Rather odd that two subjects juxtaposed in Filterguy's above post happen to be the two subjects that I've personally had very strange, disorienting reactions to, once I personally encountered them.
1) Wife and I picked up chinese takeout in Mill Valley, and drove to the Sausalito waterfront and parked on Bridgeway for an evening million-dollar view of the City and bay while we slurped chow mein and wolfed pot stickers. Windows rolled down, nice on-shore breeze, various languages being spoken by international tourists (we play 'what country'), soft sounds of gulls and wake crashing along the shoreline. Suddenly, a growing buzz begins to take everyone by surprise..louder and louder piercing the evening calm, everyone looking up trying to understand what the hell is going on. Someone on the back of a tandem bicycle is manipulating levers as they coast by, a drone high above capturing video of their travels along Bridgeway. Everyone was motionless, stunned...no one was smiling or pointing, just a common look of shock on everyone's faces. I'm sure we were all on the same page of bewilderment...annoyed, invaded, dissonance and as the minutes passed, basic anger. I'd imagine it is a lot like how we now view second-hand smoke, or even spousal abuse, when these things were societal norms a few decades ago. That momentary disruption of everyone's evening at the expense of someone simply wanting to 'capture' their holiday was a very interesting, but upsetting reality check for me, and as libertarian as my tendencies are, the public should never be forced to endure ANYONE'S drone..there's a time and place for everything, so don't abuse it. About a year after that, my town banned private drones within city limits, after a drone was spotted/heard over one of our elementary schools. The public is not ready for routine drones in our airspace/headspace, Amazon or not.
2) While 1) was disturbing and took a few days for me to sort out, it was poor preparation for the second topic I witnessed. I commute on the 80, and usually early enough that I can hit the HOV lane before commute hours and coast at 78 (haven't had a ticket in 7 years, knock wood). Wind warnings were in effect, up to 40 mph gusts, and the car was fighting the whole way from home to work, a struggle to keep it centered in the lane. I had to swerve to miss cardboard boxes and other debris tumbling across the freeway, and had to keep my full wits for any unexpected event, because today was the day I had only heard rumors about: someone asleep at the wheel in a Tesla. I was rounding the curve at Fairfield, fighting the change in wind direction, when I glanced over at the white Tesla S, and noticed his head was cocked to the side...a double-take, and I saw his mouth was wide open, he was out like a light. I slowed to his speed (about 76 in the lane right next to me) and followed with him as we both took the curve. It dawned on me that honking could have a negative outcome, so I went back to my own pace and passed, but was stupified. In fact I was ill. Between Fairfield and Vacaville, a down comforter was rolling across the freeway. Outside of Vacaville, a double mattress was on the shoulder with its corner in the fast lane. I had to call home and friends to tell them what I just saw, and how shook up it made me..it actually took a few days to come to terms with what I saw. It's hard to convey, but when you experience it, the dissonance you feel can be overwhelming, and we aren't even dealing with tragedies here..just things that you never expected to experience, and never had to be in a position to rationalize the event. Honestly, I think I would be far more capable of responding to actual tragedy than I did to these two events. Both represented a loss of control, one a simple inconsiderate disruption, the other a full trust of your life to someone else's algo. Sometimes I long for the good ole days, lawn darts, pull tabs and cut-offs. This is the humor section, so this debbie downer will now exit the thread.
![when-youre-arguing-with-a-fool-make-sure-he-isnt-doing-the-same-thing-quote-1[1].jpg](https://diysolarforum.com/data/attachments/24/24260-831d1b2f146f44da1ceaeaa06339a06e.jpg "when-youre-arguing-with-a-fool-make-sure-he-isnt-doing-the-same-thing-quote-1[1].jpg")
