I really wish people still had to clear their sidewalks. The sidewalk plows either don't clear enough, or they leave terrible ruts from the wheels, which are really hard to walk on.

Yeah, we switched from everyone responsible for their own sidewalk to the city plowing them last year and it has not been a success. For one thing, homeowners were responsible for clearing to the bare pavement, and for some reason the contractors aren't being to held to the same standard.

I'm not usually in favor of shame as a tool for enforcing societal standards, but I can see where it might be useful in minimizing a tragedy of the commons type of problem. I'll have to think about that.

In Chicago, homeowners and building owners are responsible for clearing their sidewalks, but many do a half-assed job of it or don't do it at all. Where I lived previously there was a big apartment building I had to walk past and they never shoveled, so the snow would get compacted down to a lumpy, icy mess. I used to fantasize about creating a device that was a container for salt with a long tube to the ground and a trigger so I could turn on and off the salt flow. That way I could write messages in the compacted ice. Like "Clear your fucking sidewalk!"

It was much better here when the homeowners were responsible, and the city cleared the bus stops and the paths to the cross walks. Now the bus stops and the paths to the cross walks aren't touched (you have to walk to a driveway to cross the street or catch the bus, because the snow is piled high from the street plows), and the sidewalks are poorly plowed.

So now, everyone walks in the street, which is not really safe in the winter either, but it is impossible to walk on the sidewalks. And since most of the walkers, and public transportation takers are ethnic minorities, all the drivers blame the crazy black/asian/Latino people who walk in the street for no reason!

For some reason, people here got the idea that homeowners would be legally responsible if they cleared their sidewalks but someone slipped and fell on residual snow/ice/whatever, but would NOT be liable if they left the sidewalks untouched. I think the idea was you would be liable if you did a half-ass job, but not liable if you could prove you didn't do ANYTHING (and therefore not a half-ass job?).

I seriously can't tell you how many people have parroted this idea back to me over the years. Finally, a few years ago, the news did a story on it, saying there is no law on the books that a homeowner is legally liable if they shovel their walks but someone later falls on the walk they shoveled, so PLEASE SHOVEL YOUR SIDEWALKS.

I have no idea if this increased the rates of shoveling or not.

I'm not usually in favor of shame as a tool for enforcing societal standards, but I can see where it might be useful in minimizing a tragedy of the commons type of problem. I'll have to think about that.

They are not saying the shame is part of it, but apparently there are big signs that come with the fine.

I'm in NYC. The meter in the taxi is broken, so you can guess how well that's working out for me.

I have an official interview scheduled on Thursday for the Dublin position. I'll have to inform my manager. And I'm glad I packed a dress, even if it'll be a VC.

I am listening to This American Life, and they are playing the recording of Eric Miller, a young man who died in police custody from asthma in Milwaukee.

In the background of the audio, Panic at the Disco's Ballad of Mona Lisa is playing very very softly. It is really weird-- were they playing it in the police car? I wouldn't have recognized it, except Brendon's voice is very recognizable, and it kind of cuts through.

Go shrift!

I almost hate when people shovel their walks, because what was something with terrain you could work with becomes a Zamboni'd skating rink. They'll leave a half inch of snow that's going to freeze over instead of breaking through to the pavement that can collect sunshine and start melting the surroundings.