- I don't like backtracking unless unavoidable.
- I will draw to-scale diagrams if you don't believe that my route is better than yours.
- I won't back down until you have tried my way and agreed with me.
I live in Boston. We may sometimes call them "blocks" but let's be honest, this is no New York City grid pattern. That means, taking the "parallel" road doesn't mean it is the same distance. I can recognize the slight difference in distance and then I take the shorter route. It's pretty simple geometry usually; I've always liked triangles.
Sometimes people try to argue with me; mainly because I am not great with directions so sure, don't trust me. But, I am right. I don't need google maps to determine the fastest route. If I know a route, then I know a route, and I know which way is faster. I tried to explain to a co-worker why walking the back route to the bus stop was better than walking out to the main road first, and she couldn't understand how that could be when technically you were walking away from the main road to take the back road. But, the distance from the entrance to the back road was about one-tenth the distance of the entrance to the main road. Then, when taking the back road, to connect with the main road again, the distance between the back road and the main road is about half the distance of the entrance to the main road. Add to the math that the back road doesn't have any intersections, so no corners to wait on until the lights to change, and you can almost get to the bus in two-thirds the amount of the time as taking the main road. Makes perfect sense in my head.
So basically, I spend half my life thinking about the best possible route from point A to point B. I don't try to think about it, it just happens until I've come up with a solution. I just discovered that walking up the street "parallel" to my street one extra block means not only a shorter distance to my apartment, but also less steep of an incline. Score!
2 comments:
You would love http://www.walkit.com - they not only tell you how to walk places, but they give you busy versus non-busy routes and estimated time-to-walk. You should build something like this for Boston...
i personally hate when people insist that the "back way" is "never" faster. Even thought it generally is, or is at least more efficient. FOR INSTANCE...In the spring one of the other track coaches and I can commute together. He insists taking 84 to 8 to work is faster, because you go 75-80. I know that going over a backroad (Rt. 68) to 8 takes 3-5 minutes less, and you drive a lot less mileage (it's the hypotenuse). JERKS!
Post a Comment