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FogHelmut
Dec 18, 2003

People like to use this cloverleaf as a u-turn. They don't signal and it's hard to tell what their intentions are despite them not accelerating past 30 mph.

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subx
Jan 12, 2003

If we hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes should fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

davebo posted:

Hey we have one of these in Rockville, MD, except on ours your vision is completely obscured by trees while on the ramp, so once you clear the trees I guess you better just floor it and hope there's a break!


xzzy posted:

I like how the corner tightens as you travel it.

Do traffic engineers know nothing of road racing? That's gonna kill exit speeds. :colbert:

And with the lack of visibility anyone that doesn't know the area well is likely to be squealing tires at the least as the corner tightens. Also that has to be a nightmare in bad weather.

Solkanar512
Dec 28, 2006

by the sex ghost

Crotch Fruit posted:

I too value my life more than a day of work, unfortunately my wife's boss has made it very clear if anyone calls in for weather related reasons there will be consequences. So I get the joy of attempting to driving back to her place of work to pick her up after the snow gets deep.

When officials start calling for folks to stay off the roads, you should call the non-emergency line and rat out your wife's boss. I'm sure a few first responders would love to have a word with the kind of rear end in a top hat that forces people to put themselves in danger.

Terrible Robot
Jul 2, 2010

FRIED CHICKEN
Slippery Tilde

Solkanar512 posted:

When officials start calling for folks to stay off the roads, you should call the non-emergency line and rat out your wife's boss. I'm sure a few first responders would love to have a word with the kind of rear end in a top hat that forces people to put themselves in danger.

Seriously. Even when I worked at a ski resort (which obviously is going to see a lot of inclement weather and if you aren't comfortable with that then the job isn't for you) my boss completely understood if you couldn't make it in because the roads were hosed.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011

xzzy posted:

Could have gotten you a chat with a cop if you were caught, law mandates putting chains on your drive wheels for the two passes between Missoula and Spokane if the warning signs are lit up.

More than once have I left unprepared (first time I forgot cables, second time I lost the retaining clips for the cables and didn't have any wire on me) and had to stop halfway over Snoqualmie and wait for a plow to head through (used to go from Moscow to Seattle quite a bunch). After those first few times I was sure to test everything beforehand.

There are other times, though, when I know I can make it if I'm not an idiot careful and plan accordingly. Sometimes, though, the roads are just hosed and you can't go any further, even with chains or cables.

Mr. Wiggles
Dec 1, 2003

We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Pham Nuwen posted:

A few years back I went from Bozeman, Montana up and over into Spokane in the middle of a blizzard, driving a 2001 Hyundai Accent with all-season tires and no chains (I was massively unprepared). I wasn't going 70 but like you said, a careful throttle and patience will really do wonders; I wasn't even that much later than planned, despite having to drive a couple hundred miles on unplowed roads.

Accent is a good snow car. I've done the same all through the Sierras in my 02. Well, I carry chains, but those are just for chain check stations in California.

Snowdens Secret
Dec 29, 2008
Someone got you a obnoxiously racist av.

Solkanar512 posted:

When officials start calling for folks to stay off the roads, you should call the non-emergency line and rat out your wife's boss. I'm sure a few first responders would love to have a word with the kind of rear end in a top hat that forces people to put themselves in danger.

I don't think he said what his wife did for a living. Plenty of jobs require continuous coverage, and person X not showing up means person Y doesn't get to go home, or the rest of the shift has to pick up the slack on an especially busy day - anything power company related, hospitals, etc. You want those guys to get to work and back, and do it safely.

Not Wolverine
Jul 1, 2007

Snowdens Secret posted:

I don't think he said what his wife did for a living. Plenty of jobs require continuous coverage, and person X not showing up means person Y doesn't get to go home, or the rest of the shift has to pick up the slack on an especially busy day - anything power company related, hospitals, etc. You want those guys to get to work and back, and do it safely.

Hospital, in an out-patient clinic, where every single patient canceled their appointment today. Yeah some people are necessary no matter how much the weather sucks, but not her division. On the bright side, I had the joy of driving there four hours early to pick her up, and the only incident along the way was sitting at a red light for 10 minutes. Apparently, this particular red light really needed to use the sensor to cycle and that just wasn't happening, so I sat behind five cars who would all wait their turn to pull up and wait for a two minutes before deciding to make a right turn.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Mr. Wiggles posted:

Accent is a good snow car. I've done the same all through the Sierras in my 02. Well, I carry chains, but those are just for chain check stations in California.

That car was very surprising. I got it for $6k with 4,000 miles on it back in high school. My dad was a bit of an American-cars-only snob, but when I left it at home for freshman & sophomore years of college, he grew to love it for running a couple hours to the city for parts. I drove it back and forth across the country multiple time, loaded way down with all my possessions. It always did just fine in Rochester snow and didn't even rust out from the salt. I thought it looked pretty sharp as a bright red hatchback, too.

I've seen the older Accents described here as "cheap cars for people who don't care", but this thing was an absolute beast. Until the timing belt broke, because my aforementioned American-car snob of a dad and I had never heard of replacing a timing belt... we were timing chains all the way.

I'd buy another well-maintained Accent with very little hesitation, although it looks like my next car will be a pickup instead.

rscott
Dec 10, 2009

Crotch Fruit posted:

Hospital, in an out-patient clinic, where every single patient canceled their appointment today. Yeah some people are necessary no matter how much the weather sucks, but not her division. On the bright side, I had the joy of driving there four hours early to pick her up, and the only incident along the way was sitting at a red light for 10 minutes. Apparently, this particular red light really needed to use the sensor to cycle and that just wasn't happening, so I sat behind five cars who would all wait their turn to pull up and wait for a two minutes before deciding to make a right turn.

Yep, I had an appointment at Via Christi up on 21st and Webb today and I was like, "fuuuuuuck that". My apartment complex hasn't been plowed yet so I still have no idea if I'm going to be able to drive to work tomorrow.

8ender
Sep 24, 2003

clown is watching you sleep
I don't understand the hate about passing on the right. If you're loitering in the middle lane and not passing someone then hell yeah I'm passing your stupid rear end if I'm in the right.

We have these long chains of cars within a half car length of each other that form in the middle lane. I call them "future pile up accidents". So few people use the right lane that it's like my own personal lane sometimes.

PainterofCrap
Oct 17, 2002

hey bebe


FogHelmut posted:

People like to use this cloverleaf as a u-turn. They don't signal and it's hard to tell what their intentions are despite them not accelerating past 30 mph.



Sup South Jersey. Just merging onto 70 westbound from 295 North during rush hour is a joy to behold.

Kia Soul Enthusias
May 9, 2004

zoom-zoom
Toilet Rascal

8ender posted:

I don't understand the hate about passing on the right. If you're loitering in the middle lane and not passing someone then hell yeah I'm passing your stupid rear end if I'm in the right.

We have these long chains of cars within a half car length of each other that form in the middle lane. I call them "future pile up accidents". So few people use the right lane that it's like my own personal lane sometimes.

I didn't like passing on the right either at first but realistically, yes exactly that happens so whatcha' gonna do? People drive in groups together and don't really pay attention. It's some sort of psychological response. Cars will join up in clusters even if the road is otherwise nearly empty. I sometimes try to get ahead or behind the groups and then have the whole road to myself.

ephphatha
Dec 18, 2009




Had a great collection of lovely drivers today, first winner was some impatient bastard in a maroon sedan who approached this roundabout in the left lane, indicating left (and the road markings have been repainted since the street view was made, they're unmissable) past a line of about four cars and me on the bike that were slowly moving through the roundabout when traffic permitted. Once I started going straight through the purple fucker killed the indicator and took off straight through, cutting me off. They then turned right at the next roundabout, again from the left lane.

Then once I got to work I got to follow a little white hatchback along this route (google maps doesn't map the road correctly, the path isn't accurate) that refused to indicate at A and C, and when taking the four alternating corners at B drove on the complete wrong side of the road. There's no street view of that area but from the bus stop to the concrete section of the road there is no visibility of oncoming traffic thanks to some dense trees on the right (south side of the parking lot) and the building across the road to the south.

Then on the way home a black ute decides to chuck a u-turn down the road ahead of me and they pulled off to the side of the road, that wasn't a problem. They then decided to try pull back out onto the road as I was going past forcing me into the oncoming lane.

And my loving dash cam hadn't charged properly so none of that was recorded.

Solkanar512
Dec 28, 2006

by the sex ghost

Snowdens Secret posted:

I don't think he said what his wife did for a living. Plenty of jobs require continuous coverage, and person X not showing up means person Y doesn't get to go home, or the rest of the shift has to pick up the slack on an especially busy day - anything power company related, hospitals, etc. You want those guys to get to work and back, and do it safely.

This is a fairly important exception, I agree. I just hear too many stories where it's a customer service call center, shop at the mall or pizza delivery service. You end up with one rear end in a top hat of a manager that can't bear to close shop because reasons and if you don't have the dedication to you minimum wage, no benefits job then you're just not a team player. Those are the folks I had in mind.

Boaz MacPhereson
Jul 11, 2006

Day 12045 Ht10hands 180lbs
No Name
No lumps No Bumps Full life Clean
Two good eyes No Busted Limbs
Piss OK Genitals intact
Multiple scars Heals fast
O NEGATIVE HI OCTANE
UNIVERSAL DONOR
Lone Road Warrior Rundown
on the Powder Lakes V8
No guzzoline No supplies
ISOLATE PSYCHOTIC
Keep muzzled...

Solkanar512 posted:

This is a fairly important exception, I agree. I just hear too many stories where it's a customer service call center, shop at the mall or pizza delivery service. You end up with one rear end in a top hat of a manager that can't bear to close shop because reasons and if you don't have the dedication to you minimum wage, no benefits job then you're just not a team player. Those are the folks I had in mind.

Not to mention the fact that if the weather is bad enough for you to want to stay home, once you do get to work, there's usually not poo poo to be done because everyone else has stayed home.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?
I think every job has pushed me to come in with bad weather or any other excuse. I once called into a serving job at 1 am saying I was 18 hours away and broken down in Florida and my manager still asked "you're going to make it for the afternoon shift...right?" The only place I felt compelled to come in was when I worked in a hospital. I was lucky that I lived pretty close, and despite the fact that I only cleaned dishes, prepped trays and stocked gallies, patients gotta eat. I worked a couple days with only time to sleep in that storm a few years back cause I lived in town, a mile from the hospital, whereas my co-workers lived in the county 45 minutes away.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

My current employer lets you stay home for bad weather, but makes you use a vacation day to do it. :geno:

They try to soften it with some bullshit like "we really want you to stay safe so make your own decision" but who the hell is going to spend valuable vacation time because of snow?

Which just means even more cars are going to pile onto unplowed roads and make everyone even more miserable.

Solkanar512
Dec 28, 2006

by the sex ghost

Boaz MacPhereson posted:

Not to mention the fact that if the weather is bad enough for you to want to stay home, once you do get to work, there's usually not poo poo to be done because everyone else has stayed home.

I think my favorite situation are the folks who are able and equipped to work from home, but aren't allowed to for reasons. I had a second level manager that insisted we come in instead of working from home. It was really stupid.

OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002

Solkanar512 posted:

I think my favorite situation are the folks who are able and equipped to work from home, but aren't allowed to for reasons. I had a second level manager that insisted we come in instead of working from home. It was really stupid.

:laffo: If I didn't already know you work at the same company as me...

fingerling
Mar 7, 2010
Not to start you guys on the children (children's parents?) bashing again, but I've just moved house in the last month.. I hadn't looked at the surrounding area as I don't hugely care where I live, as long as it's proximity to the city is pretty good.

I tend to keep upside-down hours. I've driven past what looks like a school a few times at midnight or so. Well today, I had to go to the post office, which, as it happens, the fastest way of getting to is past this school. I'll admit it is totally my fault for not thinking this through, but I had a package to pick up, and I'd only just woken up (around 3pm). In the 200 metres of the "school zone" I saw people pulling three-point-turns in front of all the other soccer-mom SUVs; I saw people literally pushing their kids across the road, despite there being a child-manned crossing 50 metres up the road, my favorite though.. was the mother who decided to ride. Now, Australia is pretty drat hot. It was only about 34 degrees Celsius today, but she decided to ferry with her kid by bike. I guess she deserves some credit for trying to get some exercise, but the way in which she executed this was absolutely astounding.

This road is only two lanes, one either way. She rode straight out from between parked cars into what would have been oncoming traffic (25 km/h limit school times) yelling over her right shoulder at her kid, who follows her like an ever obedient dog. That is, not looking, either. She only turned her head to the left when she went in front of me to take the left turn I was stopped at.

I generally avoid traveling at absolutely any hour near to what you might consider 'Rush Hour'. This though, absolutely blew my mind. Not instilling good road habits to your children is a totally foreign concept to me. I think I'm going to avoid what I think of as a short cut anywhere near that hour from now on. Mind blowing stuff :psyduck:

FogHelmut
Dec 18, 2003

PainterofCrap posted:

Sup South Jersey. Just merging onto 70 westbound from 295 North during rush hour is a joy to behold.

That is where I get on 295. It is the worst because people ride the 'exit only' lane and try to merge over onto 70 rather than exiting only. Then you have people getting off of 295 and onto 70. And there's a traffic light right there as well. So three lanes turning into two lanes with a freeway ramp and a traffic light about 100 yards after everyone is merging. Horrible.


Then you go about a mile east on 70, and rather than cutting a turn lane into the median, they just have random gaps for people to make left turns and u-turns. So you have 5 cars shoving themselves into this little gap, all with their rear end end hanging out into the traffic lane. http://goo.gl/maps/iVwfR

And don't get me started on driving through Erlton, with the huge gaps between road sections, drop offs that make you feel like you're driving over a cliff, potholes, and ancient exposed concrete in the gaps between the asphalt. I know for a fact that section of road has never been paved in my lifetime, and I really can't imagine how long ago it was.

FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Feb 5, 2014

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

fingerling posted:

Not instilling good road habits to your children is a totally foreign concept to me.

Related: at some point in the past, parents stopped telling their children that you don't walk down the middle of lanes in the parking lot. It's rampant down here, you'll be trying to move through a parking lot, and some mom-beast with three screaming kids will be slowly creeping towards the store, down the center of the parking lot movement lane. If I had done that as a child, my mother would have, and did several times, slap the living poo poo out of me.

Krakkles
May 5, 2003

MrYenko posted:

Related: at some point in the past, parents stopped telling their children that you don't walk down the middle of lanes in the parking lot. It's rampant down here, you'll be trying to move through a parking lot, and some mom-beast with three screaming kids will be slowly creeping towards the store, down the center of the parking lot movement lane. If I had done that as a child, my mother would have, and did several times, slap the living poo poo out of me.
This is one of many reasons I find loud horns to be utterly invaluable. People always get angry when they hear honking, but if it's loud enough to make them piss themselves a bit, they tend to move anyway.

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


MrYenko posted:

Related: at some point in the past, parents stopped telling their children that you don't walk down the middle of lanes in the parking lot. It's rampant down here, you'll be trying to move through a parking lot, and some mom-beast with three screaming kids will be slowly creeping towards the store, down the center of the parking lot movement lane. If I had done that as a child, my mother would have, and did several times, slap the living poo poo out of me.

Krakkles beat me but I have basic airhorns on my motorcycles and the VW, I will gladly honk at these idiots if they are waddling down the middle of the parking lot.

Opensourcepirate
Aug 1, 2004

Except Wednesdays
Yeah, my work policy is "feel free to stay home if you can't make it in safely, and then come in on the weekend and make up your hours."

I got to work at about 11 today and there's almost no one else here.

Macichne Leainig
Jul 26, 2012

by VG

Krakkles posted:

This is one of many reasons I find loud horns to be utterly invaluable. People always get angry when they hear honking, but if it's loud enough to make them piss themselves a bit, they tend to move anyway.

Do you think I can replace my stock horn on my Honda with a train horn? Because going from a slightly loud "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" to a shrill, piercing noise would be great.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

Tha Chodesweller posted:

Do you think I can replace my stock horn on my Honda with a train horn? Because going from a slightly loud "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" to a shrill, piercing noise would be great.

The horn, probably. It'll be ugly but you could do it.

Finding room for the compressor will be a lot harder.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?

Tha Chodesweller posted:

Do you think I can replace my stock horn on my Honda with a train horn? Because going from a slightly loud "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" to a shrill, piercing noise would be great.

Just get a Stebil Nautilus or a Wolo Bad Boy and call it a day.

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

Tha Chodesweller posted:

Do you think I can replace my stock horn on my Honda with a train horn? Because going from a slightly loud "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" to a shrill, piercing noise would be great.

Train horns require a compressor, but getting the horns for a big old Cadillac would have the same effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3e5BCE9zFI

Those are the stock horns.

Krakkles
May 5, 2003

Fucknag posted:

Train horns require a compressor, but getting the horns for a big old Cadillac would have the same effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3e5BCE9zFI

Those are the stock horns.
And the older you go, the louder they are. I have the triple tones from a '72 cadillac sedan and they're the loudest non-air-horns I've ever heard.

Most cars, you can just throw them on in place of the stockers. You *may* have to reverse some wiring, but I believe a Civic has the same setup as the Caddys.

And I'm going to add the dual tones from a '63ish Chrysler 300. And maybe some supertones, too, I haven't decided yet.

Krakkles fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Feb 5, 2014

blueblueblue
Mar 18, 2009
You can go to Harbor Freight and pick up decently loud horns there that should just wire in place of the stock one. Nothing can really compare to old car horns though.

Comedy option; modern muscle car, loud exhaust, manual tranny. Around my university people would jaywalk into the road without looking, and a little rev with the clutch down made them MOVE.

slurry_curry
Nov 26, 2003
<3mini-moni+animu^_^

TrinityOfDeath posted:

You can go to Harbor Freight and pick up decently loud horns there that should just wire in place of the stock one. Nothing can really compare to old car horns though.

Comedy option; modern muscle car, loud exhaust, manual tranny. Around my university people would jaywalk into the road without looking, and a little rev with the clutch down made them MOVE.

This was the solution I used in my old mr2s, since the horns in aw11s are comically bad. 20v 4age swap with all of ~3ft of exhaust with only a supertrap "muffler" to quiet it down. I watched people jump a good 2 feet in the air from me flooring it with the clutch in.

Vindolanda
Feb 13, 2012

It's just like him too, y'know?
I just picked up a BMW 1 series, and if you double-bat the horn it makes a really happy little noise - like what I imagine an MX-5 (or Miata) horn sounds like, and it's really useful to draw people's attention to you if they hadn't noticed your car was near them. If you hold it down though it unveils heaping spoonfuls of road clearing Bavarian fury.

Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.

xzzy posted:

My current employer lets you stay home for bad weather, but makes you use a vacation day to do it. :geno:

They try to soften it with some bullshit like "we really want you to stay safe so make your own decision" but who the hell is going to spend valuable vacation time because of snow?

Which just means even more cars are going to pile onto unplowed roads and make everyone even more miserable.

My work doesn't much care if/when you come in, but it's either unpaid or taken out of your PTO. I made it in 15 minutes late cause I had to dig out my driveway, but half the office is gone.

I wish I could work from home, but something about the company not wanting to build a server room inside every employee's house because of security contracts with the customers makes it financially untenable.

EightBit
Jan 7, 2006
I spent money on this line of text just to make the "Stupid Newbie" go away.
What, you can't use encrypted vpn connections?

LloydDobler
Oct 15, 2005

You shared it with a dick.

A guy in my Volvo club installed a real train horn in his trunk, the spare tire hole is D shaped so he just cut 3 holes in the flat side and mounted them down there with the compressor, and the tank up behind the back seat. It's really hard to describe just how loving loud they are. Like they would startle you even if he was on the other side of a building. He used it all the time, too. Got a couple noise/nuisance tickets for it, and one pretty serious ticket for honking it near a train crossing, scaring the poo poo out of all the other drivers because the guards weren't down.

He also honked at cyclists and pretty girls all the time which was usually pretty funny.


This morning's Denver commute sucked, there was just enough traction to fool every bro truck and AWD sedan into thinking there was no ice. On my 20 mile commute there were 3 people in the ditch and one bad 2-car accident. And there were still assholes weaving in and out thinking they could get ahead in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic.

At my work the snow days are called by a guy who lives 2 miles from work and drives an AWD Audi. I've taken snow days, but the company has never called a snow day in 5 years of working here. Better than my last job though, where they called a snow day and then forced you to use a vacation day on it.

Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.

EightBit posted:

What, you can't use encrypted vpn connections?

We use large files for CAD work. They need to be stored locally. We do some VPN for putting finished work into the customer's system and just opening and saving the files is a huge pain, much less tying to manipulate them. They don't want the files sent over the Internet to personal computers, plus having to download gigs of information, plus making sure everyone has the same version if someone makes a change, plus accessing the license server for the software, it's not worth setting up for us. There's some provision for taking files on company owned laptops, but I'd rather use a beefy desktop and the file version problems are still there.

Macichne Leainig
Jul 26, 2012

by VG

xzzy posted:

The horn, probably. It'll be ugly but you could do it.

Finding room for the compressor will be a lot harder.

I have a coupe and never any passengers. I'll just rip my passenger seat out. :getin:

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Cocoa Crispies
Jul 20, 2001

Vehicular Manslaughter!

Pillbug

Tha Chodesweller posted:

I have a coupe and never any passengers. I'll just rip my passenger seat out. :getin:

Sure thing, Mr. Reiser.

quote:

Police also testified that they had found a 40-piece socket set which may have been used to remove the passenger seat, a receipt for the purchase of the socket set from Kragen Auto Parts, four seat bolts, and a ratchet wrench with a socket on it, suggesting that the seat may have been removed recently.

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