S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 50

Getting Stuck in Traffic

Traffic Jam on Snoqualmie PassAnd once again, the 52-week blogging challenge. This week's prompt is "Getting stuck in traffic."

I hate getting stuck in traffic. I may complain about the small town I live in, but at least there aren't traffic jams. But when I go to the Seattle area, all bets are off. Seattle didn't invent the perpetual traffic jam, they just perfected it.

Sometimes going over Snoqualmie Pass you get into traffic, especially in the winter. But sometimes for no apparent reason.

And of course, coming back from seeing the August 21st eclipse, I ran into lots of traffic.

Now, as you should know if you read this blog, I like to drive. And I'm not looking forward to autonomous cars. But during traffic jams, I'd gladly hand over driving duties to a computer.

Audi has developed something called "Traffic Jam Pilot." They are going to offer it in their A8 top-of-the-line model. Unfortunately, it's not coming to the U.S. due to the regulatory and litigious environment (we like to sue)*. But I would love to have that on my car for traffic jams. So that is one good thing about autonomous cars: no more driving in traffic jams. In fact, it is thought autonomous cars may eliminate traffic jams. Which would be nice. But I'd still miss driving.

How do you feel about being stuck in traffic? Let me know in the comments below.

*"Traffic Jam Pilot" is beyond anything in the U.S. market right now. It is a nearly autonomous system that doesn't require the driver to pay attention like Tesla and Cadillac do. It would have been the first SAE Level 3 autonomous system sold in the U.S. Until the regulations dealing with nearly or completely autonomous cars are sorted out, it probably won't come to America.

Contribution

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. This week's prompt simply says "Contribution."

So I guess that's open to interpretation.

I contribute money to the Salvation Army, the Alzheimer's Association, and I know my wife gives money to her church. I also contribute to a local arts program.

I contribute to society by writing books that are fun to read and might educate a person a little. I also keep my lawn mowed and drive the speed limit (in my neighborhood, outside my neighborhood, all bets are off).

What contribution do you make to society? Let me know in the comments below.

P.S.: Tomorrow is the 38th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.

Another Blog Interview

Yet another blog interview about me. Check it out here and learn what I listen to while writing (it's probably not what you're thinking).  And a bonus cute kitty pic. Don't miss it.

Author Interview with...Me

Yesterday I was interviewed on JD's Writers Blog. Check it out here. Learn when I started writing and how I first got published.

My Favorite Music

Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is: "A favorite … book/music/movie."
I talked about my favorite book here. So I guess we'll go to music.

I was thinking about this today. My favorite song of the 60s is probable "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. My favorite song on the 70s is likely "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. My favorite song of the 80s is "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. That, even though Sting from the Police sings on it and the Police are one of my least favorite groups. My favorite song of the 90s is "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. My favorite song of the 2000s and the 10s is one I don't have to listen to.

My favorite overall "modern" song is "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad. I love the pounding rhythm of it.

But I don't just listen to modern music. I'd say my iPhone is about half full of classical music.

One of my favorite classical music pieces is from an opera. It's wondrously beautiful. Another is Beethoven's Ode to Joy, which is technically the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony. The best part is 7:20 minutes into it. But it's all good.

In fact there are too many to list here.

What's your favorite music? And what do you think of my choices? Let me know in the comments below.

Money

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. The next prompt is: "I spend my money."

This probably refers to disposable income after paying for food, housing, etc.

I like to spend money on cars and gasoline. And maintaining them. If I had the means, I would own more cars. I'm so envious of people such as Jay Leno who own a bunch of cool and interesting cars. I love cars. Not sure why. I don't really like working on them (although when I drove on the racetrack, I had to). I just like driving them as fast as possible.

About all I do now is check the oil level and the tire pressures.

I also spend money on Starbucks. Every now and then I look at what my daily trip to Starbucks costs me and I shudder. But it's almost worth it to get out of the house and see people. I also use that time for reading.

I used to spend money on electronics. But other than my iPhone, that's not true. My computer is over seven years old. My stereo is around twenty years old. I replace things as they wear out or break.

So what do you spend money on? Let me know in the comments.

I Hate the Heat

Back to the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "The heat – love or loathe it."

Loath it! It gets over about 80°F (27°C) and I'm dying. I am so glad for air conditioning. If it gets over 90°F (32°C) I'm dead. Okay, not really, but I absolutely don't want to be outside in the heat.

I've often said you can always dress warmer but you can't dress cooler once your naked. And society frowns on that in public.

Once when I was in the Army, we had exercises at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (also known as 29 stumps). It was in August and Twentynine Palms is in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Highs were in the 120°F (49°C) range. Lows at night were around 90°F (32°C). I was miserable. And that was back when I was in good shape. It was so hot that your clothes would have salt in the creases under the arms, behind the knees, and inside the elbows from your sweat. I remember pouring salt on everything I ate.

I'm not exactly crazy about the cold, either. If it gets below about 0°F (-18°C), I'm pretty miserable, too. But at least I can put on a coat.

That's why I like spring and autumn as seasons. It's rarely too hot and rarely too cold. And the roads are bare so you can enjoy driving. And I like to drive.

How do you feel about that heat? Or the cold. Let me know in the comments below.

I'm Inspired By....

 I found another 52-week writing challenge. I found it here. It's supposed to be for 2017 but I'm doing it in 2018. It seems to have new questions.

The first one is "I'm inspired by..."

This is kind of funny because one question I asked all my guests on the Speculative Fiction Cantina was "What motivates and inspires you." So now the tables have been turned, sort of.

I'm inspired by being read by strangers. I want people I don't know to enjoy my writing. This is what keeps me writing. That, and I enjoy it. It's not the money (believe me), it's being red by strangers. Of course, the more strangers who read me, the more money I make.

So that's what inspires me. What inspires you? Tell me in the comments below.

Going to Party Like It's 2028

Back to the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing in 30 (or so) weeks. Here's one I skipped back in February. So I'll do it now.

The prompt is: "How do you see yourself in ten years?"

Well, older. When you're my age, ten years isn't all that much.

I'm 57 years old now, mostly retired, and I write. When I'm 67, I don't know. I'll probably still be writing. I'll probably have more health problems (or the ones I have now will be worse). I'm hoping I'll still be alive. I might take my self-driving car to the Senior Center and have coffee every morning (my father does that now, well, except for the self-driving car part).

I'm really going to hate self-driving cars. Someone once said, "The speed limit will likely go up with self-driving cars." I said, "What good is a faster speed limit if I can't drive it?"

I probably will have even less hair than I have now, and probably none of it will be red anymore.

I will be fully eligible for Social Security. If that's still a thing.

Probably not a whole lot more will change. I will probably have broken down by then and bought a tablet computer. Or a eyePhone (that's not a typo).

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Comment below.

Technology Traps

Something got me thinking the other day about "technology traps." These thoughts aren't original with me, but I learned the concept from James Burke.

What's a technology trap? Loosely, it's a situation technology puts us in that, without that technology, we'd be in big trouble. For instance, say there's an EMP attack on the US and most of our technology goes away. You can't go to Safeway to buy food because it's too far to walk and if you can get there, there'd be no food because there's no trucks to bring it in. Unless you can farm (without mechanized farm equipment), you'll starve to death. Do you know how to hitch up a horse to a plow? I don't.

I think nothing of driving 100 miles away. It takes an hour and a half, about. But what if that EMP attack happened when I was 100 miles from home? That's a minimum five day walk home. With no food or water. I'd basically be stuck where I was. Even going to Starbucks is a five miles drive. A five mile walk is much more difficult.

Some people have to think about this. If you live in Alaska or Arizona, you need to be prepared for car breakdowns. Otherwise you could freeze to death or die of heat stroke before you could get to safety. A girl transferred to my high school from Phoenix, Arizona. She said all students were required to take a desert survival class. If your car breaks down and you're ten miles from help and it's 110 degrees out... Or your car breaks down, you're ten miles from help, and its 40 below because you're in Alaska.

Of course, with cell phones, it's not quite so urgent. Unless your cell phone battery dies.

I even think about this at times. Driving over Snoqualmie Pass in the winter, I make sure I have a full tank of gas, warm clothes, food and water, cell phones and phone chargers in the car. Which is not everything the Washington State Department of Transportation recommends.