Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Walk / Don't Walk
A few of my writings here have illustrated the health benefits of walking (which we do more of when we are car-free). I think the following illustration sums it up succinctly (though it may not be subtle).
Friday, 16 January 2009
Bus-stop Snack
After watching the cricket, i decided to go for an evening walk - i hadn't been out of the house all day. On the way home, i bump into a friend of mine who i haven't seen for a while (he used to live in my unit block, but moved out a few months ago). It was one of those coincidences that he just happened to be at the bus-stop as i was on my walk.
In a further piece of good luck, he had just bought a pizza. So we sat at the bus stop, eating pizza and talking ... until his bus came.
In a further piece of good luck, he had just bought a pizza. So we sat at the bus stop, eating pizza and talking ... until his bus came.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Santa and the Christmas Road Toll
In the absence of much real news in the Christmas-New Year period, the road toll features heavily on the nightly news update.
For the record the holiday 'toll' (Dec 20 to Jan 2) was 56 nationwide and 13 in Queensland. Whilst tragic for the people involved, and their nearest and dearest, it's nothing out of the ordinary.
In 2007 (i can't find full 2008 stats yet) the number of people who lost their life on Australian roads was 1616. In Queensland, 360. While it may seem gruesome to do maths on these numbers, please bear with me.
For Australia
Year-long average = 1616/365 = 4.43 per day
Christmas/NY average = 56/14 = 4.00 per day
For Queensland
Year-long average = 360/365 = 0.986 per day
Christmas/NY average = 13/14 = 0.929 per day
In short, the "Christmas" road toll (and the underlying message that driving is safe at other times) seems to be a Santa for adults. Nice fantasy - but not actually true.
For the record the holiday 'toll' (Dec 20 to Jan 2) was 56 nationwide and 13 in Queensland. Whilst tragic for the people involved, and their nearest and dearest, it's nothing out of the ordinary.
In 2007 (i can't find full 2008 stats yet) the number of people who lost their life on Australian roads was 1616. In Queensland, 360. While it may seem gruesome to do maths on these numbers, please bear with me.
For Australia
Year-long average = 1616/365 = 4.43 per day
Christmas/NY average = 56/14 = 4.00 per day
For Queensland
Year-long average = 360/365 = 0.986 per day
Christmas/NY average = 13/14 = 0.929 per day
In short, the "Christmas" road toll (and the underlying message that driving is safe at other times) seems to be a Santa for adults. Nice fantasy - but not actually true.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
A Local's Local
Yesterday i cycled to indooroopilly shopping centre (to visit the library) and was locking up my bike ... to a lamp post (don't get me started on bike-parking facilities) when i was approached by a couple.
"A person on a bike. You must be a local."
I don't think they were complimenting the people Toowong-Taringa-Indooroopilly area on an environmentally-aware approach to transport. I reckon their logic was based more on the premise that no-one would be cycling long-distance in the middle of a 34-degree day.
Turns out they wanted to know the nearest pub. I suggested the one at the south end of the centre. That didn't satisfy them. They were after a "pub pub" (whatever that means). I helped them out (because that's what i do) but i couldn't help but think that even on new year's eve perhaps 12.30 was an early start :)
"A person on a bike. You must be a local."
I don't think they were complimenting the people Toowong-Taringa-Indooroopilly area on an environmentally-aware approach to transport. I reckon their logic was based more on the premise that no-one would be cycling long-distance in the middle of a 34-degree day.
Turns out they wanted to know the nearest pub. I suggested the one at the south end of the centre. That didn't satisfy them. They were after a "pub pub" (whatever that means). I helped them out (because that's what i do) but i couldn't help but think that even on new year's eve perhaps 12.30 was an early start :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)