Hey Frank I Got A Question?

[Sully]

Pasha, there's a stunning lack of public houses as well mucker I enjoyed it over there but that was my gripe - and a big gripe it was too. The only places (e.g. Norfolk, Jacksonville) that came close were a pain as you couldn't read the paper or have a chat or play pool without some bird getting her kit off and expecting you to pay for the dubious pleasure. Work of the devil if you ask me

[Pasha]

Sully

You noticed that too, eh? Are the UK and Eire the only nations that have neighbourhood pubs? Everyone else in world seems to congregate their bars in one strip of a town's Main Street.

Bootneck, I agree entirely. I have always been a firm believer that education can go a long way to solving many of the world's ills and bad driving is a prime example. Before we get too superior though it should be remarked that the standards of motoring aren't exactly top notch in Britain these days.
Regards all!
Pasha

[cambridgebloke]

Forgive my complete lack of knowledge on this but I thought you lads had lots of your own oil. Is that no longer the case?

PL, they have now, they have a 51st state, Iraq

No are you telling me that the US went to war to get more oil!! And I thought our guys were going for the right reason to liberate a downtrodden people. Snigger

[Frank S.]

My second car accident in a sub-compact happened when I had a colleague as a passenger.
We got hit by a red light runner. Running red lights is an epidemic around where I live and work. We also have the occasional street racing collision.
On avenues and boulevards, some of those geniuses reach 90-100 mph, sometimes crashing into a house.
Many people here confuse fast driving with reckless driving, a perfect example was my trip back from Arizona two weeks ago.
I took Interstate 5 Northbound for a couple hundred miles. Two lanes Southbound and two lanes Northbound, separated by patches of dirt and rocks. Trucks and RVs in the right lane doing about 60-70 mph, cars in the left lane, almost bumper to bumper doing 75-80.
Not the kind of situation where sudden moves from lane to lane are a good idea. My wife had a better vantage point than I and watched cars leapfrogging each other, jockeying for a better position, cutting each other off.
On this 200 mile leg of the trip (about 700 total), I saw over a dozen near collisions, which would have involved multiple vehicles.
Now, on the way down I-5 a week earlier in lighter traffic, I traveled at 90-100 mph with a couple sprints at 130 +. But, when passing another vehicle, particularly a truck, I would slow down considerably, matching their speed, then overtaking by 5 mph.
I never 'blow by'.
My average speed on the trip was a little over 80 mph.

We take one of those interstate trips at least once a year, next one will probably be Utah.
Now as to my car, as I mentioned in the past, it's a police model with a reinforced front end, body-on-platform construction (as opposed to unibody) and rear-wheel drive. Certainly not as safe as a Mercedes or BMW, but plenty safe enough. I love the damn thing, but still trying to improve the mileage.

[Whitey]

Frank why do you think we don't have decent public transportation? The auto industry lobby?

[Frank S.]

If I had to guess I'd say that outside the Northeast and parts of California (Chicago too maybe), commuters have shown little enthusiasm for using mass transit in their daily routine.
In addition to that, schedules of operation are sometimes inconvenient for those who work odd hours (myself included). Plus public transportation's often too slow.
But that's just my opinion.

[Marina]

I am surprised you mentioned chicago Frank.
I always thought they had a good public transport system , 'the El' isn't it ?Which is like our tube over here.

Also, I am curious to know about your railway system, the Amtrak ?
Is it any good ? Do the americans use it alot (those who do not like to drive) as I understand travelling by air within the US can be more costly.

P.S
Are german cars like the Volkswagen Golf popular in the US ?
Just wondering if german cars are popular on your side

[Frank S.]

I mentioned Chicago as one of those areas which rely much on public transportation (even though I've only passed through there), as you mentioned the 'el' I suspect that mass transit is more popular there than in, say Cleveland.
I once took Amtrak from Portland (Oregon) to Washington DC. The trip was more uncomfortable than taking the bus (Greyhound), although not crowded. And the engine gave out in Pennsylvania. The wait for a new engine was six hours...
I would not take Amtrak again, although I'd rather do it than fly.
German cars are pretty popular in California, Volkswagen and Audi for yuppies on the make, as well as Mercedes and BMW.

[Marina]

Amtrak sounds similar to our British Rail over here, then !

[Whitey]

I rode the L it was okay, but our amtrck isn't a straight shot accross the country, it goes north then dips south, a trip that is 2 days by car will take you weeks.

[Marina]

Hi Whitey,

So you and Frank wouldn't recommend using Amtrak then ? I saw a programme on it and the trains looked quite modern.
You see, I was thinking of touriing a few states by train while I am over there.
Do you think car is a better option ?

P.S
I have travelled by Greyhound before but I wanted to try something different

[Frank S.]

I'd recommend the rental car option as you'll not only have more freedom of movement but will see more of the country and people.

[Marina]

Thanks Frank for the advice
It looks like the car then, its more comfortable I suppose

P.S
Have you ever travelled on the Route 66 ?
I watched a programme on that famosu route and I liked the Sandie Shaw song 'route 66'.

[Whitey]

Marina,
Get a US map and follow me on this one. If you want to Amtrak from Denver to Florida. You get on the train and have to go north to Chicago and then down to Florida from there. It isn't fast, isn't cheap and takes roughly 11 days last time I checked. Now in California though you can take the Amtrack fro San Diego to LA to SF and it is not fast, but not horribly slow. Plus it beats traffic. Once off the train get a rental car, safer and in America you don't have freedom of movement unless you have a car. I wouldn't recomend women traveling alone here anyway. Last time I was in SF the train had some bad looking dudes on it. I used to take the Amtrack from Oceanside to San Diego all the time and then the trolley to Tiajuanna it was fun and I could get drunk and not have to worry about driving, but then me and my friends used to have to fight the homeless in Oceanside when we got off of the train, they'd bumb rush us thinking we were drunk and easy to robb, but we'd show em. Second thought, yeah rent a car Frank is right. If you are ever in Colorado let me know, I'll show you around Denver and the Springs. Springs is pretty cool and really safe for a city of its size.
Rental Car.

[Marina]

Hi Whitey,

I looked at the map. Your Amtrak Rail system is laid out in a very peculiar way. So one cannot go straight across America in a vertical line. I will not travel alone (except by plane), I got 2 female friends who will come along.

Thank you very much for the offer, it would be nice to meet you too. BTW I have stayed in Colorado quite a few times, I got a cousin in Littleton. I really love Denver, its such a scenic place, you have a compact city with everything and then you can go off to the mountains nearby. I found ‘Pikes Peak’ a little daunting though. I went to Colorado Springs and saw the US Airforce museum and I think the US Airforce academy is there also, as I saw a lot youngsters doing their military runs. I will be going down to Denver again this year too, (my relatives get annoyed if I don’t visit them when in the USA).

P.S
Just wondering, I don’t know where on the outskirts of Denver, somewhere on the Freeway, near Mother Cabrini’s shrine, there is this peculiar white house shaped like a open flying Saucer. Have you seen it? Supposed to be some architect’s house. It was amazing something out of a sci-fi film