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Comment by tomcam | Hacker News Reader

The 1984 Olympics there were expected to be a traffic disaster. Turned out that everyone stayed away because it was expected to be a traffic disaster. I had a 65 mile commute into Los Angeles at that time and it was a doddle.

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Only in America would people think a “65 mile commute” is a “doddle”.

Absolutely insane.

I hear you! But it went from bumper to bumper traffic before the Olympics to a breezy 80mph drive during.

Ahh yes, breezily moving at a speed where I will destroy anything stationary 200 feet in front of me without a choice.

I'm going to drive home today from my vacation at 75mph because if I go any slower the people having breezy drives stack up dangerously behind me.

You might not know traffic laws out there. In Southern California you can get ticketed for not going with the flow of traffic, even if the posted speed is 65 but everyone is driving 80.

My dad had those for most of his career. He worked at nuclear plants but lived in the nearest kind of big town, which was always at least 60 miles away from the plant. I can’t imagine what that did to his mental health, the nuclear power industry isn’t something I recommend anyone getting into.

There is a book "La Centrale" by Elisabeth Filhol that describes the nuclear industry in France, it was a horrifying read. It is indeed not a fun industry to work in.

EDIT: seems it is available in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish but can't find it in english. That is kind of sad.

Yep. And at the end of it you die of some weird cancer while your heirs get a settlement with the DOE for some reason. But the commute really stands out.

Sounds nice to have the DoE to kick around given that no one will pay out for the long commute's cancer, cardiovascular disease and mortality.

That’s definitely true. I think the commute did my dad in more than the radiation, but those early days at Hanford definitely did something.

Zola Budd was robbed!

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