My brother and I picked up a hitch hiker about a hundred years ago (ok, maybe it was 25 to 30 years) ago. He had a backpack, and was from England. We picked him up at the East end of Arizona (on I-40) and he was hitch hiking his way across America for the summer. We had several laughs about him and with him. Some of his thoughts were: No one in Europe could ever even begin to conceive just how hot Arizona is (it was well into June and well over a 100 degrees), after working his way across California and Arizona, he was stupefied by the sheer size and magnitude of the two states and was already revising his plans on where he was going to go in the U.S., how long it'd take to get there, and how long he was going to stay at each destination. I laughed as I told him Texas was almost 900 miles long and 900 miles wide...he was darn near in shock considering he'd spent days getting across Arizona's 400 + miles!!
Ray Shahan
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Art Bahrs
> Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2004 10:23 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [HP3000-L] OT: Ramblin's about distance perception
>
> Hi Denys and All :)
> First of all, I log a whole lot of klicks in LPC's (Leather Personnel
> Carriers) both in the civilian and military world... The "Better Half" and
> I both commute by bus to work every day... it just is overall cheaper...
> (Parking is over $150 a month to have your rig dinged for 8 hours) so a lot
> of us over here still walk and bike and do the public commute thingie ...
> It would be more... but the western US is huge! and we have a large
> distance between things...
>
> Second, Portland (and it's suburbs) is small... only something like 77
> miles across... Houston is huge!! Our bus system here is good... but still
> a pain to use (and I have been riding it since '67) and it really is only
> designed for business people to get to work and back... but a lot of us do
> use it... I only put about 6,500 miles a year on my rigs... and 2,500+ of
> them are driving to and from the Military Academy where I serve my military
> duty...
>
> A funny story about distances and the difference between American and
> German perceptions of them... a couple of my relatives from Karlsruhe (sp?)
> Germany were in town visiting us back in 80 or so... and when asked what
> they wanted to see their list was:
> 1. Mt St Helens
> 2. The Grand Canyon
> 3. DisneyLand
> 4. The Pacific Ocean
>
> Dad pointed out, politely, that we would be driving them around... they
> didn't see his point until he pointed out that Disneyland is a 12+ hour
> drive from Portland, Mt St Helens is about 2 hours, the Pacific Ocean
> (beach) is about 90 minutes (if traffic is good) and then he added ... oh,
> btw... the Grand Canyon is about 3 or 4 days away by car... The relatives
> were amazed... they seem so close on the little map they had brought from
> Germany... hehehe This is still a good family chuckle on both sides of the
> Atlantic... :)
>
> And remember... when in Las Vegas? The Casinos are farther apart than
> they appear on all the maps you will find!!!
>
> Art "Ramblin' while reviewing security logs!" Bahrs
> =======================================================
> Art Bahrs, CISSP Information Security The Regence Group
> (503) 553-1425 FAX (503) 553-1453
>
>
>
> |---------+---------------------------------->
> | | "Denys Beauchemin" |
> | | <denysnospamwanted@hous|
> | | ton.rr.com> |
> | | Sent by: "HP-3000 |
> | | Systems Discussion" |
> | | <[log in to unmask]
> | | > |
> | | |>
> | | |
> | | 11/03/2004 07:03 AM |
> | | Please respond to denys|
> | | |
> | | |-------------------| |
> | | | [ ] Secure E-mail | |
> | | |-------------------| |
> |---------+---------------------------------->
> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
> | |
> | To: [log in to unmask] |
> | cc: |
> | Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Blatant disrespect for the international community |
> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
>
>
>
>
> Most cities in Europe are packed, you cannot park anywhere. When I used
> to go to Hamburg (3-4 times a year for many years), I used the buses and
> the U-Bahn. If you drove, you could never find parking anywhere. I
> have been to many places in Europe and the problem was the same
> everywhere. I think the worst one was Athens. A 10 mile ride could
> turn into a 2 hours odyssey culminating with a 30 minute quest for a
> parking space usually in the strangest locations and never near where
> you needed to be.
>
> The city of Houston is bigger than most European countries and many
> small East Coast states. The only way to get around is by car and
> there is plenty of parking everywhere.
>
> If you look at NYC, you will find pretty much the same situation. You
> will also find that most people move around by cab, bus, subway. In my
> home town of Montreal, you can live, work, shop and lead a busy life
> without even going outdoor. The whole city is interconnected
> underground and the Metro is extensive.
>
> But I think the biggest difference between Europe and North America, is
> the distance. Europeans have no concept. Texas, a single state, is
> bigger than France and Germany combined.
>
> In a post-9/11 world, who wants to go through the humiliation at the
> airports to fly from Houston to Dallas? In the 3-hour drive from
> Houston to Dallas, one would have gone through 12.3 countries in Europe
> and still not have found anywhere to park.
>
>
> Denys
>
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>
>
>
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