The pedestrian crosswalk signals were in my favor this evening; as I approached intersections, and just before I reached them, the red hand repeatedly yielded to the white man–or the white men, it might be said, since there was the one in the sign and the one that was me. It was as if an…
Solitary walking is conducive to clearing the mind and settling into contemplation. The same is true of bicycling, albeit only for a narrower range of circumstances. The same is true of driving, albeit only for an even narrower range of circumstances. One could summarize this trend with the statement that the potential of a particular…
My employer’s logo is a castle. It’s not as glorious as having my own castle ruins to live in would be, but it suggests that things are moving in the right direction on that front. I relish the 25 minute walk between the building where I work and where the bus drops me off/picks me…
Of the most distinguished homeless people in this country, one lives here in Fairbanks. I’ve written about him before, the character who speaks as though reading from a bible of endless passages written by a schizophrenic. And yet, in the midst of his signature style of oration submerged in an ancient grammar and spoken with…
As a pedestrian, I find it amusing how impatient drivers will sometimes use their vehicles as vessels for expressing their frustration at having to wait for me to cross the street. Mostly, this happens with drivers who are going to be making a right turn, as illustrated in the picture below, where the blue line…
You know how there could be a circumstance where someone rides the city bus on a daily basis to their house and they live 3 blocks south of the closest bus stop? Well, let’s say the bus travels in a northerly direction, so it passes their house before it can let them off. Wouldn’t it…
At what fraction of your walking speed must the person in front of you be walking in order for you to initiate an overtaking maneuver? 80%? 70%? It certainly depends on how close they are to you and how far you are from your destination. The worst is when they are walking near the threshold…
If you’re a pedestrian, it’s safer to be out and about during a downpour because drivers will be less likely to leave the comfort of their warm and dry vehicle interiors to kill you.
When you’ve got some pebbles, in an arbitrary arrangement, between the sole of your shoe and the sidewalk, and there is no contact between your sole and the sidewalk, then your weight is distributed roughly equally to all pebbles and from them to the ground. The fewer the number of pebbles under your sole, the…
I dislike walking in front of someone who is walking to the same place I am. I dislike walking behind someone who is walking to the same place I am. Worst of all is walking behind a cigarette smoker. Pipe tobacco is much better. I would prefer walking behind a pipe smoker than a non-smoker….
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