OT: What was your most recent random thought? Mines...

[Bigboote]

Here in Arizona it is a different vibe. I know these seem contradictory but -

1 - if you are crossing a lane on foot in the parking lot, turn your head away from on-coming traffic and just keep walking. (Apparently, either they don't want to see what's coming or want to have plausible deniability that they stepped out in traffic.) So you have to be very, very careful in lots.

2 - conversely, as the driver, simply ignore anyone trying to pull out of a parking spot (unless you want it). Speed around their back end if necessary as they are backing up. (In NJ most folks did yield to the car backing up, probably because in NJ they assumed the person backing up would just keep going into them).

And, as someone noted, not only are stop signs (and red lights) optional in Tucson, so are speed limits. We have very few highways, but the way folks drive on the streets it isn't any wonder we have had a lot of pedestrians killed over the years.

Yes, to put it another way -- in some places, eye contact makes drivers stop, in others it makes the pedestrian stop. And in some places, running stop lights is the norm, while in others, taking off as soon as (or a little before) a light turns green is the norm, and running a red light will almost certainly cause an accident. One has to know the local driving curtoms.

That's why driving around DC is so scary -- there aren't all that many natives, so there isn't a uniform driving culture.

 

[Bama fan]

Lawdy miss clawdy, last Friday, I was crossing (in a crosswalk) from the first row of parking spaces to the front of the grocery store, when someone makes a left turn, blowing through the stop sign, within the parking lot, doing about 25. Needless to say he didn't have his signal light, which might have given me a clue he'd be barreling in to me. He missed me by a foot or two, only because I jumped back.
Continued speeding down the lot, ignoring other pedestrians, and parked in the fire lane.

When i was a kid I had a job working at a Kroger's grocery store. The parking lot was very large, and my first job was collecting the shopping carts that people left here , there , and everywhere throughout the lot. There was a curb that separated the upper and lower lots , and one opening through the curb in a clearly marked space that allowed us to move said carts from the lower lot to the storefront. One evening a lady in a big Caddy came roaring past me and my twenty odd carts, and she turned the corner and drove into the upper lot in search of a parking space near the store entrance. And of course she whipped right into the clearly marked "Do Not Park" spot where I was bound with my line of carts. As she got out I hollered to her to please move, and she just kept going. But I managed to get twenty some carts through the now too narrow gap between the curb and her left fender. Well I pushed twenty some carts down the left side of that Caddy and into the cart row in front of the store. By then it was my break time, and I heard some loud squawking coming from the lot as I sat in the drug store drinking my Coke. I never saw that Caddy in the lot again. Probably not the right thing to do, but it somehow lent a karmic glow to my 15 year old conscience.

 

[MSGRET]

Yes, to put it another way -- in some places, eye contact makes drivers stop, in others it makes the pedestrian stop. And in some places, running stop lights is the norm, while in others, taking off as soon as (or a little before) a light turns green is the norm, and running a red light will almost certainly cause an accident. One has to know the local driving curtoms.

That's why driving around DC is so scary -- there aren't all that many natives, so there isn't a uniform driving culture.

Driving in DC is a cake walk compared to here in Vegas. You have people going 65 in a 35 mile zone, at least 3 cars running a red light after it's changed. Pedestrians have to have their head on swivel when crossing a road, even when they are in a flashing yellow crosswalk where the motorist is required to stop.

 

[Skeets]

I grew up and live in NJ for about 33 years, CT for about 33 years. When ever I go back to NJ (rarely) I'm impressed that the state sport seems be be going down the parkway in stop and go traffic with the drivers behind me zipping into to "on ramp" and zooming ahead maybe 4 or 5 cars and then merging back into the slow lane. What nonsense. Now the guy behind me is now 30 yards in front of me. Makes me want to get a CCDL decal for my back window. Not that they would know what that means...

 

[FormerCTrez]

I would LOVE to know that answer.
The meaning of like and which side of aluminum foil faces up.

I always put the dull side down, and the shiny side up. "Dull in the dark, shiny in the light".

 

[FormerCTrez]

I saw the answer to this recently. According to the manufacturers, the way the aluminum goes through rollers makes one side shiny and the other dull and which side is up makes no difference. For non-stick foil there is a correct side the food should be in contact with.

Thanks for this info, but I will not share your answer with my husband. After years of teaching him about "dull in the dark, shiny in the light", I'm not about to retrain him.

 

[JavaMan]

When did we begin having to be sure we didn't get scented kitchen trash bags?

When we got married?

 

[Millenial23]

In-N-Out! That’s an easy one!!

We tried In-N-Out in a trip to CA in August for the first time ever... was not impressed. My hubby says Sonic is his favorite burger.

 

[RowdyFan]

If mirrors were never invented, how would you know what you looked like?

 

[meyers7]

And when did they stop using the words mother and father (as opposed to mom and dad)?

December 16, 1937

You're welcome. (assuming we are talking about the same "they")

 

[eebmg]

If mirrors were never invented, how would you know what you looked like?

 

[Jackcatscal]

If mirrors were never invented, how would you know what you looked like?

Narcissus knew the way.

 

[Conndog]

Many of my random thoughts are about words/phrases and how they originated. For instance, when someone says they are going to do something "right away" or "right now", I can't figure out how right came to be used in that way.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Imagine how nice it would be if people would just mind their own business.

 

[Mdoggie]

We tried In-N-Out in a trip to CA in August for the first time ever... was not impressed. My hubby says Sonic is his favorite burger.

Maybe your not used to having you fast food made from 100% fresh ingredients at the time of your order. In-N-Out is legendary!!!

 

[Centerstream]

Yes

That's what I thought too.

 

[triaddukefan]

30 minutes on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical followed by a trip to Waffle house........... bacon or sausage

 

[Stymie]

Not sure you’re breakin’ even on that deal.

 

[MooseJaw]

To whom?

We tried In-N-Out in a trip to CA in August for the first time ever... was not impressed. My hubby says Sonic is his favorite burger.

Sonic is OK, but for a real treat try Culvers butter burgers. Also my favorite is Culvers spicy crispy chicken sammy.

 

[Carnac]

Maybe your not used to having you fast food made from 100% fresh ingredients at the time of your order. In-N-Out is legendary!!!

Agreed. In-N-Out is an acquired taste. Similar to that of beer.
I like Sonic cheeseburgers, and I love their “tater tots.”
We have several In-N-Out restaurants locally, but only one Sonic restaurant whose customer service is severely lacking. We have many fast food restaurants locally. You name it, we’ve got one here. Lots of Thai BBQ restaurants also. Three places you can go to and their drive-thru line is ALWAYS long……..McDonald’s, In-N-Out and Chic-Fil-A.

 

[Mdoggie]

Imagine how nice it would be if people would just mind their own business.

Boringggggggg!

 

[Bigboote]

Driving in DC is a cake walk compared to here in Vegas. You have people going 65 in a 35 mile zone, at least 3 cars running a red light after it's changed. Pedestrians have to have their head on swivel when crossing a road, even when they are in a flashing yellow crosswalk where the motorist is required to stop.

I haven't driven in Vegas in probably 25 years. But the population has exploded, so just as DC, so there aren't many natives there either.

Can't do 65 in a 35 zone here anymore because there are speed (and red-light) cameras everywhere. In the town north of me, there are a few places where the speed limit changes three times in less than a mile. Each has a camera, and each camera takes in over a million dollars a year.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Agreed. In-N-Out is an acquired taste. Similar to that of beer.
I like Sonic cheeseburgers, and I love their “tater tots.”
We have several In-N-Out restaurants locally, but only one Sonic restaurant whose customer service is severely lacking. We have many fast food restaurants locally. You name it, we’ve got one here. Lots of Thai BBQ restaurants also. Three places you can go to and their drive-thru line is ALWAYS long……..McDonald’s, In-N-Out and Chic-Fil-A.

We didn't like In-N-Out either. Don't do Sonic at all.

I agree about the Chic-Fil-A lines. We have a lot of McDonalds, I go get sodas twice a day in fact. Rarely see long lines at any of them.

For burgers (chain) do like Five Guys. My "go to" for burgers has become a local joint called Divine Bovine. Really high quality meat, home made tater tots and brussels sprouts too.

 

[Carnac]

We didn't like In-N-Out either. Don't do Sonic at all.

I agree about the Chic-Fil-A lines. We have a lot of McDonalds, I go get sodas twice a day in fact. Rarely see long lines at any of them.

For burgers (chain) do like Five Guys. My "go to" for burgers has become a local joint called Divine Bovine. Really high quality meat, home made tater tots and brussels sprouts too.

And a tall ice cold one to wash it all down. That’s Nirvana.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I haven't driven in Vegas in probably 25 years. But the population has exploded, so just as DC, so there aren't many natives there either.

Can't do 65 in a 35 zone here anymore because there are speed (and red-light) cameras everywhere. In the town north of me, there are a few places where the speed limit changes three times in less than a mile. Each has a camera, and each camera takes in over a million dollars a year.

Tucson voted out the cameras (they were left turn, mostly). I don't have the answer, now everyone makes turns after the light turns.

But I voted against, as well. I got a ticket for less than .1 of a second, it turns out the yellows were set extra short at camera intersections and I never expected it to change. I wasn't even trying to beat it, and kept going as I thought I was already in the intersection. Turns out in Arizona it isn't the "stop" line that counts (which I was partially past) it is the edge of the curb. So if I had jammed on the brakes I would have been ok. Too annoying.