Right turn on red Sep 28, 2006
There's a traffic light at the exit of my job.  I need to turn right, so I often make a right on red.  Wikipedia says this is legal in all 50 states, D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico, though not in New York City (with the exception of a sign saying otherwise).  But for some reason, some people just sit there and wait.  There's no question as to whether or not it's a traffic light or whether or not it's a right turn.  And it apparently isn't dependent on the person's place of origin because I've need several different states' license plates.  I just don't understand what the problem is.  Sure, it's a 3-lane highway with a 55-mph speed limit, but most times the rightmost lane is empty.  A few times in the past, I've beeped at the person in front of me to persuade them to make the turn.  And they made the turn, signifying that they knew they were allowed to and they really want to, but they just needed some encouragement.  Yesterday, I was sitting behind a lady who had about 40 separate chances to make the right turn, but she just didn't do it.  She even looked in her rearview mirror at me to see how mad I was.  I just took a few deep breaths and had a good time observing my blood pressure fluctuate.  It's not that I was in any kind of rush or had anything important to do.  I was just on my way home from work.  But I just can't get used to the idea of not making a turn when I know it's totally legal and I'm fully capable.  It probably has something to do with my belief that driving is a complete waste of time.  The only way I could possibly defend these people is by saying that it can be a little intimidating to pull out into fast-moving traffic.  It can be even more difficult if you have an old and/or wimpy car.  But that's not the case with these people, because as soon as the light turns green, they gun it and practically peal out of there.  It they're able to peal out, I'm absolutely sure they wouldn't have a problem making the right on red. #travel
Time measurement (4) Sep 28, 2006
I have an utter inability to comprehend quantities of time that are measured in improper units.  When somebody says, "My baby is 56 weeks old," I can't even begin to figure out what that means in normal people terms.  56 weeks?  If there are usually 4 weeks in a month, that means there are like ... 12 months in a year ... 12 divided by 4 ... 24 hours in a day ... I give up. 

I saw a commercial on TV the other day that talked about a 96 hour sale.  What?  How many weeks is that?  I know there are 24 hours in a day, but 96 isn't an obvious product of 24 (to me anyway).  I get 24.  I get 48.  But after that, I start to lose it. 

Most financial loans are measured in months.  My 5-year car loan says I'm on month 33.  My 30-year mortgage says I'm on month 345.  What does that mean?  How many years is that? #technology
Voting with marbles Sep 28, 2006
People in the African nation of Gambia vote in elections by placing a marble into a drum that represents their candidate.  As the marble goes into the drum, it rings a bell so the voting officials can make sure people don't vote more than once.  Counting the votes is simple:  All the marbles are placed into a tray with a certain number of marble-shaped spaces.  Sounds quite a bit more effective than those stupidly archaic punch cards and those painfully defective Diebold machines.  (via Neatorama) #politics