The little Inn by the wayside

[eMTe]

Good you're ok.

Actually it's pretty weird to think of hurricane in Toronto. When one thinks of hurricanes/earthquakes and similar disasters usually names like California, Gulf of Mexico, Japan, India or Turkey come to mind. But East Coast or Toronto?

Anyway, the worst is over.

[Scythe]

I'll be in Greenland for the next week or so. I don't expect to be visiting CWF during that time, so enjoy my absence!

[eMTe]

We will. Have a good one. And give our regards to penguins.

[Railwaymodeler]

Have fun! Is there much of anything there in Greenland?

[Pater Alf]

There is much of ice.

[Railwaymodeler]

Thats what I've heard. Not much else there, though. Wonder if there are any natural resources, like mineral deposits or oil underneath. I've read somewhere that Alaska and Siberia have a huge amount of oil, but much of it is currently inaccessible with today's technology, due to the ice and hard ground that would need to be drilled through.

[eMTe]

There are large deposits of cryolite. And various other lesser known minerals and elements like molybdenum or wolfram for example. These are considered to be hidden in large amounts (however they are already extracted on small scale) somewhere in the middle of the island, which is covered by ice. But since the ice will melt in nearby decades Greenland is expecting mining boom.

Also, Greenland shares the top of my list (with Iceland) of countries where I could possibly resettle. In fact, there are only two names on the list.

[Pater Alf]

Come on, I really have to pay 45 Euros for crossing a red traffic light with my bike? Ok, I was drunk (1.2 per mille), but it was 3 a.m. in the morning and there wasn't any other road user at all.
On the other hand, who cares? Police said next time I wil loose my driving license. I think last time I used a car was about 6 months ago...

[Railwaymodeler]

Interesting that the police were hard-nosed like that, with there being no road traffic. I assume you mean a standard bicycle, and not a motorcycle.

Here, there is a city ordinance that bicyclists have to ride on the street and not the sidewalk, or can be fined. However, the police have never issued a ticket for it. This is because the ordinance is many decades old, and since then, road traffic has greatly increased, and the number of traffic incidents per capita has increased greatly, particularly drunk driving related incidents. This means it is far safer to bike ride on the sidewalks, especially if a little sense is used around foot pedestrians.

Interestingly, I once got a warning for jaywalking when I lived in California. There was no crosswalk nearby across a street, and I crossed when it was safe to do so. A policeman approached me, and gave me a strict telling off, and told me if they see it again, I would get a $20 ticket. Living in Illinois, there may as well be no law against it (There is one here, but it is totally unenforced and forgotten). If one waited for a pedestrian signal at a lot of these stoplights, one would be waiting for years, as many pedestrian signals are damaged, and are not a repair priority at all. Besides, most people around here know that the stoplights are strictly timed (As opposed to based on traffic sensors), which makes it easy to dodge traffic. Most people cross where it is convenient, as opposed to a crosswalk.

[eMTe]

Come on, I really have to pay 45 Euros for crossing a red traffic light with my bike?

Dura lex...

Ok, I was drunk

Here, you can go to prison for drunk bike riding, so stay happy.

Formerly, drunk bike riding was only a traffic offense, but for several years it is breach of the law and is subjected to criminal code. There's an ongoing discussion whether this law should be abolished, because it is considered to be too severe. Prisons, already overcrowded, are full of drunkards/bikers serving sentences (5000 persons, only 500 less than drunk car drivers - data from March 2012). The problem is, while it is obvious that drunken bike rider poses threat to pedestrians and automobiles, most of the condemned are old drunkards from rural areas, caught regularly by the police on local (sometimes dirt) roads leading from one village to neighbouring one. So they certainly pose threat, but mostly to themselves. Critics of the law claim that they should be subjected to medical treatment, rather than punished with prison.

Interesting that the police were hard-nosed like that

Here, police is especially interested in easy prey. Bike riders, street vendors etc. Statistics, you know. But if you want to spot police or city guard patrol in dangerous neighbourhood you better come before dusk. On the other hand - is there a place on Earth where things work otherwise?

[Pater Alf]

You can go to prison for that in Poland? That's pretty weird, because normally police and government should be happy if everybody uses a bicycle instead of a car when drunk. The hardest thing that can happen here is that you loose your car driving license. But that only happens when you get involved in an accident. Up to 1.6 per mille, you're still allowed to ride the bicycle (as long as you're no danger to others). The 45 Euros I had to pay where only for crossing the red traffic light.

[eMTe]

normally police and government should be happy if everybody uses a bicycle instead of a car when drunk.

Maybe police and government should, but I wouldn't be so happy to meet with such a biker.

Here, there is a city ordinance that bicyclists have to ride on the street and not the sidewalk, or can be fined. However, the police have never issued a ticket for it.

it is far safer to bike ride on the sidewalks

This is why I think all bikers should go to prisons.

[Railwaymodeler]

eMTe, you bring up a few interesting points, which are especially of interest in North America.

There are hundreds of old, forgotten, and strange laws on the books all over the USA. When I lived in Wichita, Kansas, many years ago, I would advise visitors to bring a shotgun, as there was a city ordinance that required a person to fire a shotgun in the air when crossing Douglas and Broadway Avenues.

In addition, city police being funded locally first, then state, then federal (With amounts shrinking as one goes up the chain; many city police forces get nearly no federal level funding), they are budgeted so that they get enough money to scrape by, but for proper day to day operation, fines are important as a source of funds. Speeding and parking tickets are the most common in my area. Around major holidays that often see a spike in alcohol consumption, police will be more present, checking for drunk drivers, who generally are also speeding. Get 'em off the road and write a fine to earn the department revenue!

Another point is that locking minor offenders (Such as public intoxication. If one is out obviously drunk, staggering around and barely able to stand upright, he can spend up to a year in county jail), with more serious criminals, such as those imprisoned for arson, murder, rape, what-have-you, there becomes a chance that the person jailed for a minor offense will at some point commit a much more serious offense as a result of being imprisoned. This has been the subject of much debate, not only for how to punish minor offenders, but also for how to effectively structure prison inmates.

Having used to work in law enforcement for about 9 months, as a PC tech for the department, I ended up taking an interest in how the US justice system works, and where its flaws are, and how to fix them.

[Pater Alf]

Here, there is a city ordinance that bicyclists have to ride on the street and not the sidewalk, or can be fined.

It's the same in Germany. You are only allowed to drive on the sidewalk when you are a child (up to ten years) or when there is a special bike lane or a traffic sign that gives a special permission to use the sidewalk.

...it is far safer to bike ride on the sidewalks, especially if a little sense is used around foot pedestrians.

In fact there are several studies which say it is safer to bike ride on the street instead of using the sidewalk. Most accidents with cyclists happen at crossroads. Car drivers will much easier see and accept you as a traffic participant when you are in front of them on the street. When you ride on the sidewalk (or on a bike lane that isn't connected to the street), there is a high danger that you will be overlooked or that you are in a blind spot.

But of course such a study might bring other results in other countries, depending on the local traffic laws.

[Chroelle]

Here a few years ago a law was revoked after not being used for over a hundred years. It said that a man with a flag or similar warning signs should walk in front of every motorized vehicle to warn pedestrians of his coming. I wonder what would have happened before the revoke, if a patrol decided to simply stop everyone on the freeway for a day claiming them all to be violating that law. Could have solved some police x-mas party budgets.

Oh - still busy as hell - bought my first tablet ever (Samsung Note) only because of work - new work system is eating away all my spare time, and for the first week ever I have gone to bed before Tanja every single day. That is currently my life.
Tonight I skipped a "Bond and Burgers" night out with the guys, because I was too busy.

Had a meeting with the chief of the communal IT-department. Gave him my card afterwards and he told me that he probably had around 50 clients for me.... So now I am looking into expanding my company, getting some more stuff pre-done, get some work-programs done etc. Also I am warming up to the idea of getting a partner. If I get 5 more clients, then I am sure I am gonna need a partner to expand from there, so 50 more means... well... it means I am going into business.

[eMTe]

there are several studies which say it is safer to bike ride on the street instead of using the sidewalk.

Maybe. Certainly it is safer for pedestrians. Bikers ride like mad even on bike lanes and since lanes usually run along or cross sidewalks in some places people are generally cautious when biker is around. Years ago, when there were no bike lanes in Poland at all, bikers used roads together with cars and sidewalks, illegally, when it was safer. With years, when bike lobby became stronger, cities were flooded with lanes, the problem is that traffic culture is very low. So while bikers were to some point separated from drivers (to relief of both participating groups) they decreased safety of pedestrians.

[eMTe]

I'll be offline for a couple of days. By offline I mean certain area where you walk up and down. If one of the descents will be rapid and vertical you won't see me posting again. Otherwise, I'll be back.

[Railwaymodeler]

Found out the other day that bus 2337 is being retired from the garage. That was the bus Maria and I first met on, and also the same one I first asked her out on.

My sources tell me that perhaps as soon as January it will be put up for auction. We would like to buy it and preserve it. Perhaps turn it into a rolling transport museum.

Of course, we can't keep it in its original Pace colors, so plan to do a fictitious livery of what it would have looked like had it been owned by Waukegan-North Chicago Transit (The predecessor to the RTA, formed in 1974, and later branched into Pace Suburban Bus a decade later). While W-NC Transit actually survived as its own name a few more years later, this model of bus wasn't introduced until 1978. Means in theory one could have been delivered as a demonstrator and wore their colors. Plausible, but an Orion I never wore W-NC Transit livery. We would like to paint it up as it likely would have looked, though.

From what I gather, though, there is a charter bus outfit that is eyeing all the retired Orions for parts.

[Scythe]

I'm back, and Greenland does have one or two things beside ice. And cryolite. Actually there's gold in them thar hills. And other stuff.

Nice trip, except I spent three days going back and forth to the hospital to visit my poor mother. She's better now.

I might post the pictures I took somewhere. Might.

Oh, and eMTe, I suggest you visit before you move there, you might change your mind.

[Pager]

I checked out Greenland on Google Maps the other day on my lunch break...I wanted to see if there was streetview. Sadly no.