Time Off for Family Stuff

I was aching to make breads and cookies and to cook for all of the family who will be around for the next few weeks. But a fly in that ointment was the worry about my older daughter driving for several hours to home and back on roads that could have ice or snow. She promised to be careful and I trust her; I just do not trust the other drivers to care about her well-being. That worry and the reality of the loss of a dear friend's son in an auto crash a couple of years ago sat like hard, heavy rocks in the pit of my stomach. My daughter, thankfully, arrived home safely, but, as you can see, the safety promise of autonomous transportation is quite personal to me.

I love reading, writing, and researching driverless developments, especially those about business models, laws, and regulations. Well, definitely add to that pilot programs and how many get autopilot/partially-driverless confused with autonomous in toto.

BUT ...

The past few months of work and life have been stressful. We lost a family member, we had a surgery, we had children traveling, and now my sister is not in great shape. Work was a total bear. Is that an expression? Well it is now.

So I need a break. I really need a time for reflection. I will continue to read each day about driverless developments, but I might not post for the next few weeks.

Find me in person at Transportation Camp in DC on Jan. 7. I may or may not show up at TRB, but I will be at a related meeting or two. By TRB, I mean the Transportation Research Board conference, held each year in January serendipitously during the coldest week in DC, which, for those of you from Chicago, feels somewhat balmy.

TRB, by the way, does interesting transportation research studies, generally about the US, since it is federally funded. Some are quite useful.