adrian is rad

4/7/2007

I’m my father’s son

Filed under: — adrian @ 11:16 pm

My dad’s German and extremely efficient. I’m not German.

However, I do like efficiency. I was quite chuffed with myself today when I figured out the most efficient route to do all my errands: swim, then KZSU, then haircut, then picking up my glasses. It is almost all right turns with the only left turns coming at 4 way stops and a fast-cycling traffic light with a left turn arrow. It also allowed for enough time for my hair to dry after the swim and before the hair cut.

Yeah, these are seriously the sort of things I think about. I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks about path efficiency.

5 Responses to “I’m my father’s son”

  1. Milkshake Says:

    Ah but you are German!

  2. sarah louise Says:

    Ah, so that explains so much!! (kidding–although it does explain your spelling tips.)

    German is my favorite language. We lived in Bonn when I was in 1st and 2nd grade and what I learned was not efficiency but aggressive driving tips from my mom. (I still drive like a German.) Huh, hadn’t thought about that recently…anyways, path efficiency. I think about short cuts driving to work every day, but I think that’s different.

  3. Colin Says:

    If you’re really concerned about stuff like this, you should check out “Level Set Methods and Fast Marching Methods” by James Sethian. It covers mathematical methods that can be used to find the fastest path under various system constraints, like walking in a scalar or vector field that defines your maximum traveling speed as a function of position, or in the presence of obstacles.

  4. Mummy Says:

    Dad laughed so much he had a coughing fit! Anyhow, he says he is glad you learnt something.

  5. adrian is rad » UPS follows my lead Says:

    […] UPS is following my lead! Last year, it cut 28 million miles from truck routes — saving roughly three million gallons of fuel — in good part by mapping routes that minimize left turns. This year, U.P.S. began offering customers a self-service system for redirecting packages that are en route. […]

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