The Vent and Rant Thread

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by wodin

Wrong!

We have a reasonably decent bus system in Honolulu, and when I arrived here back in the early 'eighties I had about three miles to commute from the temporary housing they assigned us to work, so I decided I would use it. That lasted for about three days before I headed to the lemon lot to pick up an "island beater". I've been on "The Bus" exactly once since then, and I was reminded of why I bought Henry.

My deteriorating eyesight may cause me to opt for the Handy Van at some point, and I'm ruing the day.

Well now here if you have a medical need, the bus will pick you up at your house and take you to your destination. Note: it is a small bus.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Well now here if you have a medical need, the bus will pick you up at your house and take you to your destination. Note: it is a small bus.

Yes, that's the Handy Van, Susie used to use it since she's wheelchair bound. The trouble with the Handy Van is you have to schedule it 24 hours in advance, then with all the detours to pick up and drop off other riders it can often take four hours to make a 30 minute trip (not exaggerating).

That's the reason we bought a hugely expensive ramp van for her.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I knew that you didn't want to bike-ride, due to traffic considerations. I confess to not knowing all the "rules of the road" for Segways. (I did, however, look up the spelling, at least.) I infer that you can't just switch over to a sidewalk, if a car roundabout is likely to run you down and kill you?

No, not really; the roundabouts have bike paths running on the outside. Getting onto the sidewalk, crossing the street, and then getting off the sidewalk again would be quite impractical.

You can bloody nearly walk 6 miles faster. You can certainly JOG it faster.

I've looked into walking to work, but 10km is about 1.5-2 hours of walking. That's not going to happen. Then I'd rather sit in public transport for 1-1.5 hours and read a book.

I assume you can read and all that, at least?

It's actually my main reading time.

I guess if you think of it as being driven--chauffeured--it's not so bad. Right?

I don't mind traveling, or being in a bus, train, or a coach for that matter. What I hate is the fact that I can't just depart at the time I want, and that I'd need to wait half an hour if I miss a connection. Here in the less busy south part of the country, there's often only going one bus to one location.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by wodin

Yes, that's the Handy Van, Susie used to use it since she's wheelchair bound. The trouble with the Handy Van is you have to schedule it 24 hours in advance, then with all the detours to pick up and drop off other riders it can often take four hours to make a 30 minute trip (not exaggerating).

That's the reason we bought a hugely expensive ramp van for her.

Oops sorry wasn't thinking about what you meant.
Is it the wheelchair driven van or wheelchair passenger van?
My cousin was in a wheelchair for years and had the one she could drive.

[wodin]

Yes it's a standard minivan that has been converted to accommodate a ramp so she can drive her wheelchair in, then transfer to the driver's seat and drive to where she needs to go. They cut the entire floor out, and lower it ten inches, and install the ramp mechanism.

The conversion can only be done by a company that has been certified by the TSA and has put the resulting converted van through safety tests, including crash testing. There are no such companies in Hawaii, so you have to have it done on the Mainland, and shipped here. The whole process adds a minimum of $20,000 USD to the cost of a standard minivan. So you end up with a $65,000 plus van.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by wodin

Yes it's a standard minivan that has been converted to accommodate a ramp so she can drive her wheelchair in, then transfer to the driver's seat and drive to where she needs to go. They cut the entire floor out, and lower it ten inches, and install the ramp mechanism.

The conversion can only be done by a company that has been certified by the TSA and has put the resulting converted van through safety tests, including crash testing. There are no such companies in Hawaii, so you have to have it done on the Mainland, and shipped here. The whole process adds a minimum of $20,000 USD to the cost of a standard minivan. So you end up with a $65,000 plus van.

I knew my cousin's wasn't cheap and that was back in the late 70's or early 80's. I think the entire clan donated what they could to help offset the costs.

[Katsunami]

The thing I mentioned above, cars squeezing in between much bigger vehicles, actually happened today on my way to work. A small car almost got crushed in between a truck and my bus. The situation is attached in a sketch.

There is a busstop at B. A truck drove by (black), and the bus started to pull out of the busstop, right after it (orange), being trailed by other cars (yellow). A small car (red) tried to squeeze in between the truck and the bus, from the side street, even though that street has shark teeth (edit: as in, the cars on the big road towards the crossing go first).

Obviously, the bus driver slammed the brakes down an almost trashed the horn, and still the driver of the small car got out shouting and screaming.

(Don't ask me why that car, didn't just use the main road. The only reason to come out of that street is when you're coming off one of the driveways belonging to the few houses that lie along the side street; and it's not allowed to drive through that side street the other way around. It's a one way street.)

I see this shit happening *constantly*.

Yesterday, an older man on a bicycle almost got run over by a car turning to the right, because he (the old guy) thought "I can make that green light." He couldn't, and the cars on the main road got a green light and started driving. He decided to just go through the red light and almost got caught by the first car turning right.

I still wonder what kind of fools these people are.

And then I'm not even talking about the (sometimes very) old people on bicycles who suddenly lose balance and swerve onto the road and stuff like that, which can make traffic very unpredictable.

While I won't be trying stupid things in traffic, I'm afraid my ability to react fast enough to situations like these, such as cars suddenly stopping, changing directions, or cutting in front of me unexpectedly is very limited.

[John K]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Just an idea. GOT to be better than what you suffer on the bus. (Can you ride something like a Seque? Segway? Sorry, don't know the spelling for the device...if it was good enough for Michael Schumacher, after all...) Some type of personal transportation device?

Hitch

The inventor of the Segway, Dean Kamen, rides a helicopter to work.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The thing I mentioned above, cars squeezing in between much bigger vehicles, actually happened today on my way to work. A small car almost got crushed in between a truck and my bus. The situation is attached in a sketch.

There is a busstop at B. A truck drove by (black), and the bus started to pull out of the busstop, right after it (orange), being trailed by other cars (yellow). A small car (red) tried to squeeze in between the truck and the bus, from the side street, even though that street has shark teeth.

Obviously, the bus driver slammed the brakes down an almost trashed the horn, and still the driver of the small car got out shouting and screaming.

(Don't ask me why that car, didn't just use the main road. The only reason to come out of that street is when you're coming off one of the driveways belonging to the few houses that lie along the side street; and it's not allowed to drive through that side street the other way around. It's a one way street.)

I see this shit happening *constantly*.

Yesterday, an older man on a bicycle almost got run over by a car turning to the right, because he (the old guy) thought "I can make that green light." He couldn't, and the cars on the main road got a green light and started driving. He decided to just go through the red light and almost got caught by the first car turning right.

I still wonder what kind of fools these people are.

And then I'm not even talking about the (sometimes very) old people on bicycles who suddenly lose balance and swerve onto the road and stuff like that, which can make traffic very unpredictable.

While I won't be trying stupid things in traffic, I'm afraid my ability to react fast enough to situations like these, such as cars suddenly stopping, changing directions, or cutting in front of me unexpectedly is very limited.

I see we have the same drivers. Oh I am small, big thing coming I can beat it easily.
They do it to pickups, big trucks, buses and several times trains. Note: I am not talking the small trains that run on their own tracks at about 20 miles an hour. I am talking about trains with 6 or more engines that are more than a mile (1.6 km) long doing about 60 mph (96kmh).

The outcome is not always pretty.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I see we have the same drivers. Oh I am small, big thing coming I can beat it easily.
They do it to pickups, big trucks, buses and several times trains. Note: I am not talking the small trains that run on their own tracks at about 20 miles an hour. I am talking about trains with 6 or more engines that are more than a mile (1.6 km) long doing about 60 mph (96kmh).

The outcome is not always pretty.

Indeed. Earlier this week two people died and one was seriously injured when they tried to beat a bus and cross in front of it.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Indeed. Earlier this week two people died and one was seriously injured when they tried to beat a bus and cross in front of it.

I guess the most tragic had to be the 4 miltary vets and their spouses that were killed in a train vs truck "accident".
There was a parade. The vets were riding on a flat bed trailer. The hired driver said he saw the railroad lights but thought they were for the parade. The truck itself made it across, the trailer was struck by the train.

Kicker:the parade organizers threatened to sue the train company. The train company said fine and drew up papers for a counter suit that included damage to the train, emotional trauma to the engineers and the costs to delay numerous trains for 24 hours.
The parade organizers backed down.

The train company did pay all medical expenses and funeral costs even though they were not at fault.

Oh and the truck driver lost his license. His license was for cargo not people.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by John K

The inventor of the Segway, Dean Kamen, rides a helicopter to work.

Naturally. It's not like the Segway was his first or only. {shrug} How many of us wouldn't use some sort of "driven" transport, rather than driving, if we could, and it was comfortable, unlike a bus? Hell, I'd do it so that I didn't lose hours a day of productivity.

Hitch

[WT Sharpe]

I've never understood the appeal of the Segway. I don't mind walking but I hate standing. Standing makes my feet hurt. If I had to stand to operate a car I wouldn't have one.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I've never understood the appeal of the Segway. I don't mind walking but I hate standing. Standing makes my feet hurt. If I had to stand to operate a car I wouldn't have one.

I've seen a couple of variants in NYC. One was a platform with a wheel on each end that you stood on, and controlled via foot pressure. It looked a bit like a skateboard that rolled sideways. Another was a unicycle with no seat - simply a powered wheel with a foot rest on either side. I expect balancing on them required a bit of practice, but the folks I've seen riding them seemed pleased enough.

What I see a lot more of are folding scooters where the handle bar folds up against the scooter body when it's not being ridden. There's a woman with two preteen daughters in my neighborhood, and I've seen all three out on their scooters, wearing their helmets, and zipping happily down the sidewalk.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I see we have the same drivers. Oh I am small, big thing coming I can beat it easily.
They do it to pickups, big trucks, buses and several times trains. Note: I am not talking the small trains that run on their own tracks at about 20 miles an hour. I am talking about trains with 6 or more engines that are more than a mile (1.6 km) long doing about 60 mph (96kmh).

The outcome is not always pretty.

I heard a story from Germany years back about an incident over there between a car and a tank.

Apparently, some drivers liked to play chicken with NATO tank patrols. The idea was to come up alongside a tank patrol on an autobahn and see how close you could cut in front of the lead tank.

One driver cut it too close, and a 120 ton British Chieftain main battle tank rolled over his car. The driver was unhurt, though he likely crapped himself, but everything from behind the driver's seat back was a pancake.

On the accident report submitted by the sergeant who was tank commander, in the space for "Damage to other vehicle" he wrote "Tread marks on roof of Volkswagen". (I have wondered on occasion what the reaction was in HQ when someone read that report.)
______
Dennis