Today is the conclusion of a week of my commuting news, with politics and observations thrown in: From a driving perspective today, there's not much to report.
Saturday is a day of hanging around our town, running errands.
An early morning coffee run to the nicer (i.e., newer: we have two in town) Dunkin' Donuts. We like doing this on a Saturday morning...Me and Mrs. MI.
We get coffees, occasionally donuts to bring to back if the kids aren't with us, perhaps a blueberry muffin to split. And we drive around town, looking at houses that have gone on the market and just exploring in general. We've lived in town for 9 years but our town is large and spread out, and we are still discovering new places to walk or hike or bike.
Later in the day, a run to the dump, er, transfer station.
Perhaps a trip to the local hardware store, or to Stop & Shop for groceries.
Today I stopped at the combo gas station (Mobil)/Subway shop in town to fill up. The Subway owner had posted a large life-size decal of Jared. He's holding his (size 6X?) pants from 10 years ago out at arm's length. This represents some kind of anniversary celebration of his initial weight loss. Good for Jared.
I actually like Subway sometimes...fast food, but it stays down. Some of the ingredients are fresh. But the image of Jared bull-fighting Fat with giant blue denims does the opposite of what the Subway marketing folks intended, I think.
Looking at the present day skinny Jared, though, holding out his parachute jeans so big that the old Dick Gregory would have been swimming in them...that just puts me off eating anything. Ever. Again.
I might just begin a weekend fast.
Showing posts with label commute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commute. Show all posts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
6-10 inches of snow, but no rollovers!
Wow. I just drove home through a decent snowstorm and I really only saw one vehicle driving way too fast for the conditions. And he/she didn't roll it. The traffic was very light, too.
Mitigating circumstances:
1) school vacation week
2) well-anticipated storm that didn't start until AFTER morning rush
3) snowfall was light to moderate all day
4) little wind
5) it was a Friday, so some opted to just stay home
All in all, a convergence not unlike the lunar eclipse earlier in the week. All the conditions lined up perfectly to keep all the humans, at least on my stretch of 95, alive.
*******************************************
Oh, and on the politics front, Johnny Mac may not be having sex with a lobbyist.
But apparently every other possible McCain campaign activity you can think of:
fundraising
advising
serving as chief of staff
gassing the Straight Talk Express
pilotting private jets around the country
opening doors
passing out campaign literature
eating
wiping him down
IS performed by lobbyists.
Mitigating circumstances:
1) school vacation week
2) well-anticipated storm that didn't start until AFTER morning rush
3) snowfall was light to moderate all day
4) little wind
5) it was a Friday, so some opted to just stay home
All in all, a convergence not unlike the lunar eclipse earlier in the week. All the conditions lined up perfectly to keep all the humans, at least on my stretch of 95, alive.
*******************************************
Oh, and on the politics front, Johnny Mac may not be having sex with a lobbyist.
But apparently every other possible McCain campaign activity you can think of:
fundraising
advising
serving as chief of staff
gassing the Straight Talk Express
pilotting private jets around the country
opening doors
passing out campaign literature
eating
wiping him down
IS performed by lobbyists.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Stayed home to watch the total eclipse of McCain
Well, the NYT is dropping the bomb on McCain.
They are running an article about his old Keating Five days, as well as the more recent appearance of impropriety with a blonde lobbyist named Vicki Iseman, 30 years younger than he. They were quite close during his last Presidential run, back in 2000. Saint John McCain, indeed. In the pic they are running with the article, she could be Cindy McCain's little sister.
The denial from Johnny Mac, just posted on the web, coincides with an eclipse of the Moon. As I speak the partial has begun, and we are ~thirty minutes from totality.
The eclipse is a perfect metaphor for McCain. He was eclipsed by his Admiral forebears in the Navy growing up, so he's always bucked authority. He is eclipsed financially by his heiress wife. He was eclipsed by Bush in 2000, and stayed in the umbra until this past summer. And now the upstart Obama in this year's campaign is eclipsing him, even though he only has 3 years in the Senate and McCain has 49. Or am I confusing McCain with Fidel? They are pretty close in age...
btw: if you're wondering about today's commuting news: I worked from home: Woo hoo!!!!
Drove about 8 miles total, running errands in town.
They are running an article about his old Keating Five days, as well as the more recent appearance of impropriety with a blonde lobbyist named Vicki Iseman, 30 years younger than he. They were quite close during his last Presidential run, back in 2000. Saint John McCain, indeed. In the pic they are running with the article, she could be Cindy McCain's little sister.
The denial from Johnny Mac, just posted on the web, coincides with an eclipse of the Moon. As I speak the partial has begun, and we are ~thirty minutes from totality.
The eclipse is a perfect metaphor for McCain. He was eclipsed by his Admiral forebears in the Navy growing up, so he's always bucked authority. He is eclipsed financially by his heiress wife. He was eclipsed by Bush in 2000, and stayed in the umbra until this past summer. And now the upstart Obama in this year's campaign is eclipsing him, even though he only has 3 years in the Senate and McCain has 49. Or am I confusing McCain with Fidel? They are pretty close in age...
btw: if you're wondering about today's commuting news: I worked from home: Woo hoo!!!!
Drove about 8 miles total, running errands in town.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
My Carbon Footprint
Costa Rica wants to be carbon-neutral by 2020. Good luck with that, compadres.
Being a typical Ugly American Addicted to Gasoline and Cars, my carbon footprint is the size of Chicxulub.
I drive ~100 miles each way, 4 times a week. My car gets 31 mpg, but still...that's a whole heaping lot of carbon.
One of my goals this year is to greatly reduce this, ASAP. The key is to appear more industrious at work so they will allow me to work from home more than once a week. Actual industriousness is not necessary. This is AMERICA. I just need to appear industrious.
Being a typical Ugly American Addicted to Gasoline and Cars, my carbon footprint is the size of Chicxulub.
I drive ~100 miles each way, 4 times a week. My car gets 31 mpg, but still...that's a whole heaping lot of carbon.
One of my goals this year is to greatly reduce this, ASAP. The key is to appear more industrious at work so they will allow me to work from home more than once a week. Actual industriousness is not necessary. This is AMERICA. I just need to appear industrious.
A Grimacing Local Egg Wearing Sunglasses
"Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh..." So goes the TV jingle hawking brown eggs. So today I combine TV advertising with commuting news.
Driving in every morning, there is an interesting sign as you head north approaching the junction of I-95 and I-93...the representation of this junction looks like the Love symbol #2 Prince used when he was The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. If you stay on 95/128 like I do, you are rerouted from a northerly route to a westerly route for a mile or so, before the highway begins to arc north again.
As soon as I headed west from this junction I could see the setting moon straight ahead, approaching fullness but still 2 days away from full. There were two dark lines of thin clouds crossing the face of the moon. Its appearance distorted by the atmosphere, the waxing moon looked a brown egg with sunglasses on and a big crooked Cheney smile. Ugh. I shivered.
Driving in every morning, there is an interesting sign as you head north approaching the junction of I-95 and I-93...the representation of this junction looks like the Love symbol #2 Prince used when he was The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. If you stay on 95/128 like I do, you are rerouted from a northerly route to a westerly route for a mile or so, before the highway begins to arc north again.
As soon as I headed west from this junction I could see the setting moon straight ahead, approaching fullness but still 2 days away from full. There were two dark lines of thin clouds crossing the face of the moon. Its appearance distorted by the atmosphere, the waxing moon looked a brown egg with sunglasses on and a big crooked Cheney smile. Ugh. I shivered.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Pawtucket's S-Curves
Seeing how the week began with a transportation theme, it is wholly appropriate to continue in that vein.
I drive through Providence and therefore Pawtucket several times a week on my commute to the Boston area. I'd say this section of Interstate 95 was designed by morons, but that implies at least some thought and planning.
From the Providence line through Pawtucket are these hideous S-curves. As soon as you careen through one, another appears up ahead in front of you. They really aren't banked well like the S-curves in a racetrack are...so on a rainy day like today they can be especially treacherous.
Coincidentally tonight while driving home through them I heard a Sheryl Crow song I like: "Every Day is a Winding Road." When you commute to Boston from RI, it certainly is.
The song opens with a bongo drum solo...and I imagined rapping RIDOT engineers' foreheads with my knuckles in time with the beat.
I drive through Providence and therefore Pawtucket several times a week on my commute to the Boston area. I'd say this section of Interstate 95 was designed by morons, but that implies at least some thought and planning.
From the Providence line through Pawtucket are these hideous S-curves. As soon as you careen through one, another appears up ahead in front of you. They really aren't banked well like the S-curves in a racetrack are...so on a rainy day like today they can be especially treacherous.
Coincidentally tonight while driving home through them I heard a Sheryl Crow song I like: "Every Day is a Winding Road." When you commute to Boston from RI, it certainly is.
The song opens with a bongo drum solo...and I imagined rapping RIDOT engineers' foreheads with my knuckles in time with the beat.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Nor'easter aftermath
The storm that dropped 4-6 inches on southern Rhode Island yesterday left more like a foot out here north of Boston.
Bright sun rising in the east, so the white, wet snow clings like butter frosting and freezes to the branches and limbs. It made for a pretty commute.
The roads in were in great shape...didn't see any accidents or abandoned vehicles today, or spinouts, either. Mass drivers take advantage of one peculiarity that you don't see anywhere else. It is OKAY to use the breakdown lane on Rt. 128 (I-95) as an extra driving lane during commuting hours. So I feel sorry for the poor schlubs entering and exiting who have to try and merge with the high-speed breakdown lane idiots. During an active storm it is not unusual to see several folks spun out in these areas; and afterwards the breakdown lanes can be blocked with snow. But the Mass DOT did a good job for a change, and everything looks great now.
Looking forward to getting home tonight in time to watch the returns from Michigan. I am a serious politics junkie, if you haven't noticed.
Bright sun rising in the east, so the white, wet snow clings like butter frosting and freezes to the branches and limbs. It made for a pretty commute.
The roads in were in great shape...didn't see any accidents or abandoned vehicles today, or spinouts, either. Mass drivers take advantage of one peculiarity that you don't see anywhere else. It is OKAY to use the breakdown lane on Rt. 128 (I-95) as an extra driving lane during commuting hours. So I feel sorry for the poor schlubs entering and exiting who have to try and merge with the high-speed breakdown lane idiots. During an active storm it is not unusual to see several folks spun out in these areas; and afterwards the breakdown lanes can be blocked with snow. But the Mass DOT did a good job for a change, and everything looks great now.
Looking forward to getting home tonight in time to watch the returns from Michigan. I am a serious politics junkie, if you haven't noticed.
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