something old, something new, something to do on a Monday in Nashua

Some old thoughts from my "Traffic Jam Wednesday" that I made little notes about... On Wednesday (day, night and into Thursday), I was driving from Buffalo, NY to Nashua, NH. Should have been about a 6 hour drive. Still was 6 hours of driving. But if you count all the sitting in traffic with the engine turned off, it was more like 12 hours.

In case you hadn't heard, there was a bit of a problem with the highway between Syracuse and Schenectady... it got a little bit flooded. So the state police close it off and divert all the traffic south to highway 20. From a 2-3 lanes each way, to 1 lane each way. And then someone gets into an accident. I'm just glad I had a book with me... turn off the car, just sit behind other people. No one got out the hacky sack and had a drum circle, but there would have been plenty of time for it if they had. After passing the accident site, I cleared the odometer to see how far traffic was backed up... guess how many miles? 15. And that's only in one direction.

Since I had plenty of time while sitting in traffic, and then plenty of time all by myself on the Massachusetts Turnpike ("Mass Pike") at 1am, I had plenty of time for random thoughts:
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You know for sure, without a doubt, absolutely, that you live in a small town when half the town turns out to watch the line of stopped cars on the way through town. Like a parade, but not moving. And no floats or clowns or Shriners. Not much else going on in town tonight, eh?
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"Thanks, Ike" - The federal interstate system had it's 50th anniversary on Thursday. I figured it was an appropriate way to celebrate was by driving on part of it, but then, I was driving on it anyway.

Something I've been thinking about lately: Amtrak. As a form of ground transportation, there's libertarian fiscal arguments against the company because of the fact that Amtrak is heavily subsidized by the US Govt. The fact is, there isn't a single form of transportation that ISN'T heavily subsidized. The highway system subsidizes the auto/truck industry. Counties and states build airports, which subsidize the airlines. (yes, they pay fees, but the construction of the airport itself is attracted with tax breaks) Anyway, I'm planning to go the Minneapolis/St. Paul via Amtrak... I'll see how the company is keeping up the quality of the business.
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For some reason, the Mass Pike, at 2am, going east, seems to be all downhill. I realize that I couldn't see the horizon, and was exhausted, and had few visual references, but it SEEMED downhill. That, and the cruise control felt like it was restrainig the car instead of urging it on (like when climbing a hill). I'll consult a map, but either it's all downhill, or I had a 2-hour hallucination.
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During the day, through the Syracuse area, on the back road of Route 20, there are some killer hills. I brought my bike out this way, and thought "oh, man... I should stop the car, get my bike out, and ride these hills..." You see, some of them I actually had concern driving them (when you come over the top and can't see the road and you're thinking "ok now, the road should be visible any moment now... any moment now... ok, damn, where's the road?" ... that's a steep hill).

I brought the bike and have gone for a few rides here in NH, and you know what I have learned? Michigan is FLAT. Not as flat as Illinois, but flat. There's some local hills that just kicked my ass - at the top, the stats were: 42x21, out of the saddle, heaving for air, cadence of 40, 8 mph. Yes, I am not in hill-climbing-shape. I know that now. But it sure is fun going down them... how else do you find out that the bike handles a little bit twitchy at 40 mph? And how often do you think of sunglasses as a safety device? Having forgotten to bring them today, on one of the downhills, I found myself thinking "oh, shit. No glasses. I hope I don't get a bumblebee in the eye or anything while moving fast."
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Went to Boston on Sunday with Gary. Didn't really have much in mind other than to wander. Went to the MIT campus, and well, there wasn't much to see. Buildings closed, students gone.
We did go to see the goofy looking Media Lab building, and take pictures, foot included. Since Rob and Tina are not in NYC right now, we don't have a place to go/place to crash, so the NYC part of the trip is off. Some other time, perhaps. Instead, we hung out, had some good pool playing, etc. Going back to Boston today to see more sights and watch the "practice" fireworks/music show, which I hear are pretty good, even as a rehearsal. Off we go...