Traffic and wildlife

A few days ago we went with the kids at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to visit this great place and view up close Queensland wildlife. 

tree kangaroo

cassowary

And when we were admiring the tree kangaroos and the cassowary  I remembered how impressed I was when I first saw the wildlife warning signs.

kangaroo - camel -cassowary - wild horse - koala - wombat

And there are also the "care for our wildlife" information signs.

echidna - tree kangaroo - duck - small bird - possum - lizard

In Greece there is only one wildlife sign depicting a deer and it is representative of all wildlife animals even though there are only a few deers left; some in Mount Parnitha near Athens and more in Mount Rodopi near my former hometown Kavala. 

 

There is also a warning sign with a cow on it representing all livestock animals. 

This is similar to the livestock warning sign in QLD.

Unfortunately there is no sign depicting a bear which is the animal more endangered by road traffic in Greece. Just yesterday two young brown bears were killed in the road near Kastoria another northern Greek city that I love and have family at. 

Wildlife protection is one of the most important sectors in environmental protection and sustainable development. Sustainable mobility can play a big part in this cause not only by putting up signs to warn drivers for the presence of wildlife but mainly through planning and design of infrastructure that does not invade wildlife habitat and protects these sensitive ecosystems from collateral damage.

I moved.

 It’s been a while since my last post in this blog. The reason for that is that I moved. That is, I changed the house that me and my family lives. We now live in Brisbane, closer to my workplace so no more three hours commuting every day. This is a big upgrade for my quality of life just from this move.

But then when I started thinking of the word move in English I remembered my last project back in Greece – Mmove and the mobility management toolbox.

So I found it interesting that it is actually the same word that has all those different meanings. Wiktionery has listed the following:

move (third-person singular simple present moves, present participle moving, simple past and past participle moved)

1. To change place or posture; to stir; to go, in any manner, from one place or position to another

A ship moves rapidly.

I was sitting on the sofa for a long time, I was too lazy to move.

2. To act; to take action; to stir; to begin to act; as, to move in a matter.

Come on guys, let's move, there's work to do!

3. To change residence; to remove, as from one house, town, or state, to another; to go and live at another place. See also move out and move in

I decided to move to the country for a more peaceful life.

They moved closer to work to cut down commuting time.

4. (chess, and other games) To change the place of a piece in accordance with the rules of the game.

The rook moved from a8 to a6.

My opponent's counter was moving much quicker round the board than mine.

5. To cause to change place or posture in any manner; to set in motion; to carry, convey, draw, or push from one place to another; to impel; to stir

The waves moved the boat up and down.

The horse moves a carriage.

6. To transfer (a piece or man) from one space or position to another, according to the rules of the game; as, to move a king.

She moved the queen closer to the centre of the board.

7. To excite to action by the presentation of motives; to rouse by representation, persuasion, or appeal; to influence.

This song moves me to dance.

8. To arouse the feelings or passions of; especially, to excite to tenderness or compassion, to excite, as an emotion.

That book really moved me.

9. To propose; to recommend; specifically, to propose formally for consideration and determination, in a deliberative assembly; to submit, as a resolution to be adopted; as, to move to adjourn.

I move to repel the rule regarding school obligatory school uniform.

10. (obsolete) To mention; to raise (a question); to suggest (a course of action); to lodge (a complaint).
11. (obsolete) To incite, urge (someone to do something); to solicit (someone for or of an issue); to make a proposal to.
12. (obsolete) To apply to, as for aid.

And there is also a big list of different meanings for the word move that you can find in Wikipedia.

Greek language is a lot different. So in most cases by the word move you will mean the word Μετακινώ but for moving from a house to another you would say Μετακομίζω or Μετοικίζω. But since I am traffic and transport (or should I say move) engineer I leave it for the linguists to move it further.