dr_phil_physics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dr_phil_physics) wrote2013-02-11 10:32 pm
dr_phil_physics) wrote2013-02-11 10:32 pm
Entry tags:
Driving Blind
6:10am
Checked the TV to find that the expected freezing rain was causing some issues this morning. Just about every Ottawa County school was closed today due to icy roads, including Allendale. Alas, our NPR station, WGVU, had a computer network failure and couldn't give us SkyView Traffic updates. WTF? Haven't you guys heard of phones? Turning on the TV? Listening to the radio, like WOOD-AM, which also uses SkyView Traffic?
Epic fail on a sliding driving morning.
Worse, because of yesterday's rains, the radio in the 1986 Blazer decided it wasn't going to work -- it's a grounding problem and usually not a problem in the winter.
So I had to go off to the south without knowing what the roads were like. The roads were glazed, which wasn't so much of a problem as the gusting winds coming and going. 4WD needed to keep the front end tracking against the sideways gusts. Like Thursday, not too much new slop until I hit Standale -- Wilson and M-45.
Gas
Had to drive to Holland on Sunday, so filled the tank. $3.79.9/gal for regular, 15¢ higher for midgrade, minus the 15¢/gal gas coupon. (grin) Monday night, gas had jumped to $3.88.9/gal, which meant midgrade and higher would be above the four bucks a gallon level. Just in time for the State of the Union.
I've been re-reading my entries from four years ago. Gas was half the price it is today. The economy IS feeling somewhat better, so the oil companies are back to gouging.
Meanwhile, On Campus
Though it doesn't directly affect me, now that I have a handicapped hangtag, our dept. chair has been on a campaign to get more faculty parking spots in Lot 61. Naturally, being a physicist, he backed up his letters with data. Last week the Parking Office said, Huh, guess you are shortchanged. And today, the north row of spaces changed from student "W" to faculty/staff "R".
Huzzah!
Dr. Phil
Checked the TV to find that the expected freezing rain was causing some issues this morning. Just about every Ottawa County school was closed today due to icy roads, including Allendale. Alas, our NPR station, WGVU, had a computer network failure and couldn't give us SkyView Traffic updates. WTF? Haven't you guys heard of phones? Turning on the TV? Listening to the radio, like WOOD-AM, which also uses SkyView Traffic?
Epic fail on a sliding driving morning.
Worse, because of yesterday's rains, the radio in the 1986 Blazer decided it wasn't going to work -- it's a grounding problem and usually not a problem in the winter.
So I had to go off to the south without knowing what the roads were like. The roads were glazed, which wasn't so much of a problem as the gusting winds coming and going. 4WD needed to keep the front end tracking against the sideways gusts. Like Thursday, not too much new slop until I hit Standale -- Wilson and M-45.
Gas
Had to drive to Holland on Sunday, so filled the tank. $3.79.9/gal for regular, 15¢ higher for midgrade, minus the 15¢/gal gas coupon. (grin) Monday night, gas had jumped to $3.88.9/gal, which meant midgrade and higher would be above the four bucks a gallon level. Just in time for the State of the Union.
I've been re-reading my entries from four years ago. Gas was half the price it is today. The economy IS feeling somewhat better, so the oil companies are back to gouging.
Meanwhile, On Campus
Though it doesn't directly affect me, now that I have a handicapped hangtag, our dept. chair has been on a campaign to get more faculty parking spots in Lot 61. Naturally, being a physicist, he backed up his letters with data. Last week the Parking Office said, Huh, guess you are shortchanged. And today, the north row of spaces changed from student "W" to faculty/staff "R".
Huzzah!
Dr. Phil
Travel to Kalamazoo
(Anonymous) 2013-02-12 04:22 am (UTC)(link)http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/drive/Default.aspx -- A map of accidents and traffic speeds on the state highways.
Text TRAFFIC to 80373, and they'll text you about traffic accidents and slowdowns in the greater Kalamazoo area. I have my phone set to read these to me so I can get them hands free. I've got reports for accidents from Wayland to Galesburg. There's probably an equivalent service for the GR area.
With these two, I can check the general conditions before I leave the house, and then get specific reports as they happen. A couple weeks ago I avoided a major stop on 131 because I heard about it before the Business 131 split and I cut off that way.
Re: Travel to Kalamazoo
Not a Luddite, just cheap. (grin)
Dr. Phil