Anything interesting to say?

How you been John?

Nightshift? What kind of work are you doing at night? I can't help you with the shag thing. I've been sitting here most of the night doing my little writing stuff, my escape from "shag-zilla" so to speak. Go figure.

The geek be good...j.r.c. do you still have that sliderule? I've been exploring the various types of taxi-cabs and various methods their drivers employ to navigate narrow crowded streets. Neil...Canadians are Americans aren't they? Kinda like Italians are European...So did you hit it off with this "Canadian" girl from Vancouver? There's a cool ski area near there...Whistler. Get her to take you home to meet the parents and take in a day or two on the slopes. World class! Jingle...forums....I've got plenty to read, I was talking about the forums.

Well, since we've found a suitable topic. I've made a curious observation during my recent travels. Here in the States, our roads are very organized, driving is strictly regulated by a firm set of rules and everyone tries to follow those rules else they be fined or wreck their vehicles. The pace is slow. Now, you go to other countries, Central America for example, (Italy is like this) the drivers (cab drivers come to mind, as this is the closest I'll get to actually trying to drive) scurry about like mad. There are few if any traffic signs, regulations seem non-existent, and you’re risking your life in a serious way each time you venture near a street. But...I figured out something. The general train of thought concerning what is a suitable way to drive is obviously different. US drivers need to feel as though things are safe and controlled and predictable, so we've got all these rules and signs and lines in the roads. Very mechanical. Elsewhere it's the exact opposite. The driving rules are roughly the same as the rules you'd use to walk in a large crowd. Common sense. Everyone just nudges their way along, if somebody is in your way, you go around them (left or right) as quickly as possible and nudge up against the next thing in your way until you can get around it. When trying to merge into the crowd, you just do it and hope everyone is paying close enough attention to not smack into you. Very logical once you think about it. I'm thinking of actually renting a car next time, just to test my knowledge.

I'm still pondering all of this in general, but the United States has one of the worlds most highly developed road-systems. The entire economy and life in general revolve around the automobile. It's probably a safety issue from a political and social standpoint. While we can certainly be killed in traffic, in order to cope with the large amount of highway travel, we introduce a never-ending stream of safety requirements. All in all, I don't find it wrong, just interesting how different societies deal with the issue.