Petty Complaint Number 3,576

Here is something I've noticed among drivers: leaving a full car-length between yourself and the car ahead of you when stopped at a red light.

Why?

Maintaining proper distance from other cars while riding down the road is important. It's wise to leave plenty of stopping distance. I think it makes sense to keep your distance when in stop-and-go traffic. But, while waiting at a traffic light?

It's not usually a major problem for me, of course. There are times when I'm blocked from entering the turning lane by the car that waits a car-length back. That has cost me a traffic-light cycle of waiting time more than once. But I am patient; I can handle this.

Still. Why?

A Theory of Relative Coolness

Driving today and listening to satellite radio, I heard a DJ fire off The Clash's version of I Fought the Law.

It's a great version of the old Bobby Fuller Five song and a fine rock tune, but I would have preferred some earlier, harder, punk-rock Clash.

Then I realized that it could have been worse, that he could have played Rock the Casbah, one of the few Clash songs you ever hear on commercial radio. That one is also a good song, but has almost been ruined through repetition.

It got me thinking about gradations of cool in choosing tunes to play by bands like the Clash or, for that matter, The Dead, Phish, or other popular but far-from-the-mainstream bands. (Note to younger readers: This will be true for today's great bands; it just takes a little time for things to get to this point. These are the ones I know about from my generation.)

If you really want to play a great rock song by the Clash, you should play something from an early album. I prefer things like Safe European Home or White Riot. But those are tunes for purists. I Fought The Law is a safe, middle-of-the-road choice. Those who don't really care will play Rock the Casbah.

There are levels of cool in cases like these.

Coolest is something from early days that shows the promise and potential of a band, but came out before they became widely known.

Pretty cool would be something from when a band started to make an impact on the larger audience.

A little lame is to play that first hit song, the one that brought he general public into the audience.

Lamest is to play the song that many people like, but a majority of those folks would hate the band's earlier stuff.

Yes, I am a music snob.

Eleventh Golf Game in 2005

Andy Southmayd and I played 18 holes today at The Rookery, a few miles north of Lewes. As State employees, we get Columbus Day off. Our wives and kids, as teachers and students, do not. That is not particularly fair, but it does mean that we can play golf without sacrificing a day-off with our families.

I played badly, with the usual few good shots and a hole or two on which I scored par or only one-over par. Those holes are how the golf-gods hook you and make sure you'll come back for more.

It was a grey day, threatening rain but never really carrying out that threat. In fact there was some doubt, looking at the forecast, whether we'd be able to get out and play. It never did actually rain on us, but the course was soaking wet; by the end of the day, so were we.

A very wet course has some consequences. You don't get much of a fairway roll, just a short rooster-tail effect. In very wet spots, getting the club-head under the ball -- which should leave a large divot and a lofted shot -- results instead in a deadened, dredged muff as the mud sucks the power from the club. And, it can be harder to read the speed of the greens.

These are all excuses, of course. I'm a terrible golfer. But I do enjoy trying.

A Trip to Atlantic City

Karen and I took an overnight trip to Atlantic City this week-end to see the John Mayer Trio in Concert. Colleen and Christina stayed with their buddies the Southmayds; we spent an expensive night in the luxury of the new Borgata Casino and Spa.

The ride across the Delaware Bay was rough. The weather was overcast, rainy and windy. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry was rocking as it steamed across the mouth of the Bay. Long, large waves were rolling in from the Atlantic. Towards the end of the ride I looked out and caught another of the Ferry fleet coming out of the mist from the Cape May side.

I found myself thinking of those old movies of merchant ships plying the stormy North Atlantic in defiance of German U-Boats during World War Two. I find romanticizing the view helps stave off sea-sickness.

Atlantic City itself was a whole new thing for us. We're not really casino-going people, Karen and I. The Borgata is one of the newer things in Atlantic City. It is said to be the tallest building in all of New Jersey and seems to contain a whole city indoors. There were people of every age, color, ethnic background, and level of taste wandering the Casino, the marble-paved shopping area, and palatial hotel lobby. Half of them were smoking.

Karen noticed that every second person seemed to be carrying a dress shirt, on a hanger. We haven't figured that out yet.

The John Mayer Trio was great. John Mayer is best known for a string of fresh, light pop tunes. He's also a demon guitar player with a strong sense of rock riffs. He'd been on tour as opening act for the Rolling Stones; we caught him on a rare night on his own. He was clearly having a blast, playing what he wanted when and how he wanted. There were really only two of his hits in the set (at least that I recognized). One was in the encore.

During the set, Mayer played, and channeled, Ray Charles, Jimmy Hendrix, and James Brown, among others. He mixed-in quotes from a variety of sources and was clear, fluid, and powerful as a guitarist. He has an interesting way of turning what he plays into a full-body dance, with the guitar as his partner.

It wasn't what we'd been expecting, based on what John Mayer music gets played on the radio, but it was a great show.

Now we're back and getting ready for another week of school and work.

A Lovely Evening in Rehoboth Beach

I took a brief stroll down the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk this evening. I had dropped Christina at the Methodist Church for Children's Bell Choir practice and had a short while to myself. I thought it would be pleasant to have a look at the ocean. It was a lovely evening.


It has been warmer than one would expect for October and, more to the point, still depressingly humid. It was raining on my ride home from Dover, but skies at the beach were mostly clear and the temperatures were low enough to make the humidity bearable.

It was good to take a gentle walk. It's just about time for me to start working back into some form of work-out. My blood clot treatment is coming along well enough that I don't really have the excuse to loaf anymore. I've started taking the stairs at work again -- some -- and I should start a regular program of walking to get back into something approaching shape.

This sort of walk will be just fine.

Somehow This Just Looks Wrong

I guess I just don't see this "mag-wheel" look (If that's the right terminology) on this car. Just strikes me as the wrong choice.

My Niece Will be Living in Usti nad Orlici!­

My niece Isabel is moving to Usti nad Orlici­, a town in the Czech Republic. (My best guess pronunciation is ooosh-tee nod or-LI-chee)

Isabel is a year or so out of college. She's been casting about for the right way to share her gifts with the world and has decided to teach in the Czech Republic. I think she will be teaching English; she'll be learning Czech. She wrote recently to say she has almost finished her training in Prague and is looking forward to the "lovely flat" that she gets as part of her payment for teaching in Usti nad Orlici.

I think she'll do well. Isabel is an open, friendly, very likeable young woman. Her's is a good face for the US to present to the world.

Once She learns Czech, maybe Isabel can translate the rest of the Usti nad Orlici web site for us?

A Trip to Niagara Falls

The major social event of this year's NSGIC Conference was a trip to Niagara Falls on Wednesday afternoon.

We took buses from Rochester to the big bridge just below the falls and into Canada. We spent a few hours wandering along the Canadian side, down into the tunnels below the falls, and out into the mist on the Maid of the Mist. We had a wonderful meal and then came back to Rochester.

The NSGIC Conference came to an end this afternoon. It has been a busy week and I've had little time to get online and blog. We started with meetings Sunday morning and have been going strong ever since, with only a few breaks like the Niagara Falls trip.

I'm pleased to report that I was elected to the NSGIC Board of Directors earlier this week. That means I will have another morning of meetings tomorrow before I fly home. I'll have regular teleconference over the next two years and may be called on to go into DC for meetings from time to time. I expect that being on the Board will mean a good deal of work, but it will be exciting and challenging and I am looking forward to it.

Picture Time

An annual feature of the NSGIC Conference is the group photo. Everyone in attendance is asked to gather in some spot chosen as large enough to hold them all. Each is given a sheet of paper with a number printed in large font. We write our name on that paper and hold it in front of our face for the first few exposures. Then we hide the papers and smile nice for the camera.

Rick Memmel, long the GIS coordinator for the state of Wyoming, is the trail boss of the conference as a whole and the group photo in particular. Rick knows how to tell large groups what to do. Above, he's giving us our orders while, on the ladder behind him, the photographer focuses.

After a few days of rain, today dawned bright and sunny. It was perfect for our photo. Afterwards, Sandy Schenck and I had a chance for a short walk around downtown.


There is some great architecture in Rochester. Some of it is going to waste, but there is still some to be seen.

Rainy Days in Rochester

It has been a rainy few days in Rochester. That makes no real difference, though. My world has shrunk to the Ballroom and meeting rooms, on the second floor, and my room on the 17th floor of the Hyatt Regency.

The annual NSGIC Conference really didn't start until this morning, but I was in meetings yesterday (Sunday) from 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. The official start was this morning at about 8:30. I left the final session early this evening. I was tired, so I called it quits at 10:00 p.m.


This is the plenary session this morning. The crowd will thin a bit each day until Friday morning when we finish-up with a closing Board meeting.

I hope to be in on that meeting. I am running for Board of Directors of NSGIC and had to stand up in this morning's meeting and ask for votes. I kept it light. I kept it short. I hope that works.

Tonight we heard a fascinating report from a County GIS manager from Ohio who spent time in Mississippi as a volunteer with the GIS Corps following Katrina. He was part of a team that went in to help local, state and federal officials respond by providing the kind of geo-enabled intelligence that only GIS can provide. GIS combines database information with maps to create pictures worth more than thousands of words.

We had also heard earlier in the day from a NASA staffer who lost his home in Louisiana in the storm and is dealing with most of his extended family having lost homes as well. He told us that this is his first trip back into civilization since the storm. He was still very raw and there is some anger there.

Now, it's late. I'd better get to bed. We start again first thing tomorrow.