Where are your ‘car whistles’

[Tunborough]

And realistically, how much of a tune can you get through in 30 to 45 seconds before the light changes?

[Nanohedron]

Wow, this thread took a hairpin since I checked it yesterday. ...[snip]... That being said, I find lots of non-driving while sitting in a car by myself time. I'd rather whistle than look at boring crap on social media while I wait.

Here's another hairpin turn to consider: Why does one have to distract oneself, at all? Just a thought...

[PB+J]

Wow, this thread took a hairpin since I checked it yesterday. ...[snip]... That being said, I find lots of non-driving while sitting in a car by myself time. I'd rather whistle than look at boring crap on social media while I wait.

Here's another hairpin turn to consider: Why does one have to distract oneself, at all? Just a thought...

I’m not distracting myself. I’m looking to find a way to turn dead time into something productive.

[gbyrne]

A fella (who shall remain nameless) was pulled over for being on the mobile phone. Guard (policeman) went to town on him.

"But I wasn't on the mobile phone", says our friend. "You f3kn were, I saw you" said the Guard. So our hero confessed to the true crime - he'd been playing the mouth organ. As this wasn't specifically covered under legislation the Guard let him off with a caution.

Now when our hero told me this story, I was of course amused but aghast. He tried to explain that playing the whistle while driving was dangerous because he had short legs (for steering with his knees) and the whistle required two hands whereas he only needed one hand for the mouth organ.

While I was impressed with the logic of what he was saying, I was still not happy that safety was being taken into consideration. So I recommended he got himself one of those harmonica harness things that the lads who are in one-man-bands use so that he could keep both his hands on the wheel. 'nuff said.

[gbyrne]

I keep a spare whistle and "emergency" flute (carbon fibre) in the car. You never know when you might find yourself in need of an instrument. And if I'm parked waiting for my SO to return from shopping, time otherwise wasted can be spent practising a few tunes. Better than any social media/smartphone distractions. You do get "looks" from time to time.

I thought I was unique in the "car whistle" habit. Great to find that this is normal and expected behaviour.

[Wanderer]

And realistically, how much of a tune can you get through in 30 to 45 seconds before the light changes?

There are some lights around my house that are 2 minutes or longer.

But generally, not much. I'll agree to disagree on how dangerous it is it sit completely stopped, and play the whistle. Dale, on the other hand, has been a firm advocate of the "no car whistle" rule from the beginning. This topic has come up a few times

In the 23 years or so that I've been doing it, I've never been the cause of an accident. In the accident I note above, the guy who hit me from behind was looking down at his phone.

I've certainly been the cause of clapping, flirting, cat-calling, teasing, and derision. And in Houston, I once had a local hip-hop artist follow me from the stop light to the grocery store in order to ask me if I'd be willing to experiment riffing over his music. I wasn't, but that's because I wasn't (and still am not) comfortable enough to just 'jam' with no known tune to go on.

[benhall.1]

... meanwhile, here in the UK, there have been several instances of people being fined, or even receiving a criminal conviction, for eating while stationary in traffic. For instance, in 2015, a woman was given and on the spot £100 fine for eating a banana while she was stuck in a traffic jam.

She subsequently appealed it, and the fined was raised to £145, and she also received a criminal record and three points on her licence. Quite right, too.

[eskin]

Burke composite high D in the passenger seat pocket.

[Wanderer]

... meanwhile, here in the UK, there have been several instances of people being fined, or even receiving a criminal conviction, for eating while stationary in traffic. For instance, in 2015, a woman was given and on the spot £100 fine for eating a banana while she was stuck in a traffic jam.

She subsequently appealed it, and the fined was raised to £145, and she also received a criminal record and three points on her licence. Quite right, too.

Far as I know, the only state here that goes that far is Washington state. Though eating and drinking on the subway used to be a fine-able offense in Washington DC, Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik suspended enforcement of those rules May 8 of this year. And it sounds like I could play the tinwhistle there, too

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transpor ... b89f524af6

Though the union acknowledged it is against Metro rules to eat on a train or in a station, Hobson’s statement also referenced an email from Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik sent May 8, ordering officers to “cease and desist from issuing criminal citations in the District of Columbia for fare evasion; eating; drinking; spitting, and playing musical instruments without headphones until further advised.”

[Polara Pat]

Wow, this thread took a hairpin since I checked it yesterday. ...[snip]... That being said, I find lots of non-driving while sitting in a car by myself time. I'd rather whistle than look at boring crap on social media while I wait.

Here's another hairpin turn to consider: Why does one have to distract oneself, at all? Just a thought...

I’m not distracting myself. I’m looking to find a way to turn dead time into something productive.

Exactly my thoughts.

[Steve Bliven]

... eating a banana while she was stuck in a traffic jam. She subsequently apeeled it.

Oh, come on...

Best wishes.

Steve

[PB+J]

Edited just now because snark is too easy and not good for you

[Nanohedron]

Here's another hairpin turn to consider: Why does one have to distract oneself, at all? Just a thought...

I’m not distracting myself. I’m looking to find a way to turn dead time into something productive.

Exactly my thoughts.

While I understand the reasoning, I don't embrace it on a number of points, the first being that I have a dispute with the utilitarian contention that waiting for a light to change is necessarily "dead time", and further, I suggest that "dead time" itself is an artificial, and therefore false, concept. But this is in the end a matter of philosophy, and we could go down the rabbit hole over that.

But if we stick to strictly utilitarian concerns, no matter what side-activity one undertakes at the stoplight to "fill one's time", it is axiomatic that it cannot be done fully or well, for one's attentions are necessarily divided. So I think "productive" is a term that one should reconsider. I still think words like "distraction" or "diversion" better fit the case.

It seems to me that these days there is a big cultural recoil from facing quiet moments. On my TV's channel guide there is lately a recurring selection for music subscriptions that begins with the proclamation, "Silence is boring." Boring? First of all, so long as the hearing live there is no such thing as silence; the world around you, and you yourself, are always making noise. The sufficiency of that depends on you, I guess. Rather than boring, I find such moments profound, myself, and for me, profundity is never "dead time".

[PB+J]

While I understand the reasoning, I don't embrace it on a number of points, the first being that I have a dispute with the utilitarian contention that waiting for a light to change is necessarily "dead time", and further, I suggest that "dead time" itself is an artificial, and therefore false, concept. But this is in the end a matter of philosophy, and we could go down the rabbit hole over that.

But if we stick to strictly utilitarian concerns, no matter what side-activity one undertakes at the stoplight to "fill one's time", it is axiomatic that it cannot be done fully or well, for one's attentions are necessarily divided. So I think "productive" is a term that one should reconsider. I still think words like "distraction" or "diversion" better fit the case.

It seems to me that these days there is a big cultural recoil from facing quiet moments. On my TV's channel guide there is lately a recurring selection for music subscriptions that begins with the proclamation, "Silence is boring." Boring? First of all, so long as the hearing live there is no such thing as silence; the world around you, and you yourself, are always making noise. The sufficiency of that depends on you, I guess. Rather than boring, I find such moments profound, myself, and for me, profundity is never "dead time".

You're talking to a guy who spends hours and hours in archives contemplating old documents, for a living. You're not talking to a kid playing twitchy video games. I'll go head to head in terms of silent contemplation with anybody!

[Nanohedron]

You're talking to a guy who spends hours and hours in archives contemplating old documents, for a living. You're not talking to a kid playing twitchy video games. I'll go head to head in terms of silent contemplation with anybody!

No doubt, but how is it then that the car changes everything?

Anyway, I still maintain that if you're going to whistle in the car, it's best if you're parked, or a passenger. Otherwise you can only be at half-measures all around.