2012.05.06 01:00 - Vehicles and Times

Eliza posted this session from the auto-listener database...

[01:13] Qt Core: hi Wol
[01:13] Wol Euler: bongiorno, qt
[01:14] Wol Euler: how's life?
[01:20] Qt Core: stressfull as usual, wondering how much one could adapt, yours ?
[01:20] Wol Euler laughs.
[01:21] Wol Euler: too many hours in the office (competition deadline approaches) but strangely low-stress for all that
[01:21] Wol Euler: I wonder why ...
[01:21] Wol Euler: perhaps because the task is clear and the end is in sight?

[01:22] Qt Core: a clear task maybe is the trick
[01:22] Qt Core: even without a clear path to that but at least a clear goal

[01:22] Wol Euler: also probably because I have some input to the decision making process
[01:23] Wol Euler: often that's not hte case: I am told what to draw, do so exactly, and then hear that my drawing is wrong because they change their minds
[01:23] Wol Euler: that is very stressful :/
[01:24] Qt Core: not so different from programming on client specs ;-)
[01:24] Wol Euler: heheheheheh
[01:24] Wol Euler: true

[01:24] Wol Euler: it's always the drawer/programmer's mistake, especially if they do exactly what they were told
[01:24] Qt Core: only difference modifying a program, may be easier than rebuild a building
[01:25] Wol Euler: very true
[01:25] Wol Euler: and the program is in your hands entirely, we rely on bricklayers and concrete-pourers and steel-welders to put up our buildings
[01:25] Wol Euler: ... but are still completely responsible for it

[01:26] Qt Core: how much tools like 3d rendering, well, maybe evem sl help in showing to customers how the building will come out ?
[01:28] Wol Euler: they do help, yes, but there's a huge cost factor. We don't draw in 3d, nobody does, because the vertical information is wasted time and effort
[01:28] Wol Euler: odd but true: it contributes next to nothing to the actual buiding process
[01:28] Wol Euler: so unless somebody is willing to pay us to do it, we don't.
[01:28] Wol Euler: that somebody has to be the client
[01:28] Wol Euler: and they don't want to pay us AT ALL, let alone paying extra for a pretty picture :)

[01:29] Agatha Macbeth: Morning :)
[01:30] Wol Euler: good morning, aggers
[01:31] Agatha Macbeth: Things still coming into focus for me
[01:31] Wol Euler: more coffee :)
[01:32] Qt Core: when we were going to have trams back in our town the municiality showed around many pretty pic about how the iverhauled city center will look after the tracks would be installed (and some other renovations)
[01:32] Qt Core: hi Agatha
[01:32] Qt Core: they had to reassure people about some major disconfort we were going to have for a few years
[01:32] Wol Euler nods.
[01:33] Agatha Macbeth: Trams don't make my local city look particular pretty, but they are functional
[01:33] Wol Euler: have to show them how it would be better
[01:33] Agatha Macbeth: London has the best idea - hide them underground
[01:33] Wol Euler: heheheh
[01:34] Wol Euler: that's ok if you have the money, and the right kind of geology
[01:34] Agatha Macbeth: Well, true

[01:34] Qt Core: this is how it is now:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...llo_tram_1.jpg
[01:34] Wol Euler: though with enough money even the wrong geology is surmountable (points to Manhattan)
[01:35] Agatha Macbeth nods
[01:35] Wol Euler: oh, those are nice. I think Karlsruhe has that kind
[01:35] Agatha Macbeth: At least they do get people off the roads tho
[01:35] Wol Euler: comfortable and surprisingly quiet, if they are the same trams
[01:36] Wol Euler: and no exhaust pollution
[01:36] Wol Euler: and no parking problem
[01:36] Agatha Macbeth: Which helps
[01:36] Qt Core: a little less quiet on the outside as they are quite big

[01:37] Agatha Macbeth: In the 60's they got rid of electric buses round here for diesel ones, now they are going in reverse...go figure
[01:37] Wol Euler: progress!
[01:37] Agatha Macbeth: Yeh
[01:37] Agatha Macbeth: or something

[01:37] Agatha Macbeth: brb - toilet
[01:37] Qt Core: same here , my town had trams up to '50 and now we are back to them (and buses too)
[01:38] Wol Euler nods.
[01:38] Wol Euler: a common story, qt
[01:38] Wol Euler: when cars became viable as true mass transport, people thought it would be a nett win for cities
[01:38] Wol Euler: in fact it turned into a problem
[01:39] Wol Euler: cars are fine as long as most people don't have them
[01:39] Wol Euler: but if *everyone* does, they are a disaster
[01:39] Agatha Macbeth: back
[01:39] Wol Euler: wb
[01:39] Agatha Macbeth: Yes wol, true
[01:39] Agatha Macbeth: But nobody seems to want to do much about it
[01:40] Wol Euler: putting in trams is a start

[01:40] Qt Core: i'd like not to drive to work, but it will cost me at least one hour more a day of commute time
[01:40] Wol Euler: making sure they run punctually and frequently will help too
[01:40] Wol Euler: that's the problem, qt
[01:40] Agatha Macbeth: 'As long as the trams run on time' :p

[01:41] Wol Euler: cars made it possible to separate out the bits of our lives
[01:41] Wol Euler: having done htat, we now need the cars
[01:41] Wol Euler: or find a way to enjoy that hour :)
[01:41] Qt Core: well, now there are digital timetable that tells people when the tram is coming with real time information
[01:41] Wol Euler nods.

[01:41] Agatha Macbeth remembers the great automobile hunt in Steppenwolf
[01:42] Wol Euler: eh?
[01:42] Agatha Macbeth: Where they go round shooting all the cars
[01:42] Wol Euler: eh????
[01:42] Agatha Macbeth: At the end
[01:42] Wol Euler: eh???????????
[01:42] Agatha Macbeth: Read it again dear
[01:43] Agatha Macbeth pulls your buns
[01:43] Wol Euler: I guess so. I don't remember cars featuring in it.

[01:43] Agatha Macbeth: Well they are the magic theatre, not 'reality' as it were
[01:44] Wol Euler: hmmmmm
[01:44] Wol Euler: have to read that again
[01:44] Agatha Macbeth smiles
[01:51] Agatha Macbeth: They have done something similar with the buses round here, with electric timetables
[01:51] Wol Euler nods.
[01:51] Qt Core: best things about this new trams are the working hours, they stops at 2am and restart at about 5am
[01:51] Wol Euler: wow, that is handy
[01:51] Agatha Macbeth: Absolutely
[01:51] Wol Euler: it was always infuriating in London that the busses and subway stopped working shortly after 11pm
[01:52] Wol Euler: people would have to leave before the end of a concert, to get the last train home
[01:52] Qt Core: it changed a few years ago
[01:52] Agatha Macbeth: That was probably to stop them being wrecked by drunks :p
[01:54] Qt Core: in the original plans for expo 2015 there were 2 complete new subway lines for Milan, nowaday i'm not sure about them (and not even about expo 2015, we are going to be a big disappointment i think)
[01:55] Agatha Macbeth: Aww
[01:55] Wol Euler: O.O
[01:55] Wol Euler: if the city is not already covered with building sites, you won't be done on time.

[01:55] Qt Core: and it ins't even The Crisis, just tipical italian mess
[01:55] Agatha Macbeth grins
[01:57] Qt Core: they are still arguing how to get the areas... and who will own or lease them and what their fate will be after the expo and who will be in and heading the committees atc atc
[01:57] Wol Euler: heheheheheh
[01:57] Wol Euler: business as usual
[01:57] Wol Euler: Germany is faster but the same thing happens here
[01:57] Qt Core: even worse, business and politics ;-)
[01:58] Agatha Macbeth: Reminds me of the conversation with Ara the other night
[01:58] Wol Euler: mmm?
[01:59] Agatha Macbeth: About the houha in the captal over that building
[01:59] Wol Euler: ah yes
[01:59] Qt Core: rl calls, have to go bye all and have fun
[01:59] Agatha Macbeth: What's the capital called? Valetta?
[01:59] Wol Euler: bye qt, take care
[01:59] Wol Euler: yep
[01:59] Agatha Macbeth: Ciao QT

[02:03] Wol Euler: any plans for the day?
[02:03] Agatha Macbeth: Cut the front lawns
[02:03] Agatha Macbeth: before it rains again
[02:03] Wol Euler: :)
[02:03] Agatha Macbeth sighs
[02:03] Agatha Macbeth: i hate gardening
[02:04] Wol Euler: subcontract it out
[02:04] Wol Euler: employ a neighbourhood child
[02:04] Agatha Macbeth: You suggested that before :p
[02:05] Wol Euler: it remains a good solution :-p

[02:05] Agatha Macbeth: Hmm
[02:05] Wol Euler: imho ymmv etc
[02:05] Agatha Macbeth: snafu
[02:06] Wol Euler: nkabtysireu
[02:06] Agatha Macbeth: I agree
[02:06] Agatha Macbeth: (??)
[02:06] Wol Euler: I think that was tommy cooper
[02:06] Wol Euler: "never kiss a baby till you're sure it's right end up"
[02:06] Agatha Macbeth: Just like that
[02:06] Agatha Macbeth: Spoon jar jar spoon
[02:07] Wol Euler: heheheh

[02:08] Agatha Macbeth: Have you nticed how much abandoned land there is around here?
[02:09] Wol Euler: yep :(
[02:09] Wol Euler: whole swaths of mainland are up for sale
[02:09] Agatha Macbeth nods
[02:09] Agatha Macbeth: Even the horse sculpture seems to have gone
[02:09] Wol Euler: ah :) I forgot about that
[02:10] Agatha Macbeth: Well, I looked for it yesterday and no sign
[02:10] Agatha Macbeth: She must have upped and moved out
[02:10] Wol Euler nods.

[02:11] Agatha Macbeth: I see Salina has built something else now
[02:11] Agatha Macbeth: she changes every five minutes
[02:12] Wol Euler: heheh
[02:12] Agatha Macbeth: One day it's a mansion, next it's a ranch
[02:12] Wol Euler: haven't looked her way in a while, I must admit. I keep my draw distance low
[02:12] Agatha Macbeth smiles

[02:12] Agatha Macbeth: I think only Sharon is left up there now
[02:13] Agatha Macbeth: Oh Zen's gallery might still be there, not sure
[02:13] Wol Euler: zen still has a lot of land in Mugunghwa
[02:13] Agatha Macbeth: Ah, good
[02:13] Wol Euler: as does bleu
[02:14] Agatha Macbeth: Oh I know bleu's place, it's lovely
[02:14] Wol Euler: I'd like to reduce my tier if I could, but it would mean losing more than half of the land there.
[02:14] Agatha Macbeth: Yes, and you never know who will buy it!
[02:14] Wol Euler: that too
[02:15] Agatha Macbeth: Remember when you had to bid over the odds for that auctioned strip?
[02:15] Wol Euler: heheheheh
[02:15] Wol Euler: that was different, that was a wedge between two bits of land I owned
[02:15] Wol Euler: its only possible use was for blackmailing me
[02:16] Agatha Macbeth: Which she was rather successful at it seems...
[02:16] Wol Euler: except that the money went to the Lindens, not to her :)
[02:16] Wol Euler: it still left my pocket, yes
[02:17] Agatha Macbeth: Dunno why she didn't just abandon it then, wouldn't have made any difference
[02:18] Wol Euler: oh it would, if she'd bought it she could have "forced" me to buy at her price
[02:18] Wol Euler: and that would have gone to her
[02:18] Agatha Macbeth: Ah

[02:19] Agatha Macbeth: Storm's place is nice
[02:19] Wol Euler: yes, they did well
[02:19] Wol Euler: mine looks pretty shabby
[02:20] Agatha Macbeth: It's lovely
[02:20] Wol Euler: especially the grounds need some landscaping
[02:20] Agatha Macbeth: please don't change it
[02:20] Agatha Macbeth: Oh the grounds, maybe
[02:21] Agatha Macbeth: We have spent a few hours talking there
[02:21] Wol Euler smiles.
[02:21] Wol Euler: we have.

[02:22] Agatha Macbeth: Whatever happened to the hammock?
[02:22] Wol Euler: good question. I don't know where that tree went, perhaps Storm returned it to me?
[02:22] Wol Euler: I'm pretty sure it was mine not Tarmel's
[02:22] Agatha Macbeth: Possibly
[02:24] Wol Euler sighs.
[02:24] Wol Euler: I shall have to leave quite soon for work.
[02:24] Agatha Macbeth: Aww
[02:24] Agatha Macbeth: No nap today then?
[02:25] Wol Euler: no way
[02:25] Agatha Macbeth hugs you
[02:25] Wol Euler smiles and hugs back
[02:25] Wol Euler: enjoy your gardening :-P
[02:25] Agatha Macbeth: I won't :(
[02:25] Wol Euler laughs.
[02:25] Wol Euler: ah, you are a treasure
[02:26] Agatha Macbeth: Yeh, wonder where they dug me up?
[02:26] Wol Euler: never mind, the dirt will wash off
[02:26] Agatha Macbeth: Hopefully
[02:26] Wol Euler: possibly see you this evening ...
[02:26] Agatha Macbeth: I'll be at Berti's yes
[02:27] Wol Euler nods.
[02:27] Wol Euler: bye for now
[02:27] Agatha Macbeth: Ommmmmmmmmmmm
[02:27] Agatha Macbeth: Byee