The Long Road

11/09/2003 Archived Entry: "Guest Column #2"

Here is dAN with my second guest column!

For those interested in posting something, email me and i'll put it up next Sunday.

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I think its really cool that intersections all about the city of Ottawa are being integrated with sensors...it just makes so much sense...there's no reason for you to be sitting on a light, waiting a set
amount of time, for the traffic that you don't see in front of you to cross your path...

What annoys me are those people in their cars...waiting on a red light...that decide to reverse their car and move it forward again...thinking they'll somehow magically activate the sensors..."Ooh...now the sensor thinks there's more of us waiting"...you're either there or you're not...stop rocking your car back and forth...buy a boat!

As for sensors in washrooms...I'm all about FUNCTIONAL sensors that are used to conserve water...and that clean up after people who forget to flush, so that there's no rancid smell left about in the washroom...however, on the subject of non-functionality...it really gets irritating when using a urinal and the it just flushes with you still standing there doing your thing...and a little tinsy
little bit of dirty toilet water splashes about to eventually land on your hand, etc. etc...

Its inevitable, that one day you'll be sitting on a TOILET...doing your thing...and a sensor malfunction will cause the toilet to flush...while refluxing just a tad back at ya...eww!

Replies: 8 comments

Wow, you just posted this!

Posted by Romer @ 11/09/2003 12:43 AM EST

My dad was once stuck behind a woman who stopped her car many meters behind the stop-line sensors and he tried to convince her to move forward but she refused to believe that there were sensors in the asphalt!

There are some toilets in Japan where you can press a button and water jets will spray upwards to clean your ass. I'm assuming they spray clean water, of course. Weird but true.

Posted by Rayne @ 11/10/2003 04:20 AM EST

C'est un bidet en francais...watch Crocodile Dundee...they show one in a New York hotel...its not part of the toilet you're using...its next to the toilet...a separate apparatus...Richard's parents have one in their home

Posted by dAN @ 11/10/2003 08:07 PM EST

It was my impression that all of the traffic lights have sensors. That's what the square tar lines indicate.

What really pisses me off, is people not waiting their turn on an onramp or traffic mergance. IE, Carling and Kirkwood onramp to the queensway heading east and turning right on bronson from Carling. I usually keep it tight but people are willing to ram cars in just to bud in line. I say Fark you, too all those who do that!

Oh yah, and people who don't know how to park, they take away 2 friggin parking spaces for one car. I usually key the persons car if i see that. This is why I hate driving, angries up the blood.

Posted by Narsil @ 11/11/2003 12:41 PM EST

I've never noticed it in Richard's place. I'll make it a point of using their bathroom the next time...waddaminnit..he moved out, i'll never get to see this thing.

I thought it was only intersections with those lines of yellow circles on the ground had sensors.

Posted by Rayne @ 11/12/2003 03:05 AM EST

Yeah...only intersections with the yellow circles have them...not all intersections are integrated with sensors...

Posted by dAN @ 11/12/2003 11:48 PM EST

Pretty much most if not all intersections are censored. Even my small residential roads are censored. Major roads are generally not censored sinced they have to keep traffic flowing, so they're only censored on the roads perpendicular to the major road. Most roads downtown are timed to keep traffic flowing, but timed intersections also employ a timed hybrid with censors. Man, confusing....

Anyways, yah, where ever you see a traffic box at an intersection, it's generally censored. Why wouldn't they be?

Posted by Metatron @ 11/13/2003 04:32 PM EST

What do you mean by a traffic box?

Posted by dAN @ 11/14/2003 02:44 PM EST