Rain, Rain, Go Away. Not.

Quote of the day:
“If you can’t tolerate your worst, at least once in a while, how true to yourself can you be?”
--Benedict Carey

It’s been raining in San Diego, and more is to come in the next few days. I haven’t heard anyone complaining. Seeds are germinating all over, as in the photo.

It seems that people here are very aware of and serious about our drought--and the ongoing fire hazard.

Every time it rains, there is a predictably large number of freeway accidents. The Highway Patrol invariably makes the announcement that it cannot respond to all the bent metal and scattered plastic. If you have an accident, you have to fender for yourself.

I don’t know about other cities, but accidents in the rain in San Diego are usually caused by those who assume the laws of nature don’t apply to them, especially when they’re in a hurry.

At 60 miles per hour on a wet road, your car is officially classified as a hydroplane. There is water between your tire and the road. As oil gets mixed with the water, things get interesting.

With average freeway speed being 80 mph, it’s sort of amazing that more people aren’t killed. If they were, at least the person on the other end of the cell-phone conversation would know something was wrong. Isn’t the modern world wonderful?

Driving in China

Quote of the day:
“Hatred is an affair of the heart; contempt that of the head.”
--Arthur Schopenhauer

These days we are alternately fascinated by and scared of China. It seems clear that the country is in the process of becoming an economic and political superpower, and we don’t know whether to cheer them on or be very frightened.

The photo above is a bridge in a Chinese city, choked by smog. What goes on inside China is a big mystery to most of us. We see pictures, we read news reports. But it can be very hard to learn what everyday life is like.

This makes Peter Hessler’s “Letter From China” in the November 26th “New Yorker” very rewarding reading. It’s an entertaining romp through what it’s like to rent a car and drive in China. He did both over several years.

What makes driving in China such an adventure is that most people are new to it. On top of this, everyone knows a little bit about driving--literally, just enough to be dangerous.

Car ownership is becoming more and more common, and everyone seems to think he’s a good driver. China has 28 cars per every thousand people, which is where the U.S. was in 1915. They have three percent of the world’s cars but twenty-one percent of its traffic fatalities.

Windshield wipers are considered a distraction, as are headlights. The use of headlights was banned in Beijing until the mid-1980s.

One question on the driving exam is “During the evening, a driver should a) turn on the brights, b) turn on the normal lights, c) turn off the lights.”

Another question: “True or False: In a taxi, it’s fine to carry a small amount of explosive material.”

And this: “When overtaking another car, a driver should pass a) on the left, b) on the right, c) wherever, depending on the situation.”

And this: “If, while preparing to pass a car, you notice that it is turing left, making a U-turn, or passing another vehicle, you should a) pass on the right, b) not pass, c) honk, accelerate, and pass on the left.”

And this: “When driving through a residential area,, you should a) honk like normal, b) honk more than normal, to alert residents, c) avoid honking, in order to avoid disturbing residents.”

Honking is essential, according to Hessler, who describes the horn code: “A solid hooooonnnnnk is intended to attracted attention.

"A double sound--hooooonnnnnk, hooooonnnnnk--indicates irritation. There’s a particularly long hooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnk that means a driver is stuck in traffic, has exhausted curb-sneaking options, and would like everyone else on the road to disappear.

“A responding hooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnk proves they aren’t going anywhere.”

And We're Off!

Quote of the day:
“I AM NOT OVERREACTING!
--Preston Creston

Yesterday we got the good news that Merrie had been cleared to travel. So off to Cambria we went!

For the drive up, we attempted to operate in the arena of rationality, which is nigh impossible considering Los Angles traffic. We left in the evening and planned to drive through LA at night.

I’m pleased to report that our attempt was successful. I gotta say it was surreal to drive the 405 between LAX and I-10 at full speed. Truly, truly amazing.

Nonetheless, there were quite a few people traveling through Orange County and LA at that late hour. And I keep thinking that it just continues to get worse. This is not pessimism. The population of Southern California continues to grow. And the population of cars grows even faster.

Households own more cars now than 20 years ago. That’s why three-car garages are demanded by so many home buyers.

But we made it to Camarillo in record time. After a night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast, the drive north was relaxing and glorious.

"I Live Half an Hour From Work"

Quote of the day:
"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."
--Mark Twain

Quote of the day no. 2:
“When I get in, I’m pumped up, ready to go.”
--A Cisco Systems engineer who drives 372 miles--seven hours--to and from work every day. He lives in the Sierra foothills and works in San Jose.

Quote of the day no. 3:
“Researchers have found that hours spent behind the wheel raise blood pressure and cause workers to get sick and stay home more often.
--Eric M. Weiss, The Washington Post, April 24, 2007.

Have you ever heard anyone use the expression “commute from heaven”? Neither have I.

What we hear about are different manifestations of “commute from hell.” It is a “commute from hell” because there were two serious accidents along the way. Or, very rarely, it is a “commute from hell” for me every day.

We often rationalize and delude ourselves about commuting. We say to ourselves and others we live “just a half hour from work” when we know that means only when we can drive 75 mph the whole distance. It takes a while to realize and understand the effects of long commutes.

Years ago Merrie and I lived in Lakeside, a community about 25 miles east of San Diego. I was “about a half hour” from work, and Merrie was “about 45 minutes.”

One day, after about four years of doing this, it dawned on me that the first thing I was doing every morning was listening to the traffic report and getting stressed. Maybe some people consider this daily stress a small price to pay for an affordable big house with a yard, or whatever. We found it mighty annoying.

We simply didn’t want to live our lives that way, so we moved into the city--seven minutes to my job (including three stoplights) and “about fifteen minutes” to Merrie’s.

It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

I'm Concerned, You're Not

Quotes of the day:
“After the elections, if the Republicans are still in power, this may signal a change in the leadership, if it appears they knew more than they have reported to us.”
--Mike Mears, executive director of Concerned Women for America’s political action committee, the wake of the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley

“Whatever.”
--Spokesman for Unconcerned Women for America

Followup to yesterday, "Perpetrators: Inside and Outside":
In reference to the man who killed himself after killing three children and wounding seven at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, AP reporter Mark Scolforo said this:
“[Charles Carl Roberts’ wife] issued a written statement offering sympathy to the families of his victims, and said that she could not reconcile the day’s events with the man she had loved.”

A much-less sensational news story may have more relevance to us. A Porsche 911 was tailgating another car, evidently quite impatient with its slowness. The driver swung to the left to pass, and then swung back suddenly to the right, clipping the other car. Both cars spun, and the Porsche wound up dropping off the side of a freeway ramp. The driver was crushed and killed.

All of us fit into one of three categories: 1) At some time we have been angry and impatient and have followed the car in front of us too closely; 2) We have been followed by such a driver; or 3) Both 1 and 2.