A Walk Through the City

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Some of these thoughts come from earlier events, and I hope my friend is willing to forgive me for posting my thoughts.
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So. I have been out walking a fair amount today. My thought is that it would be good exercise since I haven't been feeling so healthy this week, and maybe it would help pull me out of the funk I have been in this past week as well (Yes, I am sure someone would tell me that the two are probably interconnected).

I didn't choose to walk through Rock Creek Park, or some other tranquil spot, but to walk through the city. And my mind got to wandering and thinking about all the cars surrounding me. The area I was walking through had both bus and Metro options. And of course there was the option to walk, just as I had chosen. But still there were plenty of cars.

Now I realize that there will always be cases where someone needs to get through an area because there origin and destination are not mass transit accessible. But I fail to accept that this was the case with all of the people in cars that I saw today. My consolation was walking past gas stations and realizing the price people pay to be in there cars. Still cheap (the current price in London (106.9p a litre) translates up to $7.52 per US gallon, unless I messed up on my conversions of liters to gallons and pounds to dollars), but more than it was a year ago. If you ask me, prices can not go up soon enough.

But what will happen when prices go up? More importantly, what will happen when gasoline becomes more scarce (price plays less of an impact on Americans, we will just go more into debt)? What are all these people going to do when there current car dependent lifestyle just no longer is a possibility?

My guess is that things will become much more local. Your sphere of friends that you see on a regular basis will be those that live in walking distance, or mass-transit convenient places. Friends that fit into neither category will mainly be friends via email, phone or text message. (I personally doubt I will ever comprehend the special bond that people share with their cell phones. It is disturbing to say, but I think terrorists would have a much larger impact on society by cutting off our cell phone communications than they did knocking over a few buildings)

When people do get together when friends beyond their local reach, it will be rarer, and for much more meaningful occasions. Today the average person would not fly to Paris just to hang out (A concept that has obviously proven difficult for me to comprehend). For making a trip that long, and that expensive, they would want to see the city, or experience the food and/or culture. Do something that made it a special occasion. Likewise in our future traveling from a suburb on one side of the city to a suburb on the other side of the city would be for a meaningful occasion (again, unless the suburbs in question were connected via mass transit). Of course the downfall is that many of our suburbs are vast wastelands without any culture.

Social life is a minor part of the way our lives will be impacted, but it is the easiest for me to pick on since I am not all that social. All aspects of our lives will be impacted.

Work will follow a similar pattern. Driving some crazy distance into the heart of the city will just not be an option. For those determined to live beyond the reach of humanity, they will need to be able to telecommute, and create incredible schedules that bring them into the office only when needed.

Religion will also be impacted. At some point the question becomes"Why am I going past so many other places of worship just to get to my place of worship?"

Rising gas prices and scarcity of gas are bound to have consequences for all of us. It will be interesting to see what really does happen and who will be prepared (if any of us).

-- Andy

I Hate Airports (Part 2)

Actually, before I say anything bad, I do want to point out that when I arrived at the Denver Airport I ran into a greeter who was very friendly, and very helpful.

But the airport car rental system seems to run a scheme similar to Albany. In this case there is only one gas station on your way into the airport (if you have never been to Denver, the airport is way outside of town, and even way outside of the reach of the suburbs). To bring a rental back (at least from the rental company I used, but I suspect others as well) you needed a receipt from that lone gas station showing that you had filled up. Without too much surprise that lone gas station charges higher rates than other places.

Luckily I had found a place east of Denver, on your way to the airport, that had a good gas rate, so I needed to buy very little gas at the lone gas stop. The place I found was some truck stop off of Quebec St. (In case you ever end up in a similar situation)

I still intend to write about my horrible car rental experience.

-- Andy

I Feel Miserable

(I don't usually do personal posts. But I am going to do one anyway)

I know that according that fish book, I have the right to choose how I feel. And at the moment, I choose to feel miserable.

The reasons are all entirely my fault, and that probably makes it worse. I tried wash it out, but just like the Mrs. M in "The Scottish Play" it will not come out (don't worry, I didn't have anyone murdered).

Just feeling very frustrated at the moment, and hope I will be feeling better tomorrow.

-- Andy

Thomas the Tank

I hope lots of American kids are watching PBS. It is probably there only chance (currently) to learn about trains, via Thomas and all the other animated trains. In real life I fear they never have a chance to interact with trains.

It will be important for the next generation to understand the value of trains at an early age. Now that $3.00/gallon ($0.97/liter, for some of us) gas is quickly disappearing, this upcoming generation will return to trains for transportation.

Learning that we let the railroad system deteriorate to its current condition will be a much greater shock to them than finding out the truth about Santa Claus.

-- Andy

I Hate Airports

I want to start by singling out the Albany airport. I think they are running some scheme with car rental companies. It would make sense (to me) that you put a gas station right off the freeway as you approach the airport, so you can return the car with a full tank. But if you hide the gas station, then the rental companies win by charging you a much higher than market rate to refuel the car. Of course it is important to keep in mind that while the fee is above current market price, it is much cheaper than what people will soon be paying.

Now on to airports. I have said it before, and I will probably say it again: Even a place like McDonalds has high enough standards that you have to wear shoes, while airports mandate that people take their shoes off. Do they really expect me to feel safer because of everything they put me through? Probably. I mean the White House expects me to feel safer when they work in secret,and feel violated and less safe when the New York Times reveals these secrets.

It is so easy to get on a train. Twice in two days I sprinted for the train and was not held back by anyone. Twice in two days I was at an airport, spending vast amounts of time queued up, getting my ID and boarding pass checked (multiple times -- a great plan to keep people employed), taking off my shoes, taking out my laptop (more likely to be a vector of viri than any other harm -- thank goodness they don't force me to run a full scan before boarding), and herded through the metal detector.

As fuel prices rise, and airplanes become uneconomical, lets hope we have enough of our rail lines intact, and that we don't bring them down with the rigmarole at the airports.