Saturday, October 29, 2016

Second time in Dallas this year

I've been to Dallas, TX twice this year, now.  Both trips were for business.  The first trip was for SOLIDWORKS World 2016.  I'm always very busy for each SOLIDWORKS World convention, so there's not much time to explore on my own.  This time around I was attending ASME Y Committee meetings.  I was able to do a bit more exploring, but not much.

While wondering around, I found this eyeball.  Even many locals don't seem to know that this thing exists and that it is in Downtown.



I also visited the Reunion Tower again to get some great photos of points of interest in Dallas.




Dealey Plaza, location of President Kennedy's assassination

Highrises of the skyline of Downtown Dallas, TX

There were a number of good restaurants that were enjoyed on various days, such as Wild SalsaTruFire Kitchen & Bar and recent local favorite Hard Eight.

On thing to note is that it's not easy getting around the Dallas area without getting dinged for tolls.  In the week I was there, I racked up almost $20 in tolls by just driving around between places I needed to be. That is a bit annoying, especially since I have my navigation app set to avoid tolls.

The weather was great, particularly so far along into Fall.  I didn't need a jacket or long sleeve shirt at any time.

Due to a sudden opening in my schedule, I did find some time to visit Arlington Museum of Art.  I found it moderately interesting, but overall it was a bit underwhelming.  The most interesting works I found there were by Charmaine Locke, but not much was available to view.

Sunday, October 02, 2016

Bad day for a couple of Subaru owners

Welp, today was a bad day for a couple of Subaru owners.

Death-defying u-turn

The first instance happened this morning near the bottom of a shallow hill on a two-way, two-lane road with rapidly moving traffic.  A maroon-color Outback rapidly pulls over to the shoulder.  The Outback is full of people and luggage, including stuff tied to the roof rack.  Cars immediately following the Outback braked to avoid a collision, with a couple of them swerving briefly into the lane of opposing traffic. Dust was kicked up a dozen feet into the air.  But, that's not all!  The lady driving the Outback activates her left turn blinker just as Allie and I approach in our car.  All of a sudden the lady veers back into the road at a sharp angle, with her front left fender heading straight for our front right fender.  Allie honked and swerved into the opposing traffic lane to avoid the collision!  The lady barely stopped in time to miss us.  Fortunately there was a gap in the traffic on the opposite lane into which we could veer.  Just as we passed, she continued her sharp turn into the lane and across into the opposite lane.  She cut out in front of the car that was immediately behind us.

Then she proceeds to make a full u-turn right in front of on-coming traffic in the opposing lane.  Traffic moving in both directions had to slam on their brakes to avoid being hit by this lady.  I'm sure she left a phantom intersection in her wake.  When I looked back, I saw a field of brake lights as we continued on.  After a few cuss words were uttered by Allie, I stated, "that the lady was driving like Clark Griswold".  "Yeah, [more expletives], Griswold!" Allie appreciatively replies.

Bang, crumble, bye-bye bike

Roof-racked bicycle might've looked
something like this before being
mangled beyond recognition.
This afternoon, as I was walking Toebzilla around the apartment complex near the parking garage, I hear the sound of metal crunching.  I turn just in time to see a Subaru with a roof-racked (apparently expensive) bicycle being torn a part as the driver drove under the height restriction bumper.  The bumper was a large, red, round and heavily constructed pipe that was mounted to the entrance ceiling.  Conveniently, the bumper had the garage's height restriction boldly printed upon it.  The Subaru would've been fine without the racked bicycle.  But, the Subaru had a racked bicycle.  The driver drove clean through and didn't stop until fully inside the garage.  The crunching sound coming from his roof didn't appear to be enough to deter him from continuing.  He stopped a few feet passed the bumper, and a few seconds too late.

The expensive looking bicycle was no longer a bicycle.  I mean, there was still kinda two wheels, but it was a mangled mess.  The roof rack was also a mangled mess.  The roof rack being attached to the roof of the Subaru likely suggests that the Subaru's roof was also damaged to some extent.

At this point, the driver still doesn't exit his car.  I think he was stunned.  He finally pulls into a nearby parking spot.  He still waits a considerable amount of time to get out.  Maybe he was surveying the damage to the roof of the Subaru from the inside?  When he finally gets out, he just stares at the mangled mess where his bicycle and roof rack formerly existed.

In what I thought to be a quiet voice, I made a comment, half to myself, half to Toebzilla, "That's an expensive mistake".  Despite the distance between us, the driver, who appeared to be of the more laid-back early-twenties variety, looks over at me and just yells "Fuck!".  I could do no more than to reply with a consoling "Yup!"  and continue on my way with Toebzilla.

It's been one of those days.