You Know You're A Roadgeek If...

[Molandfreak]

While eating lunch yesterday, people at the table next to mine were arguing about the routings of some numbered highways.

*twitch*

Ha. Hahahahaha! 

[yakra]

You're watching Spose videos on teh YouTubes, notice this, and are all like DUDE THAT'S AWESOME

[US81]

You're watching Spose videos on teh YouTubes, notice this, and are all like DUDE THAT'S AWESOME

...and if you immediately knew where it was by the Interstate numbers, found it on Streetview (300 block Washington Ave) and only afterwards noticed the Gateway Arch.  :-)

[Michael]

I've been compiling a lot of ideas for this thread since last summer, so this is a pretty big list.

- You get excited to move cones so cars can get out of a car show
The full story: Late last summer, there was a car show and festival in downtown Auburn, and some streets were blocked off.  The DPW hadn't gotten to the cones yet, and cars started to leave, so I moved the cones so they could get out.

- You hate sound walls since you can't see what's on the other side
I can remember being little and getting upset that the sound walls on I-481 just kept going and going

- You count routes instead of sheep when you can't sleep
I start at route 1, and try to think of where in the state it is, then route 2, and so on

- You visit the AARoads forum when you can't sleep

- You know what your state DOT's logo looks like

- You know the mailing address of your state/county/local DOT
I only know NYSDOT's main office is 50 Wolf Rd, Albany, NY 12232 but I had to look up the ZIP code

- You've sent e-mail to your state/county/local DOT

- You report a missing sign or malfunctioning signal to the DOT
Last fall, there was a signal at the end of my street that wouldn't turn green unless the pedestrian pushbutton was pushed, and I was already to report it, but a city engineer showed up, and I told him what was going on.  See my post in the Traffic Signal thread for more details

- You think of the lines along aisles in stores as edge lines

- You notice the SPUI in this image almost instantly

- When you're playing a game, and you have to think of a US city that begins with the letter Z, you use Zzyzx, CA.
After saying it, my friends didn't believe me, so they looked it up

- You harass your friends when they use a GPS

- While on a road trip (click here for a trip report), your friend that regularly gives you empty death threats (he thinks it's funny) stops because he realizes that you're the only person that can get home.
Google Maps had given us directions that sent us literally zigzagging around Oneida County; I posted the details in the Incorrect Highways Marked On Google Maps thread.

- While on another trip with the same friend (we were visiting a college, which he decided to go to last year), you get asked to verify that you're on the right road

- You can think of over a dozen different ways to get to the college

- Your friend who just got his license likes driving with you in the car because you know the rules of the road

- When your friend moves 600+ miles away, you go look at the area in Street View (she moved from here in NY to Raleigh, NC)

- That same friend ends up calling you to ask for directions

- When you realize that the directions involve driving on the I-40/I-85 Business/US 29/70/220/421 multiplex, you tell her to look for this sign assembly

- When your pastor asks if anyone likes maps during a sermon, you raise your hand, plus your friends point at you.  After raising your hand, your pastor singles you out, and he mentions that you're a member of a road forum

- When your friends start to learn what acronyms like MUTCD, TWLTL, etc. mean, and they begin to learn terms like leading and lagging left turns.

- When your friends try to troll you by saying something isn't MUTCD compliant, you can respond by stating the standards for whatever they mentioned

These are the result of a conversation with someone I know who works for a design firm that works with NYSDOT:

- You enjoy the conversation since the design firm works with NYSDOT

- You know about things like MicroStation, GUIDsign, and SignCAD

- You're excited to find out that students can get a free copy of MicroStation

- When discussing sign design, you mention that you wish you had a computer available to open the "Road-Related Illustrations" thread

- You have a discussion about Clearview

- You discuss the the negative contrast restriction, and you mention the Clearview thread

- When you're told that the firm had to buy the Clearview fonts, you can say that you've been to the Clearview website

- When the person you're talking to mentions that there's free road sign fonts you can download, your reply is "Oh, the Roadgeek fonts!"

These next ones are all involving one friend:

- You quiz a friend on how to get between two places without using major roads, and the discussion evolves into talking about visiting our friends at college (the same college mentioned above)

- When your friend tells a story from her summer job working at a camp about trying to drive to a nearby city with co-workers and ending up somewhere else, you have an idea of what went wrong
The camp is near Speculator, NY and they were trying to get to Saratoga Springs, but ended up in Schenectady

- When you get home, you look at a map to find the exact mistake your friend made
I had a general idea of where they messed up, but I had to use Google Maps to find the exact mistake

- When deciding on who to carpool with, you go with the friend who doesn't know how to get to the destination

- You laugh at your friend's excitment when turning out of a RIRO she didn't know was there (The next time we were near the RIRO, she wanted to use it again, so my friend who was driving turned around so we could)

- A minute or two after turning out of the RIRO, your friend says "I'm becoming a roadgeek!"

- Your friend tells you about a new stop sign they saw in town

- Your friend asks you what DOT stands for

- When your friend goes on a trip to a foreign country (Thailand), you go there in Street View

- When looking at a freeway to freeway interchange in Street View in the foreign country, you wonder why they used such a low design speed for the ramps
My friend ended up using a different airport, so she didn't go through this interchange

[vtk]

- You notice the SPUI in this image almost instantly

- You know that that particular SPUI was the first one built in Ohio

[kphoger]

- You visit the AARoads forum when you can't sleep

- You visit the AARoads forum instead of sleeping.

[Desert Man]

I'm watching the Tour de California bicycle race on NBC sports as the tour crosses Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and into Palm Springs, I'm familiar with most of the roads' names (including residential ones) and can tell anyone (if they care) what are they're called. (LOL).

[CNGL-Leudimin]

- You visit the AARoads forum instead of sleeping.

Just what I'm doing now . By the way, it's 11:40 p.m. CEST now.

[A.J. Bertin]

Or, better yet, you liken traffic signal indications to different facial expressions, depending on which face is illuminated . . .   

I still see green lights as , yellow lights as , and red lights as .

HAHA!!! This is hilarious. I think of the lights in the same way. LOL

[formulanone]

...you were quite disappointed in the lack of infrastructure, vehicles, signage, and maps in the show Highway to Heaven.

[vtk]

When I need to remember a numeric string, I break it into digit groups which are the numbers of highways I can picture on a mental map.

Example: when I refuel my work vehicle, I have to temporarily memorize the odometer reading so I can key it in at the pump as part of the fleet card authorization. Today the mileage was 238238.

[kphoger]

When I need to remember a numeric string, I break it into digit groups which are the numbers of highways I can picture on a mental map.

Example: when I refuel my work vehicle, I have to temporarily memorize the odometer reading so I can key it in at the pump as part of the fleet card authorization. Today the mileage was 238238.

I used to do that, except I had to walk into the station and then enter the number.  Some people wrote it on their hand, I just carried a small notebook for nothing but odometer readings (I filled up at least once a day).

The only time I've remembered a number by using highway numbers was when I first met my wife, and her telephone exchange (or was it her PO box number?) was 294.  I was living in the Chicago area, so that was obviously the Tri-state.

[2Co5_14]

... you set your computer passwords based on highway numbers/exit numbers and cities/streets so they will be easy to remember.  I have to change my work password every month, and I am currently about halfway through my 5-year plan for passwords to use.

[ET21]

....you memorized every single interstate and exit in the Chicagoland region. Before I was called WeathermanEd since I'm going for a degree in Meteorology, I was known as the walking GPS

[Henry]

....you memorized every single interstate and exit in the Chicagoland region...

...and you knew all the expressway names too!

[CentralCAroadgeek]

...you spend hours on end voluntarily reorganizing all your road pics. All of them.

[Roadsguy]

...if "238" in any form stands out like Bad Wolf.

[cpzilliacus]

You have driven or walked on every road or trail that goes over (or under) the Capital Beltway in both states.

[hm insulators]

....you memorized every single interstate and exit in the Chicagoland region. Before I was called WeathermanEd since I'm going for a degree in Meteorology, I was known as the walking GPS

Good luck with your studies, Ed! Meteorology's one of my interests.

[ET21]

....you memorized every single interstate and exit in the Chicagoland region. Before I was called WeathermanEd since I'm going for a degree in Meteorology, I was known as the walking GPS

Good luck with your studies, Ed! Meteorology's one of my interests.

Thank you! 

[Bud8Amp88]

You know you're a roadgeek if:

1 - While riding in a car, you turn your head and look at all signage in the opposite direction - regardless of how many times you've seen them.

2 - You figure out a way to close all route discontinuities in your state/province because their existence bothers you.

3A - You use Google Maps to draw every BGS in another state/province in the style of your state/province, because you like your style better.

3B - Alternately, you draw every BGS in YOUR state/province in the style of some OTHER state/province, because you like their style better.

3C - You do both of the above, just because you can.

4 - You see the way I've numbered these, and it reminds you of a freeway you've been on recently.

[sammi]

1 - While riding in a car, you turn your head and look at all signage in the opposite direction - regardless of how many times you've seen them.

Just today, while driving along Steeles Avenue next to ON-407, I just had to look at the signs on both sides. Needless to say, I still don't like the down arrow.

2 - You figure out a way to close all route discontinuities in your state/province because their existence bothers you.

ON-7 comes to mind. The part of it in York Region (where I live) was removed from the official route, so it's a half-and-half situation. D:

3A - You use Google Maps to draw every BGS in another state/province in the style of your state/province, because you like your style better.

I can do signs in Ontario style (sometimes) or even in my own style. I still don't like Philippine signs, so I've designed my own style over a couple of years (). If only they would at least get rid of Arialveticverstesk.

3B - Alternately, you draw every BGS in YOUR state/province in the style of some OTHER state/province, because you like their style better.

I can also sort-of do Caltrans-style signs. They're not as good as myosh_tino's signs, but they'll do. Especially for Caltrans. Besides, I always have some greenout handy.

4 - You see the way I've numbered these, and it reminds you of a freeway you've been on recently.

Nah, spur routes are a lot more... roadgeek-y. (Just look what I did to the Philippine Highways thread.)

EDIT: I remembered just now that I forgot to write an article for that thread. (EDIT 2: I just had an emoticon fail.)

[on_wisconsin]

They ask you why a major road or freeway is under construction and/ or what are they doing?

[NE2]

They may ask you where does that highway go to?

[thenetwork]

When you're bored at work, you take the Liquid Paper correction tape and practice making raised thermal-plastic arrows and other pavement markings on pieces of paper.