"Murphy was an optimist!"
Feels Like My Life October 22, 2007 10:34 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Economy, Humor, Of Being Dad, Philosophy, Touchy Subjects
Thanks Tom!
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Heroes text message October 22, 2007 7:23 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : UncategorizedIn the rubble of the Corinthian, we’ve unearthed a treasure chest filled with secrets. Could use some help.
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This mobile text message is brought to you by AT&T
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Have you voted for Glenda today? October 22, 2007 1:08 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Blog, Cool Sites, Of Interest, PublishingRemember, you can vote for Glenda Watson Hyatt once a day! Make sure you do it! See some details on Reality Me, or Chris Brogan’s post Glenda Watson Hyatt Rocks. Be sure to visit Glenda’s Do It Myself Blog. And vote for Glenda at http://blogforayear.com/!
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What do you think of the audio narrations? October 22, 2007 11:16 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Blog, Podcasting, PublishingI know James liked the first audio narration. How are they being received by other readers? I know a couple were rushed and poorly read. Is anyone listening to them? Is there opportunity here for making Reality Me more accessible to people with vision challenges?
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Driving Patterns – Let the Ass Merge October 22, 2007 10:55 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Philosophy, Transportation, Travel
Narration:
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We all know the guy. You are stuck in a slowdown usually for no reason other than rubber necking. Sometimes traffic just slows for no apparent reason at all. Maybe there was a sign encouraging people to merge right or left. You want to be doing 113 km/h but you are stuck at 32 km/h. To make the situation more frustrating you catch a glimpse in your mirrors of car speeding past all the nearly parked cars in hopes that it can merge in ahead of some poor sap. You curse, "why can’t he just get in line like the rest of us!" Then you decide to do your part for society. You will bring justice by moving your car so close to the car in front of you that he can’t possibly merge between you two. If only all the other cars would do the same! We could leave this self-important jackass parked while a solid line of cars cheerfully passes leaving him further behind than ahead. Of course, that never really happens. Some weak person 4 cars ahead of you lets him in. Where’s the vindication?!
William Beaty helped me realize that I am the problem, not the other guy. In his essay, Traffic "Experiments" and a Cure for Waves & Jams he suggests a simple cure to the merging-lane traffic jam I just described. Let them in! I have started doing this and even if 3 cars (or more) merge in front of me it has little to no impact on my arrival time at my destination. It does feel good to have not fought someone (positive karma). I have put my family at less risk by not tailgating another driver or inciting road rage in the merging driver.
Drive by looking down the road. We should be doing that anyway. When you see a slowdown, not when you start experiencing it (although it is never too late), create a gap in traffic between you and the car in front of you. If a car merges into that gap, recreate the gap. It works! It feels good! Traffic moves better. And you have been a safer driver.
Note: Conversions to metric courtesy of http://www.onlineconversion.com/. Images borrowed from Bill Beaty.
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From the mouths of babes October 22, 2007 9:33 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babesAmy: "nine twenty eight"
Dad: "Are you going to be our clock today?"
Amy: "Yes. nine twenty nine"
Amy: "There are three number in that itty bitty space."
Amy: "nine thirty zero. Actually nine thirty."
Amy: "It’s nine thirty one."
Amy: "It’s nine thiiirrtty twoooooo. It’s not to early to play with A and W. After nine thirty two it’s nine thirty three then nine thirty four then nine thirty five."
Amy: "It’s nine thirty three!"
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