"Rush hour" is a massive oxymoron, larger by magnitudes than classic oxymorons such as "jumbo shrimp", "old news" or "bitter sweet". I don't know what it's like where you are, but in my world it means "slow to a crawl" (or, in Latin [per Google translation]), "tardus autem ad repere". This, in turn, humors me, as I did a Latin to English translation just for fun: all of you Dr. Who fans out there may be disappointed/perplexed/or, in the know, that Tardis= "slow" in Latin.
The thing about rush hour traffic, though, that is particularly horrendous, is that you can actually count the grains of the sands of time sliding through the hourglass of your allotted days here on this planet, and there is nothing legal or civilized you can do to prevent them from slipping away. For example, I was in a left turn lane yesterday morning at a relatively short light trying to get from a side street on to a through street. The light turned green, and the two vehicles in front of me did not move. Finally, after what seemed like the half life of barium had elapsed, the first vehicle's brake light was extinguished. Progress!
But NO! Abandon hope... the second vehicle was also operated by a sleeper! Sheesh! Once the second vehicle started moving, I was on the throttle. The sad thing is that these folks are not only inconsiderate, they are unskilled drivers of vehicles with automatic transmissions. What is so bloody difficult about applying pressure to the accelerator (gas/petrol) pedal when the light turns green? Move your foot from the brake (the squarish one) to the gas (the tall one) for Pete's sake! In contrast, I have a manual transmission- I actually have to think when I get behind the wheel. To make a long story short, I passed #2 and then passed #1, and then suddenly #1 was behind me because I had passed him before he started tailgating a large truck (lorry).
It's times like these when I am reminded of a credit card slogan: "(credit card name), it's everywhere you want to be". I substitute "traffic" for the credit card name... "Traffic, it's everywhere you want to be".
I comfort myself slightly by recalling a term used in Formula One commentating- "lap traffic". The only difference between my situation and say, Interlagos, is that F1 drivers know how to drive; I cannot assume that anyone else I share the pavement with does.
Once again, no data (or programming) to report. The past week at work has been slightly odd; much else other than that I can't say. Before I forget, I'd like to repost the Top 5 most popular of my blogs, and my Top 5 favorites.
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-2k.html I honestly don't have a clue why this one is so popular, but it's #1
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-free-night.html Short and sweet- this is #2
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-official-end-of-winter.html #3- this one was fun... what's not to like about borscht?
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/01/resolutions-and-other-useless-things.html This one was pretty cool. #4
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2013/01/who-does-that-anyway.html #5
The posts above are listed in order of popularity. The following are my
favorites, in no particular order.
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/08/mind-blown.html Although I said in no particular order, this is probably my
favorite recent post.
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/05/may-fourth.html A fun romp through summer days in Germany.
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/04/tuddi-toots-or-night-in-life-of-wreakles.html Another fun romp through the past... well, it was fun for me, anyway!
http://hochspeyer.blogspot.com/2014/02/one-simply-does-not-raid-sul.html Last, but certainly not least, a bit of a feast (well, a light
snack, at least!) for my hardware buffs!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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