Old & new

I recently returned from a business and pleasure trip to San Francisco, Calif. While everyone knows you can see almost anything in San Francisco, one of the first things that caught my eye was a self-driving car. I wanted to take a ride.

Of course, one must have the self-driving car app on your cell phone. Not to worry – my son was in town working on a new start-up and had the app already on his phone. We watched as one of the driverless vehicles was pulling out of an alley onto a main street. It hesitated and looked for pedestrians as any normal driver would do. It actually waited longer than most drivers would.

After a period of time, it eased forward and went on its way. I asked my son to hail a ride and, in a minute, or so a vehicle approached. You type in the code on your phone, the doors unlock, and you can enter the vehicle. Four of us took a ride: three in the back seat and one in the passenger seat. Sitting in the driver’s seat was attempted but was not permitted by the machine.

Away we went around San Francisco in a driverless car.

Sitting in the back seat it seemed much like riding in a taxi or being on a bus; someone else was operating and obeying all the rules of the road in a seemingly very careful manner. I am ready to buy one when they come to Indiana.

Having conducted our business in town, my wife and I next journeyed to the White Mountain area south of San Francisco. We had heard about a coastal redwood that was very old and located in the remote area within an hour driving time. Sure enough, we found a coastal redwood that was actually a Great Basin bristle cone pine tree. The marker noted that it had been certified as more than 4,856 years old. The height was listed at 250 feet prior to losing some of its top branches and its circumference was more than 176 feet.

In San Francisco, you can see what is old and what is new … and a lot of other surprising things.

Ray Adler is a longtime attorney with offices at The Adler Building, 136 S. 9^th St., Downtown Noblesville. He is also one of the owners of The Hamilton County Reporter Newspaper.