Throw Edgar from the train!
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pounds-force and Newtons that is exact-by-definition to something like 14 significant figures
this is correct, but only for exactly standard gravity, any local variations in
gwill change that number and local variations ingare rarely measured to such precision.;-)
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You get a lot of interesting restaurants in strip malls. What's all the "interesting stuff" that fancy city folks do in the cities that I can't do in a strip mall? Is it something I'd want to do?
This would also be a matter of perception. Every strip mall looks pretty much like the rest, so it's easy to assume that there wouldn't be anything interesting there. Some of my favorite restaurants are in strip malls.
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Apparently the best Thai restaurants are attached to cheap motels.
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this is correct, but only for exactly standard gravity, any local variations in
gwill change that number and local variations ingare rarely measured to such precision.;-)
Actually,
gcancels out of the conversion. Which makes sense; force is force, regardless of the units in which it is expressed. The force exerted by a given mass will vary depending on the local gravitational acceleration, but that does not enter into the conversion between units. Ben's answer is correct (assuming he used the correct conversion factor; I haven't bothered actually verifying that).
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this is correct, but only for exactly standard gravity, any local variations in
gwill change that number and local variations ingare rarely measured to such precision.That's because measuring Δℊ is rather difficult in the first place.
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Actually, g cancels out of the conversion.
Shimata, that's right.
i had it in my head as a conversion that had to go through mass. and it does, but it goes back to force with the same value of g so the value of g is irrelevant (for the purposes of this conversion.
still stading by my pendant flag. :-P
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Apparently the best Thai restaurants are attached to cheap motels.
Sadly, none of the cheap motels I've stayed in have had Thai restaurants, good or otherwise, attached to them.
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Apparently the best Thai restaurants are attached to cheap motels.
Maybe where you live. Here, our best Thai restaurant is across from the mall in an old building that used to be something else. I can sort of recognize the facade and layout, but not quite, and it bugs the shit out of me.
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Maybe where you live.
I have no idea. That's an insight from Tyler Cowen. I linked his book above (or somewhere recently). The reason he gives is that the family owns the motel and cooks in the restaurant. And so it's very genuine and good, or something. But, as with many ethnic restaurants, he recommends ordering stuff that isn't really on the menu (ask for spicier or whatever).
I've only really had Thai food a few times. It was OK, but nothing spectacular, from my pallet's point of view.
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What @another_sam said, plus calling an Australian a Brit is almost as bad as calling an Englishman a Frenchman.
Where does calling a Kiwi an Australian fit into this scale?
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Where does calling a Kiwi an Australian fit into this scale?
They perceive it to be an insult akin with calling an Englishman a Frenchman. I just find it hilarious.
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Where does calling a Kiwi an Australian fit into this scale?
We do it all the time: Russell Crowe, the Finn brothers, Sam Neill. Not sure how Peter Jackson avoided that.
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I have been calling him a Brit for...a month now? Sound about right to you @another_sam?
That would be about right, I think it started just before Christmas.
YOU HAVE THE QUEEN ON YOUR MONEY!!
We have the Queen of Australia on our money, not the Queen of England. We had a vote to get rid of her a few years ago but getting a Yes vote on a constitutional amendment in Australia is historically just about impossible. Only 8 from 44 attempts have been successful. We'll probably try again soon, especially if Liz dies and Chuckles takes the throne. If he abdicates and we end up with King Willy it might take longer.
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Every time I read the title (drop a train on 'em, Edgar! as I type this) I think of the poor sap who gets eaten by the Bug and used as a disguise in Men In Black.
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We have the Queen of Australia on our money, not the Queen of England.
You talk about these as though they are two separate people... You have the Queen of England on your money, who is also the Queen of Australia (and several other Commonwealth nations. 15, I think?) You're a POHM. ;)
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One of my favorite lines from that movie is:
Kay: Imagine a giant cockroach, with unlimited strength, a massive inferiority complex, and a real short temper, is tear-assing around Manhattan Island in a brand-new Edgar suit. That sound like fun?
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And I always hear it in my head as, "Eggar."
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You talk about these as though they are two separate people...
The rôles, however, are legally distinct, and since the rules of primogeniture can be different in each of the commonwealth countries, it's not inconceivable (but highly unlikely in this case) for different people to hold the different rôles in the future.
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Trains would be nice....
Doubt it would ever happen though. I live in suburban Atlanta. There's basically no other large major cities anywhere near Atlanta. Quite a few mid-sized cities (Chattanooga, Charlotte, Birmingham, Montgomery, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Nashville). None in the same state.
Distance to Major Cities in the US (and 1 from Canada!) from Atlanta
Washington, DC - 638 miles
Miami, FL - 663 miles
Chicago - 717 miles
Philly - 779 miles
Dallas - 781 miles
Houston - 793 miles
New York - 864 miles
Toronto - 952 miles
Boston - 1077 miles
LA - 2175 miles
San Fran - 2472 milesYep, Atlanta is basically the middle of nowhere. But still a big city. But still middle of nowhere!
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Is anyone seriously proposing to run HSR to Atlanta? Last I heard, that was a negative…
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POHM
- I didn't get a notification for this reply, so fuck you Discourse.
- I didn't even know what this was and had to look it up.
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And I always hear it in my head as, "Eggar."
That's more or less how his wife (sister/cousin/whatever) pronounces it, at least to my Aussie ears. "Egger, yer skin is fallin' off yer bones"
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I thought it was "Pom", like "Pommy Bastard". I guess I'll go look it up and not tell anyone what it actually means...
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Is anyone seriously proposing to run HSR to Atlanta? Last I heard, that was a negative…
Not full HSR, no -- there are plans afoot to refurbish the old CSX S-line to the point where it can be used for higher-speed (110mph max) passenger ops though, which would provide travel times that are reasonable enough to make rail travel a more feasible alternative. This is the case for most of the regional links, I think, even -- while 150-200mph may sound glamorous, you don't need to go nearly that fast to make a good-sized dent in travel times between regional city-pairs. If you can get delays down enough and track speeds up enough that your average service velocity over the route is somewhere around 70-80mph, you're looking at quite a convincing alternative to road travel over that route, despite it not being "high speed rail" by the typical definition of the term.
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I guess I'll go look it up and not tell anyone what it actually means...
I didn't know either, but for some reason when I read this, then scrolled up to see what you were talking about, I suddenly realized the answer. Some neuron decided to fire that hadn't fired the first time I read it. Should I say?
[spoiler]Prisoner Of Her Majesty[/spoiler]
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I thought it was "Pom", like "Pommy Bastard". I guess I'll go look it up and not tell anyone what it actually means...
You have the pronunciation correct, but it is actually an obscure acronym. @HardwareGeek got it, and also put in an awesome title change to the movie/religion/old folks/.../... thread.
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. I guess I'll go look it up and not tell anyone what it actually means...
No-one knows for certain, but there are a few guesses floating round t'interwebs, a contraction of 'pomegranate' and an acronym of (among other things) 'Prisoner of Millbank' being two of the more popular.
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That reminds me - I probably need to get the title attribute sorted for
aon mobile as I did forabbr...
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Is anyone seriously proposing to run HSR to Atlanta? Last I heard, that was a negative…
Unlike California, there aren't enough elected Democrats in Georgia to
threatenpropose such a boondoggle.
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Democrats in Georgia
Aren't they called "Dixiecrats"?
(If not, what is a "Dixiecrat"?)
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Aren't they called "Dixiecrats"?
Pretty sure they're all dead now.
(If not, what is a "Dixiecrat"?)
Mid-20th century splitters. Some went to the Republican party.
There are plenty of liberal nuts (i.e., Democrats) in Georgia (I'm related to some), but they're mostly outnumbered in the sorts of offices that could waste enough money on something like HSR.
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There are plenty of liberal nuts (i.e., Democrats) in Georgia (I'm related to some), but they're mostly outnumbered in the sorts of offices that could waste enough money on something like HSR.
For much of the US, getting things up to Regional Rail standards would be a good improvement. By that, I mean ensuring that there's at least one track in each direction and that the speeds can often reach over 55mph. It'd benefit both passenger and freight operations, particularly as it would mean that freight trains wouldn't need to be stopped so often to allow traffic to go in the opposite direction, and yet wouldn't need nearly so much spending on grade separation. (You could probably spend nothing on that at all until there's a particular problem identified, such as a crossing where drivers volunteer more often than usual for a Darwin award.)
Above that, you've got intercity operations (e.g., up to 125mph) where things start to become competitive with flying (though you need grade separation, and most freight traffic has to go another way if you don't want to restrict the inter-train interval heavily), and HSR (which might be 160mph or more) where you can't mix freight traffic on the line at all. Those are quite a bit more expensive.
The important thing to remember is that putting in improved passenger rail transport changes where people want to live and work. All significant investment in transport does that. Freeways do. Airports do. Passenger trains do too.
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For much of the US, getting things up to Regional Rail standards would be a good improvement. By that, I mean ensuring that there's at least one track in each direction and that the speeds can often reach over 55mph. It'd benefit both passenger and freight operations, particularly as it would mean that freight trains wouldn't need to be stopped so often to allow traffic to go in the opposite direction, and yet wouldn't need nearly so much spending on grade separation. (You could probably spend nothing on that at all until there's a particular problem identified, such as a crossing where drivers volunteer more often than usual for a Darwin award.)
The irony of this is that the main (well, only) fully double-tracked route over the Rockies isn't used for passenger service. I do agree that getting service velocities up is a good thing -- you just have to be careful to avoid introducing a bunch of operational infelicities in the process...
The important thing to remember is that putting in improved passenger rail transport changes where people want to live and work. All significant investment in transport does that. Freeways do. Airports do. Passenger trains do too.
QFT bigtime.
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The important thing to remember is that putting in improved passenger rail transport changes where people want to live and work.
And the guys riding the train are sponging off the rest of us.
All significant investment in transport does that. Freeways do. Airports do. Passenger trains do too.
Yes, that's true. But one of these wastes more money than the others.
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If you were going that fast in the eastern half of Washington, you'd just be laughed at by all the freeway drivers doing 90.
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Isn't Sabin the one who suplexes trains?
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If you were going that fast in the eastern half of Washington, you'd just be laughed at by all the freeway drivers doing 90.
Sounds like if you were running a train that slow in the eastern half of Washington, you'd deserve to be laughed at. The usual reason for keeping the speed down is so the train can make curves, not go through busy at-grade crossings too fast, etc. If the freeway can safely support 90, I'd bet that it wouldn't be all that expensive to run a rail line that supported much higher speeds.
Not sure that it makes sense to spend the sort of money to make it happen, but at least the land costs would be low.
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Not sure that it makes sense to spend the sort of money to make it happen
Ahhh...now you're catching on!
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And the guys riding the train are sponging off the rest of us
Shared-network improvments often
a) are at least partially privately financed (by the freight RR who owns the track), and
b) benefit both freight and passenger traffic -- double-tracking, siding extensions, CTC upgrades, and track geometry upgrades improve velocity no matter what trains you're putting on the line.If you were going that fast in the eastern half of Washington, you'd just be laughed at by all the freeway drivers doing 90.
Route velocity, not speed limit. Can you sustain that 90mph speed non-stop for your entire route?
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Shared-network improvments often
a) are at least partially privately financed (by the freight RR who owns the track), and
b) benefit both freight and passenger traffic -- double-tracking, siding extensions, CTC upgrades, and track geometry upgrades improve velocity no matter what trains you're putting on the line.I don't have a problem with investment in RR infrastructure, especially as relates to freight. I don't have a problem with passenger trains benefiting as a side effect. But privatize Amtrak and stop subsidizing that bullshit.
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But privatize Amtrak and stop subsidizing that bullshit.
I suspect Amtrak is actually better off under their current framework than they would be if the government tried to privatize them, and that's without dealing with government subsidies -- trackage rights aren't cheap.
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I suspect Amtrak is actually better off under their current framework than they would be if the government tried to privatize them, and that's without dealing with government subsidies -- trackage rights aren't cheap.
Yes, Amtrak is better off. Of course! That's the point!
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Route velocity, not speed limit. Can you sustain that 90mph speed non-stop for your entire route?
In Eastern Washington? You might slow to 65 for a stoplight.
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Yes, Amtrak is better off. Of course! That's the point!
What I'm trying to say is that privatizing Amtrak would basically kill passenger rail as a mode in the USA, at the very time we need more investment in it to prevent other modes from being swamped.
In Eastern Washington? You might slow to 65 for a stoplight.
No stopping for meals or restroom breaks, either?
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What I'm trying to say is that privatizing Amtrak would basically kill passenger rail as a mode in the USA, at the very time we need more investment in it to prevent other modes from being swamped.
Or they'd get their shit together and be more worthwhile.
But I suspect the new bus services would continue to eat their lunch.
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Or they'd get their shit together and be more worthwhile.
Timeliness is something they've been hacking away at for a while -- but with how stressed the US rail network is overall, it's not a problem they can turn around and fix overnight. The capital is flowing, though...(one of the major transcontinental rail routes is getting double-tracked, piece by piece)
But I suspect the new bus services would continue to eat their lunch.
I somehow think they aren't even targeting the same demographic...besides, busses are just as impacted by extant highway congestion as private cars are. Granted, a car->bus shift does help alleviate that congestion...but if your roads are already congested enough that people aren't driving as a result of the congestion, you'll probably need more than busses to fix that.
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I somehow think they aren't even targeting the same demographic..
Yes, because trains are so expensive to ride.
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