From: ermel@ermel.org   
      
   Hi!   
      
   On 16.05.2018 18:57, The Real Bev wrote:   
   > My ISP discontinued its newsserver subscription years ago.  Apparently   
   > it was expensive and not used all that much.  Toward what I assume is   
   > the end, the helpdroids didn't even know what usenet was.  One of them   
   > thought it was maybe some sort of satellite service.   
      
   Heh.   
      
   > I don't know how news.eternal-september stays in business, but we owe   
   > him/them a lot.   
      
   I think it's a labour of love mostly.   
      
   > The freeways are miserably crowded in the Los Angeles area now. Doubling   
   > the number of lanes would only -- at best -- cut the traffic in half,   
   > and that would still be miserable.  Just too many people now, and I   
   > don't see any way to improve that.  'Rush hour' now lasts from 6am to   
   > 10am or later and 3pm to god knows when.  We're all doomed :-(   Even   
   > thinking about speed limits most of the time is silly.   
      
   Eventually, I think you'll have to go back to public transport.   
   Big cities here (nowhere near as big als LA, although I think   
   the Ruhrgebiet, which is a continuous metropolis consisting of   
   dozens of big cities might come somewhat close) rely on it, and   
   despite constand moaning and bitching it seems to work quite   
   well.  Car ownership in big cities is on the decline too -- I   
   understand it's similar in NYC, is it not?   
      
   [Erik Meltzer previously wrote:]   
   >> I don't see nearly as   
   >> many speeding past me with 200+ km/h as I did a decade ago.  I don't   
   >> think fuel prices are the reason; they haven't risen that much.   
   >> Probably a combination of more traffic and more thinking?  Well,   
   >> maybe I'm just being optimistic.   
      
   I have since come up with another theory: speeding is less fun   
   in SUVs, which are regrettably on the rise over here too, albeit   
   not nearly as much as in the US from what I read.   
      
   >> My feel-good speed varies between 100 and 160 km/h (60 to 100 mph)   
   >> depending on circumstances and conditions.   
   >   
   > Sounds reasonable.  It depends on lack of crowding and time traveled at   
   > a high speed -- after a while it begins to seem slow and I speed up   
   > without thinking.  Easy to drive on autopilot if the highway is good and   
   > nobody else is using it.  I love Utah.   
      
   This is the country of high speed differentials -- big rigs are limited   
   to 55 mph, suggested speed (where unlimited) for passenger cars and   
   light trucks (under 3.5 metric tonnes GVW) is 80 mph, and even twice   
   that is to be expected, albeit rarer than it used to be.  And still,   
   for the most part, we get along fine.   
      
   Which means that you can choose to go slowly, if you so desire.  It is   
   not advisable to go slower than the big rigs, lest their drivers get   
   irate and/or the police pull you over to inquire what is wrong with you   
   and/or your vehicle.  But it's no problem to go 60 or 70 mph if you   
   feel like it.  And if there's time, I like to do so.   
      
   Of course, you can go even more slowly -- just not on the Autobahn.   
   There's a network of Bundesstraßen and Landstraßen on which you can   
   avoid ever touching an Autobahn at all and still travel long distances.   
   On travel weekends, I usually take the time to do that -- it's way   
   slower, but it makes up for it in stress relief and sightseeing, at   
   least in my book.   
      
   Yours,   
       Ermel.   
   --   
   Nach 10 Jahren oder so zurück im Usenet.   
   Schmeckt wie früher.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)