My, how times have changed

[Lunchbag]

I will stop if I see a guy physically pushing a dead car out of traffic, but that's it.

Actually, that reminds me that I do occasionally stop.  The last two times were after witnessing an accident, to give my contact info to the person who was hit (both were fine).  I understand that insurance companies sometimes have difficulty establishing fault even when it seems obvious, and a witness statement can help.

In one of those cases though, the best thing I accomplished was to convince the driver that we should not try to push the car out of traffic.  He had been hit by an 18-wheeler who ran a red light and, besides being smashed up, the car wheels were so crooked we could only get ourselves killed trying to push the broken car which at that point had a stream of cars driving around it on both sides.  I think the driver was running on adrenaline and wasn't thinking clearly.

Epilogue - That intersection north of Hollister, CA was so bad they eventually replaced it with a turbo-roundabout, which works great if everyone understands it and picks the correct lane.  Unfortunately, the roundabout actually increased the accident rate.  The problem was not with the roundabout, which was a built according to a smart Scandinavian design.  The problem is that not all Americans are Scandinavian.  Some of them just get confused and gun it.  But the good news is that Caltrans put up a camera so the world can watch the chaos live.

[Gone in 60]

Thanks for the reminder to stay away from Hollister...

Here's another "How Times Have Changed" moment for you. I was just now cruising FB, and saw a recurring ad for a Speed Racer vintage t-shirt. Ok, it's cool, I've seen the ad plenty of times, yah, I want it.
Clicked through all of the order buttons, and the shipping address automatically popped up from my aggregated online ordering of random stuff. It defaulted to my office that closed down in late 2024.

On multiple occasions, I've mindlessly clicked OK, OK, OK when ordering something and not really paid close attention. Then, when I get the "your order has arrived" email, I rush out to the mailbox and when I see cobwebs, I get the "You stupid idiot" revelation that it shipped to the old office. Normally, that wouldn't be too big of a deal, right? Go down there, talk to the current occupants, apologize for having a package sent to their address, and retrieve it. But, the guy who took over our old office doesn't go there regularly. And, he's very secretive about what goes on there. According to the neighbors at Nelson Rigg, the guy is using the building to store a multi-billion dollar private car collection, and he does not want anyone to know about it. I've been sent pictures of Paganis, Rimacs and vintage unobtanium Ferraris going into the building, which now has blacked-out windows. So, when I absent-mindedly have a package sent there, it's a process of writing a note, going down and taping it on the front door, and waiting for someone to call me when they do go down, maybe weeks later. Then a clandestine process of leaving the package behind a bush, picking it up later...

I finally paid attention today, and deleted that old address out of my stored information! The Speed Racer shirt should come to the house!

[Cormanus]

Phones? Meh. My kids gave me a watch that can receive calls and messages, tell me the temperature and give me the weather forecast, tell me how dangerous the sun is, play music, control the camera in my phone, and even call Emergency if it detects that I've had a nasty fall. If I leave the thing on overnight, it tells me how well I've slept!

Max Smart, eat your heart out.

[Gone in 60]

Well, Siri and Pandora have started talking to each other again, so I’ll be able to control my riding music with voice commands. Life is good.

[Nachodaddy]

I have dim memories of my plan in third grade (about 1948) to somehow get a radio on my bicycle to impress the dark-eyed beauty in my class. I just needed a cord long enough . . .

[Gone in 60]

Phones? Meh. My kids gave me a watch that can receive calls and messages, tell me the temperature and give me the weather forecast, tell me how dangerous the sun is, play music, control the camera in my phone, and even call Emergency if it detects that I've had a nasty fall. If I leave the thing on overnight, it tells me how well I've slept!

Max Smart, eat your heart out.

Now if only your shoe could do all of that…