L.A. sucks, but there is a happy ending ...

[Vombatus]

Someone somewhere needs to write the definitive etymology of the phrase "no worries" - which seems to have moved at light speed from a single table of superloud Australians in a hotel bar twenty years ago to become the now-universal phrase for "no problem."

One other weird one from Oz: they say WTAF instead of WTF. The A is for Actual.

 

[Azrael]

Wasn't there some kind of conspiracy to get rid of streetcars?

Less a conspiracy than a reasonable switch to buses - helped along by incentives from GMC and the tire companies.

Bus routes are a lot more flexible than streetcar lines.

 

[Vombatus]

Less a conspiracy than a reasonable switch to buses - helped along by incentives from GMC and the tire companies.

Bus routes are a lot more flexible than streetcar lines.

Yeah, and makes the streets a lot smoother and easier to maintain.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Wasn't there some kind of conspiracy to get rid of streetcars?

Yeah, a judge worked behind the scenes to tank public transportation in order to induce more automobile travel.

 

[MisterCreosote]

You brought over a post ripping L.A. and ripped L.A.'s traffic. Excuse me for misinterpreting a poorly written post, Fart Breath.

Good thing you're not overly defensive.

I live right outside of DC, and for as great as the city is, the traffic and crowds just suck the soul right out of you sometimes.

A few months ago, there was peak Cherry Blossom bloom, the National Kite Festival, and two or three other things going on the same day, and it also happened to be the nicest day weather-wise in months.

The deluge of people downtown literally shut the entire city down. Literally. It made national newscasts. You couldn't drive or Metro anywhere in the entire region because everything was gridlocked.

Before that, a snowstorm caused a 50-mile backup on I-95 south of DC where drivers were stranded for 24 hours or longer.

I love it here, but fork that. It's a nightmare.

 

[ChrisLong]

Good thing you're not overly defensive.

I live right outside of DC, and for as great as the city is, the traffic and crowds just suck the soul right out of you sometimes.

A few months ago, there was peak Cherry Blossom bloom, the National Kite Festival, and two or three other things going on the same day, and it also happened to be the nicest day weather-wise in months.

The deluge of people downtown literally shut the entire city down. Literally. It made national newscasts. You couldn't drive or Metro anywhere in the entire region because everything was gridlocked.

Before that, a snowstorm caused a 50-mile backup on I-95 south of DC where drivers were stranded for 24 hours or longer.

I love it here, but fork that. It's a nightmare.

That's all good. Look, if I happened to be in DC that weekend, it would be irresponsible for me write that the city sucks, based on that. My original post on this was that I cringe when people who aren't from L.A. come to L.A. and write about L.A. I also wrote that nobody lives in downtown L.A. The OP whined about having his unattended suitcase stolen then continued on with more L.A. sucks posts. Fart chimed in with his traffic post. And then he got Pishy when I challenged him.

A few years ago, after I had covered National League baseball, a few of us were discussing the best and worst cities on the road. I even posted it on here. I thought that probably L.A. was the worst city because of where you stay, downtown L.A. But others came on and said that going 15 miles in any direction puts you in some pretty nice spots. One guy, Kenny Hand from Texas, said L.A. was his favorite city because he rents a Corvette and drives PCH through Malibu to Santa Barbara. Justin Rice even admitted that when he visited my hometown and walked the beach from the pier, that was cool.

I think I've posted enough on this topic.

 

[Songbird]

At least the Kosher News is still around.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Good thing you're not overly defensive.

I live right outside of DC, and for as great as the city is, the traffic and crowds just suck the soul right out of you sometimes.

A few months ago, there was peak Cherry Blossom bloom, the National Kite Festival, and two or three other things going on the same day, and it also happened to be the nicest day weather-wise in months.

The deluge of people downtown literally shut the entire city down. Literally. It made national newscasts. You couldn't drive or Metro anywhere in the entire region because everything was gridlocked.

Before that, a snowstorm caused a 50-mile backup on I-95 south of DC where drivers were stranded for 24 hours or longer.

I love it here, but fork that. It's a nightmare.

I spent the greatest day ever in DC last October, just before Halloween. Came in on the Orange line, from Vienna, could park in the lot, not the parking garage. My cousin and I and a couple other people were the only people in our car. The Mall was practically empty, we went to the Smithsonian AH Museum and had the place almost to ourselves, only one school clash there. Then we went up to the monuments and again had them almost to ourselves, maybe 100 people at the WW II Memorial, no one at the Korean War Memorial, and very few at the Lincoln.

The Metro was almost empty again on our trip back. It was amazing. And it was a beautiful day.

The only other tourist experience even close to that was at Antietam one March day. Maybe 20 other people on the entire battlefield.

 

[garrow]

Australians have a different, shortened word for almost everything. Some examples:

Brekkie = breakfast
Brolly = umbrella
Rego = license plate (registration). Pronounced "REH-jo"
Footy = could be rugby, Aussie Rules football or soccer
Woolies = Woolworths (major grocery store chain, no relation to the Woolworths that we knew and loved in small-town USA back in the day)
Servo = gas station (service station)
Ute = pickup truck (utility)
Esky = cooler

A tradesperson is generically a "tradie," except for electricians, who are "sparkies."

and so on.

The name of any suburb that has more than two syllables gets the o-on-the-end treatment: Paddo (Paddington), Darlo (Darlinghurst), etc.

It's a delightful language of its own, but definitely takes some time to adjust.

I've been to Paddington and Darlinghurst, mate. The locals I met called the second one "Darling it hurts."

 

[gingerbread]

I've been to Paddington and Darlinghurst, mate. The locals I met called the second one "Darling it hurts."

In my six years in Sydney, I lived in six different places: Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, Paddington, CBD, McMahon's Point, Elizabeth Bay.
All were fantastic.
@FileNotFound, did you steal my life?

 

[FileNotFound]

In my six years in Sydney, I lived in six different places: Kings Cross, Darlinghurst, Paddington, CBD, McMahon's Point, Elizabeth Bay.
All were fantastic.
@FileNotFound, did you steal my life?

When I was back and forth last year, I stayed in Paddington, Pyrmont, Mosman and Double Bay. I'm now settled in Mosman and love it. Still my favo(u)rite city in the world. (Back sort of on topic, I love LA, too, but downtown LA is depressing as hell.)

 

[Octave]

Fart chimed in with his traffic post. And then he got Pishy when I challenged him.

No, I don't like words being put in my mouth. Especially inaccurate ones.

I used to defend Philadelphia with 'tremendous rigor' as a young man. Now I just don't give enough of a fork.

The haters wouldn't know the good parts from the tourist traps with a lightning rod and it's best those parts remained obscure anyway.