Well 5 of us slept in a one room lean to at my parents gold mine in the bush in bunks stacked up when I was a kid. It only lasted a year before they managed to get a small camper back there and just slept separately from us kids. I would too since it puts a damper on intimacy when all your kids sleep in the same room as you. The kitchen was small spruce poles covered by a tarp. No running water. I don't know if this really counts as a small house since I suppose if you added the outhouse, tent kitchen, and lean to together it might be too big for a tiny house. Also that lack of electricity, indoor plumbing etc made it less sophisticated than modern tiny homes that fits everything in like a puzzle.

Another problem with completely undeveloped land on the outskirts is the amount of money needed for expanding infastructure. I do think there are places where this could be useful but it just depends on the specific area's geography, economy, existing infastructure, and current housing supply and demand. This is really a local issue where specific details need taken into account.

I do agree. But I do believe the right to own a home has been inhibited especially by local governments. Zoning, emenient domain destroying homes for freeways, rules and regulations that increase costs, mandatory parking reqiirements all use government to purposefully and forcefully restrict supply. Everyone blames capitalism but it is always the most regulated industries that government has strangled that are the most expensive like housing and healthcare and often providers of housing and healthcare that are increasing supply are slammed by laws be it zoning for housing or con laws for hospitals. These are enacted by local homeowners or current health facilities that want to keep profits up and are willing to take away the rights of others to do so.

The seats are the worst! But they go anywhere. AWD often doesn't have as great of gas milage so I guess I can't complain about that. Ours are older and it was known that they had head gasket issues but I don't think the newer ones do. Not sure what year you are looking at.

I taught my children that you just assume drivers are trying to hit you and considering the number of drivers that try to play chicken with my bike commuting husband because he shouldn't exist in their mind, I can only assume that it is true. So yes, I tell people that they must take care but I absolutely believe that the jump to pedestrian blaming is flat out wrong. That drivers are the ones operating a dangerous weapon and should be held accountable for its misuse. In OPs case, it was not a misuse. She did not hit the person because she was looking when she started to move. It surprised her but it ended well because she was paying attention. This is often not the case but that does not mean it is automatically the pedistrians fault.

My brother lived in that building for a few years. I always thought Whittier would make a great horror film location. It is tiny and hemmed in by mountains. The only road traffic must go through a 2.5 mile long tunnel under a mountain. This can easily be taken out in the film via an earthquake. The tidal wave could also take out the boats which is the only other way out of town unless you hike over the mountains by foot. 1/2 mile from this building is an abondoned army barracks building. The original "everyone in town lives in this building" building. It is delapidated and said to be haunted. I don't believe in that kind of thing but my brother took night pics on a digital camera and it honestly looked like ghosts in the building. He isn't the photo shop type so I really don't know what caused it but I am thinking being trapped in Whittier with the Buckner building sounds like the start of a good horror film. I have never watched a Wes Anderson film but... ETA: google pics of the Buckner building and you will know what I mean.

Yes. There really needs to be regulations on this. The idea that people have to drive blindly down the road is crazy. It also affects pulling out into traffic. And those cameras and safety gear do not work in winter driving conditions as they get covered in snow and ice. Not related to quoted material: I tend to stop and then roll forward slowly for 6 inches as the blind spot will slowly change and I also lean forward and then back to see around it. The person who says that seeing around their vehicle is not a drivers responsability shouldn't have a license period.

Male- ulna 30.25 cm height 6' 4.5" Male- ulna 30cm height 6'ft 2" Female- ulna 27cm height 5' 8.5" Sorry for making you do conversions. It was easier to measure in cm with the tape I had and I am off to my next task. We may have Marshwiggle blood in us so hope that doesn't mess up your results. 😂

I am trying to figure out how to make an adaptive test fair when you are compared with cohorts for scoring purposes. Adaptive testing totally makes sense when refining learning ability but for comparison scoring it doesn't make sense. Making a few mistakes at the begining of the test causing the second half of your test to get fewer points seems cruel, unless it requires you to simply do so badly you aren't competitive to begin with.

Everything is harder with a family true but trailers and attached seats are cheaper than cars so I know people that do it. I did not. Lol I will say once kids are about 10 and can go places by themselves your whole world is easier than those who have to run around picking up and dropping off kids everywhere. I just wave from the window while finishing dinner or doing dishes as the kids bike off instead of spending my life in a car waiting for kids.

I live in a small suburb where I can walk to the grocery store, PO, hardware store, library, churchs, liquor store, coffee shop, dry cleaners, restaurants. Basically it is a small strip town between two highway exits. The exits are 1.7 miles apart so that is the farthest anything can possibly be from the other. Most things I would need are here. The big stroad through the middle is dangerous and annoying though. Hospital and airport are in the city though. So doable but can be annoying. I know people who have cars that only use them for special occasions in my town. I could use my car less than I do. My number one concern is bike theft. I need a cheap bike to get around town. I end up walking but that takes way longer. DH bike commutes or bus/bike commutes to the city depending on trail conditions in winter. I do know a lot of people in Anchorage, Alaska without cars. They tend to be in two groups. Immigrants who have to work on getting their license and poor people or people with disabilities. This group has no real choice. They tend to live on bus loops in the city. The other group has a choice. Typically healthy, often wealthy people who don't mind biking in a variety of weather conditions. Once you get used to something it is easier. Consequently I know a guy who biked into his 90's. And my son did a 4 man relay of a 200 mile race with 2 people in their 70's last year. When a healthy lifestyle is part of the mix, you tend to keep it longer. So it is doable but I wouldn't say it is comfortable or even safe at times. I know way more people who use their bike a lot but have a truck or car for specific things though. It is certainly easier here with a car and most people would not choose to go without if they had a choice.

We would make a good team! I make really good soups and dressings and I do agonize over every word. Lol

What a great thread. I loved reading others posts and it helped me to think about my own. Seeing people and seeing them as unique individuals with all their qualities and flaws and wanting the best for them. Connecting dots. Relating ideas from different disciplines or contexts. I am slow and inefficient but often catch so many things that others don't.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I am getting the impression you are talking about Norse people in general rather than the career of going off "i viking" 🤷‍♀️ Oh well, joke thread to continue.

Yeah, I don't think I would be great at sea borne raiding. I'd probably end up dead but maybe you'd like it.

We wanted to do a trip but with a bunch of expenses due to having children so we disn't plan amything. Plus it was the summer of rain. Crazy number of rainy days! The sun was out for a couple days so I said it is now or never and spur of the moment we hit the trails with our mountain bikes and had a burger afterwards. It was lovely.

I imagine small towns would be easier for the those with mental challenges rather than big cities. My brother lives in a small town north of me (only needs to put in traffic calming and lower speed limits and things would be better for walkers) well and plow sidewalks but the city to the south has some decent bike paths. The lovely thing about them is the connect from green belt to greenbelt with only short sections by the actual road. Of course, these short sections can get you killed but you have to use them to get to actual businesses etc. Most of your trip can be off road completely. The best thing is that often these trails simply go under the road through a tunnel. I realize this isn't so simple in a very dense compact city like Amsterdam. Each place has its own challenges.

Actually, they are impatient with everyone: other drivers regardless of age, car break downs, pedistrians, police, tow truck driver just doing his job, the cat in the road, the kid trying to get to school. The entitlement mentality takes over a large number of people when getting in a vehicle and they end up with a bad case of main character syndrome.

I saw this late but saying a prayer for you.

Some things are expensive or logistically hard to get right. The wise thing to do is to start with the low hanging fruit. There are expensive things and cheaper things. Start with the things that logistically make sense. Requiring drivers to actually know how to drive and take serious their responsability isn't costly comparatively. Lowering speed limits in busy areas isn't costly. Taking the license and car of people who misuse their privalage isn't costly. We spend way more to make a drivers trips quicker. We spend billions of dollars for divers convenience. Maintanence of things like side walks, stop lights for crosswalks is such a tiny fraction of that and relatively cheap compared to roads. It is about priorities.

The super sad part is, my brother doesn't need expensive public transport which I understand may not be practical everywhere. He went out of his way to pay extra to live where he could walk and he still can't because it is too much to ask drivers to drive a reasonable speed in city limits where there is a lot of pulling in and out of drives and parking lots and pedestrians because the drivers might lose 2 or 3 minutes time going from one end of the town to the other. It would cost taxpayers nothing to lower the speed limits and not build more ridiculous wide speedy roads through the town center. 😕 There is no winning, no matter how cheap and easy the solution when people only care about cars.

So Mercy said she would be interested in a thread about this. I thought I'd just start with personal experience. I tried to find a decent article but maybe I will find one later. Mobility is key to freedom. To be able to work, go to the doctor, run errands, or just do what you want to do on your own time is something a lot of us take for granted. For those without the ability to go where and when they want to, roads are often a block to everything they want to do. It isn't that we have roads, which of course have benefits, but that they are prioritized to the detriment of everyone else. My little brother with Down Syndrome is perfectly cabable of walking around his small town if drivers could choose not to drive dangerously but that is not the case. He is in constant danger from speeding drivers. Speed limits are way too high in town. He is activily being blocked by drivers from things he wants to do. My step -mom did find him an apartment directly behind his work so he just walks on a residential street to get to work but he can't go anywhere else. Three of the roads which go through town have 45 mph speed limits which means people are often driving well over 50 through this little town. His apartment is more expensive then a number of apartments across the stroad with the 45 speed limit but he has to pay the higher price on a grocery bagger's salary because of the danger drivers pose . So higher prices, sitting in his apartment waiting for rides, lack of freedom to go anywhere all so drivers can save 90 seconds getting through town. My brother is lucky. Many disabled cannot walk to work. Before that apartment he had a service for those with disabilities that picked him up. They didn't always show up though. He also sometimes couldn't get a ride if it was busy. He couldn't put in for a ride super early for work because the grocery store wouldn't give him steady hours. So he often missed work and was stuck at home instead. People who have to schedule rides ahead of time are severly limited in what they can do. Often he is dependent on friends or family to do anything. That is not freedom. We know many others with intellectual disabilities because he went to school with them etc. It is sad how many end up home all the time because it is hard to get them to work or social activities, etc. My Aunt who uses a mobility scooter and can no longer walk does have a very very expensive van (people less well off might not have this option.) with hand controls. Not only does she require special parking for her scooter to be lowered automatically but then she has to actually be able to use it. Places with their own large parking lots like box stores that have straight shots inside are ok but things that require you to park in one area and get to another area (anything downtown) requires better multi-modal infastructure. So sometimes she just doesn't get to do stuff. Blind people are especially vulnerable because they can't drive but also have to navigate dangerous roads where car drivers do not pay attention or care. Last year there was a story of a blind man wading through snow and climbing over berms with the guide dog BEHIND him because the dog was struggling with the snow. A journalist saw him and stopped to interview him. He needed to get to an appointment. He missed his stop because his bearings were messed up with the snow berms. He explained his dog wanted to follow in his footsteps when the snow was too deep. I have seen wheel chairs in the middle of 4 lane roads because that was the only placed plowed. People are angry for slowing them down. Do they not have the right to buy groceries or go to the doctor? Do they just have to sit in their apartment until they die? So car drivers won't be slowed down for 60 seconds? I have also seen them navigate sidewalks with a friend helping them push through snow and they were barely moving and they had help! I have seen them being blocked by a construction sign set in the sidewalk (because you daren't take any road space). What are they supposed to do? Take their wheelchair over the curb into traffic? The lanes are typically big enough to have something on the edge but no, we must block the narrow sidewalk instead. Sigh Anyway, people who can't get licenses are severly limited in their freedoms. Some who can drive still have limited access when we don't prioritize other infastructure as well. I am sure there are a hundred other things to say but I have typed too long already.

I'd be glad to explain how car culture destroys disabled peoples freedoms in a different thread but this is the joke thread. I shouldn't have responded in the first place.

I don't know that this is a joke though but yeah. My little brother has Down Syndrome and can't drive. Car culture people basically tell him, he shouldn't exist or be allowed any freedom whatsoever. Meanwhile, there is much anger in my town. A man ran over a retired dentist in a Crosswalk, in broad daylight, with other cars stopped and will not be prosecuted. He received a $100 ticket for failure to yield to a pedistrian. Basically 100 fine for killing someone. You can literally get away with murder. That is what pedistrian's lives are worth to driver's $100.

To be honest with you she didn't say that to me. She just said that is how she did things. Every decent teacher knows that every kid has their own story/reasons why they can't/won't do something.