Driving into flatulence

[NE2]

ITT Tim fails high school physics.

[bandit957]

ITT Tim fails high school physics.

We never had physics where I went to high school.

[triplemultiplex]

The easier test to see what we are talking about is to simply drop an object in a moving vehicle and observe its trajectory.  It will fall straight down as if you were standing still.

[wxfree]

I once got a bee in the car while going 70 mph.  I had a bit of adventure hoping not to get stung and had to stop to get the bee out, but I always wondered what it was like for the bee.  I assume he was flying along in his normal way, and then experienced a sudden gust of wind in the direction of my motion, causing a great change in his momentum, but leaving him at relative peace with his new surroundings (although I was not at peace with my new surroundings).

[Alps]

I once got a bee in the car while going 70 mph.  I had a bit of adventure hoping not to get stung and had to stop to get the bee out, but I always wondered what it was like for the bee.  I assume he was flying along in his normal way, and then experienced a sudden gust of wind in the direction of my motion, causing a great change in his momentum, but leaving him at relative peace with his new surroundings (although I was not at peace with my new surroundings).

I got one at 50+ mph on a random MD state highway. I panic braked, flung the door open, and practically barrel rolled out. I smashed a 2L water bottle but I eventually got the fucker. Lesson: I may be scared of bees like all hell, but I can smash.

[hbelkins]

I've had stinging insects fly into the car before. Not fun. After nearly wrecking a few times trying to get them out in the past, I've learned to pull over to evict the unwelcome intruders.

One incident with a wasp when I was driving home from college in my freshman year stands out.

[formulanone]

Should we merge this thread with the What NOT to Eat On a Road Trip thread?

[cjk374]

Chicken processing plants are extremely putrid smelling.  Want proof?  Drive through Arcadia, LA on US 80 west going toward Gibsland.  It'll make you rethink your KFC lunch plans!   

[bugo]

Ashdown, Arkansas is infamous for smelling like a rancid SBD.  The culprit: a paper mill, the only one in western Arkansas.  Sometimes when the wind is blowing from the north, you can smell it in Texarkana.  You couldn't pay me to live there.

[hbelkins]

There's a paper mill out in western Kentucky that smells awful.

[bugo]

There's a paper mill out in western Kentucky that smells awful.

They're all over the Deep South.  There's one in Port Wentworth, GA, that can be smelled from Savannah when the wind is blowing from the north.  It is a sickening smell, and makes my stomach hurt.  I wish the paper companies would switch to hemp, which can't smell as bad as wood pulp.

[wxfree]

With the expanding scope of the topic, I'll mention what I guess could be called the planet's flatulence, or one form of it pervasive in oil country.  I think it's H₂S, hydrogen sulfide.  It's awful stuff.  At times it just smells foul, and at other times it's very strong.  It once made my eyes water while I was driving by.  Supposedly it's killed people working in mineral extraction areas when there have been large releases.  Some people I know in the oil fields have detectors and gas masks and air tanks.

Just driving through areas where it's common makes me wonder how miserable it must be to live in such a place.  I've mostly noticed it from San Angelo, to Midland, to Fort Stockton, but it's also common farther west and north.

[SSOWorld]

I avoid my hometown due to the fact that it stinks of pulp.

[Zeffy]

I've had stinging insects fly into the car before. Not fun. After nearly wrecking a few times trying to get them out in the past, I've learned to pull over to evict the unwelcome intruders.

One incident with a wasp when I was driving home from college in my freshman year stands out.

And this is the reason I refuse to drive with the windows open... I have a straight phobia of stinging insects (particularly bees, wasps, HORNETS...) and I will go to many lengths to avoid those fuckers.

There's a paper mill out in western Kentucky that smells awful.

I can't say I've smelt a paper mill before... should I be lucky?

[jbnv]

My hometown (Lafayette, LA) has two sewage treatment plants right within the city limits. One was within olfactory reach of my middle school. The other is on what has now become one of the city's busiest streets, with new stores within walking distance.

I also recall the smell from the sugarcane processing plant near my father's hometown.

At the time that Hurricane Rita came through southwestern Louisiana, I was working for a casino that took a direct hit from the storm. I brought my then-girlfriend out to my apartment for a weekend. She complained that everything smelled "like mud."