re: She cannh take tha' mooch pawr-r-r, Cahptain!

["Tony Sims" <simstony@domain.elided>]

>Will lose bunches of points here (not that I have many to lose), but why
>oh why someone feels the need to light up the nighttime sky ala Las
>Vegas is beyond me. Have said it before, will say it again, if in deer
>country or live to the south of Irwindale in 'roo country, then I
>understand.

Not keeping score Biba, so your points are safe.  I do have cause to make
regular trips deep into country unsullied by streetlamps, as I have parents in
central and eastern Oregon.  No 'roos (well, not roaming free anyway), but
lots of deer, antelope, opossums, elk, coyotes, open range cattle, etc.
playing.  The 120-odd mile stretch from Bend to Burns can be amazingly dark on
a moonless night, and even at the posted speed it is very comforting to have a
long, long view of the road ahead.  All the more in the rain...

>Difficult feeling sorry for someone experiencing meltdown just so's they
>can feel cool.

Wasn't looking for sympathy, just advice, which was offered in spades and
greatly appreciated.  I'm not hooked on feeling, but seeing, and the lights in
my cars are E-code Hellas with normal white bulbs, not "blue beams" or "xenon"
or whatever the nonsense of the week is.
After all, Cool is the attitude, not the accessories... ;-)

>I feel the same way towards those with overly bright lights (no matter
>how well they have been adjusted) as I do towards SUV's / pickups five
>feet from my rear bumper at night.

Refering to point prior -- properly aimed E-code low beams are not likely to
be the culprit in a dazzle attack.  Their sharp cutoff pattern won't blind an
oncoming driver or one you're overtaking like regular USDOT-spec sealed beams
or some of the awful USDOT-spec aero headlamps.  Let's not even talk about all
the goofy "super blue bulbs" that the shysters are selling to the boy-racer
crowd.  My low beams look no brighter than any other headlight to an oncoming
car.  High beams are bright in any format; I am just trying to get the maximum
potential from the lights when I need it, and I am always conscious of the
fact that my high-beams are uncommonly bright.  Not that I won't admit to
feeling a certain evil joy when an oncoming driver won't dim their high-beams
and I hit them with a reminder flash that rivals a solar flare.  It never
fails to get a response, no matter how far they have their He-man truck jacked
in the air.

Yes, I'm completely unevolved, a classic case of development arrested at the
juvenile stage.  Better to burn out than fade away, etc., etc.  Otherwise I'd
just sell all these rusting hulks, buy an Accord and start pretending golf is
fun like so many other guys I know (who come over for dinner and end up
staring out the window at my garage...)

I also have E-code lights in my Montero SUV, and it's very noticeable when I
pull up behind a regular car that the cutoff of my light pattern is usually at
or below the lower edge of their rear window; there is no stray light
illuminating the inside of their car.  Not so with the aero lenses on most US
trucks and SUV's, they throw dazzle high enough to bother me when I'm in my
truck.

Oh crap, I said SUV...

Tony
Not taking it all too seriously in sparsely populated, dim and rainy Oregon
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