Wednesday, June 13, 2007

State of Columbus' Highways: 71/70 sucks.

So, if you've been keeping up with my blog, you know that I was involved in an accident on this trip, and if you haven't been keeping up, you now know about it. As it turns out, this particular spot is well known by the locals as an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS spot... infact, there is a CITY PLAN to change it. With this being the case.... how much signage or warnings were there about this? notta.

I point you to this:

CITY PLAN

and the local news

So, what does this mean? Well, one of the people in my seminar told me that she thought I should sue the city. At first I laughed about this, but you know what....

if getting rear ended in an auto accident can possibly be my fault, do you know who else's fault it can just as easily be? The fine city of Columbus, OH. They actually share quite a bit more fault in this matter then I do, although still not as much as the guy who hit me. if the insurance company somehow finds this to be any way connected to me, I might just look into this more. If this is a known dangerous place, the city should at the very least have signage, and in reality should have an officer there to keep traffic slowed down. Steps could have been, and should have been, taken.

Here are some photo's of the area taken by the wonderful google earth thing:




I was traveling from left to right on this picture.
It's hard to see here, but I'll explain the basic set up. There is an on ramp right before the river, on the otherside of the river that same onramp lane is also the exit to "fulton" which is apparently a very popular destination. The people coming from the major highway 71 enter the express way from that on ramp but must get over unless they wish to go to the fulton street exit. To add fun to this, traffic backs up from fulton onto the express way, so as was the case for while I was in my accident (which was on a SUNDAY, which is a LOW TRAFFIC DAY) the traffic was backed up from the fulton exit, all the way up the ramp, back to about half way between the bridge and and the fulton exit... about to where the train tracks are. I'll draw it on the next picture:




Soo.... this means that traffic exiting 71 has very little room to merge onto 70, and for those poor bastards like myself who actually want to get off the express way, we have a nightmare to get over. Luckily, as I said, it was a sunday, and traffic was light. I was able to get over without any problem. My problem was that the driver behind me was too busy to be watching the road ahead of him, let alone the traffic backed up way onto the expressway.


Here is the ramp:



Anyway, I need to get to my seminar. I'll stop my ranting for now.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Columbus Ohio... my hotel.

So, I find myself with a full day of life in Columbus, OH behind me. I found breakfast at my hotel, the Hyatt on Capital Hill to be sufficient. The bacon was a little tough, but other then that it was good. I was presented with some sort of free yogurt drink that I can only assume is some sort of northerner tradition, because it was free, and it was pink. it tasted of strawberries and a few things I couldn't quite put my finger on, and didn't quite go down smooth chased with coffee and orange juice. I'll pass on it next time. For dinner this evening I came back to the hotel restaurant, and had a chicken breast. I found myself a little on edge that in Ohio they would make something with sweet potatoes, and sure enough they were not quite to my liking. Maybe it's because I am still a bit cranky over my auto incident, or maybe it's because sweet potatoes should stay in the south. Other then that, the chicken was just a bit well done to start, but it was tasty enough, along with my beer. I do have to admit that the service was excellent, and I was well attended. I'll return to the restaurant a few more times, because there were several things on the menu that I think might be well worth sampling.

There is a nice outside area by the hotel, with a fountain and ample seating for one to retire for a smoke. The only flaw in this plan was that there was no drink service, and I had to order my drinks from the inside bar and carry them out. Columbus seems an honest enough place, my opinion of the traffic laws aside, and my book and cigar were undisturbed the few times I had to go back in for a refill of bourbon. I'll take advantage of this sitting area again no doubt tomorrow, but I have found out that there is a nice jazz and cigar bar less then a mile from the hotel. If I feel brave enough one evening, I might try and find my way there on foot, or at the very least, by way of a short cab ride. I'll post more on this as I find out more information. a website may be available, and if it is, I'll make sure that I get a link for all to view. I'm not sure of what the city streets are like at night in this town, although it appears safe enough, rarely are things quite what they seem. We'll have to see.

Any way, in so far as this fountain goes, I have three shots for you:



This is the fountain itself. It appears to be some sort of dryads or perhaps the freshwater nymph, some naiads... regardless, the thing that kept my attention was this...



I'm not sure how well this will come out. Have you ever seen the movie "Alien" or it's wonderful sequel "Aliens?" For some reason I kept thinking of Bill Paxton when I looked long and hard at these fish. I'm not sure what it means, other then too much of this:



With that, I'll leave you for the night. They made me drink my Manhattan in a plastic cup, which took quite a bit of the romance out of the whole thing.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

So... Columbus.

Okay, so on my second attempt to post info on my trip, we'll see if this horrible ten buck a day service will actually work. If they are going to charge for use, they should make sure it holds a signal.

the short version of events:

I was in a wreck less then 5 minutes from the safety of my hotel. Some guy rear ended me, but apparently in Ohio, just because you slam into the back of someone on the expressway doesn't mean that it's your fault. The cop basically said he couldn't make a judgement because I "admitted that I merged." well, of course I merged. so did he. this apparently means nothing. Go Columbus. some guy slams into me, and it might be my fault. What place. I could do nothing to avoid the accident, he COULD HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION. oh well. the cop said that it was up to the insurance companies now. so, now I won't know the verdict of this the whole time I'm here, taking one of the most difficult and important certification tests of my career. joy. The only good news of the wreck is that my rental, a chrysler 300 was practically undamaged. The bumper is scratched up, but other then that it's fine. His car was undrivable. Anyway, I have to wait til tomorrow afternoon to get in touch with my insurance agent to find out the low down on what I'm supposed to do... not to mention the difficulties that I'm sure will arise because it's a rental car. anyway, I'm turning in early tonight. more about it tomorrow, and I'll try and talk some about the vegas trip.

After Vegas

So, since i had so very little to share about my vegas trip, I'll take a few minutes today to make a post. I'll be driving to Columbus OH today, and when I get there I'll have some time to do a little fill in work on the trip, so look for a two-fer of info coming up soon!

Friday, June 1, 2007

Las Vegas!

Okay, I know I promised you some info on my vegas trip, and I'm a little behind in it. We've been here for three days, and this is the first notes I've made. We are getting ready to check out of our first hotel, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Hilton, and cab it over to our second hotel, Ceasar's Palace. The first was an actual vacation, the second will herald the return to work. We'll be attending a convention/buying trip for the store, and that means real work. Luckily, it's in Vegas, so that's not too bad.

I'll try and post more as I can, but we have a quickly approaching check out time, so there isn't much time for details other then this...

I can tell by the amount of forwarded emails that I'm going to have a rough time of it when I get home. Luckily, I'll be renting a car next week and making my way to scenic Columbus, Ohio.

So there is that.