Take the Long Way Home

I hate traffic.  Bold statement, I know, but I really hate it.  Being slowed down by others when I am trying

to get somewhere brings out the worst in me.  But I don’t think I hate it for the same reasons as other people.  I understand, and I can deal with, delays because of construction or accidents.  Don’t get me wrong, I still hate them, but at least there is a reason that there is a delay.  What drives me absolutely insane is driving behind people who act like they either have no were to go, or they have no idea how to operate their vehicles.  I regularly get behind people who are driving at least 10 miles per hour under the speed limit.  It happens to me at least a couple of times a week and usually more.  I’m not just talking about out on the freeway either.  I am constantly behind people who are going 25 in 35 or 45 mph zones.  Why is this?  The worst case scenario is when people drive like this in moderate to heavy traffic.  I have had my usual 30 minute commute extended to 45 minutes just because of one or two people who decided that they don’t care about the world around them.  I know, 15 minutes extra is pretty minor but it still sucks.  I’m all for safety, being cautious and driving according to conditions, but that’s not what’s going on here.   One major issue is obviously texting.  Just stop doing it people.  It’s so damn common and it’s way more (yes more) dangerous than drunk driving.  I have no idea why states are so hesitant to make it a primary offense.  I really believe that another issue is people’s fear of driving.  More and more young people don’t care about driving and see it as an inconvenience.  I see 20-something year old men driving like they are terrified.  It’s better than having them drive 100 mph but come on man!  Lastly, and most blood boiling-ly, is those who are just
meandering and paying no attention to the world around them.  I recently was at a stop light with two left turn lanes, me in the left one behind another care and the right one open.  I needed to make another left shortly after the intersection so that’s the lane I picked instead of having to cross traffic again if I had chosen the right lane.  The light turned green and the guy in front of me sat there for a second and then slowly began to idle into the intersection.  As he slowly started rolling, the light turned yellow.  So, because I didn’t wan to block the intersection waiting for this idiot to go, I went into the right, left turn lane, and passed him and was able to get back into the left, left turn lane, before getting all of the way through the intersection.  Please people, drive your cars!  You should never be able to pass someone during a turn before you clear the intersection. I know, bitching about stupid people will never do anything good for anyone.  But my other huge problem can be solved with a little innovation and investment and it would be great for everyone.  The stoplights we are using are horribly outdated and cause way more traffic issues than they help.  Watch what happens while you wait at stop lights.  How often are no cars moving in any direction?  How often is there a green light ahead, while there is no traffic flowing through it with cars waiting at a red light on the other side?  There is a particularly busy street that I frequently drive on that has some serious traffic management issues that are mainly caused by stop lights.  I will see traffic flow towards a green light with no cars going through it, only for that light to turn red just as the traffic flow is reaching it.  Traffic gets backed up for blocks and there is open road ahead.  Why does this still have to happen?  We have the technology, we can make it better.  Think about the success that companies like Google are having with self driving cars.  Those cars use a variety of sensors to determine what is happening around them, and what actions are required.  We need to equip our stoplights with some of this technology.  Traffic signals could pick up traffic flows allowing cars to pass freely when appropriate.  We could do away with the light cycles that last a specific amount of time and have lights that change as needed.  Signals could communicate with each other so flows can be predicted before they approach.  I don’t know who makes stoplights but I wish Google would get into the game.  Please someone, make our lives better!  As for idiots who don’t drive their cars, I came up with my own solution.  Take mostly back roads that have very minimal traffic.  The route is longer, but there are fewer cars on the road and fewer stoplights.  Guess what, it takes me about the same amount of time to get home and I’m in a much better mood when I get there.  But don't even get me started about the lack of turn signals being used...

If you’d like to make a call...

The other day I was walking out of my Monday evening class and I pulled out my phone to return a call that I missed.  I hit the call button and … waited… and waited… and waited.   I walked to my car and waited some more.  I drove down the street still having nothing but a swirling circle on my phone’s screen telling me that it is trying to do something, but failing.  What happened?  I made the tragic mistake of trying to make a call when I was just leaving a Wi-Fi network that I was connected to.  Sounds ridiculous, right?  If my phone is connected to Wi-Fi and I try to place a call while I am leaving the area, the waiting circle comes on the screen and the call won’t go out for up to ten minutes.  If you try to go to the home screen and make another call, it will work, but the original call will still try to come through at things will be screwed up bad.  The only way to stop it is to pull the battery.  I came to the conclusion that the Wi-Fi zone was the problem through weeks of experimentation and being able to replicate the issue over and over again.  I searched online for others with the same phone and issue and found some others that commented on the same problem with not being able to place outgoing calls but no one mentioned the Wi-Fi correlation.  Some had said that it happened everyday when they left work, leading me to believe that they were connected to Wi-Fi while at work, creating the same issue I had. The phone is an LG Spectrum 2 from Verizon, which seems to be a pretty decent phone, but it has its quirks.  Like this one.  I have had earlier model Droids that had issues connecting to apps because they were on Wi-Fi and they kept trying to use it instead of switching over to mobile data if I left the signal zone.  Calls, on the other hand, should never be trying to use Wi-Fi in any way.  So, what’s the deal LG?  Why in the world would Wi-Fi have any affect on making a call?  LG?

Battery Trouble

Battery Trouble 

I’ve been an Android user since the first Motorola Droid with the sliding keyboard came out back in the day.  I’ve always liked the fact that you could configure your phone in any way you deemed fit.  The idea of Apple dictating what goes where always kind of bugged me.  I like Apple products, but the cult of perceived superiority perpetrated by their faithful followers is just too much for me.  So, I’ve gone on using my Android phone and maintaining my own air of superiority because I didn’t go along with the trend.  But lately I’ve been a little fed up.  I use my phone pretty heavily during the work week listening to podcasts or music throughout the day.  I generally plug my phone into my computer after lunch to charge it up for the second half of the day.  I also charge it every night.  I understand that listening to music or podcasts can drain the battery pretty quickly, but it seems that my problems go much beyond heavy use battery drain.  My phone can no longer last more than a half day on a single full charge.  My wife recently switched to an Android phone after deciding it wasn’t worth an extra $200 to upgrade when her beloved iPhone gave out.  She generally appreciates the fact that everything on the iPhone is laid out for her and it looks pretty and all of that stuff.  She was OK with her Motorola, but now the problem with battery drain is hitting her as well.  It wasn’t as much of a problem for her until a recent software update.  She now has the same problem as me, her battery draining down during the day at an unacceptable rate.  Mine is, however still much worse that hers.  I frequently get into situations where I am down to 15% battery in the middle of the day while I am out doing things with no where to re-charge.  I have always had battery issues that I assumed were brought on by my heavy use of the phone.  I’ve had Motorola, HTC and LG devices, all with the same issue.  I suspected that I had worn out the battery through too many charge and discharge cycles.  Now with my wife having the same issue, I am starting to wonder.  Is this an Android issue?  Her iPhone could last for a couple of days on a charge with no problem.  She also has an iPad Mini.  On a recent trip, she watched two hours of Netflix in the airport while waiting for her plane and still had plenty of battery to spare.  My son has a very cheap Android tablet, so comparison is difficult, but I don’t believe it would last two hours of constant video streaming.  So, what is the deal?  Is Apple’s battery use that much better, or am I just wearing my devices down?  Is there an Android device that holds up to Apple in terms of battery life?  If it is the software, what is causing these issues?  I hope someone has some answers because I don’t want to have to give in.