Adaptive cruise is on, keeping us at just the right speed for traffic conditions. Lane sense is auto-correcting if it thinks I’m too close to the lane line. Thinking we’re halfway to self-driving cars already; projecting what might come next, I settle on the trucking industry. We don’t need trucks that can make every decision on their own to drive all across the country. All we need is a truck that will follow another truck on the freeway. Imagine a freight train rolling down the tracks, but in this case it’s a truck in front with several trucks behind, all programmed to follow the truck in front, rolling down the highway. Self-driving reaction time is so fast, the trucks wouldn’t have to be very far apart. They could be close like railcars, but without an actual physical coupling. There would have to be a low-limit on how many trucks could convoy together though, or they would eliminate too many driving opportunities for cars on the road with them. Either that, or they would need to be programmed to stay far enough apart that car traffic could merge in and out of their lanes between them to get to and from exits. This would be tough on the truck driver industry though. It would only take one driver to manage a three or four or five truck train. I can think of one application though that truck drivers would probably be glad to get out of. It’s that barrier truck that follows along behind road crews. The one with the extended collapsible barrier designed to absorb an impact before it gets to the workers in front. Probably everyone would be glad for that to be a driverless truck that could just be programmed to follow along behind the crew and protect them, without actually putting a driver at risk. Just wandering thoughts.
Green Kingfisher
It’s a pretty cute little guy. (In this case girl.)
Its larger relative, the belted kingfisher is seen all over the United States.
The green kingfisher’s range centers farther south. And only extends into the U.S. in South Texas and Arizona.
The green kingfisher perches low on a branch over shallow water. It’s barely larger than a sparrow with a bill like a great blue heron. It divebombs its prey of minnows and crustaceans, returning to its perch to enjoy the meal.
Its larger relative, the belted kingfisher is seen all over the United States. The green kingfisher’s range centers farther south. And only extends into the U.S. in South Texas and Arizona. The green kingfisher perches low on a branch over shallow water. It’s barely larger than a sparrow with a bill like a great blue heron. It divebombs its prey of minnows and crustaceans, returning to its perch to enjoy the meal. The world’s oldest, and coolest, elevator
It’s called a Man Engine. 
Installed in a calcite mine in Norway in 1881, it drops 900 feet. And it’s still in use. There is no elevator car that goes up and down. It’s two side by side beams, reciprocating up and down maybe 10 feet each time. These beams extend the entire 900 foot depth. There are multiple platforms, just large enough for a man to stand on, attached to each column, and offset from each other. (There are grab-bars to hold onto also.) As you ride one platform down to descend, the platform on the adjacent column is coming up to meet you. At the end of the stroke, the adjacent step will be right next to you. You step across. Then that column goes down while the other column brings a lower step up to meet you. By stepping back and forth to each new step as it comes up, you end up descending the entire 900 feet. Here is a diagram:
If you go here, you can see a gif of it in motion; men ascending. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine#/media/File:Man_engine_animation.gif As dangerous as this seems, it was a great safety innovation. Without the man engine, miners would have to descend ladders that 900 feet (90 stories), start their shift, work 8 or 10 hours, then climb the ladder out. Fatigue related accidents on the climb out were a problem. Besides that, the miner’s shift didn’t start until they reached the bottom. The man engine decreased the commuting time on the ladder and increased productivity.
Installed in a calcite mine in Norway in 1881, it drops 900 feet. And it’s still in use. There is no elevator car that goes up and down. It’s two side by side beams, reciprocating up and down maybe 10 feet each time. These beams extend the entire 900 foot depth. There are multiple platforms, just large enough for a man to stand on, attached to each column, and offset from each other. (There are grab-bars to hold onto also.) As you ride one platform down to descend, the platform on the adjacent column is coming up to meet you. At the end of the stroke, the adjacent step will be right next to you. You step across. Then that column goes down while the other column brings a lower step up to meet you. By stepping back and forth to each new step as it comes up, you end up descending the entire 900 feet. Here is a diagram: If you go here, you can see a gif of it in motion; men ascending. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_engine#/media/File:Man_engine_animation.gif As dangerous as this seems, it was a great safety innovation. Without the man engine, miners would have to descend ladders that 900 feet (90 stories), start their shift, work 8 or 10 hours, then climb the ladder out. Fatigue related accidents on the climb out were a problem. Besides that, the miner’s shift didn’t start until they reached the bottom. The man engine decreased the commuting time on the ladder and increased productivity. 
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Usually, when I take pictures of this bird, the yellow rump isn’t visible.
Here is one that wasn’t shy about showing his colors.
Here is one that wasn’t shy about showing his colors. Spanish
Hey. This is hard! They said no memorization. Spaced repetition is all I need to get there. Now they’ve got me conjugating verbs. I can’t do that without making notes and memorizing. That’s just not fair! (I’m not giving up, just whining while I continue.)