| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
In their greater friends group of perhaps 20 friends total, I think 4 of them have licenses.Instead of being stunned, I'm intensely curious.
How do those 16 kids get places they want to go?
Do they socialize online so much that they don't need to meet in person?
Do they simply use ride-share services?
Is there an informal barter cooperative where drivers-with-cars trade transportation services for some other good?
I always found having weed could get you a ride anywhere.
Edit: Don't look so shocked, this was in the 90s, it was different times.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I live in Wisconsin (in rural areas until I was 20) and I didn't get my driver's license until I was 24.
Don't need one to saddle the cow :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In their greater friends group of perhaps 20 friends total, I think 4 of them have licenses.Instead of being stunned, I'm intensely curious.
Good questions, all.
How do those 16 kids get places they want to go?
They are surprisingly tolerant of public transportation. For example, to get to DVC by car is 40 minutes and around $5 worth of gas. To get there by BART and bus is 90 minutes and $10.25, if memory serves. Yet the kids are willing to take more than double the time and price to avoid driving. We also live in Albany, where to get from one corner to the other is 1.5 miles, so if they're just visiting friends' houses they walk. And Albany is safe enough that teen girls walking home alone at midnight or 1:00 am isn't unusual, and isn't thought of as dangerous in any way.
Do they socialize online so much that they don't need to meet in person?
Depends on the kid. The same teen girl who routinely walks home at all hours also socializes in person every single day; she's a massive extrovert. Impus Major likes to see people in person almost every day as well. Impus Minor is happy with social events once per week or two, much like me.
Do they simply use ride-share services? Is there an informal barter cooperative where drivers-with-cars trade transportation services for some other good?
Nope. It's all public transportation or walking unless they're socializing with the Impii. So the Impii get invited to a LOT of stuff I don't know that they'd normally want to do, so I strongly encourage them to say, "No."
They are definitely the "friends who get invited places because they have a car," but they're well aware of that fact and they seem to manage their time (and their ability to say, "No,") quite well.| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I live in Wisconsin (in rural areas until I was 20) and I didn't get my driver's license until I was 24.Don't need one to saddle the cow :)
Oh, you don't saddle a cow, you hop on it's back and go where it's going.
Fortunately, this is the dairy state so if you hop on enough cows you'll get to where you need to be fairly quickly.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
That's a shame. I like the idea of a crazed Wisconsinite saddled on a bull and charging across the prairies with an enormous bratwurst for a lance.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
That's a shame. I like the idea of a crazed Wisconsinite saddled on a bull and charging across the prairies with an enormous bratwurst for a lance.
Nope, if they charge across the prairie they're liable to spill their beer in the other hand, it's more like a slow meander with a lot of cursing.
*SIGH*. I spoke too soon.
The reason I wrote about none of the kids' friends driving was because Impus Minor wanted to go to Walnut Creek with "them" yesterday, but both our cars were in use so he had to postpone his trip to today.
I didn't think much about it, except to wonder about modern kids going to a mall for fun.
Nope, turns out that "User Girl" ordered something (probably clothing) and it was delivered to a Walnut Creek store, so she convinced Impus Minor to drive her there and back. As he put it, 2.5 hours of driving for 30 minutes at the mall.
So much for being good at saying, "No."
(And yes, I'm tired enough of this particular person's antics that I feel "User Girl is an appropriate sobriquet.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I learned that if you tell a painter "Yeah, but what I'm doing is artwork! You're just painting walls" they'll get super pissed off.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We couldn't graduate high school without passing driver's ed, and you couldn't pass driver's ed without earning the license.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
We couldn't graduate high school without passing driver's ed, and you couldn't pass driver's ed without earning the license.
We couldn't graduate without passing driver's ed but you didn't need to get your driver's license to pass driver's ed.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We couldn't graduate high school without passing driver's ed, and you couldn't pass driver's ed without earning the license.We couldn't graduate without passing driver's ed but you didn't need to get your driver's license to pass driver's ed.
Same.
What's interesting is that I thought it was just a "California thing", but sounds like it was nationwide:
(1) Due to budget cuts, Driver's Ed was cut from high schools statewide. (I blamed the infamous Prop 13, but sounds like I might be wrong.)
(2) Due to an extremely high mortality rate among 16-17-year-old drivers, California passed much stricter license requirements for kids under 18: You have to pay a professional, state-licensed driving instructor for xx hours of instruction and yy hours of hands-on experience before you can even get a learner's permit. And for once, the law worked as intended and vastly reduced the number of teen fatalities. However, whether that's because it's making them safer drivers or whether it's because no parents want to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to get their kids trained hasn't been studied. I strongly suspect the latter.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And speaking of the California government surprising me by doing something right, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have to report for jury duty on Monday (I'm in Group 1, so unless they don't need any jurors for the week, I have to report).
I checked last night to see how the distribution to the various courthouses looked (as I said, we're car-impacted and public transportation stinks to some of the courthouses), and almost all of the jurors were asked to report via Zoom.
In other words, no more taking BART to a smelly old courthouse in downtown Oakland just to sit in their waiting room for hours waiting to be assigned to a case. You can just Zoom in, leave Zoom on in the background while you're doing other things, and see whether or not you get assigned to a court case (in which case I assume you have to go in).
My belief is that in the name of randomness about half the reporting jurors get assigned to court cases, but I have no idea as to the true number.
(According to this site, the number is only 14% (it says 50% of summoned jurors are required to appear and 7% of summoned jurors are sent to a courtroom, so math says that's 14% of those required to appear), but I don't believe that. They're not going to waste THAT many people's time.)
Well, I'll find out more on Monday!
Remember those guys charging $120/foot to replace a fence? I think their big brothers are across the street right now.
Our across-the-street neighbors are having their back fence replaced. OK. Big deal?
There are THREE flatbed trucks parked out front. Piles of pressure-treated lumber, concrete bags, wheelbarrows, and steel reinforcements. Maybe 8 guys working in total.
For a grand total of roughly 70 feet (22m) of fencing.
I hesitate to ponder what that fence is costing per foot.
And the real question: With 8 guys, are they going to manage to get it done in one day, or will it take two?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
They should have hired captain yesterday.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
They should have hired captain yesterday.
They'd be done in half the time for a third the price. I don't think that's what they're going for here.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
And honestly, if you ever wanted to see a group that was doing its level best to show you that you're getting what you paid for, this group is it. They exude professionalism. Nail guns are a'firin'. They're yelling at each other to make sure everyone's doing something important. They're hauling what appears to be high-quality lumber. There's not a single Home Depot logo in sight.
You look at these guys and you think, "Holy carp! That's going to be a fence that can withstand the apocalypse!"
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
We couldn't graduate high school without passing driver's ed, and you couldn't pass driver's ed without earning the license.We couldn't graduate without passing driver's ed but you didn't need to get your driver's license to pass driver's ed.
Same. You just had to successfully test to get your learner's permit.
But in class, I had to put tire chains on the vice principal's massive truck while everyone watched, and we were timed.
And speaking of the California government surprising me by doing something right, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have to report for jury duty on Monday (I'm in Group 1, so unless they don't need any jurors for the week, I have to report).
I checked last night to see how the distribution to the various courthouses looked (as I said, we're car-impacted and public transportation stinks to some of the courthouses), and almost all of the jurors were asked to report via Zoom.
In other words, no more taking BART to a smelly old courthouse in downtown Oakland just to sit in their waiting room for hours waiting to be assigned to a case. You can just Zoom in, leave Zoom on in the background while you're doing other things, and see whether or not you get assigned to a court case (in which case I assume you have to go in).
My belief is that in the name of randomness about half the reporting jurors get assigned to court cases, but I have no idea as to the true number.
(According to this site, the number is only 14% (it says 50% of summoned jurors are required to appear and 7% of summoned jurors are sent to a courtroom, so math says that's 14% of those required to appear), but I don't believe that. They're not going to waste THAT many people's time.)
Well, I'll find out more on Monday!
There is that whole process—in full lawsuits, at least—of both sides being allowed to reject a number of jurors just because, so they need a lot of spares.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
Don't be so pessimistic. Its California. Your Apocalypse could be wildfire, earthquake, mudslide, riot, or drought.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There is that whole process—in full lawsuits, at least—of both sides being allowed to reject a number of jurors just because, so they need a lot of spares.And speaking of the California government surprising me by doing something right, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have to report for jury duty on Monday (I'm in Group 1, so unless they don't need any jurors for the week, I have to report).
I checked last night to see how the distribution to the various courthouses looked (as I said, we're car-impacted and public transportation stinks to some of the courthouses), and almost all of the jurors were asked to report via Zoom.
In other words, no more taking BART to a smelly old courthouse in downtown Oakland just to sit in their waiting room for hours waiting to be assigned to a case. You can just Zoom in, leave Zoom on in the background while you're doing other things, and see whether or not you get assigned to a court case (in which case I assume you have to go in).
My belief is that in the name of randomness about half the reporting jurors get assigned to court cases, but I have no idea as to the true number.
(According to this site, the number is only 14% (it says 50% of summoned jurors are required to appear and 7% of summoned jurors are sent to a courtroom, so math says that's 14% of those required to appear), but I don't believe that. They're not going to waste THAT many people's time.)
Well, I'll find out more on Monday!
Right, but that's after you've been assigned to a courtroom. So the process is:
(1) Receive a summons.
(2) Call to see whether you have to go in. The web site claims that 50% of potential jurors have to go in. Neither Shiro nor I believe this. My rate is 25-33%, and Shiro's is under 10%. But still, just because you're summoned there's definitely under a 50% chance you go in at all. This is all very sensible, as you always want a pool that's vastly bigger than your potential need, and making someone call in costs them virtually nothing.
(3) Once you go in, you sit around in the juror waiting room until you either get sent home or assigned to a courtroom. This is the single-most-annoying part of jury duty. Why call me in if a courtroom isn't ready for me? Even worse, this is where that supposed 14% comes from: Only 14% of jurors get to go from the waiting room to a courtroom. Again, I find this statistic dubious -- My memory certainly isn't perfect, but I think I've been sent to a courtroom 4 times and sent home 3 times, so either I'm extremely (un)lucky or that 14% is ridiculously low.
(4) Once you're in a courtroom, you get to plead bias (Shiro literally ended up in a courtroom where one of the potential jurors said, "Hey! That's my brother!") or hardship ("I'm a sole caregiver") and the judge decides whether or not to let you go. Some judges are really cool about it (I had one judge who said, "I know most of you don't get paid for jury duty, and this trial is going to last 6-8 weeks, so if you have a job and you're not going to get paid while you're here, you're excused,") and some are jerks ("I don't care that your company is having layoffs right now and deciding who to let go. They're not allowed to lay you off because you're on jury duty, so if they do, let me know." As if my company would ever say, "You're laid off because of jury duty," instead of just, "You didn't make the cut.")
(5) Finally, you get to the lawyering that I loathe: Each lawyer gets to pick and choose jurors to try to get the panel that they want. So much for a "jury of your peers". It's now a "jury hand-picked by lawyers to get the result they want". I hate it.
You also get asked pertinent questions that may get you excused (I was sent to an improperly stored gun trial and I have extremely strong opinions on that topic, which would have gotten me kicked if I hadn't already been kicked for the, "I won't get paid for 6-8 weeks," bit).
And then you're on a jury.
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons. So the probability of being on a jury is still extremely low.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Don't be so pessimistic. Its California. Your Apocalypse could be wildfire, earthquake, mudslide, riot, or drought.
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
If by 'Apocalypse' we assume a totally unexpected cataclysm, then it could even cover that one super-storm of the millennium that will cause an actual flooding (no one will expect that in Cali making it perfect apocalypse option), or a hyper-tsunami after all of the Japan's and Kamchatka's volcanoes explode at once.
And there is always a chance of zombie apocalypse.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Don't be so pessimistic. Its California. Your Apocalypse could be wildfire, earthquake, mudslide, riot, or drought.
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
If by 'Apocalypse' we assume a totally unexpected cataclysm, then it could even cover that one super-storm of the millennium that will cause an actual flooding (no one will expect that in Cali making it perfect apocalypse option), or a hyper-tsunami after all of the Japan's and Kamchatka's volcanoes explode at once.
And there is always a chance of zombie apocalypse.
The fence would help with that.
Right, but that's after you've been assigned to a courtroom. So the process is:
Ah, I thought it's the chance of taking part in actual court proceedings...
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons. So the probability of being on a jury is still extremely low.
Right, but that's after you've been assigned to a courtroom. So the process is:Ah, I thought it's the chance of taking part in actual court proceedings...
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons. So the probability of being on a jury is still extremely low.Maybe it's you?
What surprises me the most is that a Pole knows so much about U.S. court proceedings. Is there anything you'd like to share with us?
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons.Maybe it's you?
I'm honestly surprised it hasn't been me more often. As I said, by my memory I've been in a courtroom 4 times (maybe 5):
- As a college student and full 1980s punk rocker. The judge dragged out of me that I was a college student, and yes I'd be missing classes, and he dismissed me. I thought it was funny that he wanted me on the jury less than I wanted to be there.- As a math instructor in my 20s. It took me a while to get the judge to understand that I was the instructor, not a student, and over 200 students would be missing several weeks of classes if I served on the jury. Once he realized that colleges don't provide substitute teachers he let me go immediately.
- The aforementioned "layoff judge". I served on that jury.
- The gun case. I was excused because of my job, not because of my opinions.
I vaguely recall a fifth case where I was dismissed because the jury was seated before I was questioned, but not once have I been excused because of my opinions.
Which honestly surprises me.
And, as expected, I'm required to show up in person on Monday.
Fortunately, it's at a courthouse right next to a BART station, so at least I won't have to take a car.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
We couldn't graduate high school without passing driver's ed, and you couldn't pass driver's ed without earning the license.We couldn't graduate without passing driver's ed but you didn't need to get your driver's license to pass driver's ed.Same. You just had to successfully test to get your learner's permit.
But in class, I had to put tire chains on the vice principal's massive truck while everyone watched, and we were timed.
We just had to not tell the vice principal about the driver's ed teacher keeping beer in the hatchback of the driver's ed car and we passed.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Don't be so pessimistic. Its California. Your Apocalypse could be wildfire, earthquake, mudslide, riot, or drought.
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
I mean, you forgot volcanic eruption, the Kardashians, intelligent apes, and Kaiju attacks.
I'm pretty sure they drench the golden gate bridge in Kaiju pheromones every morning, just in case.
They should have hired captain yesterday.They'd be done in half the time for a third the price. I don't think that's what they're going for here.
Yes, that is exactly what would happen.
I have the same name as my retired father so when we get the jury summons,
Papa wolf "whoo whoo 60 bucks"
I have the same name as my retired father so when we get the jury summons,
Papa wolf "whoo whoo 60 bucks"
It's $15/day in California, and only after the first day. So Monday I'm paying the BART fare out-of-pocket. Tuesday the daily payment will probably cover it, as long as I don't buy lunch.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What surprises me the most is that a Pole knows so much about U.S. court proceedings. Is there anything you'd like to share with us?Right, but that's after you've been assigned to a courtroom. So the process is:Ah, I thought it's the chance of taking part in actual court proceedings...
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons. So the probability of being on a jury is still extremely low.Maybe it's you?
Probably most of the world knows US court proceedings better than their native ones, maybe except for UK...
Thanks, Hollywood!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've only ever been on one in my life, in spite of maybe 20-30 summons.Maybe it's you?I'm honestly surprised it hasn't been me more often. As I said, by my memory I've been in a courtroom 4 times (maybe 5):
- As a college student and full 1980s punk rocker. The judge dragged out of me that I was a college student, and yes I'd be missing classes, and he dismissed me. I thought it was funny that he wanted me on the jury less than I wanted to be there.
Did he want to get rid of you because of the punk-rocker part, or because he didn't want you to miss classes, though?
- As a math instructor in my 20s. It took me a while to get the judge to understand that I was the instructor, not a student, and over 200 students would be missing several weeks of classes if I served on the jury. Once he realized that colleges don't provide substitute teachers he let me go immediately.
- The aforementioned "layoff judge". I served on that jury.
- The gun case. I was excused because of my job, not because of my opinions.I vaguely recall a fifth case where I was dismissed because the jury was seated before I was questioned, but not once have I been excused because of my opinions.
Which honestly surprises me.
Wasn't there a situation where you were dismissed once one of the lawyeres learned that you are a math teacher, and thus you are actually trained in logic?
Anyway, my brain is a storage full of not-particularly-useful-bits-of-trivia (hey, I converted approximate temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius in my head earlier today, with less than 1 degree Celsius off).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wasn't there a situation where you were dismissed once one of the lawyeres learned that you are a math teacher, and thus you are actually trained in logic?
That's what all my colleagues said would happen and claimed it always happened to them, but it never happened to me personally.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Escapist magazine musing's about Redfall's flaws.
"Nobody asked if these features worked for the sort of game Redfall was shaping up to be; they just decided they had to be here and had the authority to make that decision stick."
Did you?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Don't be so pessimistic. Its California. Your Apocalypse could be wildfire, earthquake, mudslide, riot, or drought.
Then you realize you're in California and the apocalypse is going to be a wildfire, and it's a wooden fence, so not so much...
I mean, you forgot volcanic eruption, the Kardashians, intelligent apes, and Kaiju attacks.
I'm pretty sure they drench the golden gate bridge in Kaiju pheromones every morning, just in case.
Only when the Kardashians crawl out of the volcanoes themselves are we really in trouble.
Escapist magazine musing's about Redfall's flaws.
"Nobody asked if these features worked for the sort of game Redfall was shaping up to be; they just decided they had to be here and had the authority to make that decision stick."
Did you?
I can't think of a single "feature" of that game I would have requested...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ah, Bay Area public transportation! I'm going to have to take BART to downtown Oakland during rush hour tomorrow. So I carefully emptied my wallet of all valuables except my ID, got my earplugs and face mask ready, and should be able to get to the courthouse in an as anonymous and nondescript manner as possible.
When you have to go through that much effort to feel comfortable riding the public transportation in your area, it has an issue.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Fantasy Monster: Gloryling Gremlin
A self-professed military-genius gremlin.
Fantasy Monster: Gloryling Gremlin
A self-professed military-genius gremlin.
I like these guys!
Ugh. This weekend provided no rest whatsoever.
I find it interesting to reflect on my feelings about jury duty over the years. When I was young, I was sure I'd be dismissed so I never particularly worried about it. As I got older I got more and more pessimistic, to the point that I'm going in today fully expecting to have to serve on a jury for the next 3-4 weeks.
Which is kind of funny, because as an older white male, I'm the kind of guy defense attorneys like to dismiss without cause. For some reason, I just don't see it, because with Impus Major's final on Wednesday it's just too inconvenient, and life has a way of making my existence as inconvenient as possible.
I'm happy. I'm comfortable. I'm just constantly irritatingly inconvenienced...
EDIT: And "fixing" jury duty would be such a no-brainer: If you're a full-time employee with at least 1 year of experience, you start accumulating "jury duty" pay with your company at a rate of 1 week per year, but this is never paid out to you unless you actually serve jury duty. Suddenly most people are fully paid for jury duty. Everyone's happy. And it's a minor blip in corporate pay, amounting to less than 10% of what they set aside for vacation pay.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm sorry you are inconvenienced. But we need open minded jurors like you, as opposed to people who want to just say someone is guilty so they can go home.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I find if I walk in and pretend like I'm better than everyone I get dismissed fairly quickly.
No one wants to admit they are peers with a self entitled a$!@!$# with airs.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I find if I walk in and pretend like I'm better than everyone I get dismissed fairly quickly.
Again. The house of lords has a dress code. Sir.