What type of roadgeek are you?

[Duke87]

So, the Degree of Separation set up a lunch, and out of curiosity I accepted. Turns out it was not the train wreck I was fearing / hoping for. We didn't talk about his site, or field of study, at all. Instead, it was mostly about places we've all been (separately) in the Eastern Sierras. If you're looking for signs of his online personality in person, you can find them, but otherwise he's just another Silicon Valley engineer who's done some traveling.

Did you really expect a different outcome?  Geek-baiting on an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup falls into the category of disreputable things people do (like frequenting prostitutes or running a payday loan business) that are ignored as long as they take place on "own time" and don't intrude into professional contexts.  On the other hand, if he had carried on at this lunch the same way he does on MTR, the negative effects would have rippled out (probably irreparably) through his professional networks.

I'd like to know if he really believes that viatology business,and why he continues to spout on about "US Federal Route 31-Dub" in the face of repeated admonitions that the terminology is simply not correct.

The funny thing about the internet granting people anonymity is that some people do not behave the same way online that they do in real life. People who are deliberate forum trolls (as opposed to just idiots) generally do what they do because they think it's fun to screw around and see what kind of reaction they can get out of people. They go nuts doing this online because they can do so with relative impunity (being banned from a website is not going to really hurt anyone), but they keep it tempered in real life because they recognize that it would be detrimental to their career and their social life otherwise.

It is entirely possible for someone to be a total troll on forums but at the same time be really cool to hang out with in real life. I know at least one person (in real life) who fits this description.

[Pete from Boston]

You didn't go to middle school in the '80s.  It's a generational thing.

Late 80s/early 90s.  Now, it's geek chic, and proud to be a nerd. 
That may have something to do with a certain Doctor making it cool.

Geek = queer, i.e. a pejorative term now embraced by its targets to defuse it.  Most such uses of "geek" end up being painfully cutesy.

[formulanone]

I am a roadgeek who would rather not waste time discussing people I don't know.

For someone many folks can't stand the words of, his offbeat terminology certainly gets the conversation going here every sixty days or so.

[mjb2002]

Signmaker and sign hunter.

[getemngo]

I am a roadgeek who would rather not waste time discussing people I don't know.

For someone many folks can't stand the words of, his offbeat terminology certainly gets the conversation going here every sixty days or so.

Agreed. It's fine to make a little joke about him here and there if it pops up organically, but we don't need to devote two pages of every topic to him.

Geek = queer,

Only some of us! 

Anyway... I'm mostly about historic stuff. Old alignments (especially driving them), highway history, old signs, occasionally old bridges. Fictional highways are sorta fun, and in contrast to all the "old" stuff, I really like unique and complex interchanges.

I'm very much a regional roadgeek, to the point that I don't generally keep track of clinches outside of Michigan. But I'd like to start changing this, as we wouldn't have much to talk about if we all only cared about our home states...

[Scott5114]

Also missing is the category of bridge hunter or old-alignment hunter. Usually an alignment hunter will do so looking for either old bridges or old signs, so it is linked to those categories, but there is appeal in the old pavement styles and geometry found on old alignments.

[SD Mapman]

There should be a sub-category under regional for people who focus on a specific region/county in their state. I'm pretty sure that I can give a person directions to anywhere using any road in Lawrence County. I don't care about East River as much.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I started out as a sign geek, making signs on my computer and stuff.

Now I'm a mix of a sign hunter, bridge hunter, sightseer and highway clincher. I've started making fictional highways too, though I need more experience with that.

[JoePCool14]

Definitely poster and SignMaker.

[Laura]

I'm definitely more of a regional traveler - my expertise is mostly in Maryland and Virginia (in and near the places I've lived). I really should embrace these states more than I have - my knowledge of the far corners of them is limited, and I can't truly be an expert if I don't know them!

I do enjoy national and international roadgeeking, but my knowledge is even more limited of those routes.

I'd also like to look for old and erroneous signs in the wild. I collect old maps - state officials, gas station maps, etc. I love reading about road history and transportation planning history. And of course I love posting here - that would describe pretty much all active posters here, lol.

[Roadmaestro95]

I usually go where the roads take me (no pun intended). I've been up and down the East Coast a few times and I love taking pictures of every sign that I pass (especially the beautiful button-copy and paint-chipped signs). I've gone all over Long Island looking for odd signage and what-not, and I'm not even close to clinching every road that my regional home has to offer.

I also have a myriad of created signage (that's probably crap comparing to how wonderful everyone's imagination & creativity is on here) of real signs that are out there and a fantasy system that I've created for LI.

I'm also a HUGE fantasy re-router of practically almost every highway created because I have nothing to do with my life (hypothetically speaking, of course!). I'm in the process of finishing NY (600+ series routes) and NJ (if county maintenance was different within the state, but I still love the 500s), while I've completed Pennsylvania and a new Interstate Highway numbering which actually has a viable grid! When I finish typing the whole damn thing up, the whole thing will come up on here and I really can't wait to!