OK, last week was spent vacationing (to my extreme delight) with my wife and kids and I'd have to say it was darned near perfect. Weather, travel, lodging, events, eats, etc., all smoothly flowing and delightful.
Oh, except for automobile traveling which revealed some things I'd rather not have seen...
You guessed it - A Compendium of Car Travel Beefs...
Chief Beef #1. (and I DO mean the BIG #1 on the list) - On any multiple-laned roadway, please note (especially those from Ohio for some reason) that the leftmost lane is for passing ONLY. I know this is no uncommon bitch, but THE DAMNED RULE IS: S-T-A-Y T-O T-H-E F * - I-N-G RIGHT LANE until (and ONLY until) you MUST pass someone. Please note that this is quite different than "I will stay in the left lane because my cruise control is set 0.8 mph faster than the car to my right. I will move back over to the right when there is at least 100 yards of gap to get over - I don't care how much faster you are going when you encounter me in the leftmost lane."
At my peak frustration, (somewhere only a scant 3 hours and 12 minutes into the 17 hours of driving) I had visions of the great 80s arcade game Spyhunter, and equipping my vehicle thusly so as to dispatch of these road-offending and discourteous nitwits. Again, it's very simple - stay to the RIGHT until and only until you encounter and must pass a slower vehicle. You are not entitled to move to the left when there is traffic in those lanes. You will wait until such time as that traffic has cleared. This rule is applied to each and every successive move to the left and the Rule will also have you return to the right as the pass is complete. How about just stay in the right lane? That should be easy enough.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, July 18, 2008
2 Qs - quantity and quality..
Ahhhh, well, so anyway, back to life...
Neither a post to complete the holiday weekend passed nor a vacation summary. I thank you for not judging my lack of persistence with the previous posts.
Suffice to say both were quite enjoyable, well-paced, and the details of which are too numerous and minute to make for good reading (I'd like to think no matter the writing talent).
The chief result that seems to be most noticeable by my friends is that I have a nice tan, my hair got even more blonde, and my most recent facial hairstyle has returned albeit in the warmth of summer, not in the dead of winter.
I've had more compliments on my appearance in the past 48 hours than in the previous 4 months combined. Hate to say it, but having a tan, while detrimental to skin life (or in worst cases even life in general), makes a difference in how people see you. White and pasty is apparently no way to go through life.
It begs the questions about quality of life versus quantity. I think it fair to say that everyone would obviously love to maximize both variables, but in practice the two are frequently inversely related. Think of your basic XY graph - where the X-axis (vertical) is Quality, the Y-axis (horizontal) is Quantity, and the line charted on the graph represents at what levels the two variables meet. I imagine for the 96% of people who fall in the first two standard deviations of a typical Bell Curve, the measurements would look something like this:
An example of this would be the use of sunscreen. My instinct and knowledge insist that, given my genetics, I need to wear sunscreen if I plan on being in the sun for more than about 30 minutes with no base tan of any sort. I followed through on that during the first 3 of the 6 days of vacation. The last 3 I opted for shade or clothing as a screen, albeit only after having actively participated in pool and beach activities for over 3 hours. I wasn't quite burnt, but mildly tender to the touch. If a bad sunburn (peeling/blistering possible) could be called 'well-done', let's say I was somewhere between 'medium' and 'medium rare'.
Even at the time, I noted my own guilt for being averse to the heavily-fragranced, time-consuming, and partner-requiring lotion applications, although for my kids, I made it a priority. So much for modeling good behavior, eh? The guilt was washed away, however, by the desire to enjoy myself without the concern for personal skin health. To me, I guess a vacation must include an amount of release from worry and fears at a potential cost down the road.
That's just what I did, and I enjoyed it. Quality 1 - Quantity 0. Since Quantity is a constant unknown, but Quality is frequently measured and monitored, I'd say that for the first two standard deviations of American folk, Quality will continue to be more heavily-weighed in decision making.
On an aside, I noticed that the curve also has similarities with the profile of a roller-coaster drop. Coincedence? Life is not a highway Mr. Cochran, it's a roller-coaster.
(Edit: Okay, so privately I've just been made aware that the x-axis is the horizontal and the y-axis is the vertical, not switched as I have them above. I totally knew that too and was surprised I had made that error as most people have an understanding that my brain contains wayyyy too much trivia such as the specific labels of an XY graph. Damn failing memory parts.)
Neither a post to complete the holiday weekend passed nor a vacation summary. I thank you for not judging my lack of persistence with the previous posts.
Suffice to say both were quite enjoyable, well-paced, and the details of which are too numerous and minute to make for good reading (I'd like to think no matter the writing talent).
The chief result that seems to be most noticeable by my friends is that I have a nice tan, my hair got even more blonde, and my most recent facial hairstyle has returned albeit in the warmth of summer, not in the dead of winter.
I've had more compliments on my appearance in the past 48 hours than in the previous 4 months combined. Hate to say it, but having a tan, while detrimental to skin life (or in worst cases even life in general), makes a difference in how people see you. White and pasty is apparently no way to go through life.
It begs the questions about quality of life versus quantity. I think it fair to say that everyone would obviously love to maximize both variables, but in practice the two are frequently inversely related. Think of your basic XY graph - where the X-axis (vertical) is Quality, the Y-axis (horizontal) is Quantity, and the line charted on the graph represents at what levels the two variables meet. I imagine for the 96% of people who fall in the first two standard deviations of a typical Bell Curve, the measurements would look something like this:
An example of this would be the use of sunscreen. My instinct and knowledge insist that, given my genetics, I need to wear sunscreen if I plan on being in the sun for more than about 30 minutes with no base tan of any sort. I followed through on that during the first 3 of the 6 days of vacation. The last 3 I opted for shade or clothing as a screen, albeit only after having actively participated in pool and beach activities for over 3 hours. I wasn't quite burnt, but mildly tender to the touch. If a bad sunburn (peeling/blistering possible) could be called 'well-done', let's say I was somewhere between 'medium' and 'medium rare'.
Even at the time, I noted my own guilt for being averse to the heavily-fragranced, time-consuming, and partner-requiring lotion applications, although for my kids, I made it a priority. So much for modeling good behavior, eh? The guilt was washed away, however, by the desire to enjoy myself without the concern for personal skin health. To me, I guess a vacation must include an amount of release from worry and fears at a potential cost down the road.
That's just what I did, and I enjoyed it. Quality 1 - Quantity 0. Since Quantity is a constant unknown, but Quality is frequently measured and monitored, I'd say that for the first two standard deviations of American folk, Quality will continue to be more heavily-weighed in decision making.
On an aside, I noticed that the curve also has similarities with the profile of a roller-coaster drop. Coincedence? Life is not a highway Mr. Cochran, it's a roller-coaster.
(Edit: Okay, so privately I've just been made aware that the x-axis is the horizontal and the y-axis is the vertical, not switched as I have them above. I totally knew that too and was surprised I had made that error as most people have an understanding that my brain contains wayyyy too much trivia such as the specific labels of an XY graph. Damn failing memory parts.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)