On 05/23/2018 03:46 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:
> Hi!
>
> On 22.05.2018 23:40, The Real Bev wrote:
>> On 05/21/2018 03:48 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:
>>> Eventually, I think you'll have to go back to public transport.
>>
>> Apparently, but I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and public
>> transportation is woefully inadequate for general usage. I can drive to
>> my daughter's house ~30 miles away in half an hour. It would take 5
>> hours by public transportation. There are just too many places to go
>> to/from here to make this practical.
>>
>> Uber is suggested, but I don't see how that makes a difference. A car
>> on the road is a car on the road. Period. It solves the parking
>> problem, of course.
>
> One might conceive something like buses that do not travel on
> predefined routes but according to demand. Passengers use their
> smartphone to register their location and destination and their
> desired time of departure, and a computer system routes the
> buses accordingly. Something similar is being built in Hamburg,
> Germany; we'll see how it goes, but given enough buses (or vans,
> which is what they'll use there), I can imagine it should work
> well. And be cheaper than taxis or Ubers, too. (Ubers are not
> really a viable alternative anyway -- they're affordable only by
> exploiting the owners/drivers.)

"Jitney" system. For many years a distinguished British gentleman
annoyed out City Fathers by advocating (loudly, and he had a beautiful
singing voice) such a system at every council meeting. He ran for city
council once, accepting no contribution greater than $5 (my only EVER
political contribution) and lost, unfortunately. There's a cheap/free
local bus system, but I've never used it. The Metro system (parts of LA
County) is very nearly free for seniors, but I use it only for the few
places I go to where I would have to pay for parking at $4/hour or more.

>>> I have since come up with another theory: speeding is less fun
>>> in SUVs, which are regrettably on the rise over here too, albeit
>>> not nearly as much as in the US from what I read.
>>
>> Worse gas mileage = more expensive, but I don't think that matters as
>> much as time. You can see further in an SUV than in a Corolla, which
>> would seem to indicate that you could drive faster...
>
> The same speed feels the faster the higher you're sitting. Hence,
> maybe 100 mph in an SUV feels like 140 mph in a sedan (of similar
> size, engine, and ride quality).
>
>> Pretty much the same here, although you're not allowed to drive
>> small-displacement motorcycles and other slow-by-design vehicles on the
>> freeways.
>
> There is such a limit in Germany as well, but it's ridiculously
> slow: you must be able to drive 60 km/h (36 mph) to legally use
> an Autobahn. The only vehicles that actually go that slow are
> driveable cranes and such, and sometimes city buses with standing
> passengers and motorbikes with trailers (both of which can't
> legally go faster).

There are places out in the desert where the freeway is the only road
that bicycles are allowed to use on the shoulder. I don't think we
have speed limits for city buses, but I've never seen any (that I
remember) on the freeway. Tour buses are common on the freeways and
seem to exceed the nominal speed limit as often as cars do.

>> BTW, your English is perfect. If you're not a native English speaker
>> I'm impressed as all hell!
>
> Thank you. I was in England twice for a couple of weeks as a
> teenager, and I've mostly been reading English books and watching
> English movies ever since (and of course, websites & newsgroups).

Do you have a British or American accent?

We've been watching a German TV series called Bad Banks (in English).
It's in German and sometimes French with English subtitles. It's truly
impressive that the actors speak genuine unaccented American English as
well as what sounds to my ears to be perfect German (I studied for 6
weeks and couldn't take it any more) and French (5 years). I'm also
amazed at the Australian actors with perfect American accents.

The idea that people can grow up speaking several languages natively is
enviable.

--
Cheers, Bev
Not all cultures are equal. If they were, we
would have a lot more cannibal restaurants.