Random Thoughts

[Rothman]

Anyone who used "troubleshooted" would get laughed out of my office.

[Max Rockatansky]

What if they "shot trouble?"

[Big John]

What if they "shot trouble?"

You will loose the account.

[formulanone]

Anyone who used "troubleshooted" would get laughed out of my office.

We're loaded with engineers here, and I have my doubts...that's clearly lot of force and distracting noise just to physically expel an adult human body from an office.

What word would you use?

[Dirt Roads]

It is very common to use the term "troubleshooted" in railway signalling (and rail transit), but in West Virginia the railroaders always said "shootin' trouble" (present or past tense) or "done troubleshootin' " (past tense only).

[Rothman]

Anyone who used "troubleshooted" would get laughed out of my office.

We're loaded with engineers here, and I have my doubts...that's clearly lot of force and distracting noise just to physically expel an adult human body from an office.

What word would you use?

Troubleshot.

[Scott5114]

troubleshootify

[webny99]

I've always thought it's strange that OK's population is higher than KS. Kansas has been around for a lot longer and is, in general, more effectively managed.

I looked up the historical demography of both states.  Kansas did have a larger population than Oklahoma until the 1920 Census.  However, Oklahoma grew extremely rapidly, especially in the first few years of statehood, and the World War I-era oil boom was more pronounced there.

Kansas also had more robust growth from 1930 to 1960:  population increased from 1.9 million to 2.2 million, while Oklahoma stagnated around 2.3 million.  Since then, however, Oklahoma has had consistently higher population growth with each Census with the exception of 1980-1990 (4.0% in Oklahoma versus 4.8% in Kansas).

...

I doubt there's much of a difference in population trends in the rural areas, so I'm guessing the disparity is in OKC/Tulsa metro growth vs. Wichita/Topeka/KCK metro growth. With that in mind, would it be fair to surmise that OKC itself is a reason for the higher rates of growth in Oklahoma? In other words, OKC is centrally located at a major interstate crossroads and large enough that it's become a "destination city" for people looking to move from other parts of the country, somewhat similar to the large metros in Texas, but on a smaller scale. That in turn leads to industries locating there, which fuels faster urban and suburban growth, and so on.

[D-Dey65]

Well, I can now confirm that the "Streetsblog" website no longer allows people to post anything contradicting their propaganda.

There was an article praising the reduction of lanes on the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade claiming it proves fewer lanes are an improvement while almost everybody who posted there who wasn't an anti-car fanatic was saying they were out of their minds.  Now all the posts are gone.

[Max Rockatansky]

Well, I can now confirm that the "Streetsblog" website no longer allows people to post anything contradicting their propaganda.

There was an article praising the reduction of lanes on the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade claiming it proves fewer lanes are an improvement while almost everybody who posted there who wasn't an anti-car fanatic was saying they were out of their minds.  Now all the posts are gone.

Does that surprise you?  Those aren't infrastructure enthusiasts, they are are zealots of an ideology. 

[ZLoth]

Well, I can now confirm that the "Streetsblog" website no longer allows people to post anything contradicting their propaganda.

There was an article praising the reduction of lanes on the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade claiming it proves fewer lanes are an improvement while almost everybody who posted there who wasn't an anti-car fanatic was saying they were out of their minds.  Now all the posts are gone.

Does that surprise you?  Those aren't infrastructure enthusiasts, they are are zealots of an ideology.

It's amazing what people want to peddle, even though some of their urbanite ideas are bus-ted. Hopefully, some karma runs over their dogma.

[Max Rockatansky]

Well, I can now confirm that the "Streetsblog" website no longer allows people to post anything contradicting their propaganda.

There was an article praising the reduction of lanes on the BQE along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade claiming it proves fewer lanes are an improvement while almost everybody who posted there who wasn't an anti-car fanatic was saying they were out of their minds.  Now all the posts are gone.

Does that surprise you?  Those aren't infrastructure enthusiasts, they are are zealots of an ideology.

It's amazing what people want to peddle, even though some of their urbanite ideas are bus-ted. Hopefully, some karma runs over their dogma.

A lot of this urbanism stuff is led by those who feel disenfranchised.  Why they feel that way tends to vary but also is at the heart of the urbanism movement.  I tend to think the movement is toxic, but it doesn't mean those root causes don't need to be addressed. 

Speaking for myself, I'd love to have the ability to cycle or run to work.  But I'm also someone in a vast minority in that I actually enjoy exercise.

[ZLoth]

It's amazing what people want to peddle, even though some of their urbanite ideas are bus-ted. Hopefully, some karma runs over their dogma.

A lot of this urbanism stuff is led by those who feel disenfranchised.  Why they feel that way tends to vary but also is at the heart of the urbanism movement.  I tend to think the movement is toxic, but it doesn't mean those root causes don't need to be addressed. 

Speaking for myself, I'd love to have the ability to cycle or run to work.  But I'm also someone in a vast minority in that I actually enjoy exercise.

Some of those urbanites and the members of the Anti-Car Alliance (ACA) take the "How... dare... YOU!!!" guilt trip to make their point. They tell stories of the joys of high-density housing (apartment) living and the wonders of car-free living through mass-transit. Yet, some of the same folks who praise the apartment life will "How... dare... YOU!!!" the landlord when the lease is up and the rent goes up.

Guess what? There are plenty of stories of the wonders and horrors of both apartment living and being a homeowner. Whether it makes sense to rent or to purchase depends on multiple factors including income, the area you are living in, whether you are single or have a family of four, and so on. Having said that, some of the joy of apartment living bubble burst when Covid hit, and those apartment dwellers discovered they needed more room.

[D-Dey65]

I thought the sudden spike in crime had more to do with bursting the bubble of apartment living. But yes, COVID-19 was the first step.

Speaking of which, one of those anti-car advocates kept trying to sell me the benefits of using a bike instead of a car. I wanted to remind them of an incident from the South Bronx in 1978 where some neighborhood thug killed a 12-year-old boy for his bike right in front of his friends, even though the asshole was obviously too big for the damn thing. I wanted to make him realize that bike riders are easier targets for criminals than drivers in their cars and trucks. Not that drivers aren't victimized by thugs on the road, of course. It's just easier for crooks to go after people on bikes than in cars.

[JayhawkCO]

I thought the sudden spike in crime had more to do with bursting the bubble of apartment living. But yes, COVID-19 was the first step.

Speaking of which, one of those anti-car advocates kept trying to sell me the benefits of using a bike instead of a car. I wanted to remind them of an incident from the South Bronx in 1978 where some neighborhood thug killed a 12-year-old boy for his bike right in front of his friends, even though the asshole was obviously too big for the damn thing. I wanted to make him realize that bike riders are easier targets for criminals than drivers in their cars and trucks. Not that drivers aren't victimized by thugs on the road, of course. It's just easier for crooks to go after people on bikes than in cars.

Are there any statistics out there that show that bicycle riders have a higher incidence of crimes committed against them than drivers do?

[J N Winkler]

I doubt there's much of a difference in population trends in the rural areas, so I'm guessing the disparity is in OKC/Tulsa metro growth vs. Wichita/Topeka/KCK metro growth. With that in mind, would it be fair to surmise that OKC itself is a reason for the higher rates of growth in Oklahoma? In other words, OKC is centrally located at a major interstate crossroads and large enough that it's become a "destination city" for people looking to move from other parts of the country, somewhat similar to the large metros in Texas, but on a smaller scale. That in turn leads to industries locating there, which fuels faster urban and suburban growth, and so on.

It's certainly true that the Oklahoma City metropolitan area has never had a decade of less than double-digit population growth.  The Wichita metropolitan area has never shrunk in population, but the growth has been in the single digits in six of the 12 decades since 1900.

Metropolitan area	Population ratio 2020 to 1910
Tulsa	29.0
Oklahoma City	16.7
Wichita	8.86
Kansas City	5.19
Topeka	(Historical population not available on Wikipedia)

(This table is indicative only--I've made no attempt to exclude Missouri population for KC or to account for inclusion of additional counties in any of the metropolitan areas.)

[D-Dey65]

I thought the sudden spike in crime had more to do with bursting the bubble of apartment living. But yes, COVID-19 was the first step.

Speaking of which, one of those anti-car advocates kept trying to sell me the benefits of using a bike instead of a car. I wanted to remind them of an incident from the South Bronx in 1978 where some neighborhood thug killed a 12-year-old boy for his bike right in front of his friends, even though the asshole was obviously too big for the damn thing. I wanted to make him realize that bike riders are easier targets for criminals than drivers in their cars and trucks. Not that drivers aren't victimized by thugs on the road, of course. It's just easier for crooks to go after people on bikes than in cars.

Are there any statistics out there that show that bicycle riders have a higher incidence of crimes committed against them than drivers do?

I have no clue. The bike lobbyists and anti-car groups only seem to focus on how often they're hit by cars. I know I've faced a lot of shit from some thugs when I rode bikes, and that was in the suburbs.

[D-Dey65]

I'm going to tell you people a story about one of the last times I was in The Bronx.

The day I went on a photographic rampage at the 238th Street El station on the 1 train in Kingsbridge, I too the train back south to the 207th Street El station so I could get to the University Heights Bridge My original plan was to take the Bx12 SBS to the White Plains Road Line and take a subway train up to Nereid Avenue so I could grab a load of pictures of the 238th Street Viaduct in Wakefield. In the past, I never really had any problems on the Bx12 SBS... until that day.

I got my ticket in Inwood, and ended up on a slow overcrowded crawl along the University Heights Bridge. All the time I was overhearing the repeated automated female voice telling people to "please steer clear from the doors," or something to that effect. NOBODY was able to comply with that. Finally, just east of the intersection of West Fordham and Cedar Avenue, I decided to get off the bus and postpone my 238th Street Viaduct crusade. Instead, I took a few additional pics of the University Heights Metro-North station.

[jeffandnicole]

I thought the sudden spike in crime had more to do with bursting the bubble of apartment living. But yes, COVID-19 was the first step.

Speaking of which, one of those anti-car advocates kept trying to sell me the benefits of using a bike instead of a car. I wanted to remind them of an incident from the South Bronx in 1978 where some neighborhood thug killed a 12-year-old boy for his bike right in front of his friends, even though the asshole was obviously too big for the damn thing. I wanted to make him realize that bike riders are easier targets for criminals than drivers in their cars and trucks. Not that drivers aren't victimized by thugs on the road, of course. It's just easier for crooks to go after people on bikes than in cars.

The first issue with this is using a single incident from 1978 for your argument. NYC, and the Bronx, are nothing like what they were in 1978.

[Max Rockatansky]

Didn't the 1970s decade have the highest or one or highest overall violent crime rates since the Uniform Crime Report started in 1929?

[D-Dey65]

Didn't the 1970s decade have the highest or one or highest overall violent crime rates since the Uniform Crime Report started in 1929?

It did, and I think that one incident just serves as an example of how bad things were. There have been other instances of bicyclists being easier targets for criminals, none of which I can think of off-hand.

Just so you know, I don't want anybody to think I'm suggesting not to ride a bike. If you can commute by bike, or take tours on some of the trails, good for you.

[Hunty2022]

All of my pictures by state:

Virginia: 5148
North Carolina: 1175
Maryland: 1148
South Carolina: 1143
Florida: 1006
Georgia: 657
Tennessee: 316
Delaware: 14
District of Columbia: 1

Date of my first picture in those states:

Virginia: July 10, 2022 (1st ever)
North Carolina: May 18, 2023
Maryland: August 9, 2023
Delaware: August 12, 2023
District of Columbia: August 13, 2023
South Carolina: August 25, 2023
Georgia: August 25, 2023
Florida: August 27, 2023
Tennessee: August 28, 2023

[LilianaUwU]

It happened to me that some signs I've photographed later ended up in my sign collection. Did this ever happen to any of y'all?

The photos, for reference:

Chemin des Patton, 2017 - 1 by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

Pointe-des-Canots, 2017 - 2 by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

Pointe-des-Canots, 2017 - 3 by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

Pointe-des-Canots, 2017 - 4 by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

[Max Rockatansky]

Yes, an Oatman Highway sign came into my possession (via eBay purchase) after the street blades were replaced this last decade.

https://flic.kr/p/SxYUJE

https://flic.kr/p/SLX7qU

[formulanone]

It happened to me that some signs I've photographed later ended up in my sign collection. Did this ever happen to any of y'all?

The photos, for reference:

Chemin des Patton, 2017 - 1 by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

Wait, Quebec numbers its snowmobile routes in a separate system with shields containing snowflakes?