Text 17595, 85 rader
Skriven 2007-07-02 20:04:45 av Barbara McNay (1:382/48)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: BIRD NEST 654 70701
===========================
 >  -=> Quoting Barbara Mcnay to Glen Jamieson <=-

 >>> Austin would have been the closest to there where I
 >>> have been, and

 >  BM> The times I went down there were not for sightseeing, so I'm not
 >  BM> familiar at all with that aspect.  For me, driving through a strange
 >  BM> city on multilane high-speed highways, when you're hoping you know
 >  BM> where you're going, is a little nerve-wracking.  Obviously, those times
 >  BM> must not have been gridlock hours.

 > I have never driven myself on those highways, but only
 > navigated for
 > others who are used to driving on the right.  If you
 > have to combine
 > navigating with dealing with traffic, that could be
 > nerve-wracking,
 > particularly if/when you miss a turning and have to
 > find your way back
 > to where you wanted to go.

That can be a real problem, depending on the deviousness of the route.  And, I
can see that it could be hazardous to drive in those conditions, and on the
"wrong" side of the road, too.

 >> I remember seeing on TV what happens to large cities
 >> when the garbos go
 >> on strike.  It doesn't take long before the whole city

 >  BM> Yes--the attraction of gift-wrapped garbage wears off quickly.

 > You soon realise how little of what you buy is fully
 > consumable.

That, too--even with fresh foods.

 >> being largely deserted 200 years from now, with people
 >> living in much
 >> smaller communities closer to food sources.  Almost
 >> all of the garbage
 >> will go to recycling into metal recovery or fertiliser.

 >  BM> As they should be.  But the population growth will have to level off,
 >  BM> as there's a limit to how efficiently resources can be transported,
 >  BM> water, for instance.

 > Japan is an interesting example of how these problems
 > can be dealt
 > with.  Its population has levelled off, and in fact,
 > has been dropping.
 > In some places, such as Kobe, the city has extended
 > into what was
 > formerly sea, over centuries of rubbish deposits.
 > This is normally
 > fine, but when there is an earthquake, as happened a
 > few years ago, the
 > area gets all wobbly, and buildings fall down.

I'm sure Kobe isn't the only city built over centuries of rubbish deposits, or
the equivalent.  Wasn't there a way they could judge the stability of the area?

 >>  BM> When you were a child, were you raised to squat habitually in the
 >>  BM> Asian manner, or is it foreign to you, too?

 >> I grew up in a conventional Anglo-Australian family,
 >> where everyone sat
 >> on chairs or stools.  It was only later in my life
 >> that I came to live
 >> in and visit rural areas of Papua New Guinea and the
 >> Philippines.  My
 >> heels never quite reached the ground when squatting.
 >> :)

 >  BM> That's a clear demonstration of the "use it or lose it" dictum.

 > I believe that as result of squatting from babyhood,
 > Asian leg bones
 > develop a slight bend, to allow this squatting ability
 > to continue into
 > adulthood.

Sounds like it.  Babies are quite flexible.

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 * Origin: T E X A S ! (1:382/48)