Mickey channels one of my pet peeves:

Wouldn’t we save a lot of gasoline quickly and cheaply if we replaced most of our “STOP” signs with “YIELD” signs? I’m sure there is a safety argument against this, but I’d like to hear it, along with up-to-date comparisons with countries that rely on “yield” more than “stop.”

There is no valid safety argument against it. Requiring a full stop adds zero safety, though it is useful for revenue production. The notion that a full stop is somehow safer is…what’s the word…oh, yeah. Idiotic.

I too got a ticket for this in Manhattan Beach many years ago, and was supremely irritated by it. It’s particularly stupid at four-way stops. We could in fact waste less time and less fuel if such signs were yields rather than stops.

The other idiocy that I see (in southern California–south Florida is actually much better) is the notion that if there is a left green arrow, that once you lose it, you can no longer turn left on the green, even if there isn’t another car within a mile. The purpose of green arrows should be to make it easier to make a left, not harder. Yeah, I know, it’s partly to protect pedestrians, but either way, people should be allowed to exercise some judgment. There are few things more infuriating to me than sitting at an intersection with a green light to make a left turn in the middle of the night, and knowing that it will be illegal if I don’t wait for the arrow.

And I should note that I just realized that there is a fourth thing that I prefer south Florida for, compared to southern California. In general, the traffic regulations are more sane (even if the drivers are much worse). You can turn left any time the traffic is clear, even at intersections with left-turn arrows, and you can do a U-turn almost anywhere. It’s the default, whereas in California, you can only do one if given explicit permission from the signage.

[Late morning update]

A recurring theme in comments with which I heartily concur: we need to teach people to drive, not merely operate an automobile. It’s far too easy to get a driver’s license in this country.

It’s not quite tropical, but we already have the first named storm of the hurricane season, three weeks before the season is supposed to officially begin.

I hope that this isn’t a portent.

[Update in the afternoon]

OK, why are they naming this storm? Do they name nor’easters? No, they don’t, even though they can have much higher winds.

How long have they been naming subtropical storms? If we’re seeing more named storms now than we used to, I wonder if it isn’t because (a) we literally are seeing more than we used to, because many of the ones in the past decades we never even knew about if no ship encountered them, or they encountered no land, and (b) we are changing the naming rules, and comparing apples to oranges.

I think that we ought to stick to the tradition, and only name storms if they’re tropical. If “Andrea” becomes tropical, then fine, but for now, I don’t think it deserves a name.

It’s not quite tropical, but we already have the first named storm of the hurricane season, three weeks before the season is supposed to officially begin.

I hope that this isn’t a portent.

[Update in the afternoon]

OK, why are they naming this storm? Do they name nor’easters? No, they don’t, even though they can have much higher winds.

How long have they been naming subtropical storms? If we’re seeing more named storms now than we used to, I wonder if it isn’t because (a) we literally are seeing more than we used to, because many of the ones in the past decades we never even knew about if no ship encountered them, or they encountered no land, and (b) we are changing the naming rules, and comparing apples to oranges.

I think that we ought to stick to the tradition, and only name storms if they’re tropical. If “Andrea” becomes tropical, then fine, but for now, I don’t think it deserves a name.

It’s not quite tropical, but we already have the first named storm of the hurricane season, three weeks before the season is supposed to officially begin.

I hope that this isn’t a portent.

[Update in the afternoon]

OK, why are they naming this storm? Do they name nor’easters? No, they don’t, even though they can have much higher winds.

How long have they been naming subtropical storms? If we’re seeing more named storms now than we used to, I wonder if it isn’t because (a) we literally are seeing more than we used to, because many of the ones in the past decades we never even knew about if no ship encountered them, or they encountered no land, and (b) we are changing the naming rules, and comparing apples to oranges.

I think that we ought to stick to the tradition, and only name storms if they’re tropical. If “Andrea” becomes tropical, then fine, but for now, I don’t think it deserves a name.

…that every bloggist should know.

Megan channels one of my gripes:

What the hell is with multiple page web articles? The reason books have pages is obvious; it’s hard to carry around a single 110×80 foot sheet of paper, much less unfold it to read. Not so much for web articles. Does someone actually find this preferable?

Yes, what is up with that? More ad space? I don’t see why. Maybe more page views to fool the advertisers? Computer World does this, and I do find it annoying.

I’m showing up on the first page of a Google search for “rosie o’donnell,” under “Blog Postings” (at least for now–Google is fickle).

As the first one. Behold, the power of the Instalink.

Congratulations, Joe.

We went for a walk on the beach in Spanish River Park yesterday afternoon. I saw several of these washed up on shore.

You can’t really get that much scale from the sand and seaweed, but the body was about the size of my hand. I’ve heard they can get larger, but I’ve never seen any much bigger than this one around here.

It makes one a little nervous, walking barelegged through the surf, because the surging waters could deliver one unto your legs and wrap the tentacles around them without your even being able to see it coming. Fortunately, there were no incidents. This one was still alive, but probably not for long. And I wasn’t going to try to pick it up and toss it back. Particularly given the almost certain futility of it.

We went for a walk on the beach in Spanish River Park yesterday afternoon. I saw several of these washed up on shore.

You can’t really get that much scale from the sand and seaweed, but the body was about the size of my hand. I’ve heard they can get larger, but I’ve never seen any much bigger than this one around here.

It makes one a little nervous, walking barelegged through the surf, because the surging waters could deliver one unto your legs and wrap the tentacles around them without your even being able to see it coming. Fortunately, there were no incidents. This one was still alive, but probably not for long. And I wasn’t going to try to pick it up and toss it back. Particularly given the almost certain futility of it.