Members nat whilk II Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I come up with these armchair prophecies about cultural trends from time to time. I usually forget them until they come true then I say, "I knew it! I shoulda written it down!!" So here's my latest cultural trend prophecy: a new "addiction" will be defined and get a lot of press sometime in the near future: driving addiction. As more and more people consciously start trying to scale back their road mileage for economic and ecological reasons, there will be revealed a hard-core group of obsessive drivers who just have to be on the road for a significant number of hours almost every day. It'll be a compulsion sort of thing - not a necessity, although people with the compulsion will tend to make choices that entail a lot of driving - like they'll choose housing that's a LONG way from their jobs, or they'll choose to shop in the most far-flung outlet malls, and they'll find reasons to tool around to outlying towns, counties, etc, for whatever reasons. Some of these folks will have bipolar or ADHD tendencies, all that stuff will work into the mix. A "social cost" of this addiction will be estimated by the new crop of "experts" that will appear. Counselors will specialize in "treating" the condition, etc etc. Know anyone already that fits the description more or less? nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I actually sold my car.Kinda miss it... but my life is simpler now.... Of course, it helps living in a small town where you can WALK -something americans do not do frequently- or get a cab without paying more than 2 or 3 bucks a ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I enjoy being behind the wheel. I love long road trips, and until I got married I used to "get lost" all the time...just take off for nowhere in particular. I have driven for 25 hours, straight before...just to see how far I could drive before I fell out from exhaustion (which was from Montgomery, AL to just west of Phoenix, AZ). Once, I got in my car, at about 1:00pm wanting to go get some pizza. Seven hours later, I am in Asheville, NC eating at a Pizza Hut. I spent the night there, then drove back home, to Montgomery, AL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'd be perfectly happy to walk to everything. That rarely happens, of course. I live in Los Angeles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chipmcdonald Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I love long road trips, and until I got married I used to "get lost" all the time...just take off for nowhere in particular. I have driven for 25 hours, straight before...just to see how far I could drive before I fell out from exhaustion (which was from Montgomery, AL to just west of Phoenix, AZ). Once, I got in my car, at about 1:00pm wanting to go get some pizza. Seven hours later, I am in Asheville, NC eating at a Pizza Hut. I spent the night there, then drove back home, to Montgomery, AL. Man, I know *exactly* how you feel! Driving is massively therapeutic for me. It distracts *just* enough. It's somewhere between the numbness of tv channel surfing, and the overly-stimulating surfing the net: scenery changes, you have to use you mind a little bit more than with the tv, but it's not as engrossing as pursuing whimsy online. Driving somewhere far away and then going to a mundane place has a touch of surreality to it, with the familiar keeping it in check... interesting and reassuring at the same time. It's worth having a car that is responsive and handles well; the analogy would be the difference between surfing the web on dial up vs. cable... Driving really late at night is interesting - for the "empty world" effect... likewise, early morning - right before daybreak - is interesting in a metropolitan area, because you see the population "returning" to the city... You have your climate control, you have a comforting protective cocoon around you, and the freedom to go wherever you want, NOW - and nobody is going to knock on the door, nothing (practically) is likely to interfere with your muse. Listening to music while driving is the best; you're not feeling guilty that you *could* be doing something else - because you can't, and you're captive in probably a more neutral sonic listening environment than found in many homes. At the same time, your mind is occupied just enough with the driving - combined with road noise, to prevent the over-analysis of details in extreme. Halfway between being a couch potato and surfing online.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LiveMusic Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Yes, I also find driving to be hugely therapeutic. Not in traffic, though. On the open road or even tooling around slowly on quiet roads. Especially, with music. Most definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Yes, I also find driving to be hugely therapeutic. Not in traffic, though. On the open road or even tooling around slowly on quiet roads. Especially, with music. Most definitely. I like to go for zen drives now and then. I get around 35mpg now but I want a Prius for my next zen mobile. Although I hear that when the Artic ice melts the oceans are going up 200 feet so I'll have to drive further inland. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chipmcdonald Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I get around 35mpg now I have to put in a blurb for Toyota: After suffering, *suffering* with a POS Saturn, my 2000 Toyota Celica has been excellent.... ... and on the highway gets around 32 mpg - and Jimi did a song about the speed I drive... In town consistently 28 mpg - and again, I'm not conservative (insert joke). but I want a Prius for my next zen mobile. I want the Tesla to be mass produced so I can afford one.... That's how you get the whole world driving electric: make a $15,000 electric car that gets the equivalent of 135mpg, does 0-60 in 4 seconds, handles and looks like a Ferrari. There was a recent breakthrough in battery technology from a company in Texas just last week; it sounds promising, something like 10x a lithium battery's power/weight... The U.S. is again poised to become a world leader again; someone with authority, like... oh, I don't know, THE PRESIDENT, could make an announcement to encourage the U.S. car industry to come out with something like what I suggest above (in theory there's no reason they couldn't).. and they'd recapture the auto market while saving the planet. Oh well. At least soccer moms have humvees now to go to the grocery store. Although I hear that when the Artic ice melts Already started... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EccentRick Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I love long road trips, and until I got married I used to "get lost" all the time...just take off for nowhere in particular. +1,000,000 "Getting lost" and/or long "road trips to nowhere in particular" are the absolute best! The standard destination-bound-and-return routine is excruciatingly boring in comparison. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 +1,000,000 "Getting lost" and/or long "road trips to nowhere in particular" are the absolute best! The standard destination-bound-and-return routine is excruciatingly boring in comparison. Rick Sometimes the most interesting part is winding up someplace that you shouldn't be...like Houston's 5th Ward. Desperately hoping those lights stay green until you can get back on the interstate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EccentRick Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Sometimes the most interesting part is winding up someplace that you shouldn't be...like Houston's 5th Ward. Desperately hoping those lights stay green until you can get back on the interstate. :D Amen, brother!!!!! Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'd be perfectly happy to walk to everything. That rarely happens, of course. I live in Los Angeles. I live in Los Angeles, and I'm perfectly happy to walk to everything...or ride my bike. I only drive to places that are more than 5 miles away. That's actually better for your car's engine than too many short trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I come up with these armchair prophecies about cultural trends from time to time. I usually forget them until they come true then I say, "I knew it! I shoulda written it down!!"So here's my latest cultural trend prophecy: a new "addiction" will be defined and get a lot of press sometime in the near future: driving addiction. As more and more people consciously start trying to scale back their road mileage for economic and ecological reasons, there will be revealed a hard-core group of obsessive drivers who just have to be on the road for a significant number of hours almost every day. It'll be a compulsion sort of thing - not a necessity, although people with the compulsion will tend to make choices that entail a lot of driving - like they'll choose housing that's a LONG way from their jobs, or they'll choose to shop in the most far-flung outlet malls, and they'll find reasons to tool around to outlying towns, counties, etc, for whatever reasons. Some of these folks will have bipolar or ADHD tendencies, all that stuff will work into the mix. A "social cost" of this addiction will be estimated by the new crop of "experts" that will appear. Counselors will specialize in "treating" the condition, etc etc. Know anyone already that fits the description more or less?nat whilk ii The two gas "crises" of the 70s pretty well cured my driving addiction. But before then, when gas was typically less than 20 or 30 cents a gallon, I literally sometimes drove around all night. I REALLY liked touring LA's sleeping neighborhoods and industrial areas. One night me and the long-suffering girlfriend (hereafter known as the LSGF) wound up at the big open "market" (a bunch of loading docks) near the railyards around 4 am... and that was SO cool... I ended up sharing some wine with some of the (presumably) homeless guys who would unload trucks for a few bucks an hour... Good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Charles Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I'm kind of the opposite now days. I used to love to drive and did it every chance. I love the zoning one into right brain aspect of it and had some great ideas and thoughts on the road. Thing is, I just got burnt out. We used to drive to Florida straight through from here which was like 14 and 1/2 hours. I just reached a breaking point and now a 2 hour drive rather gets on my nerves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Charles Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 PS And I'm talking late 70's through mid 90's (not counting a stint of learning to drive backwards around London). It's so much more crowded now days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 PS And I'm talking late 70's through mid 90's (not counting a stint of learning to drive backwards around London). It's so much more crowded now days. And I thought it was hard enough just driving on the wrong side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Charles Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 And I thought it was hard enough just driving on the wrong side. Well, you've got your accelerator and clutch where they're suppose to be, but the steering wheel and stick shift are backwards, and the signs are all funny, and every time I got lost I always ended up in Piccadilly Circus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joel Oporto Posted February 2, 2007 Members Share Posted February 2, 2007 I think this will solve those addictions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQuZhkIyGfU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 2manband Posted February 2, 2007 Members Share Posted February 2, 2007 I got a new car a few weeks ago, and I'm in love with driving again. I used to have a 1999 Nissan Altima - A very reliable, practical, but unexciting car. Now it's a 2003 Acura TL. Lots more power, handling, creature comforts - I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurdy Posted February 3, 2007 Members Share Posted February 3, 2007 Wish I had such addictions. I hate driving. It makes me nervous. A lot of times, I don't bother going anywhere, because I know I'll have to drive to get there. Not the ideal fear for a musician to have. I don't mind driving, if I know exactly where I'm going. And if I can avoid highways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackpine Posted February 3, 2007 Members Share Posted February 3, 2007 I love it. I have been using a Calaway BRC .I can hit the ball a mile with..... oh.... cars. The spawn of satan. A necessary evil. And I do love to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted February 3, 2007 Members Share Posted February 3, 2007 ...something americans do not do frequently-... I guess generalizations have gone International. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chipmcdonald Posted February 3, 2007 Members Share Posted February 3, 2007 Now it's a 2003 Acura TL. Lots more power, handling, creature comforts - I love it. The new TL's really catch my eye for some reason, I've wondered how they handle/MPG etc... I hope to get at least 2 more years out of my 2000 Celica, so I figure what I'm looking at now might be what I'm in the market for later. Although I can't believe I think a sedan looks cool, wish they made a hatch.... / would buy another Celica in the future if they still sold them here// no, a Scion looks like it has glandular fever/// Most likely will want an RSX//// ... but does an RSX get 28-32 MPG like my Celica?///// Why doesn't Toyota just start selling Celicas here again!!!////// AHHRHrgrgrgg... /////// "The Sound of Future Turmoil" sounds like a song title...//////// I know slashies are tired, but they affect a mood to a post you can't get otherwise, "PS" doesn't work online IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super 8 Posted February 3, 2007 Members Share Posted February 3, 2007 I guess generalizations have gone International. It's true though, we don't walk much. New developments are generally pedestrian unfriendly. Often they don't even have sidewalks. Long winding subdivisions which basically lead nowhere. Not like the traditional grid-shaped neighborhoods with a 'main street', where people met. Stores are no longer located within walking distance for most people, and are in the middle of large parking lots surrounded by drainage ditches which make them difficult to access by foot. It can also be dangerous, since you have to watch out for all of the cars entering and exiting. So walking is reduced to something you only do for exercise. For anything else you really need a car. I have also found that most -though certainly not all- drivers are not sympathetic or courteous toward pedestrians. I drive for a living, but I am *addicted* to walking. Whenever I park my rig, I'm looking for an opportunity to walk a few miles and see up close places I've never been.....although, most places pretty much look the same. So I guess I'm opposite of the topic. Take away my car, and it's just one less thing I have to pay for and maintain. But take away my walk'n shoes, and yer look'n fer trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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