Sunday, September 2, 2018

Indication May Vary

Asking directions in Los Angeles - take the 710 to the 405 etc etc - and in New York and in Nebraska. Roads are long and straight in Nebraska

And what about around the world?


26 comments:

  1. Summary:
    Panel 2: the locals use a hell lotta numbers
    Panel 3: people arguing which way is best.
    Panel 4: in the desert, all ways are straight.

    Hope that helps.

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    1. That is extremely helpful. Thank you

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    2. Nebraska isn't desert, it's very fertile farm country. It's just very *flat* fertile farm country.

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    3. An alternative interpretation:
      2) People in LA refer to interstates, state highways, etc. by their numbers exclusively, and get around on them rather than local roads;
      3) New Yorkers give you directions in terms of which subway you should take (and then argue about which one is best);
      4) Nebraska is very, very flat, so cities tend to be connected by straight lines, with no turns to weave through mountains or go around hills or lakes.

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    4. The Midwest, before it was homesteaded, was originally known as the Great American Desert because of its thousands of square miles of treeless, unbroken grassland.

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  2. I remember when we were bicycle touring in the US (Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, ...) and asked the locals how far, for instance, the next town was, we always got the answer in minutes (despite they could clearly see that we were on bikes)

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    1. "It's about 40 minutes that way...in car time"

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    2. It makes sense if the raods are bad. The actual speed may vary between 100kmh and 10kmh. So "time" is more useful then "distance".

      And they can't tell you the time in bike minutes because who the hell rides a bike in the US???

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    3. In Michigan, no one knows how far a mile is, but we sure know how far an hour is, lol.

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  3. In Austria, directions are often given in terms of remarkable buildings or other landmarks along the way. Often using local nicknames.

    In the mountains you can often read times on signs for hikers, supposed to be true for the average hiker, whatever that is. Not always accurate.

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    1. Here in French Alps they usually have both the time and the distance. The time estimates are often quite conservative, perhaps assuming that hikers make a lot of stops to admire the scenery.

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  4. In Vermont: over the little bridge, around the bend to the right, watch for the barn at the top of the hill, then right at the green mailbox.

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  5. In Ireland: Listen carefully to the good directions being given, but good luck understanding them...
    In Nova Scotia: “Just wait a sec, I’ll get my car and show you.”

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  6. Thailand: turn left after the 7-11, then right at the corner with the 7-11, you'll see it across from the 7-11.

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  7. Atlanta: "Turn right on Peachtree. Then..."

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    1. Peachtree St, Peachtree Ct, or Peachtree Blvd?

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  8. My granny (pretending the blank table cloth is a map): so you're here, right? and then you go that way *vague gesture* and turn left at old what's-his-name's. Keep going until you reach the thingy and then take this turn *more vague hand gestures* and then you've arrived.
    Me: where was I supposed to go again? o-o

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  9. American South:

    Go down this road until you come to where the old buffet used to be, then turn left. Travel to the corner where the barn burned down a ways back and turn right. Keep going past the field where the Mayor broke his arm and the house you're looking for is across the street from the former schoolhouse.

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  10. In Zürich: "It's on ____strasse. Take one of to and walk from there"

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    1. Sorry, the Post above should read as follows: In Zürich: "It's on ____strasse. Take one of(many tram/ bus lines) to (tram/ bus stop name) and walk from there"

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  11. In Chicago, all the maps are labeled with the interstate numbers, but all the traffic reports use the local names for the various sections of interstate. So, if you're taking I-94 from Milwaukee through Chicagoland to northern Indiana, and you want to know how bad the traffic is on your route, you'd need to listen for reports on the Edens, the Kennedy, the Dan Ryan, the Bishop Ford, and the Tri-state.

    No idea why William J Edens and John Fitzgerald Kennedy only get their last names, while Daniel B. Ryan gets an abbreviated first name too, and the Bishop Louis Henry Ford gets his title and last name. And the Tri-state was only the Tri-State from 1950 to 1953, when the official name was changed to the Robert Kingery Expressway, but everyone, including the teeny wiggly letters mapmakers write along the roads if you peer really closely (hopefully not while driving), still uses the Tri-State name.

    Traffic reports also refer to the Loop, which is downtown, and the Circle, officially the Jane Byrne Interchange, where the Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Dan Ryan meet, i. e. I-290 ends in the middle of I-90/94. There's also an amusing song about "cruisin' on LSD" which is actually referring to Lake Shore Drive, not lysergic acid diethylamide.

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  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWmPObduQPQ includes giving directions in France and the U.S. :)

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