Journal

Safe Arrival!

17 Comments

Sandra, Kiki, Link, Gleek, Patches and I are all safe and sound here in Seattle. Sandra will probably say more about this than I will, since I’m still burnt out from the drive — it was about 90 minutes longer than I expected it to be thanks to the posted speeds in Oregon and Washington being between 5mph and 10mph lower than I was counting on. Oh, and there was a very, VERY dense dust-storm at the Oregon/Idaho border that originated from one freshly-turned field. I guess the cloud is guaranteed to be dense for freeway drivers when it originates on a field adjacent to the freeway.

Tomorrow is Schlockfest. Email schlockmercenary-subscribe@yahoogroups.com if you’re in the Seattle area and are interested in getting together in the evening at the Strohl Munitions Worldwide Headquarters. I’m preparing for it by going to bed very, very shortly.

17 thoughts on “Safe Arrival!”

    1. I think he carefully avoided saying what speed he was actually traveling–just that whatever speed it was it was slower when the posted speed limit was lower. The big question is if it’s always a constant speed over the posted limit or a percentage.

        1. Mine’s “under fifteen over” since that’s usually when the higher penalties kick in, but yours is even safer and not much different.

          1. My algorithm is different…

            My algorithm is a lot different:

            1) Road condition, and my comfort with it.
            2) Speed of the surrounding traffic.
            3) My familiarity with this particular stretch of road.
            4) Posted speed limit.

            The result will be anywhere from 50mph under the posted limit (in snow, with poor visibility, on unfamiliar roads at night) to 15mph over the limit (between St. George and Vegas at 2am on a Thursday night in the summer.)

            Mostly I try to keep my speeds fairly close to the speed of the passing-lane traffic. Eastern Oregon and Washington was a new beast for me, in that I found that traffic seldom moved any better than 5mph over the posted limit. These were mostly local plates, too, and I try to make a point to learn from the locals.

            –Howard

          3. Re: My algorithm is different…

            Looks like I might have my numbers wrong… Maybe 150 to 350. I got a seatbelt ticket there that cost me 100 over 10 years ago.

            Robert

          5. Re: My algorithm is different…

            See? I’m no dummy. If the locals are keeping within 3mph of the posted speed, there’s got to be a good reason for it.

          6. Re: My algorithm is different…

            I tend to stay 5-10 mph over the posted signs on freeways in the greater Portland area, unless traffic is back up and I can’t, of course, and there are a lot of other drivers that do that as well. But then, we are also familiar with the highways enough to know where you’re most likely to see cops/sherrifs. I’ve managed to get away without ever getting pulled over for a ticket, so I must not be standing out too much.

          7. Re: My algorithm is different…

            Whoah! I used to watch the Garrens my freshman year! I hadn’t heard anything about Eric Snider in a while. Fun stuff…

          8. Re: My algorithm is different…

            Yeah, I still read Snide Remarks, which he just publishes on the web now, and all his movie reviews. And his blog.

          9. Re: My algorithm is different…

            You’re right. I was oversimplifying. Note I also didn’t say how much under 15 over you needed to be ;-).

          10. Re: My algorithm is different…

            Learning from the locals is a good thing. Nobody speeds in Seattle, and the speed limit on wide-open highway is 60. Very sllooooow.

            Hey, by the way, if you get here a few minutes early I can quickly run you past the product room for treats for everyone.

  2. Pft, I could have told you about the speed limits, Howard! And I would have warned you to stick to the limits in Oregon, like you did, good boy! Oregon cops are ANAL. I would know. I’ve made that drive many, many a time.

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