Showing posts with label traffic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traffic. Show all posts
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Friday, March 4, 2016
To Whom It May Concern at Caltrans: Fuck You
So there we were driving west down 80 through Sacramento. It was late Sunday afternoon and nothing was going on that should have made traffic bad...
But wait. Let me give you the visual.
We were on a section of 80 with four lanes, so let's designate those so you'll know what happened.
Here's how they're laid out:
left left lane right left lane left right lane right right lane
LL RL LR RR
Makes sense, right? We were in the LR, and traffic was actually moving smoothly enough.
Now, as I was saying, we were cruising along and, suddenly, there was one of those concrete lane dividers in between the RL and LR and a big sign on the right saying that that was the way to the I-5 interchange.
Let's just be clear here: There had been no signs warning about construction. There were no signs explaining what was going on. There were no signs about anything except the one on the right saying that that was the way to I-5. My wife is the navigator, so I expressed my concern to my wife about the sudden division in the highway. She said, "Well, we don't want to go to I-5." So I did what I think anyone would have done being in unfamiliar territory (I don't live in or near Sacramento) with no other instructions: I moved from the LR to the RL.
We quickly realized that this might not have been the correct choice.
See, the cars in the left two lanes, the cars that were now in what felt like some sort of cattle chute, immediately began slowing down. And stopping. This began one of the longest hours of my life. Actually, more than an hour. And, yes, some hours are longer than others. It's relativity.
Shut up.
We could see over the concrete divider, and we could see the cars in the right lanes zipping along their merry way. And, well, all of the exits were on the right side of the wall. Imagine if you will that you had never been to Sacramento before and you were coming in but were in the fast lane and this wall suddenly went up and you were stuck in this congested traffic and, as you were inching along, you saw your exit... on the other side of the wall! No, that's not what happened to us, but it could have. See, once you were on the left side of the wall, you were on the left side of the wall!
So we drove and we watched the traffic on the right moving at normal paces and we watched the exits go by and we wondered. We wondered what the fuck was going on and why there was a wall in the road. And we would drive a bit, then stop a bit, and move a bit, then stop a bit, and we couldn't figure out why that was, either. Why was traffic on our side of the wall so bad and the other side was normal?
You know in movies and TV shows when they have the orphan, street kids hanging out at the window of a restaurant looking in with that "please, sir, can I have some more?" face? That's what it felt like being on the left side of the road wall. Time goes faster on the freeway, so we were really there for some exponential amount of time beyond the actual amount of time we were there, so, yes, we were starving to move. Why did all of those other cars get to go and not us?! "Please, sir, we want to go!"
Then there was a hole. And a big sign saying that was the exit for I-5. Remember how we didn't want to go to I-5? Well, we still didn't want to go to I-5. So we watched this one opening in the wall go by because we couldn't tell what the fuck was going on! And we continued down our cattle chute, and I made jokes about how we were going to be slaughtered when we got to the end... until everyone told me to shut up.
That was when the lanes merged. Yes, LL and RL became just L, and that was why the traffic was so bad. Okay, not all of why, but we're not to the rest yet. See, at the end of all of this was a bridge that went over the Sacramento river, and the cattle chute we were in had to be merged back into the other traffic to go over the bridge. That, of course, made it all stop and go again.
Yes, you read that correctly. At the end of it all, the traffic was just merged back together. That was it. No apparent reason for the divider or anything, just a shunting of two lanes of traffic out of the flow and merged together for no fucking reason at all! So, yeah, that was more than an hour to go less than 10 miles (8? maybe even just 6?).
That's when the jokes started. You know, some disgruntled traffic controller or something messing with things just to see what kind of traffic snarls he could cause. Or weird experiments. I don't remember what all now. What I do remember is that no one was happy.
I mean, seriously, what the fuck is up with that? Maybe it was all because of some construction project (which wasn't active on a Sunday afternoon), but, still, there needs to be some sort of warning and explanation so that people can know what choice to make. Like I said, we hadn't wanted an exit (until, actually, we did, because my wife was looking up a better route because of the traffic issues, but we couldn't get out of the cattle chute, so it didn't matter), but, if I had been coming into town and had intended to take one of the, oh, I don't know, dozen or so of exits we passed, I would have been pissed. And probably lost, because, when it's just me, I write down my directions explicitly, and having an exit I need to take be closed can really throw me off. Having no access to any of them would have been devastating for my paltry skills of navigating (which is why my wife is the navigator (and I'm the pilot)).
Whatever the case, I have only one thing to say to whomever was responsible for that catastrophe of road design: Fuck you!
But wait. Let me give you the visual.
We were on a section of 80 with four lanes, so let's designate those so you'll know what happened.
Here's how they're laid out:
left left lane right left lane left right lane right right lane
LL RL LR RR
Makes sense, right? We were in the LR, and traffic was actually moving smoothly enough.
Now, as I was saying, we were cruising along and, suddenly, there was one of those concrete lane dividers in between the RL and LR and a big sign on the right saying that that was the way to the I-5 interchange.
Let's just be clear here: There had been no signs warning about construction. There were no signs explaining what was going on. There were no signs about anything except the one on the right saying that that was the way to I-5. My wife is the navigator, so I expressed my concern to my wife about the sudden division in the highway. She said, "Well, we don't want to go to I-5." So I did what I think anyone would have done being in unfamiliar territory (I don't live in or near Sacramento) with no other instructions: I moved from the LR to the RL.
We quickly realized that this might not have been the correct choice.
See, the cars in the left two lanes, the cars that were now in what felt like some sort of cattle chute, immediately began slowing down. And stopping. This began one of the longest hours of my life. Actually, more than an hour. And, yes, some hours are longer than others. It's relativity.
Shut up.
We could see over the concrete divider, and we could see the cars in the right lanes zipping along their merry way. And, well, all of the exits were on the right side of the wall. Imagine if you will that you had never been to Sacramento before and you were coming in but were in the fast lane and this wall suddenly went up and you were stuck in this congested traffic and, as you were inching along, you saw your exit... on the other side of the wall! No, that's not what happened to us, but it could have. See, once you were on the left side of the wall, you were on the left side of the wall!
So we drove and we watched the traffic on the right moving at normal paces and we watched the exits go by and we wondered. We wondered what the fuck was going on and why there was a wall in the road. And we would drive a bit, then stop a bit, and move a bit, then stop a bit, and we couldn't figure out why that was, either. Why was traffic on our side of the wall so bad and the other side was normal?
You know in movies and TV shows when they have the orphan, street kids hanging out at the window of a restaurant looking in with that "please, sir, can I have some more?" face? That's what it felt like being on the left side of the road wall. Time goes faster on the freeway, so we were really there for some exponential amount of time beyond the actual amount of time we were there, so, yes, we were starving to move. Why did all of those other cars get to go and not us?! "Please, sir, we want to go!"
Then there was a hole. And a big sign saying that was the exit for I-5. Remember how we didn't want to go to I-5? Well, we still didn't want to go to I-5. So we watched this one opening in the wall go by because we couldn't tell what the fuck was going on! And we continued down our cattle chute, and I made jokes about how we were going to be slaughtered when we got to the end... until everyone told me to shut up.
That was when the lanes merged. Yes, LL and RL became just L, and that was why the traffic was so bad. Okay, not all of why, but we're not to the rest yet. See, at the end of all of this was a bridge that went over the Sacramento river, and the cattle chute we were in had to be merged back into the other traffic to go over the bridge. That, of course, made it all stop and go again.
Yes, you read that correctly. At the end of it all, the traffic was just merged back together. That was it. No apparent reason for the divider or anything, just a shunting of two lanes of traffic out of the flow and merged together for no fucking reason at all! So, yeah, that was more than an hour to go less than 10 miles (8? maybe even just 6?).
That's when the jokes started. You know, some disgruntled traffic controller or something messing with things just to see what kind of traffic snarls he could cause. Or weird experiments. I don't remember what all now. What I do remember is that no one was happy.
I mean, seriously, what the fuck is up with that? Maybe it was all because of some construction project (which wasn't active on a Sunday afternoon), but, still, there needs to be some sort of warning and explanation so that people can know what choice to make. Like I said, we hadn't wanted an exit (until, actually, we did, because my wife was looking up a better route because of the traffic issues, but we couldn't get out of the cattle chute, so it didn't matter), but, if I had been coming into town and had intended to take one of the, oh, I don't know, dozen or so of exits we passed, I would have been pissed. And probably lost, because, when it's just me, I write down my directions explicitly, and having an exit I need to take be closed can really throw me off. Having no access to any of them would have been devastating for my paltry skills of navigating (which is why my wife is the navigator (and I'm the pilot)).
Whatever the case, I have only one thing to say to whomever was responsible for that catastrophe of road design: Fuck you!
Monday, February 15, 2016
Changing the Blog (Change: part 2)
The blog is tricky business. It's tricky business, and I could go into a lot of detail about how and why it's tricky business, but I'm not going to do that. For one thing, some of my blog history and why I blog is here on the blog in older posts, especially since blogging about blogging was not uncommon in my earlier days of blogging, that being a common theme on blogs (or, at least, writers' blogs). blah blah blah presence blah blah blah branding blah blah blah
What it boils down to, though, is that the blog needs to generate traffic which needs to generate sales, and the blog wasn't doing that. Also, I was spending an inordinate amount of time on the blog in comparison to the non-existent sales it was generating. Spending time on the blog included spending time visiting other blogs. Obviously, something needed to change.
I announced the first change last January (that would be January of 2015). So many blogs, especially the blogs of writers, try so hard to be non-offensive, and I decided I was through with that. And I have been through with that. During 2015, I did a series about racism and started a series about the Church (which will be picked up again sometime or other fairly soon). I'm not sure if any of that, specifically, has increased traffic, but it certainly hasn't hurt it. I'm not planning on changing that approach any time soon. It just feels more real.
I cut down on the essay-type posts I used to do three or more times a week. They take a lot of time that is more productively spent on fiction writing, so I tend to not do more than one of those a week.
I do more reviews. Book reviews, movie reviews, other reviews. Reviews seem to be a good way to drive traffic. At least based on my page views for review posts, I'd have to say that's true.
I started covering more local events and artists and doing interviews. Those, also, have done very well. One of my interview posts with the guys from Parcivillian is one of my top 10 most viewed posts. This year, I'll be picking up again with interviews with the women from one of the local roller derby teams, the Cinderollas. I've done the interviews; I just haven't gotten them transcribed.
And I've started doing picture posts. Those have surprised me most of all. Every once in a while, a particular picture will generate a lot of page views or comments, like this recent one.
The final analysis is that I have been doing more post with less effort without losing any traffic. I don't have enough data, yet, to know if the traffic has increased or if it's just regular fluctuations. That it has not decreased, though, is significant. Probably, this year, the blog will continue in this pattern. I do have some other changes planned that are more geared toward actually increasing sales, but those aren't quite ready yet.
The take away for you? Well, if you are a blogger, why do you do it? Is what you're doing right now with your blog meeting that goal? If it's not, you should look at making some changes.
The final analysis is that I have been doing more post with less effort without losing any traffic. I don't have enough data, yet, to know if the traffic has increased or if it's just regular fluctuations. That it has not decreased, though, is significant. Probably, this year, the blog will continue in this pattern. I do have some other changes planned that are more geared toward actually increasing sales, but those aren't quite ready yet.
The take away for you? Well, if you are a blogger, why do you do it? Is what you're doing right now with your blog meeting that goal? If it's not, you should look at making some changes.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The Weight of Wrong
I may have mentioned a while back that one of my kids, as a birthday present, got season passes for the family for Six Flags. This is somewhat analogous to giving the gift of the "noisy toy" to someone else's kid. Especially when my kids can't even agree upon which rides to ride. Practically speaking, this means I have to take my kids to Six Flags often enough to make the season passes worthwhile. Don't look at me like that; most of this process is not pleasant or fun. I mean, it's not like I get to ride anything, because I'm always on the ground with whatever kid refuses to go one whatever ride we're at. The only ride they all like is the water ride, which I don't like, so I'm still on the ground... except, when they're on that, which always has a long line, is when I write. heh heh
But anyway, that's all beside the point.
Recently, while on the way back from Six Flags, I got flipped off for being in the way of someone's desire to break the law. Let me explain.
We were driving back from Vallejo; it was rush hour, so traffic was slow; but we were in the carpool lane, because, well, we were a carpool. Traffic in the carpool lane was not slow. Where everyone else was going, maybe, 50 mph, we were going 65. I have to say, I love the carpool lane. More people should use it. Legally, that is. Environmental issues aside: if more people carpooled, regular traffic would be less congested. Anyway, we were going 65, which I know, because I had the cruise control set, and we were fairly flying along. At least, we were flying along in comparison to everyone else.
But, in the midst of that, a young guy (early 20s at most) in a red, almost-sports car came speeding up behind me. There are two things wrong with this picture:
1. The obvious. He was speeding. And I don't mean a little.
2. He was in the carpool lane. I don't know about the rest of the country, but CA takes it carpool lanes seriously, and the fine for getting caught driving in one during carpool hours while not being a carpool is pretty steep.
I could see that the guy was getting angry at being stuck behind me, but 1. I was where I was supposed to be; he was not. 2. I wasn't going to try to slow down 15-20 mph to get into the regular traffic flow just so that he could break the law.
Rant:
Yes, it's breaking the law to speed. Traffic-related deaths are still, as far as I know, the #1 cause of non-natural deaths in the United States. Most of these are caused by substance abuse or speeding or both. When you are speeding and a cop pulls you over, he is not the bad guy; you are. He should not be off somewhere stopping a "real crime," because that is what he is doing. Pulling you over for speeding is much more likely to be saving your life and the life of some victim of your stupidity and selfishness than anything else that cop could be doing. I get that you don't like getting caught doing something wrong, but, when you get pissed off about it and blame the cop, you're acting just like a teenager yelling at his/her parents for breaking some household rule. Grow up. When you do, you will understand.
Just by the way, when I'm going the speed limit--and I am never intentionally going over the speed limit (and only very rarely am I doing it by accident)--and you pull up behind me getting all pissy because I won't break the law by speeding up or won't slow down and thus facilitate you in breaking the law, it makes me want to slow down and match the speed of the traffic in the other lane anyway, just to piss you off even more. [I don't do that, but, my gosh!, it makes me want to!]
Aside: The fast lane is not for speeding. Don't you even think that it is. The fast lane is for people who want to go the speed limit. The slow lane is for people that don't want to go the speed limit. When I am in the fast lane and I am going the speed limit, I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I don't care if you want to go faster. I don't care if there are 20 of you behind me that want to go faster. It is not my job to facilitate the wrong you want to do. When I am going the speed limit, I am not the "slow driver;" you are the "too fast driver."
Anyway, finally, for whatever reason, there was a break in the (much) slower traffic to my right, and the guy behind me dodged into the hole, causing the person he cut off to have to slow down even more, and sped around me, narrowly avoiding me and the car just in front of him. The whole time he was doing this, he had his left arm fully extended from his window, flipping me off. He was going at least 80 as he accelerated away from me. He was not the only one to exhibit this kind of behavior, but he was certainly the worst.
Now, I am not really talking about traffic issues here. They are just the illustration of the problem. We here in the United States have come to think that we are entitled to do whatever we want. All the time. Not only should we be allowed to do whatever we want, other people should enable us in our desires to do whatever we want. All the time. Even when those things we want to do are wrong. Even if those things we want to do have the potential to hurt other people. Or even if they will hurt other people. Or the world. Or whatever.
You want to talk about trickle down effect; well, this is where it really works. The rich, who got even richer during the recent recession while everyone else got poorer, exercise their "entitlement" all the time, and everyone else sees them doing it, getting whatever they want whenever they want it, and we decide we want that, too. And we really don't tend to care whom we may hurt to get the things that we want. So we end up with dead teenage boys on a city street. Or we end up with a four car collision during rush hour. Or any number of other things, all because we want what we want and we want it now.
Tell me, how many of you actually like the character of Veruca Salt? And, yet, that's exactly how Americans tend to act. All the time.
And it's wrong. All the time.
So, when I'm driving down the freeway in the fast lane and going the speed limit, no, I will not move over for you. And, no, I don't care if there are 20 of you backed up behind me. The weight of your numbers and desire to get what you want doesn't make it right. It doesn't. And, no, it doesn't matter how many of you start eating rocks, I'm not going to do that, either. [If you understand that reference, you will earn major points. I may have to develop a system whereby people can actually earn points and trade them in for stuff. Virtual points don't do anyone any good. (No, Briane, you can't have my idea.)] And, no, just because 90% of you (or more) want to think that comma usage is "subjective" and you should get to put them wherever you want, it doesn't make it correct. Nor does calling stuff poetry that doesn't meet the definition of poetry make it poetry. Also, starting in the middle of the action and skipping all the exposition in your story just because it's popular to do it that way, right now, that's not right, either. If you leave out the exposition and most of the rising action, you don't actually have a full story; you have part of one; I don't care how long it is.
What I'm saying here is this:
Lots of people being wrong about something doesn't by sheer numbers make it right. I didn't bow to that kind of peer pressure when I was in high school, and I'm not about to start now, so, go ahead, exercise that finger all you want.
But anyway, that's all beside the point.
Recently, while on the way back from Six Flags, I got flipped off for being in the way of someone's desire to break the law. Let me explain.
We were driving back from Vallejo; it was rush hour, so traffic was slow; but we were in the carpool lane, because, well, we were a carpool. Traffic in the carpool lane was not slow. Where everyone else was going, maybe, 50 mph, we were going 65. I have to say, I love the carpool lane. More people should use it. Legally, that is. Environmental issues aside: if more people carpooled, regular traffic would be less congested. Anyway, we were going 65, which I know, because I had the cruise control set, and we were fairly flying along. At least, we were flying along in comparison to everyone else.
But, in the midst of that, a young guy (early 20s at most) in a red, almost-sports car came speeding up behind me. There are two things wrong with this picture:
1. The obvious. He was speeding. And I don't mean a little.
2. He was in the carpool lane. I don't know about the rest of the country, but CA takes it carpool lanes seriously, and the fine for getting caught driving in one during carpool hours while not being a carpool is pretty steep.
I could see that the guy was getting angry at being stuck behind me, but 1. I was where I was supposed to be; he was not. 2. I wasn't going to try to slow down 15-20 mph to get into the regular traffic flow just so that he could break the law.
Rant:
Yes, it's breaking the law to speed. Traffic-related deaths are still, as far as I know, the #1 cause of non-natural deaths in the United States. Most of these are caused by substance abuse or speeding or both. When you are speeding and a cop pulls you over, he is not the bad guy; you are. He should not be off somewhere stopping a "real crime," because that is what he is doing. Pulling you over for speeding is much more likely to be saving your life and the life of some victim of your stupidity and selfishness than anything else that cop could be doing. I get that you don't like getting caught doing something wrong, but, when you get pissed off about it and blame the cop, you're acting just like a teenager yelling at his/her parents for breaking some household rule. Grow up. When you do, you will understand.
Just by the way, when I'm going the speed limit--and I am never intentionally going over the speed limit (and only very rarely am I doing it by accident)--and you pull up behind me getting all pissy because I won't break the law by speeding up or won't slow down and thus facilitate you in breaking the law, it makes me want to slow down and match the speed of the traffic in the other lane anyway, just to piss you off even more. [I don't do that, but, my gosh!, it makes me want to!]
Aside: The fast lane is not for speeding. Don't you even think that it is. The fast lane is for people who want to go the speed limit. The slow lane is for people that don't want to go the speed limit. When I am in the fast lane and I am going the speed limit, I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I don't care if you want to go faster. I don't care if there are 20 of you behind me that want to go faster. It is not my job to facilitate the wrong you want to do. When I am going the speed limit, I am not the "slow driver;" you are the "too fast driver."
Anyway, finally, for whatever reason, there was a break in the (much) slower traffic to my right, and the guy behind me dodged into the hole, causing the person he cut off to have to slow down even more, and sped around me, narrowly avoiding me and the car just in front of him. The whole time he was doing this, he had his left arm fully extended from his window, flipping me off. He was going at least 80 as he accelerated away from me. He was not the only one to exhibit this kind of behavior, but he was certainly the worst.
Now, I am not really talking about traffic issues here. They are just the illustration of the problem. We here in the United States have come to think that we are entitled to do whatever we want. All the time. Not only should we be allowed to do whatever we want, other people should enable us in our desires to do whatever we want. All the time. Even when those things we want to do are wrong. Even if those things we want to do have the potential to hurt other people. Or even if they will hurt other people. Or the world. Or whatever.
You want to talk about trickle down effect; well, this is where it really works. The rich, who got even richer during the recent recession while everyone else got poorer, exercise their "entitlement" all the time, and everyone else sees them doing it, getting whatever they want whenever they want it, and we decide we want that, too. And we really don't tend to care whom we may hurt to get the things that we want. So we end up with dead teenage boys on a city street. Or we end up with a four car collision during rush hour. Or any number of other things, all because we want what we want and we want it now.
Tell me, how many of you actually like the character of Veruca Salt? And, yet, that's exactly how Americans tend to act. All the time.
And it's wrong. All the time.
So, when I'm driving down the freeway in the fast lane and going the speed limit, no, I will not move over for you. And, no, I don't care if there are 20 of you backed up behind me. The weight of your numbers and desire to get what you want doesn't make it right. It doesn't. And, no, it doesn't matter how many of you start eating rocks, I'm not going to do that, either. [If you understand that reference, you will earn major points. I may have to develop a system whereby people can actually earn points and trade them in for stuff. Virtual points don't do anyone any good. (No, Briane, you can't have my idea.)] And, no, just because 90% of you (or more) want to think that comma usage is "subjective" and you should get to put them wherever you want, it doesn't make it correct. Nor does calling stuff poetry that doesn't meet the definition of poetry make it poetry. Also, starting in the middle of the action and skipping all the exposition in your story just because it's popular to do it that way, right now, that's not right, either. If you leave out the exposition and most of the rising action, you don't actually have a full story; you have part of one; I don't care how long it is.
What I'm saying here is this:
Lots of people being wrong about something doesn't by sheer numbers make it right. I didn't bow to that kind of peer pressure when I was in high school, and I'm not about to start now, so, go ahead, exercise that finger all you want.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Investing in a Line
'Tis the season of lines. You know it's true. They can't be avoided. The worst are the traffic lines, and they started a few weeks ago where I live. Traffic on the road and lines to park. Although, maybe, those shouldn't be called lines, because it's more like sharks circling before killing a parking space.
But I'm not here to talk about traffic or trying to park when you're just trying to stop at the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. Seriously, what do those people eat the rest of the year, because they certainly aren't shopping at Safeway. Okay, forget that question; I actually know the answer to that one, which is why it violates my space to have all those people crowding my store when they're busy at <insert name of fast food establishment here> the rest of the year.
No, no... forget the lines outside of the store; let's talk about the ones inside.
I hate lines. Not because I hate the lines in-and-of themselves so much, but because I can't choose a good line to save my life. Seriously, if there were 10 lines and some guy told me to pick one but that if I picked the slowest one, I'd get shot in the head... well, I'd have a hole in my head. Every time. Because, you know, just one hole isn't enough. Anyway... I'm not just saying this. Yeah, I know that everyone feels this way about it, that whatever line you pick is the slowest. I get that everyone feels that way, but it's just not true for you people out there. I have third party verification, and my wife pretty much won't let me pick a line for anything when she's with me.
You don't believe me, do you? Well, let me give you an example:
A couple of weeks ago, I was at said grocery store to pick up a few things. It just so happened to be kind of busy (for no good reason), and I got stuck needing to pick a line. I had four choices (because the 5th choice was the express lane, and I had more than 15 items, so that one was out), and I evaluated carefully. Three of the lines had three or more people waiting in them after the person that was being checked out; the other line only had one person waiting in it after the person that was being checked out. Okay, so I had a short line, but that's not good enough, so I looked to see who was checking in each line (remember, I shop here a lot, so I kind of know who's good and who's not). One line had a newish girl checking that I'd only seen once before, so I slid her to the end of my list because I didn't know enough about her. The next two were women I'd consider "normal" checkers, which is fine. But the short line... I couldn't see who was checking in that line. I thought it was because I just couldn't see her, so, based on what I knew, I took the short line.
A moment after I stepped into line, I discovered the reason I couldn't see the checker: she hadn't been there. But she was coming back, so it was okay, right? Well, except that I knew this was one of those kind of hyper checkers that seems busier than they are. But I was in the line... See, by stepping into the line, I'd invested in it. It was now "my line." So I stood there... and watched the checker almost immediately leave again.
What was going on?
I glanced over at the other lines, and they had gotten longer. And, soon, someone got behind me strengthening my investment in this particular line. The checker didn't come back... she didn't come back some more... and, then, she did, but she left, again!, almost immediately.
The other lines had not shortened, but I did see that in one of the lines the person I would have been behind was leaving... and I hadn't moved. Because the checker was now flitting about between her register and some other register, but, see, now I had invested time in this line, and there was someone behind me, meaning I would lose my place if I moved. The woman in front of me, the woman that was "next" looked back at me with a look that reflected how I felt, and I thought, "screw this," and I got out of line and stepped down to the new girl's line. Her line was moving at least twice as fast as the next fastest line.
Here's the thing: I'm not usually willing to change lines. I'm more the kind to pick my line and stay with it no matter what. It's my line, darn it, and I'm keeping it! No matter how slow it is. I mean, theoretically, it all evens out, right? Sometimes you get a slow one, sometimes a fast one... but not in my case. I always get the slow one, and I always stay with it to the end. But not that time... That time I decided to change lines.
I got into my new line, and it wasn't long before someone got behind me. I turned and looked, and it was the woman that had been in front of me in the other line. We kind of laughed, and, then, she started talking about how that checker kept leaving, and it sounded like that woman had been in the line about twice as long as I had been before I left it, but it took me being willing to move to another line for her to also switch. She had been even more invested in it than me.
The newish girl was fast. When I was walking out of the store, that other checker still wasn't back at her register. I'm not sure what was going on there, but that same person was still standing there with her stuff half way checked out, and the person that had been behind me had moved up to "next." I suppose he thought he was getting a good deal when both people in front of him moved, but he should have seen it as a lesson.
Anyway... Sometimes, we get invested in things that are not good for us or aren't going anywhere. Those things can often be difficult to see. I mean, you never know when a line might start moving, and, the longer you spend in it, the more you don't want to give up your spot to go get at the end of some other line. I get that. Like I said, I'm the guy that will tough out the slow line again and again because I'm already in it. But this experience with switching lines gave me a slightly different perspective on things. I think perseverance is good. I mean, I think it's great. We all need to have it, especially in the writing business. Stick it out. Often, it's just the person willing to stick it out that makes it. So I'm not saying you should become one of those wacky people that switches lines all the time trying to work out which is the fastest.
No, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying, though, is, once you have picked your line, don't close off the possibility to trying other things. Keep your eyes open. Continue to evaluate the situation. If you see something that looks like a better opportunity, don't let your investment in a particular line stop you from taking or, at least, exploring the other option. Don't think that you can't switch to a faster line.
Of course, my usual experience with that is that the new line stops moving after I switch, but, I guess, that's the kind of risk you have to be willing to take. Evidently, sometimes, it pays off.
[Update: Just this past Saturday, I had to pop down to Safeway. I picked a good line with a good checker. I got up to "next," the a new checker came and took over checking for the person in front of me. A not good checker. I groaned on the inside, but I stayed where I was. I was "next," but, more than that, I had all my stuff on the counter already, and there was a line of people behind me. I watched four people in the next line get checked out before I got my turn in my line. See, I just can't pick lines.]
But I'm not here to talk about traffic or trying to park when you're just trying to stop at the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. Seriously, what do those people eat the rest of the year, because they certainly aren't shopping at Safeway. Okay, forget that question; I actually know the answer to that one, which is why it violates my space to have all those people crowding my store when they're busy at <insert name of fast food establishment here> the rest of the year.
No, no... forget the lines outside of the store; let's talk about the ones inside.
I hate lines. Not because I hate the lines in-and-of themselves so much, but because I can't choose a good line to save my life. Seriously, if there were 10 lines and some guy told me to pick one but that if I picked the slowest one, I'd get shot in the head... well, I'd have a hole in my head. Every time. Because, you know, just one hole isn't enough. Anyway... I'm not just saying this. Yeah, I know that everyone feels this way about it, that whatever line you pick is the slowest. I get that everyone feels that way, but it's just not true for you people out there. I have third party verification, and my wife pretty much won't let me pick a line for anything when she's with me.
You don't believe me, do you? Well, let me give you an example:
A couple of weeks ago, I was at said grocery store to pick up a few things. It just so happened to be kind of busy (for no good reason), and I got stuck needing to pick a line. I had four choices (because the 5th choice was the express lane, and I had more than 15 items, so that one was out), and I evaluated carefully. Three of the lines had three or more people waiting in them after the person that was being checked out; the other line only had one person waiting in it after the person that was being checked out. Okay, so I had a short line, but that's not good enough, so I looked to see who was checking in each line (remember, I shop here a lot, so I kind of know who's good and who's not). One line had a newish girl checking that I'd only seen once before, so I slid her to the end of my list because I didn't know enough about her. The next two were women I'd consider "normal" checkers, which is fine. But the short line... I couldn't see who was checking in that line. I thought it was because I just couldn't see her, so, based on what I knew, I took the short line.
A moment after I stepped into line, I discovered the reason I couldn't see the checker: she hadn't been there. But she was coming back, so it was okay, right? Well, except that I knew this was one of those kind of hyper checkers that seems busier than they are. But I was in the line... See, by stepping into the line, I'd invested in it. It was now "my line." So I stood there... and watched the checker almost immediately leave again.
What was going on?
I glanced over at the other lines, and they had gotten longer. And, soon, someone got behind me strengthening my investment in this particular line. The checker didn't come back... she didn't come back some more... and, then, she did, but she left, again!, almost immediately.
The other lines had not shortened, but I did see that in one of the lines the person I would have been behind was leaving... and I hadn't moved. Because the checker was now flitting about between her register and some other register, but, see, now I had invested time in this line, and there was someone behind me, meaning I would lose my place if I moved. The woman in front of me, the woman that was "next" looked back at me with a look that reflected how I felt, and I thought, "screw this," and I got out of line and stepped down to the new girl's line. Her line was moving at least twice as fast as the next fastest line.
Here's the thing: I'm not usually willing to change lines. I'm more the kind to pick my line and stay with it no matter what. It's my line, darn it, and I'm keeping it! No matter how slow it is. I mean, theoretically, it all evens out, right? Sometimes you get a slow one, sometimes a fast one... but not in my case. I always get the slow one, and I always stay with it to the end. But not that time... That time I decided to change lines.
I got into my new line, and it wasn't long before someone got behind me. I turned and looked, and it was the woman that had been in front of me in the other line. We kind of laughed, and, then, she started talking about how that checker kept leaving, and it sounded like that woman had been in the line about twice as long as I had been before I left it, but it took me being willing to move to another line for her to also switch. She had been even more invested in it than me.
The newish girl was fast. When I was walking out of the store, that other checker still wasn't back at her register. I'm not sure what was going on there, but that same person was still standing there with her stuff half way checked out, and the person that had been behind me had moved up to "next." I suppose he thought he was getting a good deal when both people in front of him moved, but he should have seen it as a lesson.
Anyway... Sometimes, we get invested in things that are not good for us or aren't going anywhere. Those things can often be difficult to see. I mean, you never know when a line might start moving, and, the longer you spend in it, the more you don't want to give up your spot to go get at the end of some other line. I get that. Like I said, I'm the guy that will tough out the slow line again and again because I'm already in it. But this experience with switching lines gave me a slightly different perspective on things. I think perseverance is good. I mean, I think it's great. We all need to have it, especially in the writing business. Stick it out. Often, it's just the person willing to stick it out that makes it. So I'm not saying you should become one of those wacky people that switches lines all the time trying to work out which is the fastest.
No, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying, though, is, once you have picked your line, don't close off the possibility to trying other things. Keep your eyes open. Continue to evaluate the situation. If you see something that looks like a better opportunity, don't let your investment in a particular line stop you from taking or, at least, exploring the other option. Don't think that you can't switch to a faster line.
Of course, my usual experience with that is that the new line stops moving after I switch, but, I guess, that's the kind of risk you have to be willing to take. Evidently, sometimes, it pays off.
[Update: Just this past Saturday, I had to pop down to Safeway. I picked a good line with a good checker. I got up to "next," the a new checker came and took over checking for the person in front of me. A not good checker. I groaned on the inside, but I stayed where I was. I was "next," but, more than that, I had all my stuff on the counter already, and there was a line of people behind me. I watched four people in the next line get checked out before I got my turn in my line. See, I just can't pick lines.]
Friday, July 15, 2011
The End...?
Well, I was going to have a real post for today, but that didn't happen. I thought my head was going to explode, yesterday, with all the interruptions. Seriously. It was one of those days. Mostly my daughter. She's good at them. "When can we..." "Why can't we..." "Can we go..." "Why can't we go..."
My brain shut down. My frustration bled into the post I was working on, and, when I finally looked back over it, I realized it was much more harsh than I wanted it to be. Like I was beating people over the heads. Not really what I was looking for, so I have to re-draft that one. It's an important one (to me), so I figure I need to get it right.
Then, I realized that I probably shouldn't post it today, anyway. I mean, everyone's going to be sleeping all day because they stayed out all night watching Harry Potter, right? Except me. I didn't do that. And I know this is blasphemous to many of you, but I'm not really feeling all that eager to go see it. Not that I don't want to see it. I do. My wife and are planning to make a date of it, but I've been less and less excited about the movies as they've gone along. They probably should have split all of them into two movies, especially Goblet of Fire, the weakest of the movies. Maybe I'm just upset that the movies don't feature enough of the twins.
Anyway...
I'm thinking I may like the feeling of being more relaxed on Fridays. Of not writing a "real" post. Just kind of talking. I don't know. I seem to be getting into a pattern with it, though. I guess we'll see what happens. Just as a teaser: hopefully, the post for Monday will be the next segment of my "Danger, Will Robinson" series. It's a big one. Big topic, that is. And, of course, my opinion (which is the correct opinion :) goes against the main stream.
I've kind of been having issues with the blog, lately, too. I need a new look. I hate the generic background I have. I also don't want to spend the time trying to figure out how to design something different. I did try. Blogger kept telling me that the file was to big, which doesn't make any sense to me, since I can post that file as an image in a post. I'd have to take time out of writing to figure all of that out, which I don't want to do. Of course, that's impossible, at the moment, anyway, since the majority of my novel writing is happening at the pool while my kids have their swimming lessons. In a notebook. A paper one. And the writing is with a pen. Can't really figure out any computer stuff with that kind of notebook.
Also, my blog traffic is way down this month. That really concerns me. And concerns me in a way that I don't know what to do about it. My traffic spiked pretty high in June (almost doubled from May) for reasons I'm not quite clear on. However, it looks like July is going to be lower than April. Part of it's my fault. I'm not out looking at new blogs, at the moment. Not looking for new blogs means not commenting on new blogs, which means people don't come over and look at my blog. But I'm kind of at the limit on the number of blogs I can follow without devoting writing time to blog following. I knew this was going to end up being a problem, and I haven't figured out what to do about it. Comments are down, too. There are a few people that always comment, and you people are great. :) You're some of my favorite people. And not just favorite blog people, favorite people people. I feel bad that I want more comments when I have such great people I can depend on, but, well, I do want more comments. Failing of being a human, I suppose. The constant desire for more. Of course, I know I have to have more followers to get more comments, but, then, I'm back to the not enough time to put into that.
Oh, well, I'm sure I'll figure all of that out at some point.
Speaking of writing with pen and paper, I was looking forward to getting started on the transcribing of my progress on Brother's Keeper to the computer next week. Looking forward to it with dread. But it needs to happen. I need to know my word count and things like that. However, I hate the whole transcribing process. I make more typing mistakes when I'm doing that than when I'm composing at the keyboard. And I can't read my handwriting. Yes, I know that's bad. But, hey, it's why I prefer to work at the computer. However, my kids opted for another two weeks of swimming lessons, so that's going to have to wait. I'm both relieved and annoyed. Relieved that I don't have to start that process on Monday. Annoyed that the amount I'll have to transcribe will be even greater by the time I start doing it.
Speaking of writing with pen and paper, again, it's interesting. The process is different for me than working at the computer. It's harder to look back over stuff, to catch up with where I am, so I tend to be much more about just getting to it (the writing) as opposed to figuring out what I was doing and all that. Also, I have a much smaller writing window, so I can't spend a lot of time looking back. If I do that, I won't have any time left to add new material. I'm not sure, yet, how this will affect the end product, but I'm interested to find out. It has meant a lot more notes about stuff to add in, because I can't just go back and insert things on the paper, so I just make a note that I need to write something in when I get around to typing it up.
I feel like I'm making good progress with the book, but it's just a feeling, because I don't have a word count. Yes, I'm itching for my word count! Is that bad?
At this point, I'm sure you're wondering about the title of this post. The end of what? Here's a list:
The end of the week.
The end of Harry Potter (at least, for the moment).
The end of swimming lessons. Except not.
Not the end of StrangePegs.
Not the end of the world, although they say Carmageddon is coming.
My brain shut down. My frustration bled into the post I was working on, and, when I finally looked back over it, I realized it was much more harsh than I wanted it to be. Like I was beating people over the heads. Not really what I was looking for, so I have to re-draft that one. It's an important one (to me), so I figure I need to get it right.
Then, I realized that I probably shouldn't post it today, anyway. I mean, everyone's going to be sleeping all day because they stayed out all night watching Harry Potter, right? Except me. I didn't do that. And I know this is blasphemous to many of you, but I'm not really feeling all that eager to go see it. Not that I don't want to see it. I do. My wife and are planning to make a date of it, but I've been less and less excited about the movies as they've gone along. They probably should have split all of them into two movies, especially Goblet of Fire, the weakest of the movies. Maybe I'm just upset that the movies don't feature enough of the twins.
Anyway...
I'm thinking I may like the feeling of being more relaxed on Fridays. Of not writing a "real" post. Just kind of talking. I don't know. I seem to be getting into a pattern with it, though. I guess we'll see what happens. Just as a teaser: hopefully, the post for Monday will be the next segment of my "Danger, Will Robinson" series. It's a big one. Big topic, that is. And, of course, my opinion (which is the correct opinion :) goes against the main stream.
I've kind of been having issues with the blog, lately, too. I need a new look. I hate the generic background I have. I also don't want to spend the time trying to figure out how to design something different. I did try. Blogger kept telling me that the file was to big, which doesn't make any sense to me, since I can post that file as an image in a post. I'd have to take time out of writing to figure all of that out, which I don't want to do. Of course, that's impossible, at the moment, anyway, since the majority of my novel writing is happening at the pool while my kids have their swimming lessons. In a notebook. A paper one. And the writing is with a pen. Can't really figure out any computer stuff with that kind of notebook.
Also, my blog traffic is way down this month. That really concerns me. And concerns me in a way that I don't know what to do about it. My traffic spiked pretty high in June (almost doubled from May) for reasons I'm not quite clear on. However, it looks like July is going to be lower than April. Part of it's my fault. I'm not out looking at new blogs, at the moment. Not looking for new blogs means not commenting on new blogs, which means people don't come over and look at my blog. But I'm kind of at the limit on the number of blogs I can follow without devoting writing time to blog following. I knew this was going to end up being a problem, and I haven't figured out what to do about it. Comments are down, too. There are a few people that always comment, and you people are great. :) You're some of my favorite people. And not just favorite blog people, favorite people people. I feel bad that I want more comments when I have such great people I can depend on, but, well, I do want more comments. Failing of being a human, I suppose. The constant desire for more. Of course, I know I have to have more followers to get more comments, but, then, I'm back to the not enough time to put into that.
Oh, well, I'm sure I'll figure all of that out at some point.
Speaking of writing with pen and paper, I was looking forward to getting started on the transcribing of my progress on Brother's Keeper to the computer next week. Looking forward to it with dread. But it needs to happen. I need to know my word count and things like that. However, I hate the whole transcribing process. I make more typing mistakes when I'm doing that than when I'm composing at the keyboard. And I can't read my handwriting. Yes, I know that's bad. But, hey, it's why I prefer to work at the computer. However, my kids opted for another two weeks of swimming lessons, so that's going to have to wait. I'm both relieved and annoyed. Relieved that I don't have to start that process on Monday. Annoyed that the amount I'll have to transcribe will be even greater by the time I start doing it.
Speaking of writing with pen and paper, again, it's interesting. The process is different for me than working at the computer. It's harder to look back over stuff, to catch up with where I am, so I tend to be much more about just getting to it (the writing) as opposed to figuring out what I was doing and all that. Also, I have a much smaller writing window, so I can't spend a lot of time looking back. If I do that, I won't have any time left to add new material. I'm not sure, yet, how this will affect the end product, but I'm interested to find out. It has meant a lot more notes about stuff to add in, because I can't just go back and insert things on the paper, so I just make a note that I need to write something in when I get around to typing it up.
I feel like I'm making good progress with the book, but it's just a feeling, because I don't have a word count. Yes, I'm itching for my word count! Is that bad?
At this point, I'm sure you're wondering about the title of this post. The end of what? Here's a list:
The end of the week.
The end of Harry Potter (at least, for the moment).
The end of swimming lessons. Except not.
Not the end of StrangePegs.
Not the end of the world, although they say Carmageddon is coming.
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