FEET: LOWEST EMISSIONS OF ALL

i assume that about twice a day nearly 5 million people in the chicagoland area take a pause from their cursing and swerving to ponder, "how can i get rid of this traffic?" new york is experimenting by closing some major streets to only allow pedestrian traffic. apparently it's similar to what planners unsuccessfully tried 40 years ago. i only read the first couple articles at this link but think it's an interesting idea. i can't think of anywhere it would work in chicago.

i like the emphasis on mass transit though, and the mention of turning car companies into bus manufacturers.

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/pedestrian-malls-back-to-the-future/

OLDEST ARBY'S IN AMERICA

i'm not entirely sure if i visited the oldest arby's in america but i am certain it is near the top of the list. i found it to be an odd experience through and through. from the manager who skipped past us asking in a loud sing song voice, "how you doing tonight!!!?" and then waived wildly at the strangers in the drive through. to the fact that it took her, no joke, almost 10 minutes to get two combo meals and a side of onion rings together when it appeared that all of the food was sitting there ready for us when we walked in and that they had no more than 1/2 a dozen customers in the past two hours including us and the car in the drive through.

but that was minor in comparison to my feelings for the old school electronic dumbwaiter that was used to deliver the food from the kitchen, over the passenger's head, over the driver's head and then down to the driver side window. it sort of resembled the set up at a drive through teller. i couldn't believe they were actually still using this devise. and when i saw the name i had to take a picture.

THINGS THAT ARE AWESOME

bungee cords
sky writing
pop rocks
cheese
online personal surveys
bsf
the arch
scooters, vacation and fall

AVOIDING ACCIDENTS

sometimes, for a very slight moment, i think it would be kind of fun to be the cause of the 5 car accident announced in the morning traffic report. "5 car accident on north ave holding everything up. strongly advice taking another route!" as long as no one was hurt of course.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE WORDS

moniker

CROWS, AS EQUALLY BAD AS GEESE

yesterday after my long drive home i was in a very foul mood. trying to put it out of my memory but i think it took me an hour and 45 mins that time. i just wanted to be grumpy and go to bed.

until i saw something that completely cheered me up. i saw something swoop down from the sky, and then i saw a bunny run east to west in front of the already slow moving traffic in front of me on ravenswood. then i saw the bunny run west to east back to a patch of tall grass. and i saw what swooped from the sky. it was a crow. the bunny was large full grown animal but the crow was equally as large. i think the city crow was hunting it. either that or the bunny had been after the crows nest...? not really sure how 'nature' works in the city. but someone stopped their car, parked and got out to help the bunny. it was really nice of them.

reminded me of when i'm watching 'NAT-GEO' shows where some prey is being hunted and i wonder why or how the camera man just can't go down the mountain and help the baby seal (or whatever) out.

WATER BEDS ARE WEIRD

it wasn't until recently that i had ever pondered what the world thought of water beds. growing up my parents always had one. and i was jealous of my cousin when he got one. i always thought they were really cool and special. until i heard a comedian make fun of them not too long ago. it stuck w/ me and would randomly run through my mind. it left me feeling unsure of my opinion. was i wrong? were water beds a hokey, cheesy fad from the past? worse still, were they sleezy and cheap? my parents represent everything that is proper and right. why would they own something that was thought so little of by someone that obviously was no better than them?

fortunately they got rid of it before i overheard this comedian. they now have a very nice, albeit monstrously tall, bed. i swear my mom has to use a step stool to climb into it. but regardless it looks really good with the rest of their updated bedroom furniture.

tonight while looking thru the 'FREE' section on craigslist i came across a free water bed frame. i've decided waterbeds are weird. the whole concept. filling your sleeping surface w/ water? sleeping on an unsteady water filled rubber bladder. glad i never had one. i can't imagine the mess i would have ended up with. i'm not the most careful person and the whole thing just seems like you're setting yourself up for failure.