It's quiet......too quiet.

Thank you Jeff. Although I've never run completely out, I've sure come
close, usually while worrying about solving world hunger and such. . .
--
TL,
Tim

Do your cars ever run long enough to run out of gas? Last time we
tried to meet up, you couldn't make it 50 miles down the road. :-b
Frank Reid

Frank Reid typed:
Thank you Jeff. Although I've never run completely out, I've sure
come close, usually while worrying about solving world hunger and
such. . .

Do your cars ever run long enough to run out of gas? Last time we
tried to meet up, you couldn't make it 50 miles down the road. :-b

That's just wrong. True, but wrong - a roffian curse. At the Mass
Hysteria clave a few years ago, my tire blew out while travelling 10
miles down the road, so I consider myself lucky to have made it 30 of
the 50 miles to meet up with you. Hey - when are you coming back this
way? Now it would be like a tropical vacation for you. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

"jeff"

some people...very special people...at times concentrate and focus their
intellect on matters of more importance and significance than a car's gas
gauge. my wife has run out of gas, as have others i know. i've chuckled
about it, but i never wondered how it happened.

usually it's sort of a chug, chug, slpurrrrrrt, dead motor while the mind in
charge goes what the? OH NO, and then various expletives

john

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:11:27 -0500, jeff
wrote:

Tom Nakashima wrote:
"Wolfgang" wrote in message
ups.com...

Becky ran out of gas about half an hour ago. After riding to the
rescue...
Wolfgang


It makes me wonder how anyone could run out of gas.
fwiw,
-tom



some people...very special people...at times concentrate and focus their
intellect on matters of more importance and significance than a car's
gas gauge. my wife has run out of gas, as have others i know. i've
chuckled about it, but i never wondered how it happened.

Um, not to put, er, fuel on the fire, but it appears that your position
is that it is simply a matter for chuckling if one's concentration is so
focused on matters other than the car they are _driving_ that they fail
to notice that something right on the instrument panel is indicating
impending trouble, I'd be curious to read your views on PI lawsuits.
While I'd not say that someone who runs out of fuel (in a car) is
stupid, I've no problem saying that they have been negligent and
inattentive.

How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R

wrote:

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:11:27 -0500, jeff
wrote:


Tom Nakashima wrote:

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
groups.com...


Becky ran out of gas about half an hour ago. After riding to the
rescue...
Wolfgang


It makes me wonder how anyone could run out of gas.
fwiw,
-tom



some people...very special people...at times concentrate and focus their
intellect on matters of more importance and significance than a car's
gas gauge. my wife has run out of gas, as have others i know. i've
chuckled about it, but i never wondered how it happened.


Um, not to put, er, fuel on the fire, but it appears that your position
is that it is simply a matter for chuckling if one's concentration is so
focused on matters other than the car they are _driving_ that they fail
to notice that something right on the instrument panel is indicating
impending trouble, I'd be curious to read your views on PI lawsuits.
While I'd not say that someone who runs out of fuel (in a car) is
stupid, I've no problem saying that they have been negligent and
inattentive.

How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R

i'm not sure i catch the logic of your questions given the context of
the statements preceding it. but, i'll play anyway...

i've never wondered how it happened that someone's car stopped because
it ran out of fuel. usually, i think it occurred because the driver
didn't notice they were out of gas. they were inattentive to the gas
gauge, they didn't focus on it, whatever. so, what the hell does that
mean about the person? doesn't mean much to me. doesn't mean they are
stupid...doesn't mean they lack common sense. what does it mean to you?
they were negligent? ok...so what. negligence doesn't equal stupid.
lots of negligent things happen everyday that are neither actionable nor
a sign of stupidity. brilliant people are negligent on occasion. hell,
look at our good friend frank reid for example g.

and...as for your query...well, i reckon i'd feel even a simpleton like
me ought to recognize the distinction. with the car, i'd chuckle (and
have done so about numerous similar uneventful, non-injurious,
absent-minded events; with the plane, i'm sure i'd be among the loudest
of the shrieking passengers who felt that falling like a brick toward
the earth presented a significantly more precarious and problematic
concern than would rolling to a comic stop in harmony with gravity.

hth

jeff

On Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:54:48 -0500, jeff
wrote:

wrote:

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:11:27 -0500, jeff
wrote:

some people...very special people...at times concentrate and focus their
intellect on matters of more importance and significance than a car's
gas gauge. my wife has run out of gas, as have others i know. i've
chuckled about it, but i never wondered how it happened.


Um, not to put, er, fuel on the fire, but it appears that your position
is that it is simply a matter for chuckling if one's concentration is so
focused on matters other than the car they are _driving_ that they fail
to notice that something right on the instrument panel is indicating
impending trouble, I'd be curious to read your views on PI lawsuits.
While I'd not say that someone who runs out of fuel (in a car) is
stupid, I've no problem saying that they have been negligent and
inattentive.

How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R

i'm not sure i catch the logic of your questions given the context of
the statements preceding it. but, i'll play anyway...

i've never wondered how it happened that someone's car stopped because
it ran out of fuel. usually, i think it occurred because the driver
didn't notice they were out of gas. they were inattentive to the gas
gauge, they didn't focus on it, whatever. so, what the hell does that
mean about the person? doesn't mean much to me. doesn't mean they are
stupid...doesn't mean they lack common sense. what does it mean to you?
they were negligent? ok...so what. negligence doesn't equal stupid.
lots of negligent things happen everyday that are neither actionable nor
a sign of stupidity. brilliant people are negligent on occasion. hell,
look at our good friend frank reid for example g.

and...as for your query...well, i reckon i'd feel even a simpleton like
me ought to recognize the distinction. with the car, i'd chuckle (and
have done so about numerous similar uneventful, non-injurious,
absent-minded events; with the plane, i'm sure i'd be among the loudest
of the shrieking passengers who felt that falling like a brick toward
the earth presented a significantly more precarious and problematic
concern than would rolling to a comic stop in harmony with gravity.

OK, assume the location is any US city of at least mid-size and let's
take as an example a smallish woman driving a large, newer SUV, complete
with now-standard/obligatory power-assist steering and brakes. Let's
then put her on a high comparative speed surface street (where the speed
limit is 50 mph, give or take). I think we can agree that such is not
unusual, and is actually very common.

She has paid no attention to the gas gauge and the car suddenly dies,
instantly making both the steering and braking exponentially more
difficult. Suddenly, a child runs out after a ball. A similar vehicle,
with a similarly-sized driver, in the adjacent lane, but who is not even
5 miles from filling up, brakes and swerves, missing the child. OTOH,
our absent-minded driver hits and kills the child because of the loss of
power-assisted control. When questioned, she states, "I don't what
happened...I was thinking about all sorts of truly important,
intellectual things, the car died, and the next thing I knew, there was
this child..."

The next week, an obviously-upset, tearful nice young couple comes into
your office and say they need legal advice. It seems their child was
hit and killed by an SUV...

How chuckling do you imagine you'd do at this, um, "uneventful,
non-injurious, absent-minded event?"

A case of first impression? I have no idea, but I'd offer that the
situation isn't all that far-fetched. And I'd also readily offer that I
would not consider Becky, Rachel, or anyone else who "absent-mindedly"
ran out of gas to be stupid on the basis of that sole fact (and my
general sense is that neither Rachel or Becky are stupid IAC). OTOH,
I'd also readily offer that absent some mitigating factors beyond
"oops," anyone defending or with a financial interest in the SUV driver
would not want me in any way involved, Court, jury, or Plaintiffs'
counsel team, in the case.

H _T_ H,
R
and BTW, Reid's not negligent, he's cursed...oh, OK, for the terminally
serious: G

hth

jeff

"jeff" wrote in message
...
i'm not sure i catch the logic of your questions given the context of the
statements preceding it. but, i'll play anyway...

i've never wondered how it happened that someone's car stopped because it
ran out of fuel. usually, i think it occurred because the driver didn't
notice they were out of gas. they were inattentive to the gas gauge, they
didn't focus on it, whatever. so, what the hell does that mean about the
person? doesn't mean much to me. doesn't mean they are stupid...doesn't
mean they lack common sense. what does it mean to you? they were
negligent? ok...so what. negligence doesn't equal stupid. lots of
negligent things happen everyday that are neither actionable nor a sign of
stupidity. brilliant people are negligent on occasion. hell, look at our
good friend frank reid for example g.

and...as for your query...well, i reckon i'd feel even a simpleton like me
ought to recognize the distinction. with the car, i'd chuckle (and have
done so about numerous similar uneventful, non-injurious, absent-minded
events; with the plane, i'm sure i'd be among the loudest of the shrieking
passengers who felt that falling like a brick toward the earth presented a
significantly more precarious and problematic concern than would rolling
to a comic stop in harmony with gravity.

hth

jeff

And then there's the dumbass who leaves his lights on all day, during a 12
hour fishin' excursion, and has to have his fishin' buddy give him a jump in
the rain and fog!

Thank goodness, no errant fuelless planes fell out of the sky on us, while
you regenerated my battery!

Op --a mindless, negligently stupid and foolish human--

wrote in message
...
How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R

somewhere along this thread, I missed the part where
Becky was a professional driver, in charge of the well
being of her passengers.
Tom

Tom Littleton wrote:

wrote in message
...

How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R


somewhere along this thread, I missed the part where
Becky was a professional driver, in charge of the well
being of her passengers.
Tom



now there you go...gettin all logical and factual and stuff. jeez, how
do you expect this thread to continue with comments like that?

jeff

On Sun, 04 Feb 2007 15:05:08 GMT, "Tom Littleton"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
How would you feel if halfway across the Atlantic, the pilot of the jet
you were on came back and told the passengers to get their swimsuits on
because he was thinking about Voltaire, quantum physics, and barbacoa
recipes and didn't notice there wasn't enough fuel to make it all the
way?

TC,
R

somewhere along this thread, I missed the part where
Becky was a professional driver, in charge of the well
being of her passengers.
Tom

As to what Wolfgang might have relayed Becky specifically,
thankfully I did too...

OTOH, when a person - Becky, you, me, Jeff, or whoever, chooses to
accept the qualified privilege of operating a vehicle on public
roadways, they also accept a duty of responsibility for the well-being
of others, at least insofar as they have such control. And since gas
gauges apparently even come in Braille, there aren't many possible
mitigating factors to move running out of gas out of the "negligence"
(used in the common-usage sense, rather than the legal sense) category.
And I'd agree with Jeff that "negligence" (in either sense) doesn't
equal "stupid," but I'd add that "not stupid" also doesn't equal "not
negligent." And I'd offer that "negligence" very often precedes
"tragedy." I don't claim that it must do so.

Hey, if when it's all said and done, the facts surrounding a specific
incident of whoever running out of gas are nothing more than humorous,
fan-damn-tasic - I'm all for humorous situations. But let's not confuse
an anecdotal "happy ending" with a guarantee of same.

TC,
R