Recent posts

#1

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Minnesota Notes

Last post by TheHighwayMan3561 - Today at 03:40:16 PM

The sign has already been patched.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/04/23/ady-ayd-mill-road-erroneous-highway-sign-st-paul-gets-temporary-fix

#2

Great Lakes and Ohio Valley / Re: Ohio

Last post by seicer - Today at 03:32:56 PM

"Oh, brother." Again, no citations were provided, and only vague statements were made. Check.

Looking through the FHWA, nothing under "NEPA" forces a DOT to mandate tree or vegetation encroachment on the right-of-way. Under the Federal Aid Policy Guide 752.4:

"Landscape development, which includes landscaping projects and other highway planting programs within the right-of-way of all federally funded highways or on adjoining scenic lands, shall be in general conformity with accepted concepts and principles of highway landscaping and environmental design."

If this was the Highlands Scenic Highway in West Virginia, considerations may need to be made on landscape or vegetation encroachment and management. A highway through central Columbus isn't going to violate "NEPA" or the FHWA. As ODOT's own guidelines and policies state, each municipality needs to submit an action plan to maintain said vegetation. If the City of Columbus (in this instance) did not, then ODOT can fault the city for allowing the vegetation to become a nuisance and have it removed.

Nothing under 752.4 also mandates ODOT to keep excessive tree growth or vegetation, either. It would be considered appropriate in urban and rural areas for grass to serve as the vegetative buffer.

#3

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 03:27:02 PM

I had my new-patient appointment today. Only lasted about 20 minutes. Got my lab orders and I'll knock that out next week. It helps that I'm overall very healthy.

#4

Sports / Re: Arizona Coyotes players ap...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 03:23:14 PM

Saw this pic on Twitter and really liked it.

#5

Sports / Re: General WNBA thread

Last post by Henry - Today at 03:21:06 PM

Sky picked up some good players in the draft, looking forward to seeing if they can rekindle the championship run like a few years ago.

Agreed on all counts!

#6

Sports / Re: Arizona Coyotes players ap...

Last post by KeithE4Phx - Today at 03:18:05 PM

It snows in Arizona also.  I was stuck up on the Mogollon Rim in Show Low for three days one time after being snow bound in a hotel there. I've even seen it snow on the mountains in Phoenix a couple times.

The last time I saw snow in Phoenix (specifically, Ahwatukee) was January 2007.  The last time I saw it in Mesa was February 2013.  When I worked in north Scottsdale (1997-2002), there were 2 or 3 times I got to work and there was about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground each time.  So it does happen on rare occasions.

#7

Traffic Control / Re: 1-2-3 Route number Additio...

Last post by formulanone - Today at 03:07:53 PM

1462 = 1031 + 431 in Central City, Kentucky:

#8

Road Enthusiasts Meetings / Re: 25th Anniversary Road Meet...

Last post by 74/171FAN - Today at 03:02:50 PM

I am definitely guilty on the side of being one of many single people coming to meets.  However, it is hard for me just to go somewhere without a reason to (hence why my clinching in New England is so little), but I would rather go to a meet in Little Rock or Atlanta than just complain about being single all the time.

I would love to get more people in the local location of a meet involved, and maybe I can figure something out for that if I ever do a Prince George County, VA, Meet.

#9

Off-Topic / Re: My idea for US currency re...

Last post by formulanone - Today at 02:59:20 PM

My thoughts:

- Eliminate all coins. Prices are rounded up or down to the nearest dollar

- Transition the Federal Reserve Notes to colored plastic with Braille for denominations

- Increase production of the $2 bill to match that of the $1 bill.

- Remove "In God We Trust" from all bills and replace it with, "Liberty and Justice for All."

- Have the following denominations:
  1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 100,

- Feature different portraits on the obverse side of each bill, including historical and modern Americans:

  - 1, George Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., Orville and Wilbur Wright
  - 2, Thomas Jefferson, Barack Obama, Sitting Bull
  - 5, Abraham Lincoln, Sandra Day O'Connor, Muhammad Ali
  - 10, Alexander Hamilton, Harriett Tubman, Jackie Robinson
  - 20, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony
  - 50, Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, Sojourner Truth
  - 100, Benjamin Franklin, Elvis Presley, Henry David Thoreau

- And, on the reverse side, the same idea for monuments and historic/famous landmarks. The $1 will no longer have the Great Seal and the Illuminati pyramid.

  - 1, Washington Monument, The 1903 Flight at Kitty Hawk, Yellowstone National Park
  - 2, Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Gettysburg Address, Jefferson Memorial
  - 5, Lincoln Memorial, Supreme Court, Niagra Falls,
  - 10, The Treasury, Statue of Liberty, Gateway Arch, Signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
  - 20, The White House, Pike's Peak, Golden Gate Bridge, One World Trade Center
  - 50, US Capitol, The Grand Canyon, Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
  - 100, Independence Hall, the HOLLYWOOD Sign, Denali, Seattle Space Needle

You are stopping half way
- Eliminate all coins and bills smaller than $100. Transactions are rounded up to the nearest $100 if done in cash
- No more change needed!

$100 bills
3 cent pieces
(that's it)

Disadvantages:
Can never make perfect change will frustrate perfectionists and the poor
Nobody will be happy, we're all in this misery forever

Advantages:
No ability to make perfect change is a barometer of how nice/mean of a transaction's participants
Three is the Magic Number
Simplicity in tills
People can go around with money bags and feel rich
Nobody will be happy, we're all in this misery forever

#10

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by J N Winkler - Today at 02:54:25 PM

Regarding new-patient appointments, I think they last longer because a full medical history is taken; lab work is ordered (including a CBC); and the PCP sits down with the patient to cover the waterfront in terms of outstanding medical issues, general approach toward metabolic health, necessary screening procedures (besides a colonoscopy, I was advised to self-refer to a dermatologist given family history of skin cancer on both sides), vaccinations, prophylactics (especially important for sexually active people), contraception (for female patients of childbearing age), and so on.

I think mine lasted for about an hour.  That did not include a follow-up appointment to have blood drawn for a CBC.  I was also told in advance to bring all my medical records from my previous physicians, but I did not do so, and was not asked for them.  (I think paper files from my next-to-last PCP are probably now in the salt mines in Hutchinson and would take forever to retrieve.  I was also registered with a GP practice, but when I tried to request these records, I was told my registration had lapsed, which means my patient file has been archived.  I can order it--indeed, there is an online form to allow me to do so--but I have postponed that task for the time being since it is such a cumbersome process to gather all the required documentation.)

In contradistinction, I would expect later appointments--particularly ones to treat easy-to-diagnose acute conditions like pneumonia or strep throat--to be much more brief.