I first discovered some road related websites in 1996, and started actively contributing to the community in 1997. What about you?
I think I became aware of it in 2003 or 2004 or so, browsing many of the websites. I became aware of MTR in that time period, but didn't really read it.
I think I made my first MTR post in 2007 or so, but posted pretty sporadically and was mostly just a lurker. Once this forum appeared in 2009 I really started diving into the community side of things.
As far as I can tell (and my memory confirms this), this post in December 2007 was my first post to any forum. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/misc.transport.road/0OEVgkw0OqQ/iNcPvxtmACwJ
I first found AARoads in 2009 looking for road and signal pictures. I quickly found the forum and joined. I lurked for a long time before I first posted though. I knew nothing of MTR years back. I only learned of its existence from reading other members talk about it here.
2004 or so. I discovered it by Googling the road I lived off of, an obscure county road notable only for having an exit from I-35, on a whim. I got a hit to Eric Stuve's OKRoads, complete with photos of the exit, including the older button copy signage that used to be there. I spent a few days looking at his sites, vicariously traveling along on his trips. I didn't realize there was an actual roadgeek community for a while after that, though.
I joined a UK based roads forum in 2002. I discovered AARoads.com some time before the forum started.
Somewhere around 2000 or a few years after that, I discovered MTR. I was late in the game getting to this site...I guess I just never came across it somehow in my web searches.
In 2009 or so, I was researching maps tracking old alignments and found this web site, which was really my first hint that there was any sort of community. I was a long-time lurker, also.
'95, IIRC, right after I first got online. I was looking for transportation planning resources, and I'd found a collection of links. The last one at the bottom of the page was titled "For roadgeeks only." My heart shipped a beat and I think my hands trembled slightly as I clicked it. :-D
2003 or so, the first time I tried googling, "Ontario Highway 401"
2001. A local news story about safety improvements to the Loop 202 freeway between Mesa and Tempe(weird to think there was actually a gap up there before the huge shopping centers went in) led me to do some googling, or actually, webcrawling or yahooing or something like that. I stumbled across Richard Moeur's Highway Stuf page, Alan Hamilton's Arizona Roads page, the ADOT website, a number of other road enthusiast websites, and eventually, MTR.
The end of 1997. The local paper had the URL for "Oddens' Bookmarks" (http://web.archive.org/web/20100105150644/http://oddens.geog.uu.nl/index.php) which included a link to IHOZ, Kurumi, and perhaps others. I was struck by the elegance of the SPUI.
2013 for me.
It was in late 2001 or early 2002 when I discovered the online road community. I was searching for Kansas Turnpike pictures and stumbled upon the AARoads Sign Gallery. From then on, I was hooked.
1997 while killing time at the University of Delaware library. I searched for something on Interstates and stumbled across Kurumi's page, James Lin's site, Andy's Highway Kickoff Page and MTR.
It was in early 2000's that I discovered that there are others like me on the internet, and that they even took road photos and posted them! I discovered AARoads later on after stumbling upon Steve Anderson's NYC Roads.
I then learned it had a forum years later in 2011 and then joined afterward. I only wish that I knew of this years ago (that is the picture taking) as I would have loved to photograph many historic road signs and designations that no longer exist today. Many of you disbelieve stuff I have said I saw and if I had photos from back then (even the early 90's) I could prove to you the things that really did exist. Many of you are young and I have been into roads long before many of you were even born, and seen a lot of signs and practices that one could never imagine.
Discover it? Probably about 1999 or 2000.
Be a part of it? 2008.
Discovered it in early 2000s while trying to find info about progress on Corridor X construction. Lurked at MTR and seroads@yahoo for a while. Joined here and started participating in 2010.
2011.
2001, thanks to someone pointing me to user NE2. Had no idea the highway interest even extended beyond drawing and reading maps until then.
Some time in 2010 was when I started making road signs... I wanted to look for a program so I don't have to do all the work. (Kurumi's Signmaker was used rather heavily by me then.) And then I learned about MTR and AARoads. Joined the forum only about 9 months ago.
1996-97. I was up at Michigan Tech and they had access to the newsgroups. I had participated in a few since late 1995 when I started up there, but then I found MTR and all the other road sites at that time.
1996. I think the first site I saw was Zzyzx's Interstates (http://www.ihoz.com/ilist.html). By the end of the year, I was bringing the site up and bugging MTR guys for information (as in "Looking for Dead Interstates" thread, Dec. 1996)
2007, while browsing a new discovery for me: Google Earth. I decided to look at the US just for the heck of it, and liked the roads. Then I got to Wikipedia, and eventually to Froggie's site and then to Henry's site on Geocities. Back then I knew little English, but improved a lot with that. Some time after I realized our roads were interesting too, but struggled to find a community before I joined Skyscrapercity in mid 2010.
While searching for scans of paper maps in 2001 or 2002, I accidentally stumbled across a (now long-gone) site with photos and descriptions of traffic lights from every state. From there, I found Kurumi, Robert Droz's US Highways, Chris Bessert's Michigan Highways when it was hosted on AOL, Marc and Sandor's roadfan.com, Texas Highway Man and all his pages about the Autobahn, SPUI's pages, and yes, AARoads. Most of my discoveries from that point on came through Andy's Highway Kickoff Page or dmoz.org.
I knew there were meetups and I knew about MTR, but I wasn't familiar with newsgroups and they seemed like too much hassle (so I never even saw meet announcements).
Finally, in 2008, I got brave with my digital camera and submitted some M-179 photos to Dan Garnell's Michigan Highway Ends. Dan invited me to the Great Lakes Roads group on Yahoo, something that I didn't know existed before that day, and I've been part of the community ever since.
I'm not sure anyone else took as long to go from lurking to participating...
Quote from: Roadgeek Adam on March 23, 2014, 10:46:03 AM
Discover it? Probably about 1999 or 2000.
Be a part of it? 2008.
...oh wait, never mind.
Discovered? No idea. I knew of MTR but have never posted there. The first site I found was probably either Scott Kozel's Roads to the Future, kurumi's 3di site, Steve Anderson's NYC Roads, or Jim Teresco's road sign photos. Don't know which nor when.
As far as participating, I discovered this forum in April 2011. I had known of this site, and I had submitted pictures to the webmasters back in 2002 or 2003, but for some reason I never noticed the forum until more recently.
I have not participated in any USENET newsgroup since May 1998 at the latest.
I found the MTR FAQ around 2003-2004, read it for about ten minutes, wasn't terribly interested in what was said in the discussions at the time...but I kept coming back to the FAQ and a few other static websites pretty much around 2000 or so. Mainly, I didn't care much on a nationwide level except for what was going on in Florida, and a few curiosities elsewhere.
I kept finding myself coming back to AARoads so much on various searches from 2008 and onwards, that I figured I finally ought to join, back in early-2011. By that point, I started traveling a lot more, and was more interested in transportation particulars away from home. I still feel like a n00b when it comes to much of this.
Still haven't done a meet, though...I'm away from my family so much that my weekends are mostly their property, so chances and opportunities for that are rare.
I do remember Kurumi's site and James Lin's page - the latter one when one day I'd wondered what other states' road markers looked,like. Probably some others I can't remember...something called "wasteoffilm.org" also springs to mind; and also made me realize I wasn't the only one taking photographs of signs. Wikipedia had, and still is, an informative way to learn about it.
Sometime in 2004 or 2005; someone posted a sign photo to Simtropolis, and in my resulting Google image search for road signs, Upstate NY Roads appeared in the search results.
1995 or 96.
When did I join? Because that's when. I'm thinking either 2012 or 2013. Can't remember. I honestly can't remember what I was searching for when I found this forum either. I think it was something on making road signs... yeah it probably was, because I landed in the Road Related Illustrations topic.
Quote from: Zeffy on March 23, 2014, 11:01:49 PM
When did I join? Because that's when. I'm thinking either 2012 or 2013. Can't remember. I honestly can't remember what I was searching for when I found this forum either. I think it was something on making road signs... yeah it probably was, because I landed in the Road Related Illustrations topic.
Very beginning of 2013.
I do not know what year it was, but I was incredibly amazed that anyone, anywhere had any interest in roads, signs, maps and so on.
In many ways, I am still truly amazed. The number of folks who frequent this forum and have expansive websites and staggering amounts of knowledge, understanding and the history of roads is incredible.
On the side, I am a very big fan of road videos. Road videos not only introduced me to places I have never been but, a whole other music genre--trance--that I had never heard of or experienced beforehand. Often I will watch a host of road videos at home just for their music while I work on my other hobbies. :wave:
Quote from: Zeffy on March 23, 2014, 11:01:49 PM
When did I join? Because that's when. I'm thinking either 2012 or 2013. Can't remember.
You know you could check your profile...?
Quote from: sammi on March 23, 2014, 11:10:02 PM
You know you could check your profile...?
I'm too lazy today to do that. :bigass:
Discovered that MnDOT had a website in 1996. Discovered Andy's old Highway Kickoff Page in late 1997. First posted to MTR sometime in 1998.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 23, 2014, 08:01:36 AM
Somewhere around 2000 or a few years after that, I discovered MTR. I was late in the game getting to this site...I guess I just never came across it somehow in my web searches.
I did a quick google search, and it appears I was active in MTR in 1999.
I don't have time to look right now.
Here, in 2009.
I came upon this site around 2004 as well as a few others such as Upstate NY Roads, kurumi's 3di site, and Froggie's site. I lurked for eight years before deciding to join this site in 2012.
Usenet, in the late 1990's.
Here, only a few years ago.
'97 or '98 for me. I'm quite sure the first site I found was James Lin's, when I had the brilliant idea that I could search the web for "state highway sign shapes" (using Lycos, of course). Thereafter, I came across zzyzx, kurumi, Steve Anderson's and J.P.'s sites, and so on, and it wasn't long before I figured out what m.t.r. was and how to use it.
2000, shortly after I had moved to Seattle. I was a longtime lurker on M.T.R, but never got to post anything there; I just loved to read the many ideas and rants on it. Then came the various road-related websites, and finally, the AARoads Forum.
When did this forum start, anyway?
I'm guessing early 2009, since that's my join date and I'm pretty sure I joined when it was first announced on MTR.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 25, 2014, 11:26:55 PM
When did this forum start, anyway?
January 15, 2009.
Quote from: Alex on March 25, 2014, 11:43:26 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 25, 2014, 11:26:55 PM
When did this forum start, anyway?
January 15, 2009.
For extra fun, check out the join date for Alps or bugo.
I remember being in middle school when my mother told me there was a website that had lists of all the exits off of various highways. I have always had a thing for making lists, so combine that with roads and she might as well have told me she had found a magic candy store for me to go play in. :D This would have been in 1999 or 2000, I don't remember exactly. All I remember is that I spent a lot of time in those days reading NYCRoads and its sister sites as they went online, along with Kurumi's site, this site, Empire State Roads, and various other pages that got linked to.
But, aside from writing an email to Kurumi in 2001 or so to report the existence of a couple of error US 15 shields near the Merritt Parkway, I had zero interaction with any people in the community prior to joining this forum in January 2009. MTR always struck me as intimidating and I was never comfortable attempting to jump into it.
Which is just as well, since if I had gotten involved with the community back when I first discovered it, people would have gotten to know me as an annoying autistic kid rather than as a mature adult, and I probably would not have made friends the same way. So it's all worked out for the best!
I found MTR around 1996 or so, I think. I put my website up in 1995.
I think the first time I encountered this site in particular was as an outsider four or five years ago. I remember I was looking up a road picture to set as my computer background, and I distinctly remember this site because clicking "View images" on any AARoads pictures would give me a 403.
I started to minorly contribute to the U.S. Roads project on Wikipedia in summer 2012, and became more active in October of the same year. I didn't join this site until last summer, and this is the first real road community I have been a part of.
Quote from: Alex on March 25, 2014, 11:43:26 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 25, 2014, 11:26:55 PM
When did this forum start, anyway?
January 15, 2009.
Hmmm. I joined three days later. For some reason, I thought that the forum had been in existence for a long time before I joined, and I just hadn't heard about it for some reason or another. Knowing this actually makes me feel better.
I don't remember where I heard about it, whether it was on MTR, Roadgeek, or if someone told me privately.
Quote from: golden eagle on March 24, 2014, 07:06:30 PM
Here, in 2009.
Same here, and when Truvelo in Birmingham, England joined about the same time, it puzzled me as to why somebody in Birmingham, England would have an avatar picturing a street sign in Phoenix, Arizona, just blocks from my house. After we exchanged a few PMs on the matter, it turned out that Truvelo is also a fellow insulator collector who had come to Arizona for a visit to an insulator show (those are akin to, say, baseball card shows or record shows) and came to my house to see my collection. A strange coincidence indeed.
Quote from: Alex on March 25, 2014, 11:43:26 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 25, 2014, 11:26:55 PM
When did this forum start, anyway?
January 15, 2009.
This is just over five years old?!? I thought it had been around three or four years longer.
I have always thought it was January 17, 2009.
I discovered AARoads in 2004 and started making submissions in 2006 I believe.
late 1990s - browsing through all the now-obsolete exit list sites.
1999. Found the AARoads Sign Gallery (may it rest in peace) in a search, and found the IRC channel not long thereafter.
I found alpsroads.net around 2010, I believe, then I joined this forum a year or two later.
Sometime around 2002, I think. I can't quite remember exactly how I discovered it, but my first thought was something along the lines of "wait, there really are other people like me out there?" I found m.t.r shortly afterward and lurked there for probably 4-5 years. Ultimately found this site in early 2010.
It had to be about 2006, because that was the time I first seriously began doing Wikipedia and most of my earliest edits on Wikipedia were on highway articles which were woefully bad, or nonexistent, back then. I must have done some searching for various highways and discovered something, though if I gave a story, it would probably be more myth than reality at this point.
Quote from: 1 on March 26, 2014, 08:53:55 PM
I have always thought it was January 17, 2009.
That was basically the public debut date after working through the bugs.
How long was it after that until the head admin position passed from Cody to Jake? The forum was so different under Cody that I would consider the "true" start of the forum to be when Jake took over, as that is when it became recognizable to someone familiar with its current form.
About 1 year ago
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 29, 2014, 01:50:11 PM
How long was it after that until the head admin position passed from Cody to Jake? The forum was so different under Cody that I would consider the "true" start of the forum to be when Jake took over, as that is when it became recognizable to someone familiar with its current form.
How long was Jake head admin? I've seen both him an bugo doing mod things in older posts, but when I joined in 2011 (during Ethanmania) the moderation staff was about 90% the same as it is now.
I initially found the online roads community back in late 1999, after wondering if there were websites about roads. I was in my college dorm room one quiet Sunday evening and decided to do a search for roads around New York City. I found Steve Anderson's website (I'm not sure if it was NYCRoads.com at the time or a predecessor URL) and from there, followed links to other roads related web sites. Also, I had been a pretty avid map drawer and reader before I discovered the online side to the hobby.
Quote from: Takumi on March 29, 2014, 02:57:14 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 29, 2014, 01:50:11 PM
How long was it after that until the head admin position passed from Cody to Jake? The forum was so different under Cody that I would consider the "true" start of the forum to be when Jake took over, as that is when it became recognizable to someone familiar with its current form.
How long was Jake head admin? I've seen both him an bugo doing mod things in older posts, but when I joined in 2011 (during Ethanmania) the moderation staff was about 90% the same as it is now.
The V'Ger (Cody/He Who Must Not Be Named) days were long before that. A long time ago, on a server far, far away...
I wanna say I was still in high school when the Great Admin War happened, but I don't completely remember (note that I was a high school senior when the forum started).
It's amazing how different this place was back then. In fact, most people had their post count go way down when threads like "Guess The Highway" and the entire forum games forum got deleted. The regional divisions were different, the Canada subforum didn't exist, and neither did Fictional Highways or a few others.
Mike Ballards Scenic Highways in Los Angeles county and So Cal Unsigned highways got me in the roadgeek craze.
For me I guess it was about 1996 when I found eMpTyR. But there was a message board on a local BBS where we talked about this stuff back in 1987.
Quote from: vdeane on March 29, 2014, 06:35:50 PM
The V'Ger (Cody/He Who Must Not Be Named) days were long before that. A long time ago, on a server far, far away...
I wanna say I was still in high school when the Great Admin War happened, but I don't completely remember (note that I was a high school senior when the forum started).
It's amazing how different this place was back then. In fact, most people had their post count go way down when threads like "Guess The Highway" and the entire forum games forum got deleted. The regional divisions were different, the Canada subforum didn't exist, and neither did Fictional Highways or a few others.
Interesting. I've always been kind of interested in the history of the forum before I arrived. From what I can tell the forum was relatively uneventful between the Great Admin War and Ethanmania.
What the heck is Ethanmania? I must have a really bad memory, because I joined here in summer 2009 and basically vanished for 2.5 years (spring 2011 to fall 2013, didn't make a single post in 2012). I don't remember anything being substantially different when I returned except that there's a lot fewer forum games now.
There was a user called ethanman62187 that was active in mid-late 2011. He kept talking about the same 2-3 topics over and over: raising speed limits and turning VA 28 into I-366. I call his era "Ethanmania" because it's a pun on his username, and he was getting everyone angry at him.
Quote from: Takumi on March 30, 2014, 12:08:15 AM
There was a user called ethanman62187 that was active in mid-late 2011. He kept talking about the same 2-3 topics over and over: raising speed limits and turning VA 28 into I-366. I call his era "Ethanmania" because it's a pun on his username, and he was getting everyone angry at him.
If things had turned out different, we'd have Ethanland instead of you-know-where.
Also I became a roadgeek based on examining why AFB Parkway in Fairfield, CA is a city owned expressway. Also the County Route Shields are interesting to me. Also the San Jose/ Santa Clara Area Expressways were interesting to me.
I've been on Caltrans Owned Expressways such as CA-12 in Suisun City and CA-29 Expressway in American Canyon, CA. they were Interesting to me.
Quote from: getemngo on March 29, 2014, 11:34:16 PM
What the heck is Ethanmania? I must have a really bad memory, because I joined here in summer 2009 and basically vanished for 2.5 years (spring 2011 to fall 2013, didn't make a single post in 2012). I don't remember anything being substantially different when I returned except that there's a lot fewer forum games now.
Do a search for posts by user ethanman62187 for a better understanding. Many of his questions were utterly inane matters that he could have answered with a simple Google search.
After he was banned from this forum, he showed up on a basketball-related site. Looks like it didn't take long for people to figure him out.....
http://forums.hoopshype.com/forums/index.php?topic=81023.0
I discovered the online road community in 1998. The sites I frequented the most were Scott Kozel's Roads to the Future; my husband's site, MD Roads; Jeff Kitsko's PAHighways; Steve Anderson's sites, especially dcroads.net once it went live; Adam Paul's Bmore Ghosts-Unsung Monuments of the Monumental City; Mapmikey and Froggie's VA Highways Project; AARoads; kurumi's site. There were plenty of others that I found from one links page to another to another, but these are the ones that stick out.
I lurked on the mtr archives but couldn't figure out how to post to it because I had America Online. Similarly, I couldn't figure out how to use IRC because of AOL.
I lurked this forum when it opened. After Mike and I attended the Baltimore meet, I joined the site. Now I am much more active on here than he is!!
Quote from: Scott5114 on March 29, 2014, 01:50:11 PM
How long was it after that until the head admin position passed from Cody to Jake? The forum was so different under Cody that I would consider the "true" start of the forum to be when Jake took over, as that is when it became recognizable to someone familiar with its current form.
Jake took over after the forum restart by early June 2009. I think he lasted until August or September of that year?
Quote from: Takumi on March 29, 2014, 10:47:16 PM
Quote from: vdeane on March 29, 2014, 06:35:50 PM
The V'Ger (He Who Must Not Be Named) days were long before that. A long time ago, on a server far, far away...
I wanna say I was still in high school when the Great Admin War happened, but I don't completely remember (note that I was a high school senior when the forum started).
It's amazing how different this place was back then. In fact, most people had their post count go way down when threads like "Guess The Highway" and the entire forum games forum got deleted. The regional divisions were different, the Canada subforum didn't exist, and neither did Fictional Highways or a few others.
Interesting. I've always been kind of interested in the history of the forum before I arrived. From what I can tell the forum was relatively uneventful between the Great Admin War and Ethanmania.
FWIW, he-who-not-be-named proposed forum concepts for AARoads going back to 2005 and briefly had a beta forum on the site during one of those years.In a nutshell, he had some good ideas and he had bad ideas. The butting of heads started after a few weeks in winter 2009:
He wanted very little moderation, invited some of his contacts (some good, some bad) to join to boost the membership, and wanted a very broad scope of forum division with few subsections and lots of games. The first division I proposed involved pulling a lot of teeth, and that was to get a fictional highways section (he felt those posts went hand in hand with the main discussion). Then later, and even after support from many members of the mainstream online road community, he balked at my request to set up a Road Meets section where meets could be set up, discussed, etc.
He also insisted on changing the theme of the forum frequently and without warning (and much to many members' shagrin) and had things come and go like the shoutbox before anyone could decide if they hated it or liked it. Another thing he added was voyager's bbar, which I am not sure what was supposed to be, and an arcade section. One of his good ideas was the first chat room, which I later replicated with our own licensed copy.
Finally he got hostile toward me and a few of the moderation staff about control of the forum, continuing to insist on everything being approved by him, even when the majority of us agreed on a change. His last salvo was to delete my account, Jake's and Brent's and pull the plug on the forum via a backdoor he left. He followed that by trashing us on eMpTyR.
At that time we were ready to keep it offline and move on, but after receiving emails from 20 plus former members, and with help from the Scott's and others, we were able to resurrect the forum and get it back online.
I remember stumbling upon the California highways sites (Dan Faigin's, and a couple of others that have since faded away) in 1996. I can find posts of mine on MTR dating back to 2000, but I know I lurked there for a while before that - I did the same thing here, lurking for almost a year before signing up.
Still have a lot of bookmarks for sites that haven't updated in years, but are still fun to look at - the Interstate Strip Charts, some of Kurumi's pages, etc.
QuoteHe wanted very little moderation
I recall the moderation being really...asinine. The conversation itself could be about something terribly stupid and pointless (things that make Alanland look sensical) and that received no recourse, but if you used the word "shit" in an otherwise well-thought out post, you'd get in trouble.
I remember getting censored for mentioning the location of an old sign photo I posted (some standing 1920s or 1930s shields) - because it would "encourage people to go there and steal them."
2012
Quote from: getemngo on March 30, 2014, 08:53:26 PM
I remember getting censored for mentioning the location of an old sign photo I posted (some standing 1920s or 1930s shields) - because it would "encourage people to go there and steal them."
If I'm not mistaken, we still kind-of-sort-of play by those rules, no?
(Unless the sign is physically unreachable by natural means or just plain huge?)
Quote from: Alex on March 30, 2014, 06:32:05 PMAnother thing he added was voyager's bbar
shudder
Quote from: formulanone on March 31, 2014, 09:55:14 AM
Quote from: getemngo on March 30, 2014, 08:53:26 PM
I remember getting censored for mentioning the location of an old sign photo I posted (some standing 1920s or 1930s shields) - because it would "encourage people to go there and steal them."
If I'm not mistaken, we still kind-of-sort-of play by those rules, no?
(Unless the sign is physically unreachable by natural means or just plain huge?)
Not to my knowledge, and if we do, that's just plain silly.
I think most people around here would prefer that old signs end up in someone's private collection instead of at the DOT recycling yard.
Quote from: hbelkins on March 31, 2014, 04:07:17 PM
Not to my knowledge, and if we do, that's just plain silly.
I think most people around here would prefer that old signs end up in someone's private collection instead of at the DOT recycling yard.
I'd rather that they stay on the road so dolts like me can find them, rather than someone eBaying it for the Benjamins. :)
I guess I've read too much into many of the forum's old posts in the Best of Thread.
Quote from: formulanone on March 31, 2014, 09:55:14 AM
Quote from: getemngo on March 30, 2014, 08:53:26 PM
I remember getting censored for mentioning the location of an old sign photo I posted (some standing 1920s or 1930s shields) - because it would "encourage people to go there and steal them."
If I'm not mistaken, we still kind-of-sort-of play by those rules, no?
(Unless the sign is physically unreachable by natural means or just plain huge?)
I play by those rules because I've seen it happen with MD Roads. On a few occasions, Mike posted a shield pic with its location and it was GONE in less than a week. We are much more careful now.
Quote from: formulanone on March 31, 2014, 08:10:36 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 31, 2014, 04:07:17 PM
Not to my knowledge, and if we do, that's just plain silly.
I think most people around here would prefer that old signs end up in someone's private collection instead of at the DOT recycling yard.
I'd rather that they stay on the road so dolts like me can find them, rather than someone eBaying it for the Benjamins. :)
I guess I've read too much into many of the forum's old posts in the Best of Thread.
I'd rather them stay in their natural environment on the road. It would be great to know someone who works for (insert your state's highway agency name here) so that they could give road enthusiasts the signs when they come down!
Quote from: Laura on March 31, 2014, 09:53:40 PM
I'd rather them stay in their natural environment on the road. It would be great to know someone who works for (insert your state's highway agency name here) so that they could give road enthusiasts the signs when they come down!
In Kentucky, that would get your friendly KYTC employee whom you saw two weekends ago fired.
The rules for state employees are so strict that we are not even allowed to take anything home that is going to be thrown away. The state government would rather something go to the landfill than have an employee take it for personal use. Next time that reminder gets sent around via email, I will have to save it and post the language so you can see for yourself and not just take my word for it.
Quote from: hbelkins on April 01, 2014, 09:41:58 PM
Quote from: Laura on March 31, 2014, 09:53:40 PM
I'd rather them stay in their natural environment on the road. It would be great to know someone who works for (insert your state's highway agency name here) so that they could give road enthusiasts the signs when they come down!
In Kentucky, that would get your friendly KYTC employee whom you saw two weekends ago fired.
The rules for state employees are so strict that we are not even allowed to take anything home that is going to be thrown away. The state government would rather something go to the landfill than have an employee take it for personal use. Next time that reminder gets sent around via email, I will have to save it and post the language so you can see for yourself and not just take my word for it.
I believe you. As a teen, I worked at two different Rite Aids. The first one allowed us to take home any expired magazines we wanted so long as we ripped the covers off so that she could mail them back in. The second one was mortified when I asked if I could take the magazines home. Apparently what the first Rite Aid did was highly illegal even though they just get thrown away anyway.
When I worked at the local library, there was a big project where the library threw away books that were in bad condition. But they would have pooped a hole in their pants if I had taken some of the books home with me.
And what is the purpose of a Rite-Aid mailing back magazine covers?
I remember one time, a record store gave me a big stack of expired Billboard magazines (the ones with the music charts) that they were about to throw away. I guess it's because I was a customer, not an employee.
But my mom later made me throw away all these Billboards because they were a fire hazard.
Quote from: Laura on April 01, 2014, 11:00:13 PM
I believe you. As a teen, I worked at two different Rite Aids. The first one allowed us to take home any expired magazines we wanted so long as we ripped the covers off so that she could mail them back in. The second one was mortified when I asked if I could take the magazines home. Apparently what the first Rite Aid did was highly illegal even though they just get thrown away anyway.
Quote from: bandit957 on April 01, 2014, 11:45:45 PM
When I worked at the local library, there was a big project where the library threw away books that were in bad condition. But they would have pooped a hole in their pants if I had taken some of the books home with me.
Reminds me of Michigan Tech's policy when I was there. Certain university equipment could not be donated to non-university entities or sold — the only options were to give it to another department or throw it away. When it came time to get rid of old computers, the date and time they were being "thrown out" was usually leaked, and the department would say, "We're going to put them in a pile outside the office. Hopefully they'll be able to make their way to the dumpster. ;)"
One of the nice things about living in a built-up area where I take trash out to an alley instead of the backyard is that there's a much greater chance that somebody might find the discarded items and re-use them.
Quote from: bandit957 on April 01, 2014, 11:46:50 PM
And what is the purpose of a Rite-Aid mailing back magazine covers?
I remember seeing warnings printed inside magazines and paperback books stating something to the effect of, "If you have purchased this publication without a cover, be advised that it was reported to the publisher as 'unsold." Sales of publications in such a condition is prohibited."
It used to mortify me that our supermarket would throw out so much food from the deli and bakery. We could grab a snack after store closing, but nothing was allowed to leave the store in our hands.
Quote from: bandit957 on April 02, 2014, 12:07:22 AM
One of the nice things about living in a built-up area where I take trash out to an alley instead of the backyard is that there's a much greater chance that somebody might find the discarded items and re-use them.
I used to live off a major road, and there was almost nothing left but yard waste when Bulk Trash Day rolled around. If I didn't feel like hauling large stuff to Goodwill, I'd just leave it out by the curb. Gone in 60 minutes or less, during daylight hours. Usually a taped sign that said "FREE" helped out.
Quote from: bandit957 on April 01, 2014, 11:46:50 PM
And what is the purpose of a Rite-Aid mailing back magazine covers?
For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, books and magazines are essentially taken on consignment by retailers. Hardcover books and trade paperbacks will be returned to the publisher for refund if they do not sell. This is where remainders come from. Mass market paperbacks (the small ones that populate the romance and sci-fi and espionage shelves) and magazines, however, are not worth it for the publishers as they are already pretty cheaply made. For those you simply tear off the covers and send the covers back and are asked to destroy what's left.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on April 02, 2014, 05:23:47 PM
Quote from: bandit957 on April 01, 2014, 11:46:50 PM
And what is the purpose of a Rite-Aid mailing back magazine covers?
For reasons I'm not entirely clear on, books and magazines are essentially taken on consignment by retailers. Hardcover books and trade paperbacks will be returned to the publisher for refund if they do not sell. This is where remainders come from. Mass market paperbacks (the small ones that populate the romance and sci-fi and espionage shelves) and magazines, however, are not worth it for the publishers as they are already pretty cheaply made. For those you simply tear off the covers and send the covers back and are asked to destroy what's left.
Nailed it.
They want them destroyed because its not cost effective to mail the whole thing back, and they don't want those materials recovered and sold in a secondary market with a new cover plastered on.
iPhone
Quote from: Laura on April 03, 2014, 02:24:02 PM
They want them destroyed because its not cost effective to mail the whole thing back, and they don't want those materials recovered and sold in a secondary market with a new cover plastered on.
thus the warning on one of the first few pages of many books: "do not buy this book if it is missing its front cover".
as for signs: I've taken to posting their location. I cannot encourage anyone to steal them, but it would be nice if the highway department didn't turn them into a guardrail.
Only a couple years ago, when I discovered this site while I was looking for general info. Found it met my needs, bur lurked for a good while before posting.
I remember looking at the old AAroads look back in 2000 or 2001 and it changed then I joined the message boards back in 2009.
"Needs"?
Quote from: bugo on April 04, 2014, 08:00:33 PM
"Needs"?
Perhaps he's SPUIsexual. We don't know.
Quote from: getemngo on April 04, 2014, 08:22:54 PM
Quote from: bugo on April 04, 2014, 08:00:33 PM
"Needs"?
Perhaps he's SPUIsexual. We don't know.
That or he's an evil overlord who wants to seize control of the world's Highway Transportation Network.
1995 for me. I discovered misc.transport.road when I was in grad school and followed it for years afterwards. I had never heard of USENET or newsgroups, but there it was...a newsgroup after my own heart. A newsgroup for roadgeeks.
Thank goodness for GSV, despite the new interface looking like you-know-what. At least I can see signs from my bedroom without actually having to go there.
Quote from: OracleUsr on April 04, 2014, 11:10:44 PM
1995 for me. I discovered misc.transport.road when I was in grad school and followed it for years afterwards. I had never heard of USENET or newsgroups, but there it was...a newsgroup after my own heart. A newsgroup for roadgeeks.
Thank goodness for GSV, despite the new interface looking like you-know-what. At least I can see signs from my bedroom without actually having to go there.
What was your nick? I've used several, including Harry Sachz, TEXAS, and bugo.
Quote"Needs"?
He did mention he was
"looking for general info" at the time.