I’m supposed to appear on this show, titled “What’s peeving PZ”, on Sunday at 3.
I’m not sure what to say. When am I ever peevish? I am a pillar of placidity, calm and imperturbable. I am like the Buddha. I can’t think of a single thing that has irritated me, ever.
For me this one would be simple. Just to name the latest—wealthy pedophiles getting away with their crimes because of their buddies who protect them. Then again, maybe “irritated” wouldn’t be the right word, probably “angered” would be better. Let’s try again, something merely irritating… I know—conservative people routinely reminding me that I should live as a woman and make babies. I say “irritate” about this one only because it has happened so often with me that I have lost the capacity to feel angry about regular everyday transphobia.
The cat, of course.
Can’t they just read your blog like the rest of us? Also, Pinker.
Maybe this will do it, PZ? Just trying to help prepare you.
I dunno. How about THIS one?
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/trump-free-speech-twitter-google-facebook-authoritarianism.html
So many critters, so little time:
When you’re driving on a two lane rural highway and the car in front of you is going ten miles under the limit. Then you get to one of the passing areas with a slow lane and they get over and THEN SPEED UP. You’re driving under limit, I can’t get around you, and when I finally get a chance to pass you, you’re going to speed up?
Matthew Rigdon, you’ve given a perfect description of driving up to Estes Park on 34 or 36. Petrified Nebraska drivers, panicking every time the road goes up, down, or curves. Only when a passing lane comes along do they snap out of their funk and try to make some time. Same thing driving along highway 2 between Escanaba and Mackinaw: Slow boats when there’s a single lane suddenly become brave chariots when the passing lanes appear.
We’ve got those. We’ve also got gigantic farm equipment of imponderable use that straddle a lane and a half and travel at 30mph under the limit.
Poopyhead is obviously peeved they aren’t sure what they are peeved about when on a show about being peeved.
The passing areas are usually on more level ground. It may well be that the slow car (especially if they’re hauling a trailer or are an RV) just can’t go any faster on the steeper incline, and they’re trying to gain some momentum while they can. Most of them aren’t asleep nor are they trying to prevent your passage.
I say that from my own experience, although I usually tried to be sure that cars with more horsepower than my little 4 cylinder wagon could get by. But I knew that if I just kept the same speed as on the grade, my top speed would just keep dropping.
9) @ PZ:
Do you really want those going the speed limit?
My own (admittedly vague) recollection of overtaking areas (mostly in California) was that the slower-moving vehicles were required to go into the right-most lane, leaving the inner (left) lane for overtaking (and that, after overtaking, the passing vehicle also moved into the outer lane). The first sometimes happened, the latter rarely happened.
The incident I most recall wasn’t in California, or even the Americas, but in Scotland. On the Isle of Sky. And didn’t involve overtaking / passing as such.
There, I was driving uphill on a single-track road, when a car appeared over the crest of the hill and started heading downhill, towards me. There was a waiting area at both the top and bottom of the hill, and the other car should have pulled over into the waiting area at the top until I finished the hillclimb. It didn’t. It did stop, near the top but past its waiting area. This lead to a stalemate, as I refused to reverse downhill to the other waiting area; partly because the other car was much closer to the uphill waiting area, but mostly it’s easier to control a car when reversing uphill (and had the other car been paying attention, it wouldn’t have had to reverse at all). In California — and in the UK (I later checked) — the law requires the car heading downhill to reverse to a safe spot in tie sort of situation.
The other car simply would not. I eventually caved in, and very carefully (and, as I now recall, extremely slowly), reversed back down the steep hill to the lower waiting area. The eejit in the other car followed me at close range, so a sudden stop on my part or the fool loosing control of the other car, would presumably have resulted in a crash.
I remember being furious whilst I climbed the hill the second time, which a (later) visit to the Talisker distillery didn’t alleviate, as it was closed…
Cats. Oh please be peeved about cats!
People who don’t know how to pass farm equipment piss me off. Back off, for crying out loud. Use perspective to your advantage. It’s much easier to see the road ahead if you can see around the damned thing. Also, you can gain momentum when you see the opening. (This, of course, assumes the ability to measure probabilities of near future outcomes based on present data)