Road Coloring Conjecture

Today the AP is reporting that a guy named Avraham Trahtman has solved the so-called Road Coloring Problem. As I understand it (not saying much), the Road Coloring Problem postulates that it is possible to create a single set of directions that will allow every driver to get to a certain place, no matter where they are. That sounds like something that is easier to talk about in theory (such as by working through mazes or simple diagrams) than in real life. But it is fascinating. Fairly short Wikipedia article here.

Fridays and the First Rule

I'm not quite sure what the cause is, but my Friday commute is always much faster than other days. Today, as Good Friday, is probably a special case with people taking the day off. I suspect that a lot of government workers (of which Sacramento has plenty) work flexible schedules (four ten hour days, for example) that allow time off on some Fridays. All this makes for much lighter traffic. In any case, I got to work 15 minutes early today, in time to eat one of the scarce office doughnuts.

And this brings me to Thczv's First Rule of Driving: It is better to go than to stop. Given that I didn't really even slow down much on my commute this morning, today is a good day for the First Rule. All other rules serve the First Rule.