| One of Its Legs Is Not the Same |
[Apr. 30th, 2008|08:09 pm] |
(Today's title is the answer to "What's the difference between a duck?)
Today I told several people at work about my philosophy that things cannot be both the same and not the same. Yes, they can be the same in some ways and different in some ways. But they cannot be the same in every way and different in some ways. Can it be true that bureaucrats discuss the laws of physics or philosophy or whatever this is?
I hope I do not know all the facts, but it appears that a professor wants to get credit for teaching three courses at the same time. This, in itself, is not uncommon. For example, you might teach a Music class called "The History of Rock and Roll" at the same time as you are teaching a History class called "The History of Rock and Roll." This is really the same class listed under two departments so it can be found and counted by people looking for courses in either department. It has lots of both music and history content. All is good.
But when the courses have different titles and one course can fulfill a science requirement but another one can't, then they are different in some ways. So, it seems like you should teach them differently, doesn't it? It can't be both a real science class and not a real science class at the same time, can it?
I am trying to convince some of my fellow bureaucrats that we can just say no sometimes. Not because our little bureaucratic systems cannot deal with things that are both the same and different (we actually have ways of making this work because we are creative and awesome), but because it seems like someone is trying to pull a fast one. All the other people who should have been saying no first have various reasons for not doing so, and so perhaps we should say it.
Blog entry of the day - My most cost-effective renovation projects at Funny About Money. Finally, someone who discusses this concept in a way I can respect, as if what makes your life better actually matters in a renovation (as opposed to just what percentage of your money you could get back if you sold the house). Learn about her two most cost-effective updates.
Compared to keeping a carpet clean, "[k]eeping a hard floor clean is very, very easy. You never have to call in a professional with heavy equipment to pick up the dirt. When the dog barfs on it, you just wipe up the mess and spray on some disinfectant. When dirt or rainy mud tracks in, you just mop it up. Better yet, a Swiffer, a dust mop, or a vac-broom cleans the dust—and icky dust mites!—out from under the bed in seconds, with no heavy lifting." |
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| New Solitaire Rule |
[Apr. 15th, 2008|09:16 pm] |
There's a version of solitaire I like. I don't know what it's called, but it's one of those games with simple rules but interesting strategies.
Set up: Lay out the cards in groups of three so that you can see each card in the pile. At the end, you will have one card--just set that one down in a one-card pile. If any aces are at the top of any of the piles, move them off the piles to form a new pile of their own.
Yes, you need a lot of space for this, and you may need to stretch a bit.
Play: You may now move only the top card in each stack, and you may move it in only one of two ways. a) Move it on top of the card with the next higher number in the same suit. b) Move it to the ace pile, on top of the card with the next lower number in the same suit.
You win the usual way: organize the cards into four piles, one for each suit, starting with the ace on the bottom and ending with the king on top, following the rules. You probabaly won't be able to do it, so...
That's round one.
For round two, gather up all the cards that are not on the ace piles, shuffle them well, set them out in new three-card piles, and continue play as before. You still probably won't be able to win, so...
Round three, the final round, is like round two, only you get one "cheat." Specifically, you may pull any card out of any pile (from any position) and use it to create a new one-card pile.
**
I really like this game and have enjoyed creating various strategies. However, I have two problems with the game: 1) That's a lot of shuffling for one game. 2) Sometimes when I deal out the cards for round three, it's obvious right away that I would need at least two "cheats" to win. So then you move right back to the shuffling again.
So I decided to try to see if I could make it into a one-round game.
Plan A: Set it up like usual, and when you're done, pull any remaining aces and twos out of their stacks and put them into the ace piles. Plus you get your one (additional) "cheat." This turns out to be way too easy (for me, anyway).
Plan B: Like Plan A, only just pull out the aces. I still win almost every single time. It's eerie just how much of a difference this small change makes over the usual rules.
(Then I started writing this post and decided to do a tiny bit more research.)
Plan C: Like Plan B, but pull the aces out before setting up your groups of three. This way you have two fewer piles and they all have a full three cards in them. I played this version four times and lost miserably each time, twice before even laying out all the cards.
Plan D: Pull out three aces. Then set out the cards in threes and go from there, using one "cheat." Or, equivalently, pull out all four aces, start with a pile of one, then lay out piles of three, and the last stack will be a pile of two. I played this version twice and won both times, but barely.
Journal entry of the day - Green Home Resources on No Debt Plan. I haven't really dived into that page yet, but there's a picture of a small building made from some giant containers and glass and wood and concrete pillars that is strangely beautiful. |
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| Too Much Negativity |
[Apr. 14th, 2008|08:35 pm] |
I had a perfectly fine day today. But it did involve too many negative things.
I didn't enjoy eating as much as I usually do because I burned the roof of my mouth on one of the french fries I had last night.
I raced against students, hoping to add things to the system before people who had just registered ran audits that required my updates.
I refrained from making snide remarks for well over an hour. This should be character building, but I don't feel I am getting any better at it. How many ways are there to refrain from saying, "That is a load of crap" and "Actually, I don't need to hear your entire theory again; a brief reminder would suffice"?
Journal entry of the day - See the link to someone else's You Tube presentation, "An Engineer's Guide to Cats" at All Mirth, No Matter. I like the hobbies of the different cats best. The "yodeling" was also interesting. I also like the silliness like the introduction to the engineers. |
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| Procrastinating on the Defensive Driving Discount |
[Apr. 10th, 2008|10:46 pm] |
I got my notice in the mail that my car insurance is coming due again which means I've put off taking defensive driving for six months now. How does that happen?
I'll tell you how it's happening this week. I decided I should take a Saturday class while Robin is at Habitat for Humanity. But not this Saturday because I'm having breakfast and a walk with my sister to make up for our missing the following Monday's supper together while she's attending a meeting.
I had a place all figured out. It's only $5 more than the cheapest places and you get free lunch. And it's at an Italian restaurant, so it might be something good (or it might be one slice of pizza). There's a $2 coupon, so it's only $3 extra for me. And it's walking distance from my house so I can have a nice little hike before and after the class.
Only today I realized that it's not the Italian restaurant near my house that I've never been to, it's some other Italian restaurant several miles north off the same highway. How did I get confused?
Wishful thinking, that's how.
Without the walks the whole adventure sounds much less fun, and I may have to start all over in deciding.
You know what? No. I'm tired of researching defensive driving places. I think I'd rather just drive north for a while.
Journal entry of the day - Chart Silliness at All Mirth, No Matter. See, in chart form, "[w]hat kind of man the Proclaimers would be," created by someone who's had to teach too many people too many very basic technological skills recently. Fun with charts! |
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| Picking a Song |
[Apr. 2nd, 2008|08:03 pm] |
We have another informal music recital coming up.
I pulled out the songs that seemed almost ready last time but just didn't have it, but they still don't have it and I don't know how to fix it.
So I found a song I could play some notes of with the music and then later figured out some more stuff without the CD playing, and it looked like it was going to be easy and fun. But then it turns out I had misremembered the stuff I had figured out earlier, so the new things I had figured out didn't work, and I couldn't figure out anything that did work, so I went looking for a plan C.
And today I found it. It's not my favorite song. It's interesting but not all that beautiful, though the tune is pleasant enough. But I can sing it. And I can make all the chords on the guitar. And I have even figured out some totally awesome finger picking I can do. And I wrote it down while I still know it. And I wrote it in pencil so that if I think of a better way, I can just change it to the new way.
And so now I have a song! That makes me happy.
Now all I have to do is finish writing out the lyrics, finish working out the finger-picking pattern, and then practice it. I can do the chords pretty well except one transition which seems quite easy to learn. I can do the finger-picking by itself fairly well, though I need to speed it up a bit more. And I can sing the song okay at speed with strumming. So now all I have to do is melt that all together and voila! No one has to throw up when they hear me!
(Except that it's a Leonard Cohen song. Ha!)
Journal entry of the day - See the most beautiful doggy dish ever (unless you hate Victorian stuff) at Notes from a Cottage Industry. |
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| More Socializing |
[Mar. 31st, 2008|09:02 pm] |
Today I had dinner with my sister. We walked over to the old airport, passing construction detritus, a taco cart, a roasted chicken cart, a lumpy path in the grass, and a concrete hull of a future Home Depot. The Star Flight helicopter flew over us three times. We shared a pizza and then each had our own dessert (lemon cake versus chocolate sour cream donut). Then we walked back the scenic route involving different construction, a Ronald McDonald House, a well-lit church, a park, and neighbor houses.
She was testing her shoes and declared them good.
At home we showed each other You Tube videos. And I realized I forgot to link to one of my favorite ones yesterday (see fraeuleinchen's entry about it, Freeze).
(Note to self: Must not, at work meetings, even after saying something very smart sounding, suddenly start waving my arms around, but only from the elbows down, and then break out into song, singing "Look at me! I'm white and nerdy!")
We ended our visit with an exchange of hugs and baklava. Okay, I admit it--we both got hugs, but only I got baklava. |
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| Not Much Here |
[Mar. 25th, 2008|09:22 pm] |
Would you rather hear about how one topic of a multi-topic course has been changed into a whole multi-topic course itself, and the title of the first section of the new course to be offered is the exact same title as the old topic? Or would you rather hear about how I gave in and bought a big bag of cheese curls?
Yeah, me neither.
In other exciting news, a book I had checked out of the library was recalled yesterday. While I was turning it in today, I found another book I've been keeping an eye out for which was recommended to me several times over the last few years. I've enjoyed the first few pages and will probably subject you to a review soon.
Quote of the Day: "Life is too fattening to waste on mediocre chocolate." - pamwheatfree |
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| Almost Sick, Almost Cuter, and More Groceries |
[Feb. 5th, 2008|10:27 pm] |
On the way to work I decided to go home sick at noon. Fantasizing about this made it much easier to get through the morning, and by noon I felt fine, so I stayed.
Which is just as well since my boss was home sick today and another of his underlings was also thinking of going home sick.
In dance class (country and western two-step) I was supposed to learn that during a pop turn I am supposed to know to break my frame and let my arm cross over in front of me before I ever start turning. That's because:
* it's a left turn (I turn left, that makes sense to me)
* therefore the turn is "powered" by the right side (this makes little sense to me; the right side is the side that goes forward, but I would think you could also "power" a left turn by making the left side go back
* the man is leading this turn with his left hand guiding the woman's right hand (that makes sense to me)
* therefore the man is in the position to power the turn himself (I don't really get why the woman is sometimes supposed to power her own turn--that doesn't feel like following to me)
* and so, in conclusion, the woman should let her right arm cross over to her left shoulder before letting him turn her (isn't is easier for him to turn her if she doesn't break her frame in the middle of the move?)
Well, I tried to do that, but I doubt I'll be able to do it when I don't know what's coming.
The other reason we are supposed to do this is because it's cuter. And this is true. The way I do it, I have my arm over my head with my elbow sticking out and I turn just fine. The way she does it, her arm is held elegantly close in and the turn is delayed, but then quicker, so it's more dramatic as well as more elegant.
After class I went to my favorite grocery store, which I haven't been to in weeks for some reason. It was sort of fun, but also boring because it's just shopping.
Blog entry of the day - 11 Ways To Expand Your Mind And Recover From Brain Rot, a guest entry on zenhabits - "You would think I would use this new found skill for good, but no, this is what I discovered. When the guy on the show says he is 100% sure he is not the father, he isn't, and when he says he is 110% sure he is not the father, he is." Actually, this entry is mostly not funny, just a discussion of ideas for ways to work your brain, and there are more in the comments.
For example, I like Robin Noelle's idea to use platonic personal ads to meet people.
My favorite comment so far is from Fekket Cantenel:You wouldn’t think it, but watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report every night for six months actually made me very depressed and cynical. In the short term, both shows are hilarious and great in moderation, but if watched regularly (say, as a news outlet replacement), they preach a bleak, hopeless worldview.
My brother also lost his taste for it, and now gets his news from the NPR and BBC broadcasts every evening on PBS. He tells me that they're much more subtle about the bleakness, and they let you get depressed all on your own, rather than spoonfeeding it to you.
I like that phrase: "Much more subtle about the bleakness." Sounds like a good title for something. |
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| The Case of the Mysterious Tables |
[Jan. 30th, 2008|09:14 pm] |
I really am a bureaucrat.
Today I found two online tables of languages with their associated three-character codes. And instead of moving on to something more interesting, like a normal person would, I thought to myself, yikes! how do these compare to that hand-written table of languages (and associated three-character codes) that I recently coaxed out of one of my colleagues? Who made them? Who updates them? What are they used for?
And the reason I want to know? Because I'm trying to decide whether to and how to modify my own tables of language courses.
Sick, I tell you.
Except of course that's not the real reason. A control freak, which I am not, would want her tables to be complete because neat and complete tables are a beautiful thing. Whereas I don't care at all about the elegance of secret, hidden tables, at least not directly. What I'm hoping for really is that if a student gets transfer credit for language courses that we no longer offer, we can still get our system to automatically show those courses as counting toward the degree, as they should, instead of requiring an override first, or at least we can make it so that the overrides require one step instead of six.
Although no one I have talked to so far has any idea where these tables came from or what they are for, my investigations have already led me to two new pieces of data including one about how my system works (eight years on the job, and still ignorant).
Journal entry of the day - Artist Formerly Known As at 15 Minute Lunch. This guy is treating some drawings he did as a kid as though they were archeological finds with evidence as to what was happening in his life as he drew them. I had to stop reading this at work because it was getting too hard to laugh silently. Also, the tears coming out of my eyes were less than professional. I stopped right about here: "The most confusing thing about this drawing? I have no recollection of my brother ever wearing a tiny top-hat with two ants on it, who are also wearing top-hats. Never. Not even on weekends or holidays." |
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| More stuff |
[Jan. 20th, 2008|09:51 pm] |
I spent most of the day feeling kind of sick and kind of cold. I slept a lot. I did a little reading and watched recordings of some folks fixing up other people's houses. I did no dishes, laundry, exercise or anything else productive except picking up a few supplies. Now I have yarn for a bathroom rug, a watch battery (it's been five after one all day), surge protectors, and pansies.
Journal entry of the day - sparkylibrarian's This week, it's more knitting! for those of you who think knitting is always pedestrian or fuddy-duddy. Did you know there's such a thing as eyeball yarn? |
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| I'll Be in Charge of Your Poop |
[Jan. 19th, 2008|09:33 pm] |
This could be my byline:
Not because I have something to say--
Just because it's another day.
Today I got to play the game Primordial Soup. So we all began as single-celled organisms in a world where this was the highest life form. We all evolved in different ways. I went for quantity, not quality. We found speed, spores, armor, and we ate and we left droppings and there were all these little wooden squares everywhere and I uttered the most embarrassing quote, the title of this entry.
I also learned that if the directions to cooking your pizza say not to let the pizza touch the edges of your oven, but it is so huge that it won't fit in the oven without touching the sides of it, you should go ahead and take the risk and cook the pizza.
Also, plum powder, which you can find in Asian grocery stores, and which you can identify by the ingredients (prunes, licorice, and salt), tastes good sprinkled on pineapple.
Journal entry of the Day - A Random Christmas Photo Gallery at Empirical Question - "Because Christmas just isn't Christmas without snow...settling on the TV your neighbors left in the bed of their old Ford pickup truck overnight." If Santa didn't get to your house until the night after Christmas, the first picture here might explain why. (Be sure to hover your cursor over the photos for more amusing commentary.) Yes, like my last candidate for entry of the day, though a picture may be worth a thousand words, sometimes picking just the right words makes the picture a lot more fun. |
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| Feels Like Friday |
[Jan. 17th, 2008|10:15 pm] |
I just realized today feels like Friday, and I know why. Tomorrow I have no meetings at all. I've finished all the little research projects that have come my way. And so I can do whatever I want (so long as it's still work). Plus I'm having lunch with a friend.
And I don't go to dance class on Fridays anymore, so all I have is mall walking and doing whatever I want.
Quote of the day - "I don't teach polka doble."
Journal entry of the day - The Sneeze's Honey, See If The Man from Child Protective Services Would Like a Piece about how a cake turned out. You have to read the whole thing and look at the picture and then read the response, and then you might laugh out loud. |
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| Building Biceps |
[Dec. 30th, 2007|07:08 pm] |
Today I walked to Target as an excuse to walk, to get "The Holiday" for $10, and to check out the Christmas cards on clearance.
I did walk, though the whole trip turned out to be only 4,000 steps.
"The Holiday" is on sale for $13+, so I must have been remembering the wrong sale flyer.
I got 25 big red envelopes for $1.25, telling myself that I can make my own cards next year and slide them into these. I also got a bag of miniature peanut butter cups for less than $0.70. And I also found a container of scent-free liquid laundry detergent that will do 38 loads of laundry for $4. So I got four of them.
They were kind of heavy. I thought to myself "I'm building character" as I walked home.
Then, written as if to help me put that into perspective, I found Moving By Bus. 'Maybe "Buy Nothing Day' should be changed to "Move everything you own one block without the use of a motor vehicle, and then see if you really need any more so-called 'bargains'" day.'
Man, that's good.
And I probably don't need the bag of candies, even though it's such an exciting bargain, eh? |
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| To Do Stuff |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|07:07 pm] |
Okay, I have a New Year's resolution for this year. I've decided I would like to do more stuff. I spend a lot of time reading stuff, learning how to do stuff, and buying supplies for doing stuff, but I don't spend enough time actually doing stuff.
I still have to iron out a few details. For example:
What's going to count? Writing blog entries sort of counts, but I'm already doing that. Actually creating other stuff will count. Making scrapbooks from my travels will count. Making educational materials will count. Trying new recipes definitely counts, and cooking ahead for the week should probably count. Making potholders counts. Mending stuff counts, but doing laundry and dishes? Maybe not so much. Will exercise count? I don't really think it should, though I would also like to do more of that.
What am I going to give up to make time for this? Web sudoku sounds like an obvious answer. (Also, to my friends who have blogged about addictive web video games, I am not clicking on those links.) Also reading (though not all reading) and shopping (though not all shopping). I don't know really.
What is it that has been keeping me from doing stuff lately? And how can I address that? I think one answer is that my stuff is disorganized. I plan to spend much of winter break working on that. There have been several recent improvements at home that make it seem much more like it might be possible to make some space to work again.
Another (related?) answer is that I feel drained when I get home from work and want to do mindless things. So first I try to do something productive like write a journal entry or do dishes or something, and then I just read or play sudoku or watch a movie or something like that. I suspect some of the things I want to do have some mindless components to them; I need to just remember that I want to do them. Like recently I remembered that I have this yarn with which to knit some rectangles that will be put together with pieces made by other co-workers into a quilt, and I got out my knitting needles and re-taught myself how to cast-on so I could get started on that. Now I have to re-teach myself how to cast off so I can finish it and get started on my next one.
I think my new little notebook might be a good tool for helping me keep track of stuff to do, so when my brain or energy fizzles, I can just look for something appropriate.
Journal Entry of the Day - Sweet Sassafras' Thank you Wardrobe Refashion where she discuses how having vowed to make rather than buy her clothes for four months has changed her for the better. "When I see something pretty, instead of just asking myself, 'Do I like this enough to spend X dollars on it?', I have to think, 'Do I love this enough to invest the time and energy to make it?' With that has come a better understanding of my own tastes."
I bet doing anything yourself can make a real impact on how you see things in that area.
Actually, doing anything at all in a different way than you're used to can change your perspective. You hear about this after people go abroad, and there are whole journals based on people changing something about themselves for a certain time period and seeing what happens. They generally find out that they like something they never thought they would like and so there are some ways that they never go back to the way they were. |
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| Uh |
[Nov. 29th, 2007|11:06 pm] |
I suppose I should writing something other than the next paragraph, which I wrote first.
In other news, you can read more about the cruise I took from the viewpoints of chikuru (start on November 17th) and raaga123 (click on links to go to next entry). Even I learned things from these entries! |
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| Singing |
[Oct. 3rd, 2007|10:39 pm] |
It's hard to concentrate on anything because Robin is practicing a song I really like by playing it over and over on the stereo while playing and singing along on the guitar, and I am singing along, too. It's hard to write or practice Spanish while singing (an English song). So pretty.
Spanish learning site of the day - Coffee Break Spanish has 40 podcasts (and growing) for beginners. I am no longer enough of a beginner to really get a lot out of these (at least podcasts 1-9), but I do get some. In the first podcast, for example, I learned that if someone asks how you are, not only can you say bien (well), muy bien (very well), or regular (okay, fine), you can also say estupendo (stupendous - a surprisingly common answer in Spanish) and fatal (pretty awful). I admit that I mostly like these podcasts because they are from Scotland, so I really like the English accents. I also admit that I sometimes practice saying English with a Scottish accent while listening to these podcasts. |
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| Change Needed in Diet Plan |
[Sep. 28th, 2007|08:13 pm] |
After three weeks on my not-allowed-to-bring-snacks-to-work diet, I've decided that I need to make a change. First of all, I should say that I have totally succeeded in not bringing snacks to work and not running off to buy snacks once I am there. I've eaten snacks, but only ones brought to work by others.
I did sometimes get too hungry to think well, but I could not be trusted the first two weeks to have anything available, because I would have snarfed it down at the first sign of, well, remembering it was there.
By the third week, I thought I would be good enough to handle having a single snack, and I was. I brought a single snack Wednesday and did not touch it until today. Today my brain went on the fritz at around 3:30, so I had half of my snack bar. Then the other half. By 4:00 my brain wasn't working again. By the time I got off work I had a hunger headache. This is not a way I want to be living, and probably not good for me anyway.
Wednesday and Thursday, I went out to eat; today I brought my lunch. I suspect I need to make myself bigger lunches. Luckily it's easy for me to calculate the calories of what I ate for lunch over the past three days. The days I ate out, I had lunches of about 700 calories. Today my lunch had about 300 calories. Yep, that supports my hypothesis.
Spanish word of the day - próstata (pronounced PRO-sta-ta) - I learned the word because this September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. (Good treatments exist nowadays.) The word sounds so much cuter and less clinical in Spanish.
Blog of the day - Freegan Girl, about a woman who decides to try Freeganism for a month. Even if you have no interest in this topic at all, her sense of humor is great. "Not to mention the fact that I don't even eat mushrooms, so any poisonous ones I picked would promptly be fed to friends and family. That would not only be tragic; but it might also find me charged with first degree murder and while I am the kind of person who picks out a defense attorney 'just in case,' I don't want to go there over some mushrooms."
"...gentle readers, if you have any advice on how to make okra that doesn't look like it fell out of the mouth of an alien, I would very much appreciate it."
Warnings: There are typing, grammar and punctuation problems, but it's too fun to bug me. The first two entries are almost identical; just skip the description and start with day one. The entries for days 11 - 13 and day 14 also are somewhat redundant, but they are both too hilarious to skip. In fact, if you read only one entry, the funniest choice would be Days 11 - 13: Queen of the World. Actually day 14 is not as funny, but it had one of my favorite parts which involves fantasizing about using a machete. (The most informative choice would be the last one, Day 31. (The easiest way I could find to read this blog was to start with the bottom (first) entry in the August archives, clicking the "continue reading" link for each entry one at a time (and then the back button). Don't read part of it and then click the link because it jumps to the top of the entry.) |
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| Spot Update |
[Sep. 26th, 2007|11:33 pm] |
Remember when I got ink on my dress at the recital and used ink-remover stuff to try to get it off? When we last left our heroine, the dress was in the wash for the second time. It came out with a small spot which looked brownish and of about the same size as other similar spots on the dress, though you could still tell that such a spot didn't belong in that part of the dress. I had time to spray-and-wash it again and wash it again, after which it was a tiny spot which I could find only because I knew where to look. Then I had time to spray-and-wash it again and wash it again, and the next morning, it was only a tiny bit of mottling which looked just like other mottling all over the dress.
I declared victory, for victory was mine.
Spanish learning site of the day - Notes in Spanish has podcasts for students of "inspired beginner," intermediate and advanced Spanish. Pay extra to get worksheets, but I think enough is explained that a dictionary will be sufficient. One author is English, the other Spanish, so they both pronounce "podcast" as "pode-cost," only cuter. It reminds me of the boxer's girlfriend in "Pulp Fiction" who so admired pot bellies, which she pronounced more like "pote-billies." |
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| New Diet Plan |
[Aug. 22nd, 2007|11:01 pm] |
Here is my latest diet plan, scientifically formulated:
No snacks at work.
I initiated this strategy when I was too lazy to go to the store to buy snacks. It's all about using weaknesses for my own good for once.
I definitely have gotten into the habit of eating whenever I feel frustrated, annoyed, or otherwise stressed. Then I rationalize it by telling myself that my sanity is more important than my weight. (Which it is, right up until my weight threatens my life.) But of course I might not need extra food to maintain my sanity. Maybe just focusing on plowing through the work as best I can will distract me from the unpleasant feelings.
Journal entry of the day: Indigo rose's Random List Thought with ideas to maximize your comfort while traveling. These are not the same old ideas you've heard everywhere. "* Dark chocolate covered coffee beans. Better than coffee for waking me up, and doesn't give me the stomach problems I sometimes get from local coffee. I ran out two days ago. *sniff*" |
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| Walkable Neighborhoods |
[Jul. 26th, 2007|06:24 pm] |
Today I found Walk Score, a website which uses Google Maps information to calculate walkability scores for any US street address you type in. It basically looks for businesses in several categories that are in walking distance, then calculates a score based on the types of businesses, how far away they are, and how many of them there are. It also gives you a map showing all the locations.
It is agreed that there are many problems with the calculation, most based on the fact that only distance is used to calculate how easy it is to walk to a place. Better data would include such issues as safety, aesthetics, and walking distance rather than point-to-point distance.
And it doesn't tell you how good the stores, gyms, etc. are. Each category looks overly broad.
I think adding bus stops and, of course, the houses of your friends, would also make the results more helpful, but you'd still have the problems of not knowing whether the bus stops were for good buses.
It is nevertheless agreed that the numbers it provides are generally pretty good indicators. I tested this myself on several locations I know something about. 0 is the worst possible score and 100 is the best.
* my place (fairly good) - 48
* my parents' place (boring) - 31 (it turns out more places have been built since I lived there)
* my sister's place (empty suburbia) - 11
* my last place (fair) - 48
* my favorite place I've lived (quite good) - 74
* my current employer (quite good) - 82
Basically, these scores are ranked about as I expected. My current place is definitely better than my last place, but you can't tell because Google does not yet realize that the old airport even has streets in it, let alone businesses.
They also give score ranges and what they mean, and based on the scores I found, I disagree with the cut-off points. For example my current and last place, which both have scores of 48, fall just inside the "not walkable" range, and I could definitely live without a car at both places (if I could get to the houses of my far-away friends somehow). Scores between 50 and 70 are said to have many walkable locations but many everyday trips still require a car. They think you need a 70 to live someplace walkable whereas I think you need about a 45. But I was raised in places where you could walk only to schools and corner stores or drug stores and, if lucky, a library and a grocery store.
Overall, I love this site. And if I ever move again, consulting this site will be right up there on the priority list, just below getting the house inspected but above checking the flood plains. I love, love, love being able to walk places.
Oh, that's another problem with this site: of course your score could change quite a lot after you move into a place. So far, my walkability has only gotten better (for example, Wards was replaced by Target).
Oddly related journal entry - Observations from Single Ma's New 'Hood - "After nearly 3 months of exploring my new surroundings, I've made quite a few - let's call them - 'interesting' observations:
10. Every other vehicle is a Mercedes, Beamer, or luxury SUV
[snip]
1. Valet parking at the doctor's office
*faint* Where the hell am I???? ... I just wanted a good school district." |
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livingdeb's journal