Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

In Which Our Hero Falls To His Fate

I hate falling down. Nobody outside of professional stuntmen and some athletes probably do, but being a klutz I'm no good at it. Also, with my size I worry about falling and doing some serious damage to myself. Hasn't helped that balance and good footing with my bad left leg nerve leaves staying upright a tenuous balancing act. (grin)

In truth, though, I don't fall down all that much, thankfully. Before this year, I think it was probably ten years ago that I slipped on some ice on campus and had to pick myself up. Now, you must understand that I sleep on a futon on the floor. And I have exercises twice a day and sit on the floor to change my socks. But there's a ready chair nearby for me to use to help me get up. Standing up in the middle of nothing, that's not easy for me.

Earlier this winter I fell in the middle of the night heading to the bathroom. Hadn't realized that my left foot had gotten wrapped in a blanket, so Down Goes Frazier. Sort of a slow motion fall, on carpet. I almost laughed, except that I didn't want to wake up Mrs. Dr. Phil -- of course she woke up when I went THUD, so there's that. But other than being a little sore, no real damage.

However, Tuesday as I was heading out the front door of Everett Tower to cross the windy gap over to Rood Hall and my 1pm Physics class, I opened the door and went to plant my cane and... underneath the fluffy white snow was very slippery wet ice. Cane slid and in midstep onto the slight slope outside the door my feet slipped and down I went. Funny thing is that I was carrying a wedge seat cushion for the hard metal chair in the lecture hall, and that might've been involved.

Actually my immediate reaction was that I was damned cold. Wet and cold. My hands, which slid on the wet ice under the snow were so damned cold. Of course that same coating of ice meant that there was not sand, salt or the rough surface of concrete exposed to tear up either my clothes or the palms of my hands. So... this is good? And while I could get on my hands and knees, I knew I couldn't even trust the cane to prop myself up with and get up. I assumed that I had to slide back to the windbreak outside the doorway and lever myself up.

But rescue came. Prof. Kamber came out of Everett and one of my students stopped by to help -- after he skidded to a stop and got off his bicycle!!! Really? Riding a bike on sheets of wet ice? Didn't we cover static and kinetic friction and its effects in class?

Once I had my left foot planted, I just hoped that the two gentlemen could hold on and support my unfortunate bulk. They held, and I managed to get up.

As I headed to class, I suggested that Kamber tell the secretary to call for salt. And indeed, coming out fifty minutes later after class, the ice was completely melted. When I left to come home, the sidewalks were wet and sloppy and the parking lot was something of a mess, but that was just on campus. All the roads were wet but clear. I didn't have to struggle with a long commute on a skating rink.

I don't think I really damaged anything. Though in the middle of the day on Wednesday, I realized that I'd forgotten I'd slipped on the ice the day before and that perhaps that's why I had odd aches and pains, so took some Advils.

But I hate falling.

Winter Blows In Again and Again

And of course the insult to injury is that "spring" was coming. When we lived in the U.P., we always seemed to get a major storm right about St. Patrick's Day, just like the last of our giant front yard snow pile up there used to melt on Mother's Day. Here in West Michigan, the St. Patrick's Day storm isn't as consistent. Mrs. Dr. Phil wondered if the weather we had at the end of last week was this year's version. Maybe not.

Meanwhile people to the north of us in the U.P. were getting serious snow -- 16" to 24" by reports -- and there are snow tracks from the Plains states through the Midwest south of us, and on into WV, PA and NY. So I'm not really complaining, as others have repeatedly gotten clobbered worse than us, and even the weather forecasts of areas around here getting clobbered haven't done so much of that, either.

Vernal Equinox

Supposedly it happened on Wednesday morning at 7:02 EDT. You couldn't tell that by either the color of the lawn (white) or the overnight temperatures -- about 14°F this morning, with wind chills about -4°F. Mrs. Dr. Phil was grousing about it being a cruel month of January this March. (grin)

At least I hadn't heard a lot of reports about either flowers coming up or lots of buds or blooms on the fruit trees due to unseasonably warm February and March conditions like last year.

So we'll let the March storms get it all out of their system and wait for a real spring day to show up. Eventually. They always do.

Dr. Phil

A Question

So a student asked at the beginning of class today, "What's this incident in Pennsylvania that they keep talking about on the news?"

Now let's be fair here. The student had heard of Three Mile Island. And Chernobyl. But the talking heads on the TV, while covering Japan, keep mentioning Three Mile Island and Chernobyl like you know what they're talking about. And then there's the simple fact that while Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were bigtime events in my life, 1979 and 1986 respectively were both before nearly all of my students in both classes were born.

I noticed in passing through channels late Monday night that Rachel Maddow on MSNBC was doing a heroic job of explaining terms, putting in historical context and making sure she was interpreting what the statements about the nuclear reactor woes in Japan were and more importantly were not saying. Then had a real nuclear physicist indicate whether she'd done a good job. She had. Rachel prepares her material better than anyone on television.

So Some Background

This afternoon I cobbled up a short list of links for my students, which I'll put here. Yes, it's Wikipedia, but they do a pretty good job of aggregating information on events like this:

# Japanese Reactors Fukushima I (Units 1-4) (ongoing 2011).
# Three Mile Island (1979).
# Chernobyl (1986).
# Article on Michigan and Midwest nuclear reactors.

The most interesting quote from the last article:

In one corner, there are those like Don Williams, a “seriously pro-nuke” retired Hope College professor, who has studied the industry and advocates for more nuclear energy.

He doesn’t think what happens in Japan should have any bearing on U.S. nuclear policy.

“But it will,” he concedes.

“Those poor people over there, they planned on a 25-foot tsunami and they got a 30-foot one. What are the chances of that?” Williams said.

I spent some time in both classes talking a little bit about the ongoing situation in Japan, which is steadily deteriorating. But from halfway around the world, and not precisely my area of expertise, except in the most general Physics teaching sense, it's hard to know exactly how bad this is or how bad it will get.

It's easy to make dire pronouncements about nuclear power global or awful predictions about what might happen in Japan. Easily lost in all this, which Williams referred to above, is that they did plan for a bad earthquake -- and the ten reactors involved got through that relatively in good shape. They did plan for a tsunami -- but what hit the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Station was far greater than they planned for. And this story is far from over.

Fictional References

The China Syndrome (film) vs. The China Syndrome (fact) -- a reference to a core meltdown burning through the bottom of a containment structure and "can't stop until it reaches China". The movie came out in 1979, just 12 days before Three Mile Island.

Finally, growing up one of my favorite disaster novels was the 1975 nuclear power plant meltdown story The Prometheus Crisis by Thomas H. Scortia and Frank N. Robinson. Typical of this type of book, you have a rather contrived set of multiple circumstances -- the two authors also wrote The Glass Inferno, which was combined with The Tower to make the movie The Towering Inferno. No doubt if I read The Prometheus Crisis today, it wouldn't hold up nearly as well as I think it might. (grin)

Dr. Phil

The Usual Apology

It's that time of the semester -- Grade-a-thon -- as we finish up the rushed 7½ weeks of the Summer-II Session here at Western Michigan University. My PHYS-2070 University Physics II class, Electricity & Magnetism, is now done. The Final Exam was Friday. We are so ahead of the usual curve here. Admittedly, I have just 41 students instead of twice that many, but except for one double-quiz and the Final which are being done by my grader, and the Science Literacy book reports which I am doing now, I've got all the other grades, re-grades, corrections and turned in late scatter-gather quizzes, graded and recorded in the spreadsheet. That has got to be a record for me. (grin)

I've even done 17 of 40 papers. Time for a nap, before my eyes close for me.

Driving Hazards

But that's not what this post is about. Instead, I think it was Tuesday's drive in, about 9:52am EDT, as I was heading south out of Grand Rapids on US-131, heading up the hill past the exit for 84th Street, I saw something slithering across both lanes of the highway. Minivan ahead of me half drove onto the paved right shoulder, but I was going to have to move over a bit further -- and of course I was on the brakes -- to avoid running over...?

A spinning ladder. A two-section aluminum extendable ladder, which had spun on the pavement and now came to rest across all of the left-hand southbound lane and most of the right-hand. Just about perfectly perpendicular to the flow of traffic. There was plenty of time, relatively speaking to dump a lot of my speed before hitting the rubble strips on the right shoulder. I had no intention of running over an aluminum ladder at 70 mph and I also didn't want to hit the shoulder, paved though it might be, at 70 mph given that it was likely to have stones and other trash.

So no problem. Hazard avoided. Though there was plenty of southbound traffic behind me, and ladders don't sprout legs and walk themselves out of the way, so I hoped that those behind me could see that two vehicles had just dove onto the shoulder to avoid something.

Ah, But The Idiots

Of course as I'm passing the ladder on the right at 40-50 mph, there's some import SUV crossover clattering over the ladder in the left hand lane at 70+ mph. Nailed it good, so it just made a lot of noise, but didn't spin out to whack me or anything. Near as I can tell, no attempt to slow down or move to the right or left. Hmm, pay attention to one's driving much? I don't know if the driver was actually on the phone or whether that's just wishful/evil thinking from several days out on my part. (grin)

In that driver's defense, though, I did notice that further up the hill on the left-hand shoulder was a blue pickup truck -- and it was starting to back up. One would suspect that he's the one who lost the ladder. And he is the one I wish to vent my ire on.

See -- I didn't see any sign on the ladder that it had a red flag tied to either end. Or at least not a big one or a very visible one, a very common complaint of mine. And this pickup truck had no ladder rack, just the usual 8-foot bed. And given that this ladder, unextended, was nearly two full lanes wide, that tells me that the damned thing was too long for that pickup truck bed, which means it was probably just tossed in the back and sticking out over the tailgate, unsecured. Which means this was an accident just waiting to happen. No doubt the guy was accelerating up the hill when friction failed to keep the ladder in the back -- who could ever conceive of such a thing happening? (ironic grin)

I've seen a lot of this lately. Various construction and service vehicles with open backs and gear just lying around. One of my favorites was a truck carrying concrete construction forms which had these racks holding these foot-long or so spikes -- looked like multiple rocket launchers on the back. One had a slight angle on it, but one was completely level. How would you like to be behind this guy when he guns it and those spikes slide out of their slots and into your lane? Look, I understand Physics, so I'm not asking that things be hermetically sealed at all times. But Michigan roads are not smooth surfaces, and bouncing can move things. And I don't want to have to dodge your tools and I don't have time to rebuild my vehicles. 'Kay?

Likewise, I don't drive behind trucks holding trash bins or asphalt -- seen too many stones, clumps of stuff and trash fly out behind these trucks.

I tell you, folks, it's a jungle out there. Doesn't anyone ever write tickets?

Dr. Phil

Welcome To Michigan -- Land Of Summer Road Construction

Michigan D.O.T. or MDOT has been busy for over a month with numerous construction projects. In West Michigan we've got a series of programs to add more of the center cable barriers along US-131, I-96 and other freeways. A massive project which has closed I-196 just east of downtown Grand Rapids to widen the road on the big hill and replace a bunch of bridges. And after two years of rebuilding a stretch of I-196 near the Kent/Ottawa County line, this spring there have been removing the paved crossover lanes and landscaping the median. And that's before I've even run into any of the more usual repaving zones. (grin)

But It Cheeses Me Off...

Sure, I hate the yahoos who invoke fallacy of composition to ignore signs to move over due to lane closures, but instead rush ahead in the emptying lane and then expect everyone to let them in at the head of the line. Goddamned special snowflakes, every damned one.

But this year it has gotten really bad on another front. MDOT's website says the following about construction zone speed limits:

During Michigan's busy road construction season, motorists are required to reduce their speed to 45 miles per hour in any freeway work zone where workers are present, UNLESS a concrete barrier wall exists between the workers and the vehicles.

FACT: The majority of injuries and fatalities in work zones each year involve drivers and their passengers.

Motorists should remember to drive the appropriate speed and pay close attention in work zones.

Protect Michigan families: Where Workers Present Drive 45 - the life you save could be your own!

What Could Be Simpler?

Well... take the speed limit sign in today's LJ icon. These are arranged right after Speed Limit 60 signs in many of the freeway construction zones. So... I'm driving with most of the traffic going 60 mph in a construction zone and spot the next cable barrier work crew on the left hand shoulder ahead. I slow down and most other people slow down to 45 mph. Except for the special snowflake crowd who is DETERMINED that the left lane is for Faster Traffic, no matter what the actual speed limit says.

So the special snowflakes leap into the left lane, driving 60-70 mph and THEY'RE the ones closest to the construction workers. The real problem is that the penalties really kick in AFTER some idiot has killed a construction worker.

Public Act 103, known as "Andy's Law" went into effect Oct. 1, 2001. The law creates penalties of up to one year in prison for injuring and up to 15 years in prison for killing a highway construction or maintenance worker. It also imposes a maximum penalty of $7,500. The law is named for Andrew Lefko, a 19-year-old who was left paralyzed after being hit while working on I-275 in Metro Detroit.

In 2003, Andy's Law was strengthened by the passage of Public Act 315. Now, work zones are marked with "Work Zone Begins" and "End Road Work" signs. "Begin Work Convoy" and "End Work Convoy" signs are used for mobile crews traveling along roads as workers paint lane lines or patch potholes. Speed limit signs are also required in work zones marked with "Work Zone Begins" signs.

P.A. 315 lowers the threshold at which driving offenses can trigger Andy's Law penalties. The law now includes penalties for driving offenses such as careless driving or speeding, which are considered civil offenses. The law also applies to criminal offenses such as reckless or drunken driving.

It bugs the crap out of me when I'm the only adult who seems to be driving a motor vehicle and following the rules. And I sure don't want to hear from any special snowflakes who think their right to the left GO FAST lane is something which cannot be abridged.

Dr. Phil

"I Hate When This Happens"

Driving out this afternoon in search of milk and bananas, I noticed that a neighbor had a large industrial unit out by the road. Selling it? Using it to plow the driveway?

I don't think having some wheels up in the air -- and others dug into the snow -- is the way these things are supposed to operate.

Ooo, look, it's a Pettibone -- made in the U.P. in Baraga MI.

Nothing like cutting the turn too far and starting to fall off the driveway into the drainage ditch. Oops, indeed.

Dr. Phil