CheckIn with Steve Walsh is set to air Sept. 3 at noon from Spill the Beans in Merrillville with a live remote broadcast, according to his blog.

I’m looking forward to listening to the new program. It’s always a great thing to have locally produced radio programming, especially a show that promises to be a bridge between the old and new media.

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Technorati Tags: LakeShore FM, Merrillville, radio, remote broadcast, social media

However, I always drive safely and defensively, even if I’m plotting a course that will get me from here to there with the least amounts of stops and delay as possible. Often observing the traffic ahead is all that is needed to be able to time traffic lights and avoid traffic delays.

However, all of this is threatened by people tempting death to save a second or two on their drive times.

Here’s the maneuver that concerns me:

1. A car will be driving on a two lane road — one lane for each direction.

2. A car will be driving right behind the car — either tailgating or approaching quickly.

3. The first car will turn on its left turn signal to make a turn across the oncoming traffic lane to a side street. For example, from the eastbound lane to a side street to the north.

4. As the first car slows to make its left turn, the car behind will gun its engine and pass the car or truck as it begins to make its left-turn.

The couple of times I’ve seen this maneuver, the drivers have survived without a T-bone collision or running under a truck trailer, but it has always been disconcerting to witness the reckless driving.

Is it a sign that people aren’t paying attention to the road — especially the car in front? Maybe we have too many distractions in our cars? Is it time to go back to cars with manual transmissions so that we don’t have a free hand available for our phones, burgers and GPS units?

Is it a sign that we as a society are so concerned about being prompt that we’ll risk lives to get to our destinations? I suspect this isn’t the case, because leaving earlier is the solution to this problem.

Or, are they just isolated incidents — examples of people who aren’t driving well and do not signify anything more than that?

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Technorati Tags: driving, Northwest Indiana

It’s worth taking a look at Steve’s post about Amy Stark and her mini-social media campaign as well as an effort to hijack FastCompany’s influence project for something that might make the original popularity contest something more useful to society.

And, if you’re feeling generous, make sure to click the following Fast Company influence links to give some Northwest Indiana bloggers a little more influence boosts:

Chris Hedges’ Fast Company influence link.

Steve Dalton’s Fast Company influence link.

Dave Woodson’s Fast Company influence link.

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Technorati Tags: blogging, collaboration, Fast Company, influence, Northwest Indiana, social media

The novel details middle-aged Kevin Quinn’s secret trip to Austin, Texas for a job interview that he hopes will change his life.  Kevin becomes obsessed with the woman sitting next to him on the airplane — Kelly a/k/a “Joy Luck” — and follows her around Austin while killing time before his interview. While he’s wandering around Austin following (stalking?) Kelly, we learn about Kevin’s life back in Ann Arbor, Michigan — his time spent working for insufferable academics, his successes and failures at love, and the other events in his life that have made him the person he is today.

Along the way, he realizes life in Austin is probably a lot like life in Ann Arbor — if only a little hotter.  An Austin taco place reminds Kevin of his favorite burger joint that current younger-girlfriend Stella dislikes.  And, a trip to a fancy grocery and shopping mall bring comparisons of the same stores back home.  (Kevin is more comfortable in Kroger than he is in a Whole Foods type place). Should he keep up his quest for Kelly and a new life away from the Midwest, or should he turn back and go back home to Ann Arbor and Stella?

The book is is a tale for the post- 9/11 days with terrorism on Kevin’s mind as he is flying and when he isn’t thinking about his chances for sparking a romance with with a younger woman.  Will he find love in the beautiful Kelly or will Kevin find true along the way when he least expects it?  And, will Kevin make it to the job interview that could end up changing his life or will he be sidetracked?

The novel is one that reflects the anxieties of life in the early 21st century — many people are stuck in jobs that they no longer (if at any time) enjoy, going through the motions of living with people they may or may not really be in love with, while living in an age when the threat of terror is always in the background as we are scanned at the airport and are scrutinized by security when we visit offices in large skyscrapers in our cities.

Beyond the concerns of modern living and surviving these turbulent times, James Hynes captures the thoughts of many in these days when relationships seem to come and go — will we ever find true love or realize that it may be right before us?

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Technorati Tags: books, James Hynes, life, Next: A Novel, novels