Right... bumper to bumper from Austin to San Antonio.....85 MPH!
From: Richard Williams <pundits...@gmail.com> To: Richard J. Williams <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2013 8:10 PM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Public Transportation This is what I mean when I say get out of town quick: http://www.vosizneias.com/113118/2012/09/06/austin-tx-texas-to-open-fastest-us-highway-with-85-mph-limit/ My Project Car: http://www.rwilliams.us/cad/index.htm 1995 Cadillac Eldorado inherited from my late mother. I couldn't get anything for it, so I started to use it as a daily driver several years ago. It's a sweet ride - 22 mpg on Premium fuel. I'm sure it would do 100 easy, with the 32 valve V8 under the hood. I'll probably put it on Craig's List when I do the downshifting. On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 2:31 PM, Share Long <sharelon...@yahoo.com> wrote: >I drive to the Dome in my 2006 Honda Civic which was #1 in its class that >year. She has manual transmission, a sunroof and no GPS, all at my request (-: >Hmmm, in the movies, such limos have well stocked refrigerators... > >On Saturday, October 12, 2013 2:17 PM, Richard Williams <pundits...@gmail.com> >wrote: > > >Do you take the bike or ride in the car to get to the dome? > > > > >On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 1:59 PM, Share Long <sharelon...@yahoo.com> wrote: > >>Very colorful, Richard. FF could definitely use something like that to >>continue its efforts in becoming a tourist destination. But I like your car >>too. >> >>On Saturday, October 12, 2013 1:56 PM, Richard Williams >><pundits...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >>Last week I rode downtown on one of these: >> >> >> >> >>On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:12 PM, Share Long <sharelon...@yahoo.com> wrote: >> >>>About 50 years ago, I traveled from Frostburg, MD in the mountains to DC >>>Union Station. Lots of trees at the beginning. Lots of govt buildings at the >>>end. But Union Station is quite beautiful as are some other parts of DC. >>> >>> >>>The passenger trains traveling east that go through FF end up in Chicago. >>>They are not reliable time-wise so if one has a plane to catch out of >>>O'Hara, it's better to take the bus. And at least the bus stops in FF. The >>>closest train stops are 30 minutes away, Ottumwa to the west and Mt. >>>Pleasant to the east. Friends have taken that train, the California Zephyr, >>>to Denver, and then all the way to the Pacific Northwest. I think it's an >>>all night journey. I don't think it's the Orient Express! >>> >>>On Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:50 AM, Bhairitu <noozg...@sbcglobal.net> >>>wrote: >>> >>> >>>We have an Amtrak station here. I looked into traveling up to Seattle that >>>way but it was actually more expensive than taking a plane. When I was a >>>kid I traveled from here back up to Portland on a train. I would bet the >>>route has not changed much. I got to see a lot of fir trees.On 10/12/2013 >>>09:28 AM, Share Long wrote: >>> >>>>I admit I've long wished the US had a coast to coast fast train and a car >>>>train at that, maybe making 3 or so stops along the way. I've traveled in >>>>train a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it. >>>> >>>> >>>>On Saturday, October 12, 2013 11:17 AM, Bhairitu >>>>mailto:noozg...@sbcglobal.net wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>As I've posted before, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) ain't so rapid. Right >>>>now there is a possibility of another strike which will make things really >>>>worse. Much at issue aren't so much union wages but safety. Back in the >>>>day they probably thought they had the "state of the art" public >>>>transportation idea, except that it is too expensive to extend into the >>>>whole area. And train and trolley tracks got torn up and even now used as >>>>hiking trails. So we can't do the much cheaper "light rail."In the 1990s I >>>>lived across the street from a BART station. Where I worked was also >>>>across the street from a BART station but I rarely took it. That was >>>>because my job sometimes required driving out to other businesses. And gas >>>>was so cheap and my car so fuel efficient it actually cost more to ride >>>>BART. I would occasionally take BART into "the city" (San Francisco) >>>>because parking, like Paris, is shitty there. But I would occasionally >>>>drive there on weekends when downtown is like a ghost town.America is carville. The car manufacturers wanted it that way. It is also spread out. And California has a lot weird and winding roads probably drawn up with it was part of Mexico. Not too easy to do mass transit with those.On 10/11/2013 11:19 PM, turquoiseb wrote: >>>> >>>>>So I'm sitting here in this cafe that promised Wifi and didn't >>>>>deliver,wondering what I can write about, and I discover that my mind is >>>>>stillsavoring my bus ride here to Place d'Italie. It was FUN. I got a >>>>>seat,which is nice, and then I just kicked back watching the people on >>>>>thebus with me. They were neat. They made me smile.In the US, they would >>>>>have tended to be mostly lower class. Cars andcar-dependent city designs >>>>>have ensured that most of the middle classhave cars. And the upper crust >>>>>wouldn't be caught dead on a city bus ora subway.Here, it's not like that, >>>>>except at the very top of the upper class.I've seen well-dressed, >>>>>obviously well-to-do people on the Metros andbuses. Heck, I've seen famous >>>>>people on the Metros and buses. So you geta wide range -- from poor to >>>>>lower class to middle class to theoccasional upper class person, all >>>>>getting across Paris via publictransportation.There's a lot of Paris to >>>>>have to get across. This is not a small city.And even if you have a car, on most routes you can get there faster onpublic transportation. Also, *when* you get there, you don't have toworry about finding a place to park your car. Parking spaces in Parisare so rare as to be increasingly considered mythical.So it's a no-brainer here -- if you have an important business meetingor a romantic date across town and you want to get there on time -- todecide whether you should drive your car or take public transportation.You just hop on the Metro. They're very reliable, and they'll get youthere on time.I've never had a car when living in Paris, and don't see the need ofhaving one now. Back home in the Netherlands, I have a car but it hassat unused for months now. Public transportation is just so much moreconvenient, and in the long run, cheaper.But those are just the pragmatic reasons for preferring publictransportation, at least in Europe. The more important reason for me isthat it's more FUN. I am endlessly fascinated by people, of every class,so riding the buses and trains and Metros that constitute publictransportation in France and the Netherlands provides me with anever-ending canvas of great people to watch.The buses and Metros of Paris are like a genetic and cultural frog in ablender. Given the number of immigrants in the past few decades, Paristoday looks like Casablanca did when I was growing up there. The faces Isee are a mix of French and North African, with growing numbers of blackAfricans, Muslims from places other than North Africa, and Asians. Parisis a cultural zoo. Add to that the cross-class nature of Paris publictransit, and you've got a zoo worth savoring. I sometimes feel as if Ishould be sitting there with a container of popcorn in my lap, it's somuch like a movie.You learn so much.There are still young people in the world who get up and give theirseats to an older person. There are street toughs whose style is to looklike they're ready to kill you, but who leap across a Metro car to blockthe subway doors closing on a hapless fellow commuter. There areremarkable acts of both kindness (common) and rudeness (rare). There areoccasional dramas, and even the occasional cops-and-robbers flick assome pickpocket runs down the Metro platform, pursued by the gendarmes.These are straight out of early Truffaut movies, so much so that I findmyself looking around to discover where the cameras are placed.And there are the *visuals* of the Metro, ferchrissakes. Some of theMetro stops are nothing short of stunning, architecturally, even thenow-aging ones. For examples of that, rent "Amelie" and watch it again.Jeunet's shots of the Metro stations and train stations of Paris arejaw-droppingly beautiful. Yes, they're color-enhanced, but IMO that'sjust him presenting the visuals of Paris to others the way *he* seesthem. All glow-y, full of light, full of life.I see them the same way. Although my Day Job may from time to time getboring, my commutes to and from work never do. I've only seen a coupleof movies in the theater since I've been working here, and part of thereason is that I sit through two movies every day on the way to and fromwork. I don't need to pay 10 Euros or more to see one in a theater.Although I do occasionally miss the popcorn; there are dismayingly fewpopcorn vendors in the Paris Metro system.Anyway, that's just what I felt like rapping about this evening. Whatabout the rest of you? We've got posters here from all over the world.When you're "at home," wherever that is, do you tend to drive or takeadvantage of public transportation? If the latter, are any of you weirdenough to appreciate it the way I do?
