driverless cars – seriously?

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I saw an article by BBC on autonomous taxis.

Why you have (probably) already bought your last car

I wrote on Twitter in response:

17 seconds ago

Replying to

How about RV drivers who take their rigs camping? Driving 14 hours from Calgary to Vancouver on mountain highways, dead of winter, 3 feet of snow? How about family trips, stopping at a roadside historic information sign? Not all travel is commute. This utopia does not compute.

I pile camping crap into my car and head off into the hills.  How would that work with an all-electric, self-driving car?  I go off-road in my little Kia, climbing up a mud and gravel hill on a logging road for excitement.  The Kia performs well.  Could an autonomous electric taxi replace my car?  Don’t think so.  I’m accident free since 1987, driving in large cities, on long highways, through blizzard conditions, daytime and at night.  Long time.  Loooong time.  No way in hell an autonomous car will take my license away.

Now if you’re talking about a car that can drive by itself, with the driver taking over at any point he / she wishes to, I’d be into that.  Sure, why not?  But, in a city the size of Lethbridge, I really can’t see how it could be useful.  Downtown Seoul?  Sure.

later

Just curious – Google (advocates of self-driving cars) collects a lot of data from lots of people, like our travel habits.  Does it know how much travel I do that isn’t part of my daily work commute?

donation 112

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I gave my 112th blood donation today.

They take half a litre every 56 days.

Someone asked me, “Is that a pump?  Are they pumping it out of you?”  No!  It’s not a pump!  It’s just a bag of blood sitting on a platform that moves back and forth every few seconds to stop the blood from coagulating, or whatever blood does when it sits still.  The heart is a pump.  It pumps it all around; and if you put a hole in a vein and let it out into a bag, your heart doesn’t know the difference.  It just gets pumped out.  No biggie.

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metal works technologist interview

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I had my interview today for the technologist position.  It is for a metal works company in town.  I think it went well.  I stumbled a bit in identifying GD&T symbols like concentricity.  They need someone who is proficient at AutoCAD and is in it for the long haul.  Sometimes lots of overtime and weekends.  They’ll call the one they choose the end of next week.

Logan & Katie

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At Starbucks now having a second cup.  I read the paper and then turned on the computer.  In the mean time, my coffee cup sat on the table.

A guy and gal sitting next to me said, “That’s a cool cup you have there.”  I thought that that was an interesting way to brake the ice.  They introduced themselves as Logan & Katie.  They’re entrepreneurs.  Not sure exactly what that means in terms of actual work done, but they have a plan.  We talked about the weather, Thanksgiving, Lethbridge, careers, and other stuff.  This doesn’t happen very often – strangers just start talking.  Floyd and I were talking about this earlier this week – that people should talk more.  And it happened.  Nice people.

Engineering Technologist interview

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Good news, everyone!  I just got a phone call for an interview at an engineering firm!  Yay!

The last two employment offers were part-time.  I took one of them as they were offering evening employment.  I could handle part-time evening employment but not part-time daytime.

I have to bone up on my CAD stuff.  I’m pretty proficient in Revit now.  I asked the interviewer if I should prepare something, and he said to bring some examples of CAD work.

Wish me luck!

no heat

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We had the furnace ducts cleaned yesterday by the 4 Seasons Home Comfort people.  $262.50 later, we have clean ducts.  But it didn’t do any good at first because a transformer blew apart.  How?  Something about a faulty ground wire.  There is normally a buzzing noise from the furnace (the old transformer did that), but this morning – no buzz, and no heat.  Another technician came today to fix it, no charge.  Now all is good.

holiday outside the box (or inside the box)

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Now here’s an idea that, upon first look, seems kooky.  Vacation in prison.  But, having lived in South Korea for many years, I know that work can take its toll on a person.  The busy busy busy, go go go, workaholic lifestyle wears a person thin.  Enter: Prison.  Well, a place that apparently resembles prison.

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