Wear Your Helmet = Cars Drive Close To You

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa029&articleID=778EF0AB-E7F2-99DF-3594A60E4D9A76B2

Ok, now here's an interesting bit of research from Scientific American.  A scientist who happens to be an avid cyclist ran an experiment where he attached ultrasonic sensors to his helmet and road around town, measuring how close the cars got to him.

Then he did the same experiment with nothing on his head.  Then again, with a wig so that he looked like a woman from behind.

The result?  Wear your helmet and the cars will get closer to you (which the article goes on to speculate therefore increases your chances of an accident).  And if you're a woman, you'll get the most space.

I think that makes sense, although I appreciate the creativity of attempting to measure it.  Without a helmet, I can imagine that there's something in the car driver's brain that sees "Hey, there's a person in the road."  With a helmet, though, this "other people pattern recognition" is diminished and your brain processes it more along the lines of "Hey, there is another vehicle in the road."  Not another car, but not a person, either.  Then again your brain could just as well be saying "This person with the helmet is more protected from harm and thus it is safer for me to drive closer to him," but I'm not so sure about that one.

What he should have also measured was the distance granted him if he were just walking down the road (for instance, maybe pushing his bike).  I bet that would gain even more respectful distance from the other drivers. 

Hedonics : Happiness Economics

http://randomdude.com/blog/threads/2476-Hedonics-aka-Happiness-Economics

I'll be honest, I'm not fully sure what the topic is all about.  But I did catch this bit:

Recent studies on life satisfaction show that commuting makes people more unhappy than anything else in life. (It is, apparently, the opposite of sex.) Commuting also happens to rob us of time for family and friends.

 

And thus it's relevant here :).  Sad finding, really, because the commute does not have to be that bad.  Relax, slow down, enjoy a nice audio book.  Roll down the windows and get some air.  The simple truth of life is that most of us will not have the convenience of working 5 minutes from where we live.  Therefore, we'll have a commute.  For that to make people "more unhappy than anything else in life" really says something about people's ability to control their own happiness.   

If you're unhappy about having a commute at all, well then, deal with it.  You're going to have one, and it's unrealistic to think otherwise.

If you're unhappy *with* your commute for some reason, then work to change it.  Change your attitude, for starters.   That's the biggest problem.

Need A New Alarm Clock?

I find the idea of redesigning the alarm clock intriguing.  It's one of those inventions that is so simple and pervasive, and yet still has so much room for creativity.  Like Clocky, the alarm clock that runs across the room and you have to go catch it.   Back in college a friend of mine had one with a similar idea, it was a baseball that you could make "snooze" by throwing it across the room.  But then after a few minutes it would ring again, louder, and the only way to turn it off for good was to get up and actually go hit a button on the thing.

How about an alarm clock built into the rug?  To turn it off, you have to actually get out of bed and step on it.  I'm presuming that you have to put some weight on the thing and not just dangle a leg or an arm over the side and whack it.

The logical problem with it, at least in my house, would be one of fashion.  Who has a welcome mat next to their bed??

When It's Really Hot, Would You Rather...

Walk half an hour across town in 90 degree weather, getting all sweaty and gross,

or

Sit on the subway for 15-20 minutes where it's probably even hotter, and everybody that's rubbing against you is all sweaty and gross, but at least the trip is shorter?

Thus far I'm going with the walking. 

Car Talk Commandments

The Pope had his commandments of commuting, so it's only fair that the Car Talk guys chime in with their own list:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/read-on/2007/06.23.html

Not bad.  Some of them are worth a smirk.

The Driver's Ten Commandments

Has everybody seen the story yet about the Vatican issuing a list of commandments for drivers?  Took me a little while to find the actual commandments, but here they are:

1. You shall not kill.  Ok, good rule just across the board.  No killing.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. Sounds a bit like an extension of rule #1, doesn't it?  Don't use the road to kill people.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.  That's not a commandment, is it?

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.  That means letting people merge at the onramp, folks.  The Pope said so.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.  Oh, that brings me back to the high school days and all the occasion we had for sinning in the car.  Never while driving, though!  Well....once.  Ok, twice.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.  Take a second to make sure you parsed that right, especially the "NOT to drive".  I missed that the firs time.  But why do you have to say young and not so young?  Why not just everybody?  Reminds me of the sign I saw once over a garage that said "Specializing in Domestic and Foreign Cars."  What other kind are there?

7. Support the families of accident victims.  Ok, fair enough, but I think we could have just extended #4.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.  Oh, yikes, not sure that's a good idea.  The idea is to cut back on the road rage, not to give it another outlet.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.  No idea what they really mean by this.   The little old lady who's been in front of me with her left directional on for the past 30 minutes?  Protect her how?

10. Feel responsible toward others.  A reasonably good rule, although I'm not really keen on taking responsibility for other people's idiocy.  I'll be responsible for myself in relation to others (i.e. I'll try not to kill you, but I can only hope that the reverse is true).

Find Cheap Gas

http://lifehacker.com/software/igoogle/find-cheap-gas-with-local-gas-prices-gadget-268525.php

Lifehacker points us to this iGoogle gadget for tracking the cheapest gas in your area (by zipcode).  Talk about nested technology - a Lifehacker story about a Google gadget to embed on your iGoogle homepage that takes its content from autos.msn.com.

Personally I didn't get much out of it, as the best results it returned were easily 5-10 miles out of my way, making it hardly worth the trip for a penny a gallon.  But you might have better luck.

Lifehacker actually has a whole category dedicated to saving money on gas.

Slown Down, You'll Get There Faster

Just the other day CNN ran a story praising the benefits of slowing down.  I've been thinking about it ever since.  The biggest problem with the commute is that everybody's in such a hurry.  We're rude.  We're grumpy.  We're unsafe.  All because we need to get there a few seconds sooner.

Since this is sure to be such an alien topic to people I thought I'd write up some helpful tips on how exactly to slow down.  You know, just in case people are scratching their heads and saying, "What do you mean?  I have to get to work!"

1. Stay in your lane.  Do you have to drive to get to work?  Do you take the freeway?  Next time you're driving, take a moment to be conscious of how frequently you change lanes.  Do you really think all the weaving in and out is getting you there any faster?  Not really.  It's increasing your chance of getting in an accident, of course.  And chances are pretty good that it's increasing the overall road rage in the world - both yours, when somebody weaves in front of you, and that of the guy behind you.  (I know, I know, you *always* use your turn signal, you *always* look behind you, and you *always* leave proper braking distance between you and the next guy.  I see it every morning.  Everybody drives perfectly all the time.)
   
   Instead, try picking a lane and staying in it.  I'm not talking about never leaving the slow lane.  Pick a lane, any lane, even the passing lane if you really feel you have to (I love the people in morning whose first order of business when getting on the freeway is to cross over four lanes of traffic to get to that passing lane, like they're not really comfortable until they're in the lane that theoretically lets them go as fast as they want.  Even if the traffic is the heaviest in that lane, that's where they want to be...at least for the next 5 seconds :)).  Now, got your lane?  Good.  Stay there.  Relax.  Listen to the radio.  Pay attention to the car in front of you.  Before you know it, you're at your destination.
2. Stay in your seat.  Every morning I drive to the train station so I have two opportunities to sit down. I happen to enjoy an opportunity to sit down (since the latter half of my commute will be a walk across town).  What I've noticed is that people seem to get very antsy about sitting down.  They're so tightly wound up about being in control of where they're going that they'd rather stand.  Take the case of the woman who drives to the train station, gets there 10 minutes early, then gets out of the car...and then stands on the platform looking at her watch for 10 minutes wondering when the train's going to come.  Why not stay in your seat for an extra few minutes, have another sip of your coffee, catch another song on the radio?
   
   And how about on the train?  You got on the train.  You got a seat. You relax, you read the paper, you look out the window.  Then the time comes, the next stop is your stop, so what do you do?  Get up and go stand in the aisle.  Why, exactly?  Is it really that important to be that much closer to the door?  All that's doing is creating a big traffic jam near the front.  You go ahead and get pushed and shoved (and then fall over sideways when the train comes to a sudden halt), I'm staying where I am in my comfortable seat until the crush has past.
3. Stay on the curb.  Seriously.  I'll never understand the whole "Stepping out in front of oncoming traffic" thing.  If the walk sign is not lit, then don't go.  I don't really care how far away the cars are.  Wait two seconds for the light to change.  If the sign is lit and you've only got 2 seconds to get across the street, wait for the next one.  Walking across town should not be a constant battle between the pedestrians and the drivers.  
    
   What are you really getting out of stepping off the curb out of turn?  Maybe, maybe you're getting to work 15 seconds earlier.  You're also increasing your chance of getting hit by a car, which doesn't get you to work any faster.  You're frustrating the oncoming drivers who are now going to be that much more likely to speed up through the intersections so that they don't have to wait for you, which in turn is going to make it more likely that they hit somebody else.  You're going to endanger the commuters around you who are impatient enough to think "Well if he did it, I can," and before you know it there's a whole swarm of people walking in front of an oncoming car. 
   
   If you've ever walked in front of oncoming cars and thought, "He wouldn't dare hit me," then maybe you need to get hit by a car just to knock some sense into you.  The guy driving the car is a commuter just like you, trying to get someplace.  Try putting yourself in his shoes for a minute.  Don't go saying "Cars run the red lights all the time" - that's just a chicken and egg problem.  Did you ever think that maybe the people in the cars are driving out of turn because they're sick and tired of pedestrians getting in the way when they're not supposed to?  Somebody's got to stop the whole ridiculous cycle and then we can all get where we're going.
4. Stay civil.  Try to remember that all of the other people that you meet during your commute, whether they're standing in line with you at the coffee place, waiting to cross at the intersection or driving on the freeway, are all basically doing the same thing you're doing - trying to get where they're going, either work or home, in one piece.  Try making eye contact.  Maybe even smiling.  How about the occasional wave, or even an actual "Thank you", when somebody does something nice like holding the door for you or not running you over?  Take the time for a little common courtesy.  Not only will you make somebody else's commute a little more pleasant, you'll hopefully feel a little better about yourself, too.

The irony of this whole topic is that if you grabbed random people and asked if they like their job, the majority would say No.  And yet every morning they're rude to each other (when's the last time you spontaneously stopped to have a conversation with someone in the morning who was not going the same direction you were?), they shove their way to the front of the line, they run red lights and walk into oncoming traffic, all to get to that job they hate an extra 30 seconds earlier. Ask yourself again, "Why, exactly?"

Be Productive With Your Handheld

WebWorkerDaily tells us how to be productive with our toys, such as PDAs, smart phones and handhelds.  I particularly like this list for commuters because the #1 tip is to go offline to prevent yourself from being distracted by email and web surfing.  I don't know about you lucky ones out there with EVDO wireless, but I spend my entire commute offline so I'm always looking for ways to keep it productive.  A few years back I bought a Palm Tungsten C (that's the one with Wifi and a keyboard), opting against something like a Treo for this exact reason, I didn't want to be anchored to it.  Recently my Palm's keyboard broke so I haven't been able to use it for much except reading e-books.  (I'm just finishing Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, and moving on to the maybe-Shakespearean Cardenio next).

 

Technorati tags: PDA, smartphone, handheld, advice, tips, productivity

Open Letter To The Guy Who Stole My Car

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/06/06/commuters-car-stolen-open-letter-to-thief/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.burbia.com%2Fnode%2F1170&frame=true

 

Just go read it, it's funny.

In Praise of Slow : Slow Down!

I love it.  CNN's got an article up praising the virtues of slowing down!  Amen, brother.  I hopefully have been preaching that right along.  People who press the Close button on the elevator so they can get going half a second faster?  People stepping in front of oncoming traffic instead of waiting for the traffic light?  Why, exactly?  Why the need to rush? 

There's even a section on "appreciating the clouds", a personal favorite game of mine.  I've spoken over on my other blog about seeing entire theatrical scenes in the clouds (to which someone said "Pay attention to license plates instead, you'll keep your eyes on the road :)").

The tips at the end make no sense (have tea?  watch cricket?  hard to do on the commute :)) but "walk more" is always a good one.

Read it.  Go.  If you tell yourself that you don't have time to read it, you kinda sorta just proved the whole point.

Backpack, or Shoulder Strap?

As a laptop-toting code monkey, I have to lug a good few pounds of stuff with me back and forth across town every day.  If I'm lucky it's just the laptop, but then you have to factor in any books or files I might need, possibly my AC adapter, car keys, PDA, a couple of USB sticks and memory cards, etc...  Plus if I want to bring a lunch or may pay some bills or make some phone calls on my break, anything I need also has to come along for the ride.

Traditionally I've used a standard laptop bag, with a shoulder strap.  I even have one with my initials, a gift from my inlaws.  It's a nice looking bag, but not exactly utilitarian.  Whatever I'm carrying in it is going to be banging against my hip, and my arm's going to be draped across the other side, so it's not like I have many options for jamming randomly shaped items in there.  It's basically laptop and book, if I'm lucky.  Anything else starts to get uncomfortable.  Not to mention it disrupts how your arms hang at your sides, so the arm where the bag is has to find something to do with itself (I tend to wrap my hand around where the strap meets the bag and hold it so it doesn't bang around too much).

And then there's the whole posture thing.  The heavier the bag, the more strain it's going to put on your shoulder.  You can either drape the strap over the same side as the bag is on, or else go up and over your head to the other side.  I have yet to decide which causes more stress on your shoulders and neck.  The former causes you to tighten up on that side to prevent the bag from sliding down your arm, while putting it on the other side just puts the pressure on your neck.

Lastly, and I don't know if I'm the only one that noticed this problem, but I discovered that my shoulder strap was actually leaving a black line across my shirt from where it was rubbing while I walked.  That's annoying.  It wasn't so noticeable in the winter when everybody is wearing heavy coats that they take off when they get in the door, but in the spring when it's not coat whether and the strap is right up against the shirt you're going to be wearing for the day, it can be a problem.

Recently I've switched over to a backpack, and I'm feeling much better about it.  I'd always avoided the backpack, for several reasons.  I felt it didn't look professional, for one.  I'm 38, not 18.  Second, I also harbored a rather silly insecurity that I'd be in a situation where I'm trying to get it off me and get stuck.  Hey, when you grew up as the school nerd, you're convinced that the whole world is watching for just such a thing to happen to you so they can point and laugh. :)

Thus far, no embarassing moments to report.  I'm very happy with the way that having both straps distributes the weight across my shoulders means no unusual strain or stiffness on either side.  Plus I actually have my hands free, which is a nice feeling.  And perhaps best of all, I can load that sucker up with stuff because the weight is going straight out from my bang, not sticking into me.

How Gas Prices Work

http://money.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm

Nice article as always from the How Stuff Works people.  Of course, I'm not sure that having knowledge about how gas prices work really means anything when it comes to filling up the tank.

There's really only one way to meaningfully save money on gas - drive less.  Whether it's working one day a week from home, or carpooling, or taking public transit.  Use less gas, pay less.

Google Maps Adds Transit Info

http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2007/06/hop-on-bus-gus-or-train-or-subway.html

Ok, this is cool.  You may have noticed that Google Maps, when available, will show you where the public transit stations are.  Now, again where available, you can click on the icon and actually have it tell you whatever it can figure out.  Looks like Boston is only half done, as clicking on Park Street Station tells me Green Line and Red Line but doesn't really say much beyond that, and clicking North Station tells me things like "Lowell Line" and "Haverhill Line" but again, no real info beyond that (such as times).  Still, pretty neat advancement of the technology!  Couple this with the Google Street View and let me actually see the train coming, next :).

Working From Home : The Rules

Web Worker Daily has an article up comparing Smart Money's work-from-home rules and guidelines to those that would apply specifically to "web workers".  Whether you work on the web (as I do) or not, it's a good article to read if you're at all considering a regular work from home schedule.  Lots of links about the side issues that crop up, such as what to do about the kids, exercise, and even what to wear :).

Personally, my office is downstairs in the basement in a special section we just had done last year.  The downside is that it's quite literally the far end of the house, so very rarely do I go there casually just to check on something or pay a bill (that's what wireless laptops are for).  However, when I am officially working from home it provides a nice sanctuary where I can get away from the kids (my wife stays home) and not feel obliged to go wandering through the kitchen for a snack every 15 minutes.  There's a tv if I want it on in the background, but more often than not I opt for the iPod dock.

The only problem I face is that there's no bathroom down there.  So depending on Diet Pepsi intake there's at least a couple of trips upstairs when nature calls, and each time I do so I'm guaranteed to be tackled by an overenthusiastic three year old who thinks that I am now "home from work."

What's For Lunch?

A simple question: When you take your lunch to work, what do you take?  Do you make something special, perhaps the night before?  Something packaged?  Lots of tupperware, utensils and other moving parts?  Do you just grab leftovers?

What I'm finding is that although I'd like to take my lunch to work, I'm constrained by a few variables that make it not as easy as it seems:

• Something that's transportable.  With a 90minute commute, I need something that I can easily carry with me, ideally in my backpack without getting squished.  Or, leaking all over my stuff.
• Something without lots of moving parts.  Whatever non-disposables I bring, I have to lug back home.
• Something substantial enough.  It might be easy to whip up a quick peanut butter and jelly (see more in a minute), but there's nothing worse than going through the effort of bringing your lunch only to decide around lunch time, "Yeah, this won't really do it for me" and going out to get a meatball grinder anyway.
• Something that I actually want to eat.  Hey, there may be leftover porkchops and asparagus left over from last night's dinner all ready to go, but that's not the kind of thing I really dig for my lunch break.

The best case is when you leave yourself time to actually make something.  If one sandwich won't cut it for you, then make two.  Bring yourself a little side of apple slices or pretzels while you're at it.  Make it the night before, if you have to.  I need to get better at this.

In general, I bring leftovers.  As a matter of fact I've come to actually enjoy it when there are leftovers in the fridge that are "lunch worthy", because it's like "Hey, free lunch for me."  Just grab and go.  Best case?  When the wife and kids have pizza for lunch and bring some of that home. 

Share your tips!  Or does everybody out there just buy their lunch every day?