Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Rumors are flying on the airwaves again
that the Minnesota Vikings Football Team
may be trying to get
Brett Favre
for their quarterback
next season.


It just happens that during this same week
on the airwaves,
a talk show highlighted the question:

Is Elvis really dead?



Both scenarios are probably improbable...
But it sure is fun to think about them!

(Photos from their respective websites.)


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Take a moment...

to look up...




and watch...

the winter clouds illuminate the evening sky...




as they gently flow across the horizon...



just before they pull up their gray covers...

and blanket the sky...

and say, "Good night".



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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Driving safety research


She put the pedal to the metal!


How safe are you


when you're driving?



(photo courtesy University of Minnesota research project)


"Risk awareness" - do you know how safe you are when you're driving?

Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s HumanFIRST program and the Intelligent Vehicles Laboratory are hoping to reduce crashes by providing drivers with some new road signs that present information about traffic.

Many area folks volunteered to take part in the "Study to Measure Intersection Behavior" they conducted last fall.


At the Minnesota Department of Transportation site southwest of Cannon Falls I met Justin Graving and Danny Drew, researchers for the project. They spent five days a week for several months collecting data which is still being analyzed. Their purpose is to help people have a safer driving experience.


I was asked to drive a car that was equipped with computers that collect "driving behavior" data. At the end of the study I learned that these computers kept track of my GPS location and my speed while I was driving through the intersection.

There were almost a dozen cameras recording everything that happened inside and outside the car. Justin accompanied me during the test. He sat in the back checking all the computers and providing instructions on the driving tasks he wanted me to do. Part of my instructions were to drive as, “I normally would…”

Specifically, I was asked to make several types of typical driving maneuvers through the intersection of Highway 52 and County Road 9 near Wastedo (about 10 miles south of Cannon Falls). The high rate of collision at this busy intersection has caused a great number of crashes.


The HumanFIRST researchers were conducting this study to investigate the effectiveness of a new traffic sign that was designed to assist drivers entering this type of intersection and help reduce traffic crashes.

Justin described the signs as similar to "giant television screens that displayed icons resembling the traffic approaching from the southbound lane and northbound lane.” There were several of these signs placed at various locations in and across the intersection.


Just getting out on the road for the test turned out to have some problems for me! The first time we tried a couple of test runs the researchers found the recorders weren't working. (Should I have told them that I have had strange problems with computers before?)

Another time the test car had a flat tire. The next time the battery had died. But they got that fixed and we soon headed out on the road.


One of the types of crashes these special signs are intended to reduce was the situation I experienced during the first half of the study when the signs were turned off.

Justin was sitting in the back seat as usual. I was driving from the west on C. R. 9 and making a left turn into the northbound lane on Highway 52.


While waiting in the median, monitoring traffic as normal, I saw what appeared to be a safe gap in traffic and pulled out. After I made my turn, I took a quick glance in the rear view mirror and to my shock saw a semi-truck barreling down on us from behind. The semi hadn't been there when I pulled out! I stepped on the accelerator and got out of there.


As I returned to the starting position of the test drive I took a deep breath and thought I'd better tell Justin that I didn't see the semi in my lane when I pulled out. Justin, who had remained silent during the drive replied, “He merged into your lane after you turned.” (Guess he was watching too!)


He recalled another time when an older female driver made a painfully slow maneuver crossing the intersection but didn’t realize a fast-approaching semi nearly hit them.

Justin compared this to a similar but separate situation when a risk-taking younger male driver participated in this study. He explained, “But it seemed that he knew the situation. So, although he chose similar gaps in traffic compared to the older female driver, his driving behavior reflected that he was aware of what he was doing, while her driving did not reflect that she was aware of the near-collision."


The goal of this study was to see if drivers’ behaviors were different with the new signs.

Justin added: "I think a big part of the problem is that drivers are seldom aware of the risk they are in when they are behind the wheel… We’re hoping that these signs might help increase drivers’ risk-awareness.”


The study by itself has probably already helped those of us who took part become more "risk-aware" drivers!



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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Snow storm...



Snow storm a couple of days ago.
I was substitute teaching in another school district.
They closed around noon because the weather was getting worse.

The driving in the country was bad.
By the time I got near home I couldn't see the road.
It goes through a field and was hidden by the snow.
It all looked flat.
S
o I aimed the car toward the tall pine trees about 1/4 mile away.

I was OK until after I passed them...
and the road turned...
but my car didn't!

After much shoveling - around and under the car - I got help from Paul with his tractor.

Later t
he warm house sure felt good!




Saturday, January 10, 2009

Those "dumb blond" jokes -

may not be just for blonds!



I enjoy some of the sweeter "dumb blond" jokes

I probably enjoy them because I have said some pretty dumb things myself.

The most recent was at the newspaper's Christmas party. I came in the door at the VFW club and found a table to sit at so I could warm up from the cold night outside. The lights were subdued and the decorations were festive and I knew the food would be delicious.

I went up to the bar to order a glass of wine and noticed a list of all the refreshments available.

So I could try something new.

One that caught my eye on the list was: "Mich golden light".

In my most sophisticated voice I said to the bartender, "I'd like a Michelin golden light beer".

Immediately my lightning-swift mind zapped me with the thought, Michelin is a tire, not a beer! (I think I also heard it say, "Stupid!")

Whoops!

I explained my mistake to the bartender and asked, what is the real name of that beer?

"Michelob!"

After laughing I decided that it could be that the roots of my hair are actually blond!

***

Computers are fascinating to me too.Our internet server was having problems with its e-mail service. None of it was getting through.
But my yahoo.com mail site was working so I asked them to forward my mail to my yahoo account. They had to figure it out but finally it worked.

I thought I was pretty smart getting my e-mail while other folks weren't.

Later that day, when my internet provider got their problems straightened out, I asked them to put my mail back on their site.

But I was talking to a different tech guy than the one who moved my mail originally. This one explained that they could NOT transfer my mail back because they wouldn't have transferred my mail in the first place!

I explained that they had done it earlier but he insisted they hadn’t.

I ended the discussion at this impasse.

I'm sure I could get it straightened out if I wanted to take the time. But it's been several months since then and I have found it rather convenient to get all my mail on one site… even if it's not possible!

(Maybe sometimes, white hair is close enough to being blond!)

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