A Stallone Day

Rocky day so far, and the day is young.

My wife had to leave early for her ultrasound, and she was apprehensive about that. We talked a little, which seemed to have the effect of calming her and agitating me.

I had to leave early because my daughter wanted to get to school early. We encountered a backup of vehicles going to the school, so a 5 minute drive became 10. The school has a parking area with an L shape road wrapping around the outside of it for dropoff. Each time, people pull in, almost always just to the knee of the curve (closest to the door), which means the line can hold about seven cars -- the rest have to squeeze past if they want to try a dropoff past that first car -- and usually what happens is that just as they get there, the first one moves, and then you get to guess whether you want to pull into the lot instead.

Traffic flow fascinates me, but I have no -- well, few -- insights. In addition to the school lot, another area that always gets my attention is a main road up to the next town. It crosses a highway at one point, and is a choke point. Picture this: two lanes, multiple on/off feeders. Just before the highway, another feeder which brings up semi's that will want to get onto the highway, so they come up the ramp, push into the right lane, and about a hundred yards further down, turn right and down onto the highway. At just past that spot, cars from the left lane are trying to either go straight or get into the right lane -- right either to go straight too or right to pull onto the on ramp onthe far side of the highway. You have to watch the traffic on your right -- is he slowing to get on, so that I have a slot to pull into the right lane, or is he moving straight, so I don't? -- and the traffic in front of you, which moves sporadically -- the effect of a traffic signal about five hundred yards further down, and, to some extent, another signal about a half mile past that.
We're told the state transportation department has plans to improve that choke point. Oh, joy. My thought: during peak periods, disable that first light. No turns -- just straight on, relieve some of the pressure around that second on ramp.


I returned the call to the oral surgeon this morning. First they called my wife at work, under the impression that that was my work number. She gave them my work number, whereupon they called our home and left a message. The message: call us. So I did. Oh, the doctor says he doesn't want to send the estimate after all. This is a multistep process, so he wants to do another consult with you on it. He apparently wants to see me cringe at the cost -- which, I just bet, just went up.

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My wife just called. It is a lousy day when I cannot be elated at news which deserves elation: It was just cysts.