Passing Thought

It was 6 months last week that my father passed away. Part of me still wonders when he's coming home.

This evening, I remembered this cartoon he had posted in his drawing room for a long time: 

Life is like a swizzle stick: you're born, you die, but sometimes you have to stir things up.

That's all.

Free Upgrade $36

After months of debating the pros and cons, I finally took the plunge and upgraded my cell phone to a Smartphone. Since I'm on the road a lot, I figured I could use better weather info as well as e-mail access and GPS navigation (though that takes the fun out of making a wrong turn and finding a forgotten bridge ;))

I've had wireless service with AT&T (formerly Cingular) for nearly six years and while my phone still works, it was a basic model when I bought it and is practically a "dinosaur" by today's cell phone standards. I went to AT&T's website and they offered me a free upgrade to a better phone. I looked around at several phones and also looked at a few in their retail store. I almost bought one in the store, but wanted to explore more options.

So I finally settle on a phone and place my order for my free upgrade. I ordered my phone ("free" with a 2 year contract vs $30 with a contract at the retail shop), selected a data plan ($20 a month vs $30 bought through the retailer) and proceeded to check out. Lo, and behold I was charged $36 for upgrading my phone. The "free" upgrade? That was the "free" phone I got when I signed a new 2 year contract. 

That's not exactly a "free" upgrade. That almost sounds like "Bait and Switch". It's no wonder AT&T is rated lowest of all wireless companies in terms of customer satisfaction (per Consumer Reports).

Now, I've (thankfully) had very few problems with them over the years, so I'm hoping that continues... but I'm watching you, AT&T! You screw me over, you'll hear from me!
 

20 Percent More (grease)

I should have known better...I DO know better.

My local Buy 1 Get 2 Free pizza place* sent me an e-mail advertising "20 Percent more pepperoni" and a coupon to try one (big deal! $1 off regular price)., so against my better judgement, I decided to try one.

Mind you, I haven't bought from there in over 6 months: the quality isn't very good, IMO. They advertise they've been voted "best pizza", but I'd like to know who's voting for them. These people must not have any taste buds because this is darn near close to the "worst" pizza (except maybe Casey's General store).

So I get my "new and improved pepperoni pizza" only to find it's the same old thing: it looks the same, smells the same (like old sweat socks) and tastes the same. I didn't even notice any extra pepperoni on the pizza. But WAIT! There is something different: the grease stain in the box is larger. Hmmmm...maybe there is more pepperoni...or maybe it's just cheaper quality?

Well, hopefully I've learned my lesson this time.  Now if you'll excuse me, my TUMS are calling me.

Addendum: you know it's really bad when you're up half the night feeling like you're going to retch.

(*you know the guys: "Buy 1 Pizza at 3 Times the Price and get 2 Free")

Is It Wrong?

Is it wrong for me to brag a bit? Remember those signage errors in Bentonville I posted a few weeks ago? Well, they've been fixed: thanks, in part to an e-mail I sent to AHTD about it.

I received a note from "M86" on the AARoads forum that AHTD had finally corrected the errors. So I took advantage of the nice weather this past Wednesday to investigate:

Yes, both errors had been corrected:

  

But, sadly, one error remains:

This is supposed to be US 62 AND AR 12, so where is 12? I guess I need to ask AHTD about this one, too.

So is it wrong for me to brag about getting the signs fixed? Am I inviting inexplicably bad juju by taking at least partial credit for this?

Hello! Thank you!

I've noticed the employees Assocoiates at my local Wal-Mart never say "HI" or Thank you". I've actually noticed this at a few other locations as well. So I sent them a message asking why. 

Their response: - We’re always looking for ways to make your shopping experience at Walmart even better. 
WTF? You don't say "Hello" or "Thank you" because you're trying to make my shopping experience better?  I don't get it? 
 

The End

Well, the end for 2011, at least. I didn't make the 6000  photo mark I was aiming for on Flickr. Looks like around 5005. I'm not even sure where I started last January.

So let's say I'm at 5000 photos right now (though I still have a few to add). By this time next year, maybe I can be at 7500 photos.  That's a LOT of photos! 
It will help if I don't get sick and find more opportunities to go exploring, especially in areas I haven't explored much.
I'm hoping to go out tomorrow for a few hours and check things out in my area, probably along the Pig Trail.
Sometime this next year, I want to explore the US 67 expressway north of Little Rock as well as parts of old US 63 between Jonesboro and West Memphis. I'm hoping AR 530 will be open at Pine Bluff so I can explore it as well. I just need to make some time and save up some gas money.
But I'm pretty much tapped out for now. I think I'll call it a night.

Happy New Year!
-US 71

AHTD Rides Again

AHTD (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept) recently replaced exit signs along I-540 between Fayetteville and Bentonville. Some of there were looking fairly old, having been erected when 540 was first opened in 1999.  It actually took them close to a year to complete this project having started in September 2010. The new signs are a little large than their predecessors and indicate a few routing changes.
AR 12, for example,  used to follow US 71B all the way from Raibow Curve in Bentonville to 8th Street in Bentonville. Now, it follows 71B to I-540 then follows 540 to US 62 East.

Why the change, I don't know...maybe to keep large trucks away from Downtown Rogers? 

Well, while they were putting up the new signs, they missed one at the end of the NB 540 off-ramp:

That should be AR 102 where the blank space is. It's been that way for over a year and AHTD has never fixed the problem. Even when the put up the new signs, they missed this (the green directional sign is brand new).

But wait, there's more!

This is coming off southbound 540 at US 62: looks like they forgot the arrows here... how did you guys do that??

And to add insult to injury: 

Hudson Road is in Rogers, which is to the left, not the right. Technically, SE 14th does go both ways, since Rogers is actually a half mile east of here. FWIW, the exact same sign is posted at the other ramp: arrows and all. So someone must have forgotten to flip the stencil when making the second sign.

Sadly, this isn't the first time they got it wrong: it was November of last year they posted the Johnson Exit as Great House Spring Road.

So what's going on, AHTD? Why all the errors?

UPDATE: I have a report that the Hudson Rd signage has been corrected. I hope to verify this sometime this next week.

History of Highway Signs (Part I)

As you may heave heard, U.S. Highway System recently celebrated its 85th birthday.  It was November 11, 1926 that the United States Numbered Highways system was officially designated.
Previous to that most roads were a series of designated trails, such as the Lincoln Highway or the Dixie Highway. What's now US 71 was, in part, part of the Jefferson Highway

Then, in 1926, it officially became U.S. 71

In 1948, the design was modified slightly to use more rounded letters and numbers

Then in 1948, another style was added to keep up with the demands of high speed traffic

There was also a Button Copy shield that was used on expressway signage

Then in 1961, the design was changed once more to the now familiar black and white

But there would be one more change: in 1971 the shield shape was changed slightly

And if that's not confusing enough, Texas had their own design

So did Missouri (most often used on expressways)

 

Now if you really want confusing, check out Florida's "Kodachrome" signs :

Yes, I know: 71 doesn't go to Florida. But can you imagine trying to keep up with all these colors?

Oh, and one more: 

City Route US Highway sign. Missouri used these as did several other states, but Arkansas did not.

No, that's not all. There are several other variants, but most are a combination of the above. Maybe I'll tell you about them, someday. ;)