaemishM]

Other drivers can eat a fat bag of cocks. They are the worst.

[Samwise]

I got nailed on the same thing a few years ago, Ras.  I recommend doing traffic school online and just skipping ahead to the test (which you can then take "open book").  Whole course only takes about half an hour that way.

[Xanthippe]

Now you see why I'm a dick about obeying the letter of the law. Bullshit ticket cost me a few hundred bucks and points. So now you can tailgate and beep all you want, my hooptie is going 30 in a 30 and coming to a complete stop.

It sucked for about the first year and now it seems weird not to.

Also, other drivers are super entertaining.

I discovered this about the time I had kids. Driving also became far more pleasant, especially when combined with leaving early enough to never be in a hurry to get where I'm going. Impatient college kids and (for some reason) youngish middle aged women behind me can just deal.

Seriously, what is the deal with a certain age bracket of female drivers? A lot of them are fucking awful. 25ish-35ish. Crowd people on the road, take chances, drive erratically, don't let other drivers merge, just about every driving sin I can think of. Why do young men have a horrible reputation for driving when it seems to me to be middle aged women who are way worse?

[Merusk]

Because the actuarial tables that were set-up back in the day showed young men were the bigger problem.  The question I have is; has this remained the same or are we just carrying forward with the bias because that's easier.
http://www.autoinsurance.org/why-do-men-pay-more-than-women-on-auto-insurance/

This bias is part of the reason I'm a fan of the new trend towards USB keys from insurers that actually record driving habits. Also the reason I'm seriously considering putting dash cams in my car. I know if an accident were ever in question I'd be cited over a female because I drive a 20-year-old beater and that I'm a man.

[ezrast]

I remember hearing that women do cause more accidents than men, but men have worse accidents making them responsible for more damage overall. That was a while ago, though.

[Chimpy]

Basically, everyone is a terrible driver. Even those of us who say we are good drivers are at best better than most drivers but we all suck.

[Lantyssa]

This is why I don't drive unless I absolutely have to.  Also why I'm glad I moved to the middle of nowhere with the nearest town being tiny.

I do not miss driving in Houston traffic at all.

[Xanthippe]

Basically, everyone is a terrible driver. Even those of us who say we are good drivers are at best better than most drivers but we all suck.

Most people are average drivers. Some are terrible drivers. Some are good drivers.

One way to measure is by number of accidents. People who are good drivers tend not to get into accidents as often as people who are bad drivers, generally speaking. Insurance rates ought to reflect this - they used to, but the world seems so upside down to me sometimes (no doubt because I'm an old person) that I have no idea whether insurance rates reflect any kind of actuarial science anymore or not.

[Sky]

Young males are still horrible. Double plus if you see stickers for the local bar, a baseball cap or you can hear the music a block away.

Young women have definitely made inroads, with the texting and jizz shields and big white SUVs. I'm amazed when I see a woman under 40 /not/ on a phone or texting.

And old people are still bad, but at least they have the excuse of their bodies and minds breaking down.

But yeah, most people are crappy drivers. I'm a dick and saying that I'm a good driver, but it's because I actually am. I was reckless (but wreckless, heh) as a kid but my dad was a NASCAR driver on the local circuit so I learned (how to turn left well) some good driving stuff from him, especially the dirt track stuff. Then I spent years driving wildly in the country, dirt roads, jumps, etc (watched too much Duke boys). My mirrors are dialed in properly, I monitor everyone around me constantly and note any suspicious driving, etc. Since I got a smart phone, it's awesome also having the mini map :) Hell, I love going to the defensive driving class and chatting up the instructor, he's said many times I may as well teach the class.

X hit on a very important tip: leave early so you're not in a hurry. Even being a good driver, if I'm late it causes a lot more mistakes and poor judgements.

[Yegolev]

Nope.  I just didn't come to a stop.  There was a car in front of me that went, and I went behind him.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh hey, driving school is just about as much as the ticket, and apparently a failure to stop on red means I have to go anyhow.  YAAAAAAAAY.

$337 ticket.  How the hell do poor people afford this sort of shit?  This is not a trivial amount of money.

The way that my wife handles this: she throws the mailed citation in the trash.

[Nebu]

$337 ticket.  How the hell do poor people afford this sort of shit?  This is not a trivial amount of money.

They can't... which has created a separate industry for collecting from the poor that often lands them under huge debts and occasionally jail time. 

The system is a mess.

[Khaldun]

Well, that was fun yesterday. Huge electrical-sounding explosion outside, power goes off. Nice fall day, no wind, no clouds, no rain. Hm.

I go outside and there's an electrical pole just around the corner on a moderately busy suburban street gushing flames and white hot electrical fire at the top and there's a live wire on the ground right at the edge of the road which is lighting the neighbor's lawn on fire. Well, that might be a 911 call, you bet. A lady pulls up in her car freaking out--she was under the pole when it blew and thought she'd done something. She's on the phone too.

I tell the cops they're gonna need to block the street and divert traffic down our side street, which works as a detour. In the meantime, complete idiots drive by oblivious even though there's a live wire about 2 feet from their cars, a flaming pole above their heads, and a lawn on fire as well. I watch with some interest after making a half-hearted effort to wave people off, like it's going to make a difference. In the meantime, freaking-out lady says, "I'm going to go tell the people who live there to get a hose and put the lawn fire out". I'm like, "That would be a really bad idea, it's a live wire. Please don't." She thinks about it for a minute and then just decides to drive off.

Cop shows up and starts to block the street. People just buzz right around him at 35mph, utterly oblivious. He can't cover the entire road with his car--there's just enough space to go around. So folks just ignore him despite him trying to wave them down our street. The road isn't truly blocked until the fire engine shows up and blocks the whole thing. Lawn fire isn't doing too much and the electrical pops and bangs eventually stop, I think because the current was shut off. We decide to go off for the hike we were planning anyway. Power came back about three hours after it all started. Apparently just a small branch came down and lay across the wires in such a fashion as to complete a circuit and from there it was off to the races.

The part that really amazes me is "oh, stuff's on fire and making violent banging noises, no problem".

[Selby]

The part that really amazes me is "oh, stuff's on fire and making violent banging noises, no problem".

Most people are clueless when it comes to high voltage. They assume it's like the movies where you buzz and vibrate and can be knocked off. High enough voltage line goes down and you're unfortunate to be in the ground path?  You're dead before you hit the ground or can react. What's even worse is in a situation like that where a power line goes down and someone gets caught in it is if someone else tries to rush in & assist or help, they die too and the trained rescue workers will sit there until they know the high voltage line is dead - which may take 30 minutes or more to open the feeder depending on where it is. All the while the victims are cooking. But the average public doesn't know that or care, they just see it as an inconvenience in the way they want to drive and go around it oblivious.

[Khaldun]

Yeah, we could see that once the fire engines go there. They just watched from a safe distance, I assume waiting for the line to be dead. One cop did walk up the driveway to the house where the line was down--taking a very very wide path around the pole and wire, I assume to tell the people there to stay indoors and not worry about the small lawn fire (which really wasn't spreading).

[Yegolev]

I should be safe in my wheeled Faraday cage, right?

[rattran]

Assuming the incredibly old people who own it live until Dec 1 (closing), I will soon be a homeowner in Missouri.

At least it'll be better than Illinois.

[Chimpy]

Assuming the incredibly old people who own it live until Dec 1 (closing), I will soon be a homeowner in Missouri.

At least it'll be better than Illinois.

As bad as Illinois is at the moment, I am pretty sure that calling Missouri better is a bit of a stretch 

[ezrast]

What part?

[rattran]

Assuming the incredibly old people who own it live until Dec 1 (closing), I will soon be a homeowner in Missouri.

At least it'll be better than Illinois.

As bad as Illinois is at the moment, I am pretty sure that calling Missouri better is a bit of a stretch 

Have you ever been to Rockford? 

[Nebu]

Parts of Missouri are beautiful.  I have done a lot of hiking in the southwest corner and it's lovely this time of year.

[Chimpy]

As bad as Illinois is at the moment, I am pretty sure that calling Missouri better is a bit of a stretch 

Have you ever been to Rockford? 

Yes. And it could be worse, it could be Danville 

Parts of Missouri are beautiful.  I have done a lot of hiking in the southwest corner and it's lovely this time of year.

The problem with southwest Missouri is that its gorgeous scenery is ruined by the presence of Branson. 

[Nebu]

The problem with southwest Missouri is that its gorgeous scenery is ruined by the presence of Branson. 

Look at the bright side.  In Branson you can go see a musical show put on by the 10 lesser-known Osmond brothers.   

[Rishathra]

Branson, home of the legend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKthbnNacCw

[Nebu]

Branson, home of the legend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKthbnNacCw

Please tell me that was produced by the Onion.

[Phildo]

http://www.shoji.com/

This man is a magician... He rules Branson

[Merusk]

That looks exactly like the sort of show the 65+ bluehairs and rural great plains housewives would love. In otherwords it's exactly what I think of when I hear "Branson, Missouri Show."

Hell, the look of the pople in the crowd shots and the stepford wife crazy lady with the 80's makeup & hair weren't even a surprise. That's just what that demographic is.

[Engels]

Positively lynchian.

[Sky]

The sports doc refused to see me, threw a temper tantrum about me going around behind the initial ortho's back (eh, second opinion is pretty standard, yeah?). Went back for my 1st follow up, was encouraged when I was put directly in the casting room (which looked like a scene from Saw). But then he said he wanted that cast to stay and not to walk on the foot for another month. I talked him down to two weeks.

After that meeting I think I'm resigned to just being a goddamned veg for a couple weeks. I can get critical work stuff done remotely, but it's really bugging me I can get around much. Not sure I'll be able to get my wood in for the winter if we get early snow...

[Samwise]

http://www.shoji.com/

This man is a magician... He rules Branson

Red Letter Media on Shoji Tabuchi

Mike: We were trying to figure out the angle of the audience, and what the big deal with Shoji was, because it was a fairly large theater, packed...
Jay: Packed full of old people, some of them dead.

[rattran]

30 mins north of KC, so pretty in a non-Branson way.

The last time I was in Branson, Englebert Humperdick billboards were fighting it out with Wayne Newton billboards for supremacy.

[Chimpy]

30 mins north of KC, so pretty in a non-Branson way.

The last time I was in Branson, Englebert Humperdick billboards were fighting it out with Wayne Newton billboards for supremacy.

30 minutes north of downtown KC (which is still KC) or 30 minutes north of the airport towards St Joe?

[Paelos]

What does this have to do with Fall, Apples, and Pumpkin Spiced White Bitch Lattes?