totm aug 2023 What funny/interesting thing happened in your life today?

[qzgy]

1 minute ago, YNM said:

Well not when your country's as big as Europe !

Ok fair enough point.

But even beyond that, I mean the infrastructure in the US (roads, paths, etc) are optimized so much for cars. Sure, in a neighborhood you could get around by bike, but its not really such a viable method of going to the shops.

[YNM]

5 minutes ago, qzgy said:

I mean the infrastructure in the US (roads, paths, etc) are optimized so much for cars.

(dang I really ran out of likes for times and times now)

Yes.

Perhaps try having a smaller house plot ? Or share it with others ?

Edited April 10, 2018 by YNM

[NSEP]

2 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Sure, in a neighborhood you could get around by bike, but its not really such a viable method of going to the shops.

Ikr, in the Netherlands, urban neighborhoods are divided into more little chunks by a road than in the US, wich means its way easier and faster to travel by bike. The US also spreads out shops and schools more, making it harder bicyclists to go anywhere.

I grew up with a big church or apartement building always in sight, so this is a complete nightmare for me. Even worse then getting eaten alive by Fornite gamers.

 

[cubinator]

1 hour ago, qzgy said:

Ok fair enough point.

But even beyond that, I mean the infrastructure in the US (roads, paths, etc) are optimized so much for cars. Sure, in a neighborhood you could get around by bike, but its not really such a viable method of going to the shops.

Agreed. I live close to my school, definitely within biking distance, but I feel like even biking over the county highway is rather dangerous due to the car traffic and very narrow shoulder. 

[NSEP]

13 hours ago, cubinator said:

Agreed. I live close to my school, definitely within biking distance, but I feel like even biking over the county highway is rather dangerous due to the car traffic and very narrow shoulder. 

Bicycle lanes would be the optimal solution, but then again, just plopping down a road doesn't solve the problem, and could maybe even cause more problems. People really tend to misuse bicycle lanes in places where cycling isn't that common. Examples of misuse are walking on the road, blocking the road by standing still, and riding on it with fast motorcycles. 

Another important thing is teaching people the rules of traffic at a younger age. In the Netherlands, we had traffic as a subject in school, we even had to do a bicycle exam. I assume this does not happend in the United States, and people learn traffic rules when they learn on how to drive a car, (im not counting gazing out of the window and asking dad what all the signs mean, when talking about learning traffic rules). 

[Piatzin]

What's the longest you guys have ever biked?

[Atlas2342]

7 minutes ago, Earthlinger said:

What's the longest you guys have ever biked?

30 to 40 minutes. Longer when I’m enjoying it 

[razark]

1 hour ago, NSEP said:

people learn traffic rules when they learn on how to drive a car

I'm not so sure about that.  There is much evidence to the contrary.

[Bill Phil]

4 minutes ago, razark said:

I'm not so sure about that.  There is much evidence to the contrary.

Well, just learning rules doesn't mean they'll be followed...

[NSEP]

1 hour ago, Earthlinger said:

What's the longest you guys have ever biked?

40 minutes, when i was cycling to the coast.

[p1t1o]

So Im driving home after work, accident on the motorway, on-ramp closed. Very annoying. Use "Waze" GPS app to find alternate route. Very busy, takes a long time to navigate to new route.

It tells me to take this turn-off. Seems legit, Im on a main road, the turn off is a main road, no issue.

Drive, drive drive, 60mph speed limit. Road goes through some woods. Very nice, well-maintained country road to drive along, no traffic, you know the type.

The road narrows.

Gets narrower.

Turns into a dirt track, partially flooded, deep, gravelly wheel ruts. Have to slow down rapidly from about 60 to about 20 (thank you ABS!) then down to a 5mph crawl through water. Did I mention Im in a Fiat 500?

Road widens out again, turns back into a well maintained, wide, fast road - a few minutes further on, I turn onto the road that leads to the motorway. 

 

What the butt? Its like they forgot to finish building the road? And it wasnt like there were any signs, like "You may want to slow down from highway speeds as the road almost disappears round this bend"

It was like I drove through a slice of an alternate universe, 2 bits of legit main road joined with a length of farmyard track?

 

Lesson - on unfamiliar roads, use extra caution, literally anything can be around that corner. Complaining about lack of signage, poor roads or bad drivers wont knit bones back together - or pay for your car.

I dont blame the Waze app, it was just joining lines on a map, and it *was* the quickest route.

[Delay]

1 minute ago, p1t1o said:

and it *was* the quickest route.

Even at 5mph?

[p1t1o]

3 minutes ago, Delay said:

Even at 5mph?

Well the track-like part was only about 50-100m and the next shortest route would have made a kilometres-longer loop to get to the same place.

[Piatzin]

2 hours ago, NSEP said:

40 minutes, when i was cycling to the coast.

3 hours ago, Atlas2342 said:

30 to 40 minutes. Longer when I’m enjoying it 

Oh

So I'm the only fanatic here?

I've done 75 km bikes with my family. We bring food and everything and just bike for the whole day through the countryside. We did this in Belgium, which in case you don't know looks something like this:

Forest ----->Picturesque Town ------->Forest ----->Picturesque Town ------->Forest -----> Picturesque Town ------->Forest

Ad infinitum

Well at least until you hit France or Germany. But then it's kind of the same thing all over again

Spoiler

Typical forest trail:

Random house we came across:

Random castle we came across (ish):

 

[DarkOwl57]

Well, yesterday was... Bad. The day itself was okay; no early morning weights, STAAR test wasn't too bad (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness I think). Weights weren't too good but when are they ever? Then I ran with a friend to get her ready for track and I learned that if I run on my feet instead of my toes, I can hit the hyperdrive! Anyways, after that, I was in the car when my girlfriend calls me, saying she wants to break up  After a lengthy conversation, I just get out and try to make sense of it all... I still don't get it and to be honest I'm heartbroken. She felt so perfect.. Now I'm depressed. 

[adsii1970]

A conversation today during my office torture hours:

Student: I came to talk to you about what you think I should do about my grade in your class.

Me: Well, not much to talk about.

Student: Why are you getting an attitude with me?

Me: I'm not. Out of 1,250 possible points for the course, you have 25. Really, there's not much to talk about...

Student: So, I am failing and you're ok with that?

Me: Yes, you are failing. And yes, I am ok with that.

Student: But you ask too much! College is also about me finding out who I am, not about doing a lot of book work.

Me: Uhum. So --

Student: There's no 'so' about it. I need extra credit...

Me: There's not enough extra credit to give you 750 points --

Student: I'm not asking for 750 points; I just am asking for a D. Is that too much to ask for?

Me: Yes, considering you need 750 points to just make a D.

Student: So, I am really going to fail out of your class...

Me: Yes --

Student: My parents won't pay for me to come back next semester. You caused this!

Me: No, actually you caused it. You caused yourself not to pass --

Student: Why are you getting an attitude with me?

The conversation became even more fun when my department chair became involved...

Dep Chair: Actually, he hasn't used any attitude with you. But you've used a lot of attitude with him. In fact, our entire department has heard you screaming at him.

Student: He's not listening to me. I can't fail his class. My parents --

Me: I am --

Dep Chair: He doesn't have to listen to you and yes, you can fail his class. Do you know why you're failing his class?

Student: Well, he says that I've not been showing up or doing my assignments --

Me: Yes, that's part --

Dep Chair: And you know this, right?

Student: Yes, but I hate history and it has never been my good subject --

Me: As I have --

Dep Chair: Sounds like you are the one with the problem --

Student: And who the hell are you? I demand to see this department's chair immediately. I will not be bullied. I will not be disrespected, do both of you understand me?

Dep Chair: I am the department chair...

So yeah, at that point, I just decided it would be a good time to call it a day since I am only on campus for three hours on Mondays and Wednesdays... This student is toast. My department chair has been known to administratively drop students who create too much drama in our department.

Edited April 11, 2018 by adsii1970

[Ultimate Steve]

32 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

Well, yesterday was... Bad. The day itself was okay; no early morning weights, STAAR test wasn't too bad (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness I think). Weights weren't too good but when are they ever? Then I ran with a friend to get her ready for track and I learned that if I run on my feet instead of my toes, I can hit the hyperdrive! Anyways, after that, I was in the car when my girlfriend calls me, saying she wants to break up  After a lengthy conversation, I just get out and try to make sense of it all... I still don't get it and to be honest I'm heartbroken. She felt so perfect.. Now I'm depressed. 

 Genuinely sorry for what stuff went that bad for you. I sincerely hope it gets better.

I remember my first time trying to do the whole "romance" thing... I was such an antisocial introvert that I literally liked her for 3.5 years and then found out she was gay, so you got further than I did! As far as the whole "getting over someone" thing, I'm not saying this will work for you, but for me, listening to music for a few hours worked.

Glad you did well on the tests, that's always a good thing to hear.

6 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

A conversation today during my office torture hours:

snip

Aaaaand I have just lost a bit more faith in my generation. Or at least the generation before mine. The lines are a bit blurred between those two.

 

As far as today for me goes, nothing much has happened yet, but there is an ISRO launch tonight and if all goes well I'm getting my driver's license today!

[Delay]

5 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Out of 1,250 possible points for the course, you have 25.

Wow. That's... quite an accomplishment, actually. He went out of his way to fail the course, he has to have done that.

I hope you don't have to deal with these situations too often.

[CatastrophicFailure]

2 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

As far as today for me goes, nothing much has happened yet, but ... if all goes well I'm getting my driver's license today!

*reads a few posts up*

And you did take the time to learn the rules, right? 

[Ultimate Steve]

9 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

And you did take the time to learn the rules, right? 

I learned the rules left.

[razark]

10 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Student: ... You caused this!

I was not the best student when I was in college.  I failed my share of classes.  There were some that I struggled with, and some I just wasn't ready for*.

But at least I could admit when it was my own damn fault.

It's not the teacher's fault when they wake you up in the middle of the test to advise you to drop the class.  And it's somewhat odd when the professor is surprised you actually bothered to show up for the final exam.  I told him it was practice for next time.

 

47 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

I just get out and try to make sense of it all... I still don't get it

Sometimes, you just can't make sense of it.  Try doing the same after fifteen years.  Don't spend too much time dwelling on it.  Give it some time, do something for yourself, and eventually it'll pass.

Still sucks, though.

 

 

*When transferring schools, it's really important to know that what was covered at one school may not be the same as what was covered at another.  This is vitally important when considering prerequisites.

[adsii1970]

1 minute ago, razark said:

I was not the best student when I was in college.  I failed my share of classes.  There were some that I struggled with, and some I just wasn't ready for*.

But at least I could admit when it was my own damn fault.

It's not the teacher's fault when they wake you up in the middle of the test to advise you to drop the class.  And it's somewhat odd when the professor is surprised you actually bothered to show up for the final exam.  I told him it was practice for next time.

I've been teaching at the college level since 2004; trust me when I say student attitudes in America are getting worse.

When a student fails a class, I take it personally. I want to know what I could have done to reach the student. This is why each semester, I tweak my courses to make them more "student" friendly.

All of the exams I give are on-line and students have 36 hours to do them. And I still have about 1/3 of the class who will not even bother with the exam.

This student, without giving out too much, basically showed up for five classes. No other work whatsoever. None. And of course, I get the blame for it -- at least in her mind.

30 minutes ago, Delay said:

Wow. That's... quite an accomplishment, actually. He went out of his way to fail the course, he has to have done that.

I hope you don't have to deal with these situations too often.

Unfortunately they are coming more frequently. The last two years have been incredibly bad for me. In fact, I have created a new image just for these kinds of things...

31 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Aaaaand I have just lost a bit more faith in my generation. Or at least the generation before mine. The lines are a bit blurred between those two.

I hear you, but truth be known, I have also had some 40 year old students who couldn't pass a dot-to-dot drawing class. Stupid and lazy people come in all shapes and sizes. It is just that I see more concentrations of younger stupid people because of teaching in smaller colleges and universities.

[qzgy]

7 hours ago, Earthlinger said:

What's the longest you guys have ever biked?

An hour or two probably on rough trail. Distance wise? Probably about 10 ish miles, or a bit more. Definitely not 75 km though.

3 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

trust me when I say student attitudes in America are getting worse.

 Is there any particular reason why? Or is it a generational thing?

[Piatzin]

21 minutes ago, qzgy said:

 Is there any particular reason why? Or is it a generational thing?

CoUgH cOuGh

One word: Social media

Oh wait, that's two.....we definitely have issues

[adsii1970]

54 minutes ago, qzgy said:

An hour or two probably on rough trail. Distance wise? Probably about 10 ish miles, or a bit more. Definitely not 75 km though.

 Is there any particular reason why? Or is it a generational thing?

there's more to it...

32 minutes ago, Earthlinger said:

CoUgH cOuGh

One word: Social media

Oh wait, that's two.....we definitely have issues

You're getting closer...

Every generation thinks theirs is the end-all, be-all of society. But when you take that attitude + social media + mainstream media pumping out television shows of how the older generation "doesn't get it", it has created the perfect storm of problems for the current young generation. The "older generation doesn't get it" television shows aren't new;  they started in the 1990s and continue on. They do not show any signs of slowing down or stopping, either. Just wait until your generation has children and you'll see how you and your parents are portrayed...

So, this is just normal growing pains that every generation has - an over-inflated sense of self worth and importance. Everyone goes through it. But it is exacerbated by the narcissism created by social media.