I spy on I-35

Rockwell would understand

noreply@blogger.com (Points to Ponder) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:12:00 +0000

In 1984, a musician (term used generously here) named Rockwell released the song entitled "Somebody's Watching Me." Rockwell may have fizzled into Motown oblivion, but the song remains lyrically apropos. The sense of being watched can produce paralyzing feelings of paranoia.

Especially when you are being watched by people in a vehicle.

In fact, it would appear that the number of people watching you is inversely proportionate to the amount of agility one can exhibit.
For your consideration, the following scenario: Man in car stopped along side a full school bus.

One or two children look at driver of car = Man forgets how to naturally use hands. Actions become stilted. Cell phone flies on to the floor

This attracts attention of more children = Man now unsure how to hold mouth, where to look, or how to retrieve cell phone. In an attempt to look casual he sweeps his hair back. Sadly he misjudges and pokes his left eye.

Now the majority of the school children are watching the man. Gestures, rude faces and hooting abound = Man rapidly loosing control of motor functions and other bodily abilities. Breathing is labored, bladder control fails.

Light turns green and the school bus departs. Man in automobile is reduced to a gibbering mass flailing in his own filth. Outraged drivers behind him begin honking. Man looses consciousness and later awakens in Trauma Center at St. Mary's Hospital.

I guess that this is why many school buses now have darkened windows.

Name for the Van

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Some of us have started referring to the van as Vincent or Vinnie, for short. This comes from the name on the side of the van: Van-Go.

But, I don't know that we officially agreed to this as a group. Did we? What are the procedures for naming the van?

The Van is On Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:54:00 +0000

The vanpool now has its own Facebook page. So drop by and add us as a friend.

Rare License Plate

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:16:00 +0000

This morning when we picked up Heather and Ann we saw a rare license plate: a state of Minnesota "Pearl Harbor Survivor" custom plate. I bet there aren't many of those around; I couldn't even track down a picture on the web. However, here's the FAQ and a link to the form in case you are eligible to apply.

I never realized there were so many specialty plates available.

My first vanpool dream

noreply@blogger.com (Ann) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:22:00 +0000

I dreamt last night that the vanpool was in Alaska - we were all there for some conference. We didn't drive there, but once we got there in the plane, we all got into our beloved Vinnie the VanGo van and headed into Alaska. We talked about a glacier and how great it was that it was still around, and how we'd drive past it in about an hour. I woke up before I got to see the glacier, though.

So, vanpool field trip?

Audrey Writes About the Vanpool

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:04:00 +0000

Today Audrey posted about the vanpool over at everythingaudrey.com. She's an infrequent but honored guest passenger.

Where's the chicken?

noreply@blogger.com (Points to Ponder) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Since poetry and chicken seem to be recurring themes in the van, I thought I would share this wee bit of a poem that I wrote the other day. It will offend the sense and sensibilities of poetry and chicken lovers everywhere.

I dropped a piece of chicken,
I know not where it went
The chair, the stairs, the ottoman?
Down the heating vent?
I looked high and low and in between
Then underneath the rugs.
Though I guess I needn't worry,
'Twill be eaten by the bugs!

Van reflexology

noreply@blogger.com (Points to Ponder) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:47:00 +0000

I had my first experience with Anti-Lock Brakes the other day when I borrowed the mighty vanpool van to run an errand. The control! The traction! The sense of security! I began to seek out icy patches in order to employ the braking system as often as I could. However, it was not really for the aforementioned reasons.
I just like the way pedal tickled my foot.

Paging Dr. Gupta

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Some of us in the vanpool were thrilled at the news that Sanjay Gupta is being vetted for U.S. surgeon general.

For more information about Dr. Gupta, check out his anchor page at CNN. You can also read about Sanjay's wedding here: http://www.instyleweddings.com/weddings/gallery/0,,20166194_20381544,00.html

Cookie

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:00:00 +0000

IMG_4439
Originally uploaded by eric500

Yesterday i made this vanpool cookie at Ann's cookie decorating party. The weather was horrible, frigid and icy, and I think my mind was on today's drive.

Turns out the drive today wasn't so bad, although we did see a rollover at the Hwy 13 exit.

Sun dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Ann) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:05:00 +0000

One of the few things I look forward to on winter morning drives are the halos and sun dogs formed by ice crystals in the air. While the phenomena can occur at any time during the year, the low angle of the sun and the very clear (not to mention frigid) air that come with winter makes them more common. This morning's drive featured the brightest sun dogs I had ever seen. It looked a bit like there were three suns in the sky.

You can read more about halos and sun dogs here. The image gallery is particularly cool.

Theme Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:56:00 +0000

I asked everyone in the vanpool to submit their personal theme song so I could make a "Theme Songs" CD. Here's what I got:

One Day at A Time by Artist Unknown (Heather)
Feeling Good by Nina Simone (Danya)
Rolling by Soul Coughing (Ann)
California by Joni Mitchell (Emily)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Tony Bennett (Kristi)
Movin’ Right Along by The Muppets (Aaron)
New Routine by Fountains of Wayne (Raka)
Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot by Caramba (Noel)
Krafty by New Order (Eric)
The Underdog by Spoon (Ashlie)

Additionally, a few people suggested theme songs for the entire vanpool:

Long May You Run by Neil Young (Danya)
Coffee by AWOL (Ann)
Just in Time by Tony Bennett (Kristi)
Roll Another Number by Neil Young (Eric)
Paper Planes by MIA (Heather, but Eric prefers the Holy Fuck remix)

Commuter Choice Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Raka) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:15:00 +0000

We recently learned that there are awards for individuals/organizations that support commuter transportation programs. In fact, there seems to be a "reverse vanpool" (anti-vanpool?) that commutes from Northfield to Saint Paul. I wonder if they travel in a black van (ours is white) and whether we might see them on the street some day, traveling in our direction.

Although the time of nominations has passed, I think we should add a few more categories, such as:
1) Commuters with the most interesting conversation.
2) Best commuting blog.
3) Commuter pool with the fewest rules.

For more info, check out:
http://www.mplstmo.org/pages/employer_recognition.html

Best Popsicle Joke

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:27:00 +0000

Q: What building has the most stories?

A: The library! :)

Popsicle Stick Joke of the Week, #2

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:24:00 +0000

What is a wheel's favorite song?

Give up?

A: "Merrily We Roll Along"

For the Peeps in the Pool

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:17:00 +0000

Popsicle stick joke of the week:

Which animal should you never play cards with?

Give up?

A Cheetah!

Tee Hee

Daylight savings

noreply@blogger.com (Raka) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:32:00 +0000

There has been much vanpool discussion about daylight savings time, with no consensus on when this event will actually occur. In order to prevent the possibility of the van showing up at my house with me in pajamas, I looked up the new DST rules.
Here's what I found:

Starting in 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On the second Sunday in March, clocks are set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time, which becomes 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. local standard time. These dates were established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005).

DST began on March 9, 2008 at 2:00am and will end on November 2, 2008 at 2:00am

From Oprah to V.C. Andrews in 40 minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:27:00 +0000

The topic of Oprah's role in reading in America led to a discussion about popular literature and somehow landed us on V.C. Andrews. A couple of us discovered that we had a shared fondness for V.C. Andrews in our youth. Others of us were not so impressed with this.

One of the things we remembered about these books were the covers, which often had elaborate pictures of the families inside an outside cover with a cut out.

For more information about any of the series (including family trees, timelines, and excerpts):
http://www.completevca.com/

And, Slate article: http://www.slate.com/id/2179380

Covers from: Cover Gallery

Late September to Mid October round up

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:42:00 +0000

Here's your mid-October round-up.

Since the last time you've heard from us, we've seen:

a man with a grill at an off ramp (or was it an overpass?)
a big yellow truck with the words "TONKA" on them
too many people texting and driving
more of the ramps and loop s being constructed on 62
lots of political bumper stickers, including one that said "Say no to B.O." (B.O. in this case is Barack O'Bama)
what did I miss, vanpoolers?

you were right, i was wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:10:00 +0000

Barbara Ehrenreich is not a trained sociologist. I thought she was because I read Fear of Falling in a microsociology course ten years ago. She does, however, have a PhD in cell biology.

I admit to my error. Apologies to the van pool.

Benign Dictator

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Apparently, one of us thinks that they are in charge of the vanpool: http://www.everythingeric.com/2008/09/vanpool-king.html !

He says:
"So far I've only come up with two rules:
no flavored coffee
no reading of poetry aloud

Pretty fair I think."

Okay, okay, fine, he's the king of the vanpool. I admit it.

We're very lucky to have a fearless leader...

"Car Pool-curious"

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

I think "car pool curious" should be an addition to the Oxford English Dictionary this year! ;)

We're famous...at least on campus. Okay, it's a small campus, but still...

http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/currently/?story_id=440358&issue_id=440354

My Other Car Is Made Of Meat

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Bumper sticker spotted yesterday:

My Other Car Is Made of Meat
www.kindgomofloathing.com

I had no idea what this was all about so I looked it up. Here are some helpful links:

"My Other Car Is Made of Meat" at Urban Dictionary
"Kingdom of Loathing" at Urban Dictionary
"What Is the Kingdom of Loathing" at kingdomofloathing.com

Geese Xing

noreply@blogger.com (Heather T) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:45:00 +0000

This morning on our way into town we saw a group of about five geese were crossing one of the major thoroughfares on their way to the Cannon river. It is a four lane road, so we're hoping they made it. They were halfway, and there didn't seem to be a lot of traffic, so we're optimistic.

I wish we'd gotten a picture, but you can use your imagination.

***Note, we've been transitioning this summer from a carpool to a vanpool.

Altered Signs

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:06:00 +0000

The entrance ramp where I get on the freeway is under construction, and there are signs on both sides of the road that say "Road Work Ahead." Except over the weekend somebody crossed out 'work' and the 'a' from ahead and now they say "Road Head." The vandals also added smiley faces.

Funny how something so juvenile still makes me smile every morning.