[Tfug] top/bottom and middle posting

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, John,

> >I was looking into a scooter but it seems so "exposed"
> >(given the "quality" of Tucson drivers).  How do you
> >handle long trips (e.g., feenigs)?
> 
> I don't?  Honestly, who wants to willingly go to
> Phoenix?

<grin>  Understood.  But, that's the only place I can buy
the popcorn I use (and shipping 35# sacks just doesn't make
sense economically!)

> As for safety... I suppose it mostly comes down to playing
> the odds. 

Isn't that true *any* time you get on the road in *any*
conveyance?  :>

> I don't drive much, though,
> and my frequent trips the UA are done via bus.

Understood.

> >Driving as little as I do (~2K/year) it always feels
> >wasteful when I look at insurance costs, etc.  I figure
> >with such low annual mileage, I'm probably spending
> >close to $1/mile!  :<
> >
> >OTOH, when I need to lug something across town, it's
> >a lot more convenient than having to rent a car/truck...
> 
> This is actually my solution to distance travelling or when
> I need to move something large.  Especially when I was in western
> Massachusetts, I'd rent a car for my infrequent trips to the
> Costco in Springfield, or when I really
> needed to go someplace far from a bus stop in the winter.

I guess if you can keep the frequency down, then it can
be affordable.  But, you're still forced into carrying an
insurance policy to cover you while driving *their* car
(or pay their outrageous daily fees!)

> I justified this in purely financial means.  Even with the
> added cost of
> occasional car rentals, the total cost of scooter + rentals
> was still below
> the total cost of car ownership.  Also, a scooter is far
> easier to transport across the country in a U-Haul.  :)

<grin>  I recall my first long distance move:  both cars
"took a ride".  Sure glad I wasn't paying *that* bill!

I used to think those obnoxious little motorized skateboards
would be a viable option for my *short* trips (grocery
store, library, etc.).  But, I now modify my daily walking
regimen to take those destinations into account.  So, anything
closer than about 2.5 miles (each way) is no longer an
issue.

OTOH, going *farther* than 2.5 miles on one of those little
skateboards seems insane!

(of course, they are now illegal in the city so...)

That leaves the scooter as the only viable option for these
intermediate distances (a motorcycle puts you back into
the high rent district)

> >>  A Net pen pal gets the idea across,
> >> but it's not very accurate.  I know this is by no means
> >> a new phenomenon, so I
> >> suspect somebody must have coined a term for this, right?
> >
> >Actually, I never considered physical location or *how*
> >someone was initially contacted as being worthy of a
> >special designation (?).
> 
> Well, I have no pressing need to label him, but sometimes
> it comes up.
> Suppose, in conversation, I say "I've got this
> friend in Sweden who blah blah..."  I think that carries
> certain expectations and it would not be out of
> place for somebody to ask how I met somebody all the way in
> Sweden, and so forth.

I often say things like, "I emailed my friend in the GDR..."
or "I got a note from my friend in Liverpool..."

<shrug>  I figure folks who are used to electronic communications
know what I mean and aren't surprised at the reference (I tend to
refer to people in descriptive terms instead of by name since
this usually answers the "who is Bob?" type questions before they
are asked -- unless Bob is someone I chat about regularly).
And, folks who are oblivious to that sort of thing (e.g., my
older relatives) are usually more puzzled by the concept
of "email" than they are by the fact that the party being
referenced is abroad.

> If this were in pre-Net days and I say "I've got
> pen pal in Sweden and..."
> that connotes something entirely different, but it also
> suggests that there is written correspondence.

I would agree that pen-pal is probably still a throwback to
the days of handwritten letters.  *Especially* since you
hear the term so infrequently -- using it almost suggests
this unusual activity (i.e., writing letters).

I think the *best* thing that email has done is made it possible
to economically exchange things *other* than text.  I, for
example, rely on photos almost daily (picture is worth
a thousand words) to explain something that would be
tedious and imprecise were it left to text.