If it was me on this trip, and I've thought about it, I'd get both a 3G system and satellite backup.
Your order of preference would be this:
1. Wifi or cable/DSL hookup. Useful for when you're parked next to somebody with better internet access than you have onboard.
2. 3G or other cellphone-based technology.
3. Satellite.
Bridge whatever your transport technology is into your local network and retransmit as wifi if you want. Then you have always-on internet access as you have satellite as your fallback.
Another thing to consider is cost. I believe (you'll have to look into this) that satellite will work from Mexico-Canada. 3G, however, will likely work but you will pay HUGE amounts of data roaming charges if you leave the United States. For this reason and apart from the fact that it is by no means continentally available, it is not a single solution for you.
Hey, you're right. Everybody SHOULD be exactly like you! Maybe the submitter just wants to take his/her RV up to northern Alaska, park there for a month, and enjoy the blackflies while getting a little work done. What's the harm with that? It's a lot easier than trying to work out of a tent, or a kayak. Perhaps, gasp, he also takes vacations where he doesn't try to work.
I'm self-employed and I can't say whether or not I make twice, or half, what you make, but if I want to go somewhere for a couple months and work half the time and be on vacation half the time, what's the problem with that? By your rationale, should I stay home one month and work, and then leave for a month of vacation? Why should I be limited to doing my work only from my home office? That's one of the main reasons I continue to be self-employed!
As another self-employed person, I'll ask you what I view as a rhetorical question. If you had to work, would you rather work in your home office in some suburb of some city, or wherever you live, or would you occasionally like to spend a day/week/month working beside a quiet lake in the middle of nowhere, in a crowded foreign beach town, or wherever it is that you would like to head on vacation?
I go on vacations where I don't take my laptop and don't work, but on the other hand if I want to go somewhere fun and work for a while, what's the problem with that? It's not an either/or situation.
First of all, the summary says "the intrepid RV'er wants to get remote and into those parts of the coverage map that are usually gray (no coverage)". That doesn't sound like your average Walmart parking lot, does it?
Secondly, I suggest you look at the following URLs for some examples of "RVs" of which you may not be aware:
Unicat Earth Roamer
I've specifically limited this list to two companies that actually sell products in the United States.
This is slightly OT, but in high school in Kenya, some guy came by who was buying frozen rodents for dissection in American college biology classes. He was paying something like $0.50 or $1 per rodent. We got him as many bats as he could handle (which was less than we'd hoped for) but my friend put out a bounty out to the local community on rodents. He said he'd pay them something like $0.15 per rodent they brought him.
I guess he didn't specify DEAD rodents so someone assumed he meant alive. According to the who brought the rat, he had his 4 year old son go into a hole and pull out a giant rat that was so big that it had to be folded up to fit in a shopping bag. My friend got this rat in the bag, which I saw. It was still alive, barely. My friend stopped the bounty at that point as he didn't want to be responsible for some kid getting seriously injured for $0.15.
My sister did something like this with her daughter. My niece is smart and naturally curious, and it worked fine for a few years. This year my niece is in regular school fir the first time, in, I believe, Grade 4. She was behind most of her classmates when it came to reading and writing, but spent some time with a tutor at the end of the spring and into the summer and I believe she's about caught up now. My niece was ready to go to school this fall and last I talked to her was really looking forward to it.
We have an 18 month old girl and depending on the quality of schools where we live at the time, we're considering not sending her to school until maybe second grade. Almost certainly not for junior kindergarten if they have that wherever we are. We'll see where we are, and how much our daughter wants to go to school, what her peer situation looks like outside of school, and make a decision from there. We can teach ABCs, recess and naptime as well as a teacher can, I think.
I recall a friend of mine in high school. He said he got horrible grades until around 5th grade because someone had told him grades didn't matter until then. He made a point of learning but didn't worry about his marks. Everybody thought he was a dumb kid but once 5th grade kicked in he went to straight As. From an academic standpoint, I don't know that school offers any advantages up to maybe Grade 4-5 over a household where at least one parent is home all the time.
If you're unexpectedly in the hospital, it's hard to pay your bills on time. Once you get out and pay your bills, maybe you can contact the companies and explain. Maybe they'll listen, maybe they won't. You can dispute with the credit agencies if you see a mark on your credit. Maybe that will work, maybe it won't.
I had an anaesthesiologist bill in the US go into collection. The anaesthesiologis told me I had to pay. My insurance told me the hospital screwed up and said the hospital was supposed to book me with providers under their plan. They said not to pay the bill The hospital told me that it wasn't their problem. Compound that with an ex who didn't tell me that a letter had arrived with a court date to defend myself about this, I received a default judgement. Yes this seriously screwed up my credit for a couple years. Maybe I should have paid the $1600 to begin with, except my insurance company kept telling me over and over that it was a bogus charge.
Maybe, maybe not, depending on the answers to your other questions. Not being organised enough to have backups can mean there's a great opportunity for you to make a big difference. There are opportunities in chaos if you're the sort of person who's interested in taking advantage of them.
I sometimes ask about dress code before I even show up at the office. At times I've asked the HR person what the office environment is like, whether I should be wearing a suit and tie, or business casual. The answer is pretty much always "business casual", and I've never had a negative response from asking this question. I guess I also gauge whether or not I ask the question.
This is generally for consulting positions too, so pretty much always at this point I have the job and I'm just trying to make a good impression and fit into their environment.
This is a fine response, because it sounds like in your example you've been asking questions throughout the interview process. If you were not sure that your interviewer noticed this you could say that they've given you a lot of opportunities to ask questions throughout the process, so thank you but at this point you've been able to get an answer to all your questions. Or that you did have some questions coming into the interview but you feel very comfortable with how things have gone as you've been able to get all your questions answered.
This way it makes it clear that you DID have an active interest in the process and it isn't just that you have no questions, and also maybe gives the interviewer kudos for being a thorough interviewer, which makes them feel more comfortable with the process as well. Many interviewers feel just as nervous as the interviewee. After all, they don't want to make a bad decision either.
I'd generally agree with this, but my standard response is more like, "of course my salary is very important to me, but more important is the total compensation package. I'd like to make the salary discussion part of our discussion about overall compensation."
Then ask some questions about compensation and try to fit in a question about their expectations of salary. That way you can sidestep the direct salary question and can also maybe get them to answer the question first, which will put you at more of an advantage.
The other danger about mentioning your salary range first, is that if you say $80-100k depending on benefits, then they describe their benefits package and you don't like it, you have to basically say "your benefits package sucks so I want $98k per year" which unless you are more diplomatic than I am might come across as being insulting.
I would characterize it as the difference between, say, a NASCAR Sprint Cup car and your regular transportation. The former is purpose-built solely for performance while the other has to contend with safety requirements, daily functionality, and a lower common denominator for use.
So what you're saying is that the dark fibre packets could only turn left?
Mozy is theoretically cheaper, but in actual practice I found it unusable. As I mentioned in another post, I have well over 100GB backed up using JungleDisk/S3. I thought I'd try Mozy's "unlimited" plan. First of all, Mozy's software would take up well over 1GB of RAM and spike a core for hours trying to process my upload. Even on an 8 core Mac Pro with 14GB of RAM that starts to get annoying after a few weeks.
I say "a few weeks" because Mozy would start uploading my data, usually using less than my upload speed, and then would invariably crash out or stop after a few hours or a day or so of uploading. Then the process would start all over again. It was because of this that after a couple months of trying, I realized that Mozy would never ever actually back up my data. Mozy may appear to be cheaper, but that's because, for me at least, it just wouldn't work.
I'll stick for now with JungleDisk/S3, because they have incentive to make their service work for heavy users. I pay for what I use, and they provide me with the service I need.
I use Amazon S3 via JungleDisk for my off-site backups, and I'm very happy with the solution. For now. I pay about $45/month, so yes it is expensive. On the other hand, I have > 100GB backed up there. I have done the cost comparison with several other services, but for various reasons JungleDisk/S3 continues to be the best online backup service I have found for my particular needs.
I share my DSL with my neighbour via a wifi linkup. I do plan on putting an external drive at his house for my off-site backup. However, in 6 months or so that I've been thinking of it, I just haven't gotten around to it. So I ask you which is cheaper: an offsite backup plan that is in place and available should I need it, or a cheaper solution that I haven't set up yet so if I need it, it won't be available?
Simplicity needs to be factored into the cost of a backup solution. If it's too complicated for someone to set up and use, then it won't be there and up-to-date when needed and is useless. I can build a computer as easily as the next person on here, but I also have my business to run, and would rather spend my spare time with my family. Having a backup is much much cheaper than not having one, if it's needed.
This is also why Time Machine is so awesome. Basically, It Just Works. This is what powers my on-site backups.
I'm Canadian and went to renew my passport on Friday. My existing passport was still valid for a couple more weeks, but the woman across the desk thought it was expired as her machine didn't read it. She told me this, and I explained to her with a straight face that maybe that was because I'd microwaved my passport (I hadn't really).
She didn't get the joke, which was just as well I suppose.
Do you get upset at runners during a running race? We drove by a bunch of runners during a race yesterday. We slowed down, waited until we could respectfully and safely pass each runner, and then went by. It took up an extra 30 seconds of my day, maybe. However, we were the losers in the car while they were the people out enjoying the summer and staying in shape.
For the occasional bike race or running race, what's the problem with riding two abreast? Perhaps they should have obtained a city permit to close the road down completely, which often happens. Then what would you have done?
Also, as a cyclist (and motorist) I can attest that MOST drivers are courteous and give me plenty of space when they pass. I also try to stay to the right wherever practical. However, a surprisingly high minority percentage of drivers blast by me like I don't exist. I honestly don't think they noticed me. A very small minority of drivers will actively try to harass me. Often also, there will be road debris or poor pavement at the edge of the road. It may not even be visible to a driver, but it will render the right edge virtually unusable for a cyclist. It is safe, reasonable, and perfectly legal (here anyway, check your driving code) for a cyclist to venture as far into the lane as is needed to ride safely. Just because it seems to YOU that it's unreasonable doesn't mean that you're right. You can't necessarily see the road conditions as well as the cyclist, or from the same point of view.
There are poor cyclists out there, just as there are poor drivers. That doesn't mean that they should not be respected, though.
This isn't the cyclist's problem. If nothing is more dangerous than rounding a corner at 45 and seeing a cyclist, try some of the following ideas:
1. Campaign for more bike lanes. It is not the cyclist's fault that there are no bike lanes. Believe me, almost all cyclists would LOVE there to be a safe bike lane for us. It's the city planners who haven't been on a bike since grade 5 who believe there is no value for a bike lane. It's the taxpayers (mostly motorists) who are unwilling to spend the marginal extra amount for slightly wider roads. So don't blame us.
2. Consider slowing down to a safe speed while driving around a corner.
Try riding a bicycle or motorcycle for a while and "see the other side". Maybe you already do. I LOVE driving, but I give two wheeled road users the respect they are due. I don't want to be responsible for someone's death or injury, even if they do appear to be a bit of an asshole.
I had a similar experience when I was in high school. We lived in Zambia and I went to an American curriculum boarding school in Kenya. At the end of my school break, I went for what was supposed to be a 4 day backpacking trip by myself. The first night, I was accosted at my campsite by two drunk guys claiming to be police. After harassing them for a while (remember that I was young, cocky and naive) I asked to see their paperwork if they were actually police officers. Sure enough they were, and next thing I knew I was under arrest. They went through my belongings and saw that I had a camera with no film. They claimed I was a South African spy who was coming to take photos of a microwave station 4km away. They said I'd thrown away the film when I saw them coming. I tried to explain that the camera was broken and was my only clock, but they didn't believe me.
They took me to their commanding officer, who had no idea what to do with a 17 year old Canadian in the middle of nowhere in Zambia. He went through my belongings again, and discovered documentation explaining how quickly armies can move through a country, how far airplanes can do an airstrike, how many tanks it takes to overrun a batallion of soldiers, etc. I had been planning my war simulation video game for next term's computer science project and had all the paperwork with me. This was 1991 so the police officer had never seen, let alone used, a computer, so any explanation went completely over his head. My explanation about how if the South African government wanted photos of their stupid satellite dishes they'd just take them FROM a satellite went similarly over their head but did serve to prove to them that I was probably a spy since I knew so much about this sort of thing.
I was then shipped back to Lusaka, the capital city and thrown in jail. The jail consisted of 3 rooms. Two were crammed so full of people that there was not even space against the wall for everyone. The third was used as a toilet. There was no food or water provided, and no phone call allowed, so if nobody knew you were there and you didn't make friends you were in big trouble. Fortunately I had several days' worth of food with me in my backpack so I shared that around and made lots of friends.
Around 10:30 the next morning I was summoned again in front of some more important-looking people. They went through my belongings again, and grilled me for a long time about my "secret documents" and the extra damaging evidence of a filmless camera.
Fortunately, eventually common sense prevailed and they decided that a 17 year old Canadian was unlikely to be travelling alone through the bush to take pictures of some random satellite dishes for the South African government. They let me call someone up and sent me away.
No kidding. I LIKE snow, so if I was to move back to the USA, I guess I'd be looking at Syracuse...
Syracuse is on the doorstep of the Adirondack mountains, and has easy access to great hiking, off-roading, and skiing. Of course, you do have to live in New York State. Last time I drove through upstate New York, saying it looked like a third world country would be an insult to third world countries. There are of course many nice people there, but it seems like a lot of folks have just given up. People live in houses that are literally falling apart and filled past the windows with junk.
Yes, DOC and PDF are not the same thing. However... do you work in a corporate environment? Over the last 6 months, how many Microsoft Word documents have you been emailed or referred to? How many PDFs? If your clients and colleagues work more with PDF than DOC, you are definitely in the minority.
One of my main clients provides a document management system for a specific industry. Looking over the documents shared by dozens of companies using this tool, Microsoft Word documents are shared significantly more than PDF, despite being clearly the wrong format to use in this instance. IT people often try to convince users to use PDF instead of DOC but for the average end user they don't understand or care about the issues with DOC. Additionally converting to PDF from Microsoft Word in Microsoft Windows requires extra steps so why go through the effort when the payoff doesn't directly affect you personally?
I understand the need for "progress" but I sometimes question peoples' definition of it. I, too, grew up in areas surrounded by dirt and gravel roads. Until a year ago I lived on one. I enjoy riding my road bike on newly paved roads, but there's just something about a rural environment that gets lost when roads start to be paved.
I'd be happy to see some paved roads go back to gravel or dirt, personally. My 23 year old diesel Land Rover goes the same speed on dirt as is does on pavement, and I find dirt roads more enjoyable overall. I do understand that they can cost more to maintain, but then again that's not so much of an issue for roads that aren't travelled as often. Additionally, it's termed as "deferred maintenance" and if the state can't pay for the roads, there aren't many better choices.
When I was a kid living in Zambia, there were two paved roads in my town. The main road was maintained reasonably well, but the other "paved" road to the mine was so bad that you had to drive on the shoulder. Removing the pavement in that case would have been a benefit, but then again that would have cost money.
YOU may not be able to envision a game that is able to sidestep these privacy concerns while being enjoyable, but that doesn't mean the idea does not exist.
I for one would love to play a game that combines the real-world aspects of, say, geocaching, with some sort of video game aspect. Maybe some sort of collaborative treasure hunt where you play a game but have to actually get out of your house to do it.
I'm sure something like this exists but I haven't looked too hard for it. The main problem with a concept like this is that it's hard to make it globally playable, keep privacy concerns in mind, and enjoyable as a game. However, just because you can't envision such a scenario, there's no need for you to decide that it's a bad idea.
Slashdot Mirror
With a little trust and good parenting, ALL of these items are unncessary ... until you need them.
If it was me on this trip, and I've thought about it, I'd get both a 3G system and satellite backup.
Your order of preference would be this:
1. Wifi or cable/DSL hookup. Useful for when you're parked next to somebody with better internet access than you have onboard.
2. 3G or other cellphone-based technology.
3. Satellite.
Bridge whatever your transport technology is into your local network and retransmit as wifi if you want. Then you have always-on internet access as you have satellite as your fallback.
Another thing to consider is cost. I believe (you'll have to look into this) that satellite will work from Mexico-Canada. 3G, however, will likely work but you will pay HUGE amounts of data roaming charges if you leave the United States. For this reason and apart from the fact that it is by no means continentally available, it is not a single solution for you.
Hey, you're right. Everybody SHOULD be exactly like you! Maybe the submitter just wants to take his/her RV up to northern Alaska, park there for a month, and enjoy the blackflies while getting a little work done. What's the harm with that? It's a lot easier than trying to work out of a tent, or a kayak. Perhaps, gasp, he also takes vacations where he doesn't try to work.
I'm self-employed and I can't say whether or not I make twice, or half, what you make, but if I want to go somewhere for a couple months and work half the time and be on vacation half the time, what's the problem with that? By your rationale, should I stay home one month and work, and then leave for a month of vacation? Why should I be limited to doing my work only from my home office? That's one of the main reasons I continue to be self-employed!
As another self-employed person, I'll ask you what I view as a rhetorical question. If you had to work, would you rather work in your home office in some suburb of some city, or wherever you live, or would you occasionally like to spend a day/week/month working beside a quiet lake in the middle of nowhere, in a crowded foreign beach town, or wherever it is that you would like to head on vacation?
I go on vacations where I don't take my laptop and don't work, but on the other hand if I want to go somewhere fun and work for a while, what's the problem with that? It's not an either/or situation.
First of all, the summary says "the intrepid RV'er wants to get remote and into those parts of the coverage map that are usually gray (no coverage)". That doesn't sound like your average Walmart parking lot, does it?
Secondly, I suggest you look at the following URLs for some examples of "RVs" of which you may not be aware:
Unicat
Earth Roamer
I've specifically limited this list to two companies that actually sell products in the United States.
This is slightly OT, but in high school in Kenya, some guy came by who was buying frozen rodents for dissection in American college biology classes. He was paying something like $0.50 or $1 per rodent. We got him as many bats as he could handle (which was less than we'd hoped for) but my friend put out a bounty out to the local community on rodents. He said he'd pay them something like $0.15 per rodent they brought him.
I guess he didn't specify DEAD rodents so someone assumed he meant alive. According to the who brought the rat, he had his 4 year old son go into a hole and pull out a giant rat that was so big that it had to be folded up to fit in a shopping bag. My friend got this rat in the bag, which I saw. It was still alive, barely. My friend stopped the bounty at that point as he didn't want to be responsible for some kid getting seriously injured for $0.15.
My sister did something like this with her daughter. My niece is smart and naturally curious, and it worked fine for a few years. This year my niece is in regular school fir the first time, in, I believe, Grade 4. She was behind most of her classmates when it came to reading and writing, but spent some time with a tutor at the end of the spring and into the summer and I believe she's about caught up now. My niece was ready to go to school this fall and last I talked to her was really looking forward to it.
We have an 18 month old girl and depending on the quality of schools where we live at the time, we're considering not sending her to school until maybe second grade. Almost certainly not for junior kindergarten if they have that wherever we are. We'll see where we are, and how much our daughter wants to go to school, what her peer situation looks like outside of school, and make a decision from there. We can teach ABCs, recess and naptime as well as a teacher can, I think.
I recall a friend of mine in high school. He said he got horrible grades until around 5th grade because someone had told him grades didn't matter until then. He made a point of learning but didn't worry about his marks. Everybody thought he was a dumb kid but once 5th grade kicked in he went to straight As. From an academic standpoint, I don't know that school offers any advantages up to maybe Grade 4-5 over a household where at least one parent is home all the time.
If you're unexpectedly in the hospital, it's hard to pay your bills on time. Once you get out and pay your bills, maybe you can contact the companies and explain. Maybe they'll listen, maybe they won't. You can dispute with the credit agencies if you see a mark on your credit. Maybe that will work, maybe it won't.
I had an anaesthesiologist bill in the US go into collection. The anaesthesiologis told me I had to pay. My insurance told me the hospital screwed up and said the hospital was supposed to book me with providers under their plan. They said not to pay the bill The hospital told me that it wasn't their problem. Compound that with an ex who didn't tell me that a letter had arrived with a court date to defend myself about this, I received a default judgement. Yes this seriously screwed up my credit for a couple years. Maybe I should have paid the $1600 to begin with, except my insurance company kept telling me over and over that it was a bogus charge.
No backups = don't take the job
Maybe, maybe not, depending on the answers to your other questions. Not being organised enough to have backups can mean there's a great opportunity for you to make a big difference. There are opportunities in chaos if you're the sort of person who's interested in taking advantage of them.
I sometimes ask about dress code before I even show up at the office. At times I've asked the HR person what the office environment is like, whether I should be wearing a suit and tie, or business casual. The answer is pretty much always "business casual", and I've never had a negative response from asking this question. I guess I also gauge whether or not I ask the question.
This is generally for consulting positions too, so pretty much always at this point I have the job and I'm just trying to make a good impression and fit into their environment.
This is a fine response, because it sounds like in your example you've been asking questions throughout the interview process. If you were not sure that your interviewer noticed this you could say that they've given you a lot of opportunities to ask questions throughout the process, so thank you but at this point you've been able to get an answer to all your questions. Or that you did have some questions coming into the interview but you feel very comfortable with how things have gone as you've been able to get all your questions answered.
This way it makes it clear that you DID have an active interest in the process and it isn't just that you have no questions, and also maybe gives the interviewer kudos for being a thorough interviewer, which makes them feel more comfortable with the process as well. Many interviewers feel just as nervous as the interviewee. After all, they don't want to make a bad decision either.
I'd generally agree with this, but my standard response is more like, "of course my salary is very important to me, but more important is the total compensation package. I'd like to make the salary discussion part of our discussion about overall compensation."
Then ask some questions about compensation and try to fit in a question about their expectations of salary. That way you can sidestep the direct salary question and can also maybe get them to answer the question first, which will put you at more of an advantage.
The other danger about mentioning your salary range first, is that if you say $80-100k depending on benefits, then they describe their benefits package and you don't like it, you have to basically say "your benefits package sucks so I want $98k per year" which unless you are more diplomatic than I am might come across as being insulting.
I would characterize it as the difference between, say, a NASCAR Sprint Cup car and your regular transportation. The former is purpose-built solely for performance while the other has to contend with safety requirements, daily functionality, and a lower common denominator for use.
So what you're saying is that the dark fibre packets could only turn left?
Mozy is theoretically cheaper, but in actual practice I found it unusable. As I mentioned in another post, I have well over 100GB backed up using JungleDisk/S3. I thought I'd try Mozy's "unlimited" plan. First of all, Mozy's software would take up well over 1GB of RAM and spike a core for hours trying to process my upload. Even on an 8 core Mac Pro with 14GB of RAM that starts to get annoying after a few weeks.
I say "a few weeks" because Mozy would start uploading my data, usually using less than my upload speed, and then would invariably crash out or stop after a few hours or a day or so of uploading. Then the process would start all over again. It was because of this that after a couple months of trying, I realized that Mozy would never ever actually back up my data. Mozy may appear to be cheaper, but that's because, for me at least, it just wouldn't work.
I'll stick for now with JungleDisk/S3, because they have incentive to make their service work for heavy users. I pay for what I use, and they provide me with the service I need.
I use Amazon S3 via JungleDisk for my off-site backups, and I'm very happy with the solution. For now. I pay about $45/month, so yes it is expensive. On the other hand, I have > 100GB backed up there. I have done the cost comparison with several other services, but for various reasons JungleDisk/S3 continues to be the best online backup service I have found for my particular needs.
I share my DSL with my neighbour via a wifi linkup. I do plan on putting an external drive at his house for my off-site backup. However, in 6 months or so that I've been thinking of it, I just haven't gotten around to it. So I ask you which is cheaper: an offsite backup plan that is in place and available should I need it, or a cheaper solution that I haven't set up yet so if I need it, it won't be available?
Simplicity needs to be factored into the cost of a backup solution. If it's too complicated for someone to set up and use, then it won't be there and up-to-date when needed and is useless. I can build a computer as easily as the next person on here, but I also have my business to run, and would rather spend my spare time with my family. Having a backup is much much cheaper than not having one, if it's needed.
This is also why Time Machine is so awesome. Basically, It Just Works. This is what powers my on-site backups.
My position is to never provide information like my birthdate to any web site, with very few exceptions. If a web site asks for my birth date, I lie.
I know this doesn't really address your issue, but it's a point worth making for anyone who bothers to read this comment.
I'm Canadian and went to renew my passport on Friday. My existing passport was still valid for a couple more weeks, but the woman across the desk thought it was expired as her machine didn't read it. She told me this, and I explained to her with a straight face that maybe that was because I'd microwaved my passport (I hadn't really).
She didn't get the joke, which was just as well I suppose.
Do you get upset at runners during a running race? We drove by a bunch of runners during a race yesterday. We slowed down, waited until we could respectfully and safely pass each runner, and then went by. It took up an extra 30 seconds of my day, maybe. However, we were the losers in the car while they were the people out enjoying the summer and staying in shape.
For the occasional bike race or running race, what's the problem with riding two abreast? Perhaps they should have obtained a city permit to close the road down completely, which often happens. Then what would you have done?
Also, as a cyclist (and motorist) I can attest that MOST drivers are courteous and give me plenty of space when they pass. I also try to stay to the right wherever practical. However, a surprisingly high minority percentage of drivers blast by me like I don't exist. I honestly don't think they noticed me. A very small minority of drivers will actively try to harass me. Often also, there will be road debris or poor pavement at the edge of the road. It may not even be visible to a driver, but it will render the right edge virtually unusable for a cyclist. It is safe, reasonable, and perfectly legal (here anyway, check your driving code) for a cyclist to venture as far into the lane as is needed to ride safely. Just because it seems to YOU that it's unreasonable doesn't mean that you're right. You can't necessarily see the road conditions as well as the cyclist, or from the same point of view.
There are poor cyclists out there, just as there are poor drivers. That doesn't mean that they should not be respected, though.
This isn't the cyclist's problem. If nothing is more dangerous than rounding a corner at 45 and seeing a cyclist, try some of the following ideas:
1. Campaign for more bike lanes. It is not the cyclist's fault that there are no bike lanes. Believe me, almost all cyclists would LOVE there to be a safe bike lane for us. It's the city planners who haven't been on a bike since grade 5 who believe there is no value for a bike lane. It's the taxpayers (mostly motorists) who are unwilling to spend the marginal extra amount for slightly wider roads. So don't blame us.
2. Consider slowing down to a safe speed while driving around a corner.
Try riding a bicycle or motorcycle for a while and "see the other side". Maybe you already do. I LOVE driving, but I give two wheeled road users the respect they are due. I don't want to be responsible for someone's death or injury, even if they do appear to be a bit of an asshole.
I had a similar experience when I was in high school. We lived in Zambia and I went to an American curriculum boarding school in Kenya. At the end of my school break, I went for what was supposed to be a 4 day backpacking trip by myself. The first night, I was accosted at my campsite by two drunk guys claiming to be police. After harassing them for a while (remember that I was young, cocky and naive) I asked to see their paperwork if they were actually police officers. Sure enough they were, and next thing I knew I was under arrest. They went through my belongings and saw that I had a camera with no film. They claimed I was a South African spy who was coming to take photos of a microwave station 4km away. They said I'd thrown away the film when I saw them coming. I tried to explain that the camera was broken and was my only clock, but they didn't believe me.
They took me to their commanding officer, who had no idea what to do with a 17 year old Canadian in the middle of nowhere in Zambia. He went through my belongings again, and discovered documentation explaining how quickly armies can move through a country, how far airplanes can do an airstrike, how many tanks it takes to overrun a batallion of soldiers, etc. I had been planning my war simulation video game for next term's computer science project and had all the paperwork with me. This was 1991 so the police officer had never seen, let alone used, a computer, so any explanation went completely over his head. My explanation about how if the South African government wanted photos of their stupid satellite dishes they'd just take them FROM a satellite went similarly over their head but did serve to prove to them that I was probably a spy since I knew so much about this sort of thing.
I was then shipped back to Lusaka, the capital city and thrown in jail. The jail consisted of 3 rooms. Two were crammed so full of people that there was not even space against the wall for everyone. The third was used as a toilet. There was no food or water provided, and no phone call allowed, so if nobody knew you were there and you didn't make friends you were in big trouble. Fortunately I had several days' worth of food with me in my backpack so I shared that around and made lots of friends.
Around 10:30 the next morning I was summoned again in front of some more important-looking people. They went through my belongings again, and grilled me for a long time about my "secret documents" and the extra damaging evidence of a filmless camera.
Fortunately, eventually common sense prevailed and they decided that a 17 year old Canadian was unlikely to be travelling alone through the bush to take pictures of some random satellite dishes for the South African government. They let me call someone up and sent me away.
My life these days is decidedly less exciting.
No kidding. I LIKE snow, so if I was to move back to the USA, I guess I'd be looking at Syracuse...
Syracuse is on the doorstep of the Adirondack mountains, and has easy access to great hiking, off-roading, and skiing. Of course, you do have to live in New York State. Last time I drove through upstate New York, saying it looked like a third world country would be an insult to third world countries. There are of course many nice people there, but it seems like a lot of folks have just given up. People live in houses that are literally falling apart and filled past the windows with junk.
On second thought, I think I'll stay where I am.
Yes, DOC and PDF are not the same thing. However ... do you work in a corporate environment? Over the last 6 months, how many Microsoft Word documents have you been emailed or referred to? How many PDFs? If your clients and colleagues work more with PDF than DOC, you are definitely in the minority.
One of my main clients provides a document management system for a specific industry. Looking over the documents shared by dozens of companies using this tool, Microsoft Word documents are shared significantly more than PDF, despite being clearly the wrong format to use in this instance. IT people often try to convince users to use PDF instead of DOC but for the average end user they don't understand or care about the issues with DOC. Additionally converting to PDF from Microsoft Word in Microsoft Windows requires extra steps so why go through the effort when the payoff doesn't directly affect you personally?
I understand the need for "progress" but I sometimes question peoples' definition of it. I, too, grew up in areas surrounded by dirt and gravel roads. Until a year ago I lived on one. I enjoy riding my road bike on newly paved roads, but there's just something about a rural environment that gets lost when roads start to be paved.
I'd be happy to see some paved roads go back to gravel or dirt, personally. My 23 year old diesel Land Rover goes the same speed on dirt as is does on pavement, and I find dirt roads more enjoyable overall. I do understand that they can cost more to maintain, but then again that's not so much of an issue for roads that aren't travelled as often. Additionally, it's termed as "deferred maintenance" and if the state can't pay for the roads, there aren't many better choices.
When I was a kid living in Zambia, there were two paved roads in my town. The main road was maintained reasonably well, but the other "paved" road to the mine was so bad that you had to drive on the shoulder. Removing the pavement in that case would have been a benefit, but then again that would have cost money.
YOU may not be able to envision a game that is able to sidestep these privacy concerns while being enjoyable, but that doesn't mean the idea does not exist.
I for one would love to play a game that combines the real-world aspects of, say, geocaching, with some sort of video game aspect. Maybe some sort of collaborative treasure hunt where you play a game but have to actually get out of your house to do it.
I'm sure something like this exists but I haven't looked too hard for it. The main problem with a concept like this is that it's hard to make it globally playable, keep privacy concerns in mind, and enjoyable as a game. However, just because you can't envision such a scenario, there's no need for you to decide that it's a bad idea.