Pedestrian Crosswalk Needed – Semoran at Full Sail University

Full Sail University has grown to a major, four year university with 8,800 students. Located at the southeast quadrant of Semoran Boulevard and University Boulevard in Winter Park, Full Sail, like other universities its size, has many students that live close by and walk or bike to class. Unfortunately, the area around the university is typical Florida sprawl with little or no consideration given to walkablility and pedestrian safety. In fact both Semoran Boulevard and University Boulevard are major arterial roads, 6 to 8 lanes wide. This presents a clear and present danger to students who walk or bike to class and have to cross these roads. Semoran Boulevard carries 60,000 vehicles per day at 45 mph and higher. As a major arterial road it carries traffic from the suburbs to downtown Orlando and Orlando International Airport and back.


There are two signalized intersections on Semoran flanking the Full Sail campus, University Boulevard to the north and Banchory Road to the south. Students coming from or going to the campus from the west side of Semoran can cross at Banchory, University, or mid-block.


On April 1, 2010, the author counted the students crossing at each of the three possible locations. I also took many photographs of pedestrians as they crossed. You can see a slide show at the end of this post. I observed from a location on the east side of Semoran midway between University and Banchory. From this point it was easy to count the mid-block crossings, but somewhat more difficult to count the crossings at University and Banchory. As a result, those crossing counts may not be as accurate as those of the mid-block crossings.


I spent a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes counting in three shifts: 8:05 AM to 9:30 AM; 11:55 AM to 1:15 PM; and 4:55 PM to 5:55 PM. The following table shows the counts that were made:


I was surprised to find the number of midblock crossings was more than double the number of crossings at the two signalized intersections at University and Banchory. Even if some of those intersection crossings were missed, the disparity is still very great. This indicates pedestrians have a preference for crossing mid-block as opposed to the signalized crossings. This preference can be explained as follows:

1. The distance between University and Banchory is ½ mile. A pedestrian starting at a point midway between the two intersections would have to walk an additional ½ mile to cross at one of the intersections, a walk which would take approximately 15 minutes.
   
2. Crossing mid-block is usually faster than crossing at a signalized intersection. Arterial roads like Semoran have long signal times especially at rush hours to enable large traffic volumes to move through the intersections. Crossing mid-block merely involves waiting until the traffic clears in one direction, crossing to the median, waiting until traffic clears in the opposite direction, then crossing the remaining lanes. The timing of adjacent signals virtually assures a significant traffic-clear interval to cross.
   

The following map shows the section of Semoran Boulevard being discussed as well as the location of the Full Sail University Campus.

A mid-block crosswalk at the location indicated would provide the pedestrians currently crossing Semoran in this general area a safe way to cross. The benefits of a crosswalk are several:

1. Allow pedestrians to cross at a highly visible, signed location where motorists will expect to have them cross.
   
2. By using a marked crosswalk, pedestrians are given the protection of Florida law which requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.
   
3. Without a crosswalk the pedestrian is at fault if he/she fails to yield to a vehicle. In other works crashes that occur outside a crosswalk are always the pedestrian's fault.
   
4. The crosswalk can be signalized if desired.
   
5. As an effective alternate to signalization, flashing beacon lights can be utilized to signal to motorists when pedestrians are in the crosswalk. This type of crosswalk has proven highly effective in obtaining motorist yield compliance in other jurisdictions.
   
6. The cost of an un-signalized crosswalk with beacon lights is significantly lower than a signalized crosswalk and cost effective in providing pedestrian protection.
   

The three hour forty minute sample taken April 1 represents only a portion of the crossings each day. Multiply daily crossings by the number of school days in the year and the number of crossings annually is in the tens of thousands. How long will it take before someone is hit and injured or killed?


This is an appeal to the major stakeholders: Full Sail University, Orange County, Florida Department of Transportation, and Metroplan Orlando to work together to approve and construct a crosswalk at the designated location. Let's all work to make this area and all of Metro Orlando a safer and more pleasant place to walk. It makes good sense both for safety and the economy.


Safe and comfortable places to walk make healthier and more prosperous communities.

Crist's Everglades Land Purchase: Boon or Boondoggle?

The New York Times ran an article Monday on Florida's $536 million deal to purchase 72,800 acres from United States Sugar.  The article highlights what critics of the deal are saying, that because of down-sizing the purchase Florida taxpayers will be paying too much for land United States Sugar has hand picked to get rid of, and Governor Charlie Crist is pushing the downsized deal to help save his chances in the U. S. Senate race this fall.  The fact that Senator George LeMieux's old law firm, Gunster, represents United States Sugar indicates the principal players have been cozy from the start.  Recall that Governor Crist appointed Mr. LeMieux to the senate seat Governor Crist is running for this fall.  Critics contend the original $1.75 billion deal was $400 million more than the market value of the property and downsizing it has not corrected this overpricing but exacerbated it.  The way the deal stands now, critics point out, the only parties that will profit are United States Sugar and its attorneys.

Environmental groups still support the purchase plan saying this a unique opportunity to purchase a significant amount of agricultural land to aid in Everglades restoration.  They want the deal to go through pointing out that Florida will have an option to purchase 107,000 additional acres in the future when the economy gets back on its feet.  Critics point out the problem with this is that the South Florida Water Management District will not have enough money to properly develop these parcels for Everglades restoration, and in fact has already stopped work on other restoration projects to divert funds to the purchase.  Have environmentalists focused too much on the end result and not on how we get there?

Everglades restoration should go ahead as fast as it can be done.  However we should be getting our money's worth and should be funding those projects that produce the highest return soonest.  I would love to have assurance that Governor Crist's land purchase from United States Sugar meets that criteria, but I don't get the feeling that it does.

PS:  Here's another NY Times article.

St Pete and the RRFB

Color me green, with envy, that is.  Tuesday I visited St. Petersburg with Mighk Wilson and Keri Caffrey.  Keri and I were tagging along with Mighk whose purpose was to check out installations of the RRFB, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon, on pedestrian crosswalks.  The envy part came about when I saw just how pedestrian friendly St. Pete is, and the level of commitment the Sunshine City has to becoming even friendlier to the lowly pedestrian, the lowest member of the transportation food chain.

I knew St. Pete had a reputation for being pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and I had experienced some of it first hand, but after spending time with our friendly host, Michael Frederick, I learned the breadth and depth of the city’s commitment.  Michael is the Manager, Neighborhood Transportation, and has been instrumental in formulating and implementing the city’s bicycle and pedestrian plan,  Since the start of implementation in 2003, bicycle and pedestrian crashes have declined steadily while usage increased.  St. Pete has installed pedestrian crosswalks, created bike lanes, and rebuilt streets incorporating traffic calming in hundreds of locations throughout the city.  Crosswalk enforcement was funded and has been key to obtaining high driver compliance with un-signalized crosswalks.  Each city neighborhood has its own traffic plan that is approved by the residents.  The city’s proactive approach and thorough planning process have enabled it to obtain funding to move ahead aggressively with its plan which is near completion.  Overall very impressive and envy inducing for a Metro Orlandian living in the most dangerous place to walk in the country.

But back to the purpose of today’s visit.  As you can see from the photograph, the RRFB is a rapidly flashing amber strobe crosswalk signal placed just above driver eye level.  The signal is activated by a pedestrian pressing a button at the crosswalk entrance.  With most installations the signal begins immediately, although it can be coordinated with adjacent traffic signals if desired.  Driver compliance levels, that is drivers yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks with the RRFB, is high.  The installations we observed were very impressive.  I couldn’t suppress a big grin when traffic actually slowed and stopped after I pressed the button and stepped into the crosswalk at the installation on 4th Street.  You can see a video of me skipping across the street here.  This device looks very promising for use in Metro Orlando.

We’ll be discussing pedestrian safety Wednesday morning at the Citizen’s Advisory Committee at Metroplan Orlando, and it will be discussed also at the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting in the afternoon.  I hope to have more stuff and progress to report on this important subject in the future.  In the meantime, become a pedestrian safety advocate and let us know your ideas for making Metro Orlando a safer place to walk.

Metroplan Orlando Pedestrian Safety Workshop – February 18, 2010

Metroplan Orlando held a pedestrian safety workshop yesterday. The attendance and enthusiasm was very encouraging. The board room was filled to capacity with more attendees than expected. Many different disciplines and organizations were represented, all with the same goal of enhancing pedestrian safety in Metro Orlando.

Presenters included Bill Segal, Metroplan Orlando Board Chairman, Mighk Wilson, Metroplan Orlando, and Sara Issac, a strategist with Salter-Mitchell. After Mighk explained the need, Sara Issac gave a short presentation and led a discussion on what the key problems were, what behaviors were behind the problems, and who would be the target audience for any social media to change behavior.

There were many ideas volunteered by the attendees. Since most of the pedestrian crashes occur along Lynx transit routes, it was thought transit riders provided a good target audience for pedestrian behavior changes, such as using crosswalks properly and crossing streets carefully. In addition, there are many existing ways to reach this group through Lynx ads, signage and literature. The group identified transients as another target audience because of the high rate at which this group is involved in crashes. However, no good strategy for reaching this group and effecting behavior change was put forward. This group, however, will benefit from more pedestrian-friendly streets as they become more prevalent in the future.

This workshop and the subject it addressed represents one way our community can start to reduce pedestrian crashes and fatalities, by changing behavior and social norms to make our streets safer. There are many other things that can be done as well. I encourage each of you to become a pedestrian safety advocate if you aren't already one, and come up with ways to make our streets safer. We need to get Metro Orlando out of the top ten most dangerous places in the country to walk. We don't want a repeat of the number one ranking our community received in 2009 and 2004. Let's make 2014 the year we're out of the top ten. If you have ideas on how to make our streets safer, both short term and long term, get them to the people that can make those changes. Let's make our streets safer to walk on, step by step. This blog is a good place to post your ideas. Do it today.

The Case for a Six Lane Moratorium

The last two years have brought unprecedented change to the nation and to Central Florida. The financial crisis virtually dried up credit. This caused the housing bubble to burst putting Florida's housing industry sales into free fall. Unemployment, foreclosures and outmigration rippled through the economy. And for the first time since the end of World War II, Florida's population declined. Oil and gasoline prices fluctuated wildly which caused drivers to cut back driving, to stop buying gas guzzling trucks and SUVs, and to create long waiting lists for fuel sipping hybrids.

Traffic on our roads, interstates and toll roads declined. Money available for transportation improvements became scarcer as revenue from gas taxes declined. The federal government pumped massive amounts of money into the system to keep the economy from collapsing, with only a small portion making it to local transportation infrastructure improvements. Global climate change caused by man's activity, primarily the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels, became a reality for the majority of citizens who in turn looked to their political leaders for solutions. And the Greater Orlando area was cited in a national report as being the most pedestrian unfriendly metro area in the country. All these events and their repercussions created new and difficult issues for Central Florida transportation planners.

But these events have also fostered unique opportunities to improve transportation in Central Florida. Consider the positive aspects:

1. Declines in road usage and miles traveled have altered the need for additional road capacity. Projected traffic increases are not being realized causing at the least, postponement of capacity needs, and, depending on future events, perhaps elimination of some.
   
2. The long and much anticipated Metro Orlando transit system with north-south commuter rail as its backbone is approved and construction will start soon. This new system will create opportunities to offer commuters viable alternatives to single passenger vehicle use previously unavailable.
   
3. Increased awareness of Greater Orlando's position as the most pedestrian unfriendly metro area has created demands for changes to the system to increase pedestrian convenience and safety.
   

With less travel on our roads, more viable transportation alternatives, and public pressure to give the pedestrian a better break, transportation planners have the ability and franchise to devote more resources to more walkable streets and pedestrian safety.

Transportation planners and researchers have found out much about the relationship between the type of roads we build and pedestrian safety.

1. Most of the urban/suburban pedestrian crashes occur on multi-lane, high speed roads that are difficult and dangerous for pedestrians to use and cross. These roads were built to move vehicles quickly and making them safe for pedestrians was not a priority.
   
2. Studies have also shown that increasing a road from four to six lanes doubles the pedestrian crash rate on the road, and there are indications widening increases the vehicle crash rate as well.
   
3. The process of making existing urban roads safer will be expensive, time consuming and will involve making choices among trade offs between pedestrian safety and vehicular convenience and travel speed.
   

And the need to resort to widening roads as a routine response to congestion is being increasingly scrutinized as planners have found that:

• There are proven ways to increase traffic flow without resorting to widening roads, including better signalization to achieve maximum throughput, eliminating bottlenecks, improving intersection turning movements, and improving intersection stacking and throughput capacity.
  
• Many transportation planners have come to believe that increasing road capacity does little to change peak time congestion on any given road. Once the road is widened, traffic increases to fill the additional road capacity and congestion reaches equilibrium at the old level.
  

The Metroplan Orlando 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan has as a desired outcome less growth in vehicle miles traveled by cars and trucks on our road system, and more use of transit and other alternative means of transportation. To accomplish this some of each of the following is required:

1. Smart Growth planning and growth management to create more walkable, transit-friendly communities.
   
2. Providing viable alternatives to vehicle/road use.
   
3. Making vehicle/road use relatively more expensive than alternatives in terms of cost, time and convenience.
   
4. Providing education to change motorist's expectations through use of media and public relations.
   

In response to these challenges and opportunities a moratorium should be placed on construction of six lane roads. Such a moratorium would stop the construction of, or widening to, all roads of six lanes or more. Limited access interstates and toll roads would be excluded.

The immediate benefits of a moratorium would:

1. Allow the reallocation of funds committed to such six-lane construction and widening to alternative forms of transportation such as transit – bus, rail, car pooling, and paratransit - bicycles, and walking.
   
2. Promote the evaluation and use of alternatives to six lane roads such as increased connectivity, use of grid road systems, increased efficiency of existing roads through better traffic management, and use of incentives for drivers to use alternative transportation.
   
3. Provide an opportunity to increase pedestrian safety on the existing road system without the addition of more six lane roads that increase the pedestrian crash rate, negating any safety improvements on existing roads.
   
4. A moratorium will provide base data points from which the pedestrian danger index can go down rather than stay the same or go up.
   

Turning challenges into opportunities frequently involves changing the paradigm or shifting emphasis to cause people to consider things in a new way. If the desired change features a common goal or focal point that the public can identify with and rally around, then change becomes easier to communicate and put into effect.

A moratorium on six lane roads in the Metro Orlando area would provide such a rallying point. The word moratorium itself communicates urgency and action. In this context it means to stop doing something in order to halt its deleterious effects, and to examine closely the tradeoffs between the benefits and harmful effects of the activity in order to determine whether to continue it in the future.

A moratorium on six lane roads will focus a spotlight on issues that heretofore have not had much public exposure and debate:

• Issues of excessive single occupant vehicle use
  
• Never ending spending on roads that are always full
  
• Lack of alternative travel modes
  
• Wasteful and emissions-producing combustion of hydrocarbon fuels
  
• The effects of urban sprawl on lifestyles, productivity and energy use
  
• The danger to pedestrians caused by multi-lane, high speed roads in urban and suburban areas
  

As with any rule there will be exceptions. Projects already underway that cannot be reasonably stopped would be allowed to continue. Projects in the pipeline that are deemed to be absolutely critical would be allowed to go forward. But the very act of examining and approving these exceptional projects will give greater insight into alternatives and to the criteria that should be used to evaluate future projects. The previous concept of build and ask questions later will be replaced with careful evaluation of need and alternatives before building.

The current environment of economic hardship, shortage of infrastructure funds, unconscionable pedestrian accident rate, global climate change, and the dawn of a new era for transit in Central Florida calls for bold and imaginative leadership. Imposing a six-lane moratorium now is one way to show such leadership, and will demonstrate that the leaders in Metro Orlando are serious about achieving Metroplan Orlando's transportation goals.

Fixing A Dead HP Computer

Friday morning my wife Sue found her HP desktop computer off. She pressed the button to start it and nothing happened. That evening she tried it again and when it remained comatose, she appealed to me for help. I tried it myself, did a couple of basic things to entice it to come alive again, but nothing. It's scary when the machine is totally dead and you know it has access to all the electrons it needs. Hard to know where to start, other than call the repairman or take it to the Geek Squad.

That evening after dining out and a few beers, I wasn't in the proper frame of mind to tackle complex computer problems, so I decided to put off trying to fix it until the morning. Sue was able to access her e-mail using her laptop from work and web mail.

Saturday morning, the first thing I did was consult the HP website for help. Since the computer is out of warranty, e-mail support seemed to be the best alternative available. My first e-mail, I thought, described the problem quite well. Basically it said "the computer is dead, help".

My first reply from the help center, an outsource somewhere on the other side of the globe, started with a list of instructions on what to do if various things appeared on the screen. Wrong. There is no screen, the computer is dead. Reading on, I found a suggestion of something to try if the screen was dark:

Motherboard beep test:

Ø Switch off the computer. Open the Tower Cabinet and look for the Motherboard, which looks like big rectangular sheet. It is the main circuit board of the computer. You can identify with the diagram
Ø You will find RAM card on the motherboard, which looks like long narrow ruler fitted in the black slot with two white notches across it.
Ø Pull the notches in the outside manner. As soon as you do so it will flip out from the slot.
Ø Now pull out the RAM card and check for the beep sound if any.
Ø If you find any beep sound then it indicates that the Motherboard is working fine.
Ø Reseat the RAM and switch on the computer.

Now this may look strange to you, but I found I understood it pretty well, despite a few departures from the English most of us generally use. I performed the test and there was no beep. I replied with the results.

This is what I received in reply:

After reviewing your email, I understand that your system is totally dead. Neither light glows nor sound comes out from the system. (An apt description I totally agree with)
I appreciate that you have shared your concern with us and have given us a chance to assist you in this matter. I, as a part of HP Total Care, take the ownership of your concern and would try to answer your queries accordingly and to the best of my abilities.
The most possible cause of this issue is that the power supply unit has gone bad or started malfunctioning.
Hence, in order to resolve this issue I would recommend you to check the power supply unit. I ma providing some steps below and recommend you to follow the steps that I have provided in order to comprehend it.
1. Turn off your power switch and plug it out from the power supply.
2. Remove the cable from the CPU and start unscrewing the power supply section in order to remove the whole power supply (square metal box) from the CPU.
3. Once done, locate for the main ATX connector and find the green wire.
4. Also locate for the black wire near the green wire and with the use of a paper clip, connect and safely bond the two together with a piece of isolating tape.
5. Put back all the power supply and switch the system on again and ensure that your system ventilation is working.
6. To check whether the connection is correct, the Molex in between the yellow and black wire should display at least 12 volts.

Now we were getting somewhere. The problem seemed to be the power supply. However, I was reluctant to follow the instructions to the letter, since it was hard to tell which black wire to use, there were about 10 of them, and I didn't really like the idea of having my computer using a paper clipped power supply.

All was resolved happily when I purchased a new power supply from Best Buy and installed it. The computer came to life again and even runs better than it did previously. And it is noticeably quieter. The old power supply is pictured.

Today I got a follow up message from a different person at the help center asking if my problem had been resolved. I reported it had, and was pleasantly surprised when I got this message in reply:

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.
This is technician Mrinal, from Hewlett-Packard Technical Support Team
After reviewing your email, I understand that the issue with your system resolved with the previous troubleshooting steps that have been provided to you.
I must admit that the issue would not have been resolved without your efforts. We can only provide technical resolutions from our side. But, it is you who implemented the resolution to perfection. It feels good and boosts our confidence in working with such a well-informed user. It is always a pleasure to hear that all problems have been resolved.
Once again, thank you for your comments and the opportunity to serve you. It gives immense pleasure when we hear from our satisfied customer.

All's well that ends well.

Central Florida Commuter Rail - SunRail - Some Questions & Answers

There are a lot of misconceptions about commuter rail and its place in a healthy transit system for Central Florida. Here are some questions and answers that address these.

Q: I’m not going to ride the rail so how can it help me?

A: Transit modes like bus and rail are alternatives to using automobiles. When a rider uses transit, chances are very good a car is not using the road system. If only a small fraction of drivers become riders, this can mean the difference between a gridlocked road or highway and one that flows freely. Recall your own experience on minor holidays and no-school days. By supporting rail an automobile driver, even if he/she never uses rail, benefits by having fewer cars on the road system.

Q: Transit doesn’t pay for itself, so why should we build it?

A: All transportation is subsidized by our governments to one degree or another, and no transportation alternative is expected to pay for itself. If you use your automobile, you are using the road system. Our taxes pay for the planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of the road system. The automobile user is only paying a fraction of the actual cost of that transportation mode. Other transit alternatives actually pay a portion of their operating cost through fares collected. Of course automobile drivers using toll roads pay more, but even then tolls don’t cover the entire cost. Bus and rail transit provide transportation capacity at less overall expense than roads, they’re better for the environment and use less land.

Q: Why don’t we just spend the money on buses?

A: Buses are a vital part of a transit system, but they can’t do everything. They use the road system that is already congested. Would you prefer to sit in a bus on I-4 rather than your car? They are also more expensive per passenger mile than rail. Rail is best at carrying riders over a fixed route at medium to longer distances. Buses provide the feeder routes that take riders to and from the rail stations.

Q: Why not build light rail to the airport and the theme parks now? Why SunRail?

A: An important mission of SunRail is to take commuters off I-4 during the widening that is going to start in 2010. The pre-existing CSX rail right-of-way gives FDOT a quick, inexpensive way to get commuter rail up and running. This is the same way TriRail got started in South Florida when I-95 was widened. I-4 commuters are a ready-made, pre-existing ridership waiting to use the system. Once SunRail is up and running, then east-west light rail will be the next step. SunRail will provide a great many of the riders this east-west system will use. Without SunRail an east-west light rail system would be difficult to justify.

Q: I’ve heard that commuter rail will help prevent development sprawl. How can it do this?

A: Establishing a high-capacity rail system makes people want to live in close proximity so they can use it effectively. This demand for proximity to the transit stations increases the value of development of all kinds around the station locations. This demand focuses developer’s efforts to build close to the stations. Communities with station locations use their zoning and regulatory powers to encourage optimal development around stations and discourage sprawl. Thus development is concentrated around stations and not wherever a developer can buy cheap land and get a road built to it. The better the transit system, the better the ability of communities to focus growth.

Q: How can I find out more about commuter rail, SunRail, transit and how to manage growth?

A: . For more information check these websites: http://www.smartgrowth.org/, http://www.metroplanorlando.com/, http://www.transact.org/, http://www.beforesunrail.com/

If you subscribe to the Maine Media Workshops eNews letter you'll recognize immediately that I'm plagiarizing their latest edition. But I'm sure they won't mind the publicity, and I couldn't help but comment on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a full-frame digital SLR with HD 1080p video capability. Maine Media Workshops is featuring the camera in a workshop with Vincent Laforet, who made the first short film photographed/filmed/videoed with the EOS 5D Mark II - Reverie. While you're at Laforet's website, take a look at his other work including some awesome aerial coverage of Katrina and her aftermath. Laforet's blog is interesting also. (The picture shows Maine Media College students Kevin Carragher and Ashish Dawar testing the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Photo by Shane Hofeldt.)

Back to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. There has been some talk of movement by the news media away from the still camera and toward video cameras. The thinking has been that if you need a still, you can pull it from the video since video resolution has improved so much. The Mark II changes the equation, however, enabling still photographers to take HD quality video when the situation warrants. How this opens up the possibilities for the rest of us is difficult for me to get my mind around. I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 with video capability. I have used video a few times, but haven't scratched the surface of possibilities. A couple of my experiments are on my YouTube channel. Interestingly, another video I have on YouTube is a slide show of still images. I'm sure we'll see much more "mixed media" mixing stills and video in creative ways.

One of my favorite HDTV programs is Sunrise Earth which features HD video of sunrise scenes around the world. Most of the "footage" of the videos is basically a live still picture with the camera fixed while it captures the scene changing as the sun rises. The scenes are usually purely nature without evidence of man's encroachment. I haven't watched the program lately. It isn't shown as often as it was since HD has moved to more traditional programming.

While I'm sending you around the internet, allow me to send you to my photo website AvidPhotographer.com. I've recently reworked it and made it easier to get to the different web locations for the work I've done. It's likely you came here from there. If so, you're finished. Hit the back arrow.

Buddy Holly

A new Buddy Holly collection has been issued that includes some of his private recordings done in the last year of his life. The collection was reviewed on Fresh Air this afternoon. I was deeply moved hearing the review, not only because of the thought of being able to hear previously unreleased material, but also because of the large part Buddy Holly played in my musical life.

He was at the peak of his popularity when I was in high school, and he was killed the year I graduated. I have several of his albums, vinyl LPs, that I still get out and play occasionally. I also have "Best Of" collections on CD. My favorite song is Not Fade Away, an affection I apparently share with a majority of his fans. I have never tired of hearing his music. His was an incredible talent.

The Fresh Air reviewer, Ed Ward, pointed out that Buddy was trying a lot of different things in his latest recordings. Ed wants us to imagine what Buddy would have become if he hadn't been in that plane that night. I would hope he would have gone down new paths and gotten better and better like John McCarthy of the Beatles or Ray Charles. But there's always the possibility that he could have taken a different road like Elvis did. As tragic as Buddy's death was, it has served to immortalize him as he was at his peak. His life and his musical career were cut off, but his death also prevented any diminution of his legend. Buddy Holly lives on in my memory just as he was when he died in 1959.

This year will see my 50th high school class reunion, and I'll be looking forward to hearing Buddy's music, a part of all which we were back in high school. A part that hasn't and won't change. There's some irony in the title of his famous song. The memory of Buddy Holly will "Not Fade Away".

Replacing The Coffee Maker

On the right is the old Braun coffee maker we've had for over a decade. On the left is the new Cuisinart we purchased to replace it. The Braun had been showing signs of age the last couple of years, and a couple of weeks ago the heating element gave out in the middle of making essential morning coffee. I finished the process by pouring hot water directly onto the coffee grounds and then closing the coffee holder to let the water seep through.

Now I had to face the daunting prospect of replacing the Braun. A couple of years ago I had tried to replace it when it started showing its age, but after trying out three different makers, decided I couldn't do any better than the Braun. So I cleaned it again and kept using it. Now I had no choice but to find a replacement.

Consumer Reports didn't even list the Braun, so right away I was confused. I'd had such good luck with mine, why wasn't it listed? I went to Google. I found my Braun was still listed for sale. I tried to buy it through Amazon.com but when I got to the checkout, it said zero were available and I was asking for one. I went up to the next model. Still no one had any inventory. I checked the Braun website. They pointed me to dealers with nothing but shavers and hair dryers. I finally came to the conclusion that Braun coffee makers are not available to us here in the States, at least not now.

Back to Consumer Reports. I ended up buying a Cuisinart which is the same as the top rated model but has a thermal carafe. I have to say I like it a lot. But as you can see, the Braun is still on the counter. I don't know when I'll have the courage to put it in the trash. It's like a pet that you have to take to the vet to be "put to sleep". You postpone it until you can't any longer.

However I'm liking the new Cuisinart more and more every day. I don't think it will be long before the old Braun hits the trash can and joins it's siblings in coffee maker heaven. But it won't be without a proper memorial ceremony. So long faithful Braun. Many fine cups of coffee were enjoyed thanks to you old friend.