Turbulent Flow

Fluid mechanics tells us that in a given flow situation there are two different points of view in analyzing the system. The eulerian method of description is looks at the field of flow. The lagrangian method follows an individual particle moving through the flow. The two different descriptions can be contrasted in the analysis of traffic flow along a freeway. A certain length of freeway may be selected for study and called the field of flow. From the eulerian viewpoint, as time passes, a constantly changing series of various cars will enter and leave the field. The lagrangian chooses to identify a specific car within the field and follows its path as it moves through the flow.

The 401 highway is the busiest in North America. Starting in the crook of the great lakes, cars driving out of the motor city cross over the 49th parallel and flow onto the 820km of concrete that reaches like an outstretched arm toward Montréal. The elbow bends to trap Toronto between it and Lake Ontario defining the outer edge of the largest Canadian city.

Each day vehicles flow along the asphalt arteries that branch into collector roads, streets and driveways reaching and carrying millions of people to their destinations. Like in oceanographic measurements, where flow meters drift along with the prevailing currents, let’s stop for a moment and drop a lagrangian probe…

At 7:30am most weekday mornings you’ll find a gray Jetta winding its way through the streets of Toronto, turning up onto the Allen Parkway and flowing onto the 401 like a good little commuter speck. The direction taken from there depends on the appointments I have lined up that day and could even take me to the airport where I hop on a plane and fly away. One morning, however, the Jetta was parked quietly in the driveway while I lay on the couch trying to fight off some vague illness that has invaded me like a bacterial fog. I spent most of the Thanksgiving long weekend commuting not much further than from the living room to bedroom feeling like crap, and my reward was the creation of this blog.

Normally I try to be a pretty responsible adult like person. Like most early thritysomething year-olds I’m starting to realize that having held both a stable job and relationship for several years now probably does qualify me for adulthood whether I like it or not. Although, looking at my current state of existence the status of my grownupedness is often covered by my bright shiney cloak of immaturity. Fortunately, for the most part, I’m finding this whole grown-up thing to be kinda fun. It may not be the same as my drug filled twenties (Anyone reading this who actually knows me well might choose to start snickering at this point.), but my Carlsberg years seem to have at least a few new things to offer.

I’m not sure how much I can/should be discussing any work or personal stuff here because I really like my life and have heard way too many stories of web people loosing their jobs and/or friends because of things said on the internet. I will try to find a balance that manages to show me without exposing those around me who do not make this choice. Strangely though, the only internet celebrity I know personally has experienced the opposite and actually found his current work situation and brand new wife due to his website.

“Why then are you offering up details of your mental machinations to the internet?” you may wisely ask. Lame as it may sound; I really love reading the websites of others and find myself feeling that I am not alone in the world. That the combination of life events and the stupid shit floating around my brain may be unique to me, but is also part of this great flowing human experience. Plus, I’m an extrovert with an english degree that hasn’t been used in 10 years and is screaming for a walk in the park.