Volume
I dislike being stuck in traffic but for me the lamest reason of all to be stuck in a non-moving car full of chit-chatting freeloaders...ooops, I mean carpoolers is VOLUME.
When I get stuck in traffic I want to see some action when I get to the end of it.
I don't mean (God forbid) that I'd like to see an accident or any injuries... but I'd like SOME explanation other than just a lot of CARS on the ROAD. I mean it's a HIGHWAY there are supposed to be a lot of cars on the road, that's why it was built right?
So when I get to the end of a hour long bumper to bumper yawn-fest I want to see some live chickens running about or some watermelon rolling all over the place, or maybe even a puddle the size of a small lake... Something to talk about when I show up late to the office. Volume is just not doing it for me.
PS: More Ask Shifra questions and Part five of the Modern and the Orthodox coming soon... Work has been keeping me busy and speakerphoneman makes it hard to concentrate.
posted by Shifra @ 8:58 AM
9 Comments:
My one friend who used to travel on the highway from Miami used to say as long as she was moving, everything was OK. Even if it was only 5 or 10mph, as long as there was movement, she could handle it. Stopped dead in traffic- no way. More likely than not, it's a bunch or rubberneckers looking for something that's been way past gone... it's that way all the time here. Anyway, can't wait for Part 5, Shifra! Hope your drive back home is easier!
I hate driving in traffic. I hate when people slow down for no reason.
And as I have said before, the suspense is killing me.
That is the beauty of living here in LA. There often is no explanation other than there are too many people on the freeway.
Blargh. That seriously stinks.
See, this is why everyone should move to Montana. There's no traffic there, and sometimes there aren't even speed limits. ;)
Traffic is a fluid dynamics system. It doesn't need a fingerable cause to come to standstill; just crossing a load threshhold is enough to do it. That's the definition of chaotic system: small changes have disproportionate effects.
Think about how when you turn on a faucet very low, the water flows out in a smooth stream (laminar flow). When you turn up the flow, it suddenly gets all twisty (turbulence). What changed? You only added the same amount of low as the last little bit, but it was still smooth.
Or take water from 50 degrees to 40. No big deal, right? But take it from 40 to 30 and it becomes a solid. Why? It's the same amount of change: 10 degrees.
Traffic's like that, with complex dynamics and phase changes.
"Traffic is a fluid dynamics system......with complex dynamics and phase changes."
i did not know that.
If you got the music pumping, I don't mind extra time in the car...
But I do find that when I'm in CA, I can't STAND the way people drive there... UGH.
Actually, head over to the Muqata -- Jameel has pictures of goats crossing the road. Is that what you want? Huh? Is it? Is it really????
But I do find that when I'm in CA, I can't STAND the way people drive there... UGH.
The Bay area is horrible.
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