Random Thoughts

[Max Rockatansky]

Nevada State Route 822 had a way more interesting history then a 0.146-mile-long state highway would suggest.  The Carson River Bridge had washouts in 1907, 1937, 1950 and 1955.  The current bridge was built in 1956 and didn't become a state highway in until 1976.  I didn't expect a massive backstory with the crossing, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

A short distance east of there is a former alignment of Dayton Valley Road, now known as "Old Dayton Valley Road".  Dayton's schools are along that road.

Shortly after Joe Biden replaced Donald Trump in 2021, the Lyon County Commissioners proposed renaming Old Dayton Valley Road as "Pres. Trump Way".  That was too much for even the conservative citizens of Lyon County and the proposal failed.

The only-in-Nevada line from that linked story:

Multiple commissioners, staff members, and commenters all stated that this item had the most interest of any in recent memory, on par with discussions regarding the brothels.

Weird how one school has teams called the Bobcats but the other is the Sundevils.  At least the Intermediary school is getting mileage out of the older Arizona State logo. 

[Max Rockatansky]

My Corolla's Apple CarPlay started reading my wife's text messages about a check engine light (in her Forester) in what I believe was Russian last night.  I have no idea why CarPlay did this and all the messages today have been in English as normal. 

[JayhawkCO]

My Corolla's Apple CarPlay started reading my wife's text messages about a check engine light (in her Forester) in what I believe was Russian last night.  I have no idea why CarPlay did this and all the messages today have been in English as normal. 

Damn. Russian hackers have some reach!

[kphoger]

It's all part of their plan to sow disinformation about the historic western endpoint of Route 66.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's all part of their plan to sow disinformation about the historic western endpoint of Route 66.

Which apparently Chicago is now going to mimic with Navy Pier. 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02L6N6DdFjFJRFwdWjYHvcHeESJ3hmPnoHufB9AfeDdett3WJJC1EzF6WLN6zHcff3l&id=100051381485407

[Max Rockatansky]

My Corolla's Apple CarPlay started reading my wife's text messages about a check engine light (in her Forester) in what I believe was Russian last night.  I have no idea why CarPlay did this and all the messages today have been in English as normal. 

Damn. Russian hackers have some reach!

Hope they like pictures of dogs. 

[kphoger]

Damn. Russian hackers have some reach!

It's all part of their plan to sow disinformation about the historic western endpoint of Route 66.

Which apparently Chicago is now going to mimic with Navy Pier.

I bet the Illinois Nazis are gonna be pissed.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Coprolalia: The involuntary utterance of swear words. Though it could be a polite way of saying "shittalk", since it basically means that (copro = poo, lalia = speech).

[D-Dey65]

Ernie Anastos died from a four-day old video

Don't watch the video if you want to live.

What, are you The Ring now? 

[kphoger]

Wouldn't it be cool if there were GSV for railroads?

[JayhawkCO]

I am probably the only person on this site that would think a six flight itinerary to get home from a vacation isn't unreasonable.

[formulanone]

I am probably the only person on this site that would think a six flight itinerary to get home from a vacation isn't unreasonable.

I've had a handful four-flight-segment daily itineraries, and I get cagey and disoriented by the time we're boarding that last one there/home. I guess if there was a whole-day layover then it would feel better. But I also don't fly to Timbuktu, I wind up in the Limons and Louisvilles of this country (or maybe Canada).

Knocking out twelve segments in two weeks is a drag if they're topping 10 hours per day. By 12 hours of travel, I've mentally shut down at this age. I usually relish the idea of a challenge or a new spot to visit but there's either an annoying compromise and/or too many chances for disruptions with too many flights. Especially when you just know you need to be fresh as a daisy the following Monday on your trip to randomly Somewhere Else after getting home 12-18 hours later than expected.

[Max Rockatansky]

My tolerance for airplanes, airports and the mad rush to get to airports is cratering as a I get older. 

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The Onion reported in 2011 that there are only 4 scenic routes left in America

Are there none left now?

[JayhawkCO]

I am probably the only person on this site that would think a six flight itinerary to get home from a vacation isn't unreasonable.

I've had a handful four-flight-segment daily itineraries, and I get cagey and disoriented by the time we're boarding that last one there/home. I guess if there was a whole-day layover then it would feel better. But I also don't fly to Timbuktu, I wind up in the Limons and Louisvilles of this country (or maybe Canada).

Knocking out twelve segments in two weeks is a drag if they're topping 10 hours per day. By 12 hours of travel, I've mentally shut down at this age. I usually relish the idea of a challenge or a new spot to visit but there's either an annoying compromise and/or too many chances for disruptions with too many flights. Especially when you just know you need to be fresh as a daisy the following Monday on your trip to randomly Somewhere Else after getting home 12-18 hours later than expected.

My case is a little bit specific why I have to take the itinerary I'm taking.

I'm visiting Central Asia in May/June and my plans end in Tajikistan. There aren't a ton of international flights that operate in and out, and I'm using miles. So, I had originally booked a cheap one way from Dushanbe, Tajikistan to Almaty, Kazakhstan where I could use miles to get home.

Unfortunately that itinerary was largely on Qatar Airways, and I'm concerned that the war there will disrupt my flights. Given that Qatar has been cancelling flights only a few days in advance, that would leave me kind of screwed to find award availability last minute. Also, almost every easy itinerary from Almaty to the US flies on a Middle East airline, something I'm trying to avoid in the first place.

So, I found award availability from Prague back to Denver and that was really the closest place to Kazakhstan that had space. It's also a place I've never been to before so I wouldn't mind a quick visit.

So now to get from Almaty to Prague and avoid the Middle East, there are only a few candidate airlines that are cheap and have timing that works. So, I found a cheap one way from Almaty to Chisinau, Moldova on Azerbaijan Airways and then a cheap one way to Prague from there on Wizz Air. It'll give me 6 hours in the Moldovan capital to check out too.

So the whole itinerary for the return is:
DYU-ALA (Air Astana)
ALA-GYD (Azerbaijan Airways)
GYD-RMO (Azerbaijan Airways)
RMO-PRG (Wizz Air)
PRG-PHL (American Airlines)
PHL-DEN (American Airlines)

Long layovers help in case of delays since I'm on separate tickets. I also have travel insurance that covers situations where I miss a flight.

[freebrickproductions]

Wouldn't it be cool if there were GSV for railroads?

There is some. IIRC, the Strasburg Railroad has street view along their entire line.

[kphoger]

Wouldn't it be cool if there were GSV for railroads?

There is some. IIRC, the Strasburg Railroad has street view along their entire line.

Hm.  I just looked at the Strasburg Railroad.  Can't see any of the actual railroad.

[PColumbus73]

My tolerance for airplanes, airports and the mad rush to get to airports is cratering as a I get older. 

I haven't been on a place in 18 years and all the stuff I've heard and seen about flying recently has put me off wanting to fly again. Between airline practices, people misbehaving or demonstrating poor manners, cost, security, the whole experience sounds like something to be avoided.

[kphoger]

people misbehaving or demonstrating poor manners

This is an 'everywhere' problem, not a 'flying' problem.

[PColumbus73]

people misbehaving or demonstrating poor manners

This is an 'everywhere' problem, not a 'flying' problem.

True, but either gets over-reported or exacerbated on flights.

[1995hoo]

people misbehaving or demonstrating poor manners

This is an 'everywhere' problem, not a 'flying' problem.

True, but either gets over-reported or exacerbated on flights.

I think one reason why people tend to notice these things more on flights is probably because a plane is a confined space and you don't have the option to get up and move. That is, last weekend (March 21) my wife and I were riding the subway into DC when a group of about 25 very noisy kids got on and were yelling at each other at the top of their lungs, pushing each other, etc. Had the kids not gotten off at the next stop, we could have moved to a different car and continued on our way without having to put up with them any further (although in this particular instance we were only going one stop further than that ourselves, so it may not have been worth the trouble). In other words, in many situations it's easy to remove yourself from the situation involving the misbehaving or rude person. On a plane, you can't do that, and even something as seemingly simple as changing seats is often not an option because there's often no empty seat to which you can move.

[kphoger]

that would leave me kind of screwed to find award availability last minute.

OK, Mr Jayhawk, I've got you booked through to Denver.  Thank you for your patience.  Abdullah here will drive you to the Uzbek border near Samarkand.  A taxi with license plate 30 733 HTL will take you from the border to the bus terminal in Samarkand.  Here is your bus ticket from Samarkand to Karakul, here's from Olot to Turkmenabat, and here's from Turkmenabat to Türkmenbaşy.  The transfer between Karakul and Olot will be by taxi, and here is your voucher for that.  When you arrive in Türkmenbaşy, look for a man and his son who are both wearing yellow soccer shirts and sunglasses;  the father's name is Ali, and they will transport you to Baku in their fishing boat.  Here is a voucher for your taxi to the airport in Baku, and here is your flight itinerary from Baku back to Denver.  Please note that we cannot guarantee the on-time arrival for all of these connections, and, as always, Mr Jayhawk, thank you for choosing to fly with us today, and for being a valued member of our rewards program.

[JayhawkCO]

that would leave me kind of screwed to find award availability last minute.

OK, Mr Jayhawk, I've got you booked through to Denver.  Thank you for your patience.  Abdullah here will drive you to the Uzbek border near Samarkand.  A taxi with license plate 30 733 HTL will take you from the border to the bus terminal in Samarkand.  Here is your bus ticket from Samarkand to Karakul, here's from Olot to Turkmenabat, and here's from Turkmenabat to Türkmenbaşy.  The transfer between Karakul and Olot will be by taxi, and here is your voucher for that.  When you arrive in Türkmenbaşy, look for a man and his son who are both wearing yellow soccer shirts and sunglasses;  the father's name is Ali, and they will transport you to Baku in their fishing boat.  Here is a voucher for your taxi to the airport in Baku, and here is your flight itinerary from Baku back to Denver.  Please note that we cannot guarantee the on-time arrival for all of these connections, and, as always, Mr Jayhawk, thank you for choosing to fly with us today, and for being a valued member of our rewards program.

That's not too far off, but I'd probably take the freighter between Türkmenbaşy and Baku that you can rent space on. The first book I ever read on the region which got me interested in Central Asia in the first place, The Lost Heart of Asia: A Journey Through Post-Soviet Central Asia―Uncovering Hidden History and Ancient Secrets, by Colin Thubron, starts his visit by taking that ship. You can still book it.

[formulanone]

Meanwhile, I just want to know if the car rental is onsite or offsite from the airport and if the hotel fitness center is open at 5am or not and then muddle my way to the job site like a Goomba toting a cup of coffee.

[Beltway]

Is there an April 1st thread on the site?