Random Thoughts

[Flint1979]

On the subject of school buses, if I encounter one going the other direction and they turn their yellow flashing lights on, I often wonder how far to push my luck with trying to get past before their lights switch to red. I tend to be a bit more cautious with buses than I would at a stoplight, partly because there's likely children/pedestrians in the area and partly because the buses' yellow phase is much more random in length. But sometimes I've come to a complete stop for 5-10 seconds before their lights switch to red and the stop signs open, which leaves me wishing I had just accelerated a bit and kept going - but how could I have known that in advance? One of those situations where you just can't win, I suppose.

Well just know that the red lights won't go on until they open the door so the bus would have to be at a complete stop for the red lights to come on.

[jmacswimmer]

Here's a road-related random thought that occurred to me while driving the route described below over the weekend:

The fastest route from Baltimore to Pittsburgh puts you on both directions of US 30 at completely different points along the route:
-Eastbound in Breezewood (while connecting from I-70 to the PA Turnpike)
-Westbound in Pittsburgh (once it joins I-376 & US 22 on the Penn-Lincoln Parkway)

And on top of that, you cross over US 30 on the Turnpike 3 times in between the 2 points above (on either side of Bedford, and at the Irwin interchange).

[formulanone]

Yesterday, I received a phone call message nicely asking me to apply to the Global Executive Solutions Group, which is an logistics and hiring firm.

(Can't a guy walk down the street without being offered a job?)

[Scott5114]

On the subject of school buses, if I encounter one going the other direction and they turn their yellow flashing lights on, I often wonder how far to push my luck with trying to get past before their lights switch to red. I tend to be a bit more cautious with buses than I would at a stoplight, partly because there's likely children/pedestrians in the area and partly because the buses' yellow phase is much more random in length. But sometimes I've come to a complete stop for 5-10 seconds before their lights switch to red and the stop signs open, which leaves me wishing I had just accelerated a bit and kept going - but how could I have known that in advance? One of those situations where you just can't win, I suppose.

Well just know that the red lights won't go on until they open the door so the bus would have to be at a complete stop for the red lights to come on.

Haha. My first bus driver was pretty blasé about the order of turn on lights-open door-stop the fucking bus. I remember a few times when she was cruising down my street with the door open at about 20 mph and had to put her arm out to stop me from trying to get too close to the open door. Sometimes if two stops were close to each other she wouldn't bother shutting the door in between.

A lot of the parents hated her but the kids liked her because we got home way faster when she was driving.

[interstatefan990]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

[kkt]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

[interstatefan990]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

What a risky bus driver!

[Scott5114]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

What a risky bus driver!

Only slightly riskier than any other pass on a 2-lane road.

[kphoger]

It's riskier to pass them in the same lane.

[formulanone]

It's riskier to pass them in the same lane.

Pfft. Not with that attitude.

[interstatefan990]

Only slightly riskier than any other pass on a 2-lane road.

A very Oklahoma-driver thing to say. 

It's riskier to pass them in the same lane.

What a fancy name for rear-ending someone. "No officer, I wasn't distracted, I was just trying to pass in the same lane!"

[kkt]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

What a risky bus driver!

Only slightly riskier than any other pass on a 2-lane road.

You'd consider passing with a 30-foot school bus on a neighborhood arterial a reasonable move?

[zachary_amaryllis]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

It was a school bus driver who taught me you could go 15 over with the little yellow sign says, here in the canyon.

[kphoger]

on a neighborhood arterial

Hey, now, you did fail to mention that part in the original telling.

[Scott5114]

I remember I had a bus driver where he would pull over shortly after a signalized intersection on the route right before an uphill section with a 15mph speed limit increase, and allow all the rest of the traffic to pass until the end of the signal phase, then he would pull back onto the road and continue behind them. Pretty courteous if you ask me.

What a polite bus driver.

The only school bus driver who stands out in my memory is one who would speed and pass slower traffic in the oncoming lane of a 2-lane road.

What a risky bus driver!

Only slightly riskier than any other pass on a 2-lane road.

You'd consider passing with a 30-foot school bus on a neighborhood arterial a reasonable move?

Well, my school bus route was mostly on 65-mph state highways and 45-mph county roads, so...

[LilianaUwU]

They should start remaking games that weren't that great. Remaking good games is fine, but some games deserve to get a second chance because they're not all bad.

[zachary_amaryllis]

walmart will happily let felons shop in their stores, but won't let them work there.

[kphoger]

walmart will happily let felons shop in their stores, but won't let them work there.

I have a feeling this is true of a lot of stores, not just Mal-Wart.

[Max Rockatansky]

walmart will happily let felons shop in their stores, but won't let them work there.

I have a feeling this is true of a lot of stores, not just Mal-Wart.

Interestingly it wasn't true when I worked Loss Prevention at Dillard's, they didn't do background checks on new hires.  It was a total blood bath regarding employee theft cases, usually I had at least twenty every year.  Most were direct observation hits to, a lot of cash theft especially.  There was a lot of drug usage that would go on through the course of the day also, most of the long sales people were coked up. 

[kphoger]

Interestingly it wasn't true when I worked Loss Prevention at Dillard's, they didn't do background checks on new hires.  It was a total blood bath regarding employee theft cases, usually I had at least twenty every year.  Most were direct observation hits to, a lot of cash theft especially.  There was a lot of drug usage that would go on through the course of the day also, most of the long sales people were coked up. 

Hmm... that... kind of... maybe... explains why my uncle worked there for so long.

[ethanhopkin14]

Interestingly it wasn't true when I worked Loss Prevention at Dillard's, they didn't do background checks on new hires.  It was a total blood bath regarding employee theft cases, usually I had at least twenty every year.  Most were direct observation hits to, a lot of cash theft especially.  There was a lot of drug usage that would go on through the course of the day also, most of the long sales people were coked up. 

Hmm... that... kind of... maybe... explains why my uncle worked there for so long.

Jesus!  I may never look at a Dillards the same ever again!

[Scott5114]

The default behavior of most browsers–hell, it may even be in the HTML specification for all I know–is to outline an image that is also a link with a blue border, which then turns to purple when you click it. This is good design since it lets you know that an image is a link and not just an image, and mirrors the behavior of text links.

Nearly every web designer has decided that the border is ugly, and sets its width to 0 pixels. I'm not so sure that doing that is a good thing for usability, but...I don't like how the border looks either, and I set it to 0 pixels on my sites as well...

[J N Winkler]

I think we should do it like the Scandinavian countries and have the fine set as a percentage of income. A $150 speeding ticket would bring down my whole financial house of cards at the moment. Bill Gates could just laugh at the same ticket, toss a couple of Benjamins at the court clerk and tell them to keep the change, and probably drive home even faster because he could lose ten times that amount in his couch cushions and never realize it. If you want it to actually affect behavior it has to have the same bite for everyone, no matter their income level.

That is why they have demerit points.

In states that have them, anyway. Minnesota does not have a points system.

That is often a distinction without a difference.  Kansas also does not have a points system, but more than three tickets for moving violations in one year leads to license suspension.

[Flint1979]

On the subject of school buses, if I encounter one going the other direction and they turn their yellow flashing lights on, I often wonder how far to push my luck with trying to get past before their lights switch to red. I tend to be a bit more cautious with buses than I would at a stoplight, partly because there's likely children/pedestrians in the area and partly because the buses' yellow phase is much more random in length. But sometimes I've come to a complete stop for 5-10 seconds before their lights switch to red and the stop signs open, which leaves me wishing I had just accelerated a bit and kept going - but how could I have known that in advance? One of those situations where you just can't win, I suppose.

Well just know that the red lights won't go on until they open the door so the bus would have to be at a complete stop for the red lights to come on.

Haha. My first bus driver was pretty blasé about the order of turn on lights-open door-stop the fucking bus. I remember a few times when she was cruising down my street with the door open at about 20 mph and had to put her arm out to stop me from trying to get too close to the open door. Sometimes if two stops were close to each other she wouldn't bother shutting the door in between.

A lot of the parents hated her but the kids liked her because we got home way faster when she was driving.

That reminds me of a city bus driver here in Saginaw. I got to know her on a first name basis her name is Jackie. Well Jackie is a pretty crazy driver for sure. Some people hate the way she drives but I loved it when I was riding the bus (I haven't rode the bus in a few years here). It was like we'd be at the transfer plaza downtown and the buses were all departing for their runs, she would get up to speed as fast as she could and whip around the corners like nobodies business. It was like she was on a mission. I haven't seen her in a couple years though I would think she's still driving for STARS but whenever they lift the face mask mandate I'll ride the bus just for the hell of it.

I would joke around with some of the other bus drivers here and joke about her making it out to Fashion Square Mall in about 30 seconds. One time I remember the buses were running about 20 minutes late and I was on another route but I knew Jackie was on route 6 which is the Fashion Square route and said about a minute after the buses departed she's probably already out to Tittabawassee (which is where the mall is).

[hotdogPi]

whenever they lift the face mask mandate

They probably already have. A court order a few days ago lifted the mandate on all public transportation, so unless the bus system itself decided to keep it, it's been lifted.