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January 3, 2011

Of Boredom & Recycled Seat Checks: The Metro-North Zoo.

There are lots of different things that people do to pass the time while riding on the train. Some people eat bananas and yogurt for breakfast. Other people have their daily ritual of reading the newspaper. People who want everyone else on the train to know how cool they are pull out their iPads and perform mindless tasks. There are the sleepers, the talkers, the readers, and the folks that don’t understand that the concept that earphones are for you, and you alone to listen along. Me, I like to read. One of my goals in life was always to...

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August 7, 2010

Dear Amtrak: I hate you. The contest entry you’ll never see.

If you follow me on twitter, earlier this week I was rather bitter about being disqualified from Amtrak’s contest for no apparent reason. I’ve debated posting about this for a few days, but considering I am still a bit bitter, I will. And from this point forward, I will forget about it. For the record, if they were to give me a reason why every entry I submitted was rejected, maybe I’d be ok. It is the refusal to do so, or even to acknowledge me, that irks me. They should have just said, “our legal team said your idea...

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June 3, 2010

If the Gulf oil spill was over New York (and the Harlem Line)…

If the Gulf oil spill was over New York, that is how big it would be. It is large enough to cover the entire states of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Without difficulty it could easily cover the entire Harlem Line: the original line, all the way to Chatham. Heck, it would cover all of Metro-North’s track! This site is really great for visualizing how big this oil spill actually is. The map can put the spill over any part of the earth you are familiar with, so you can get a better idea. Crazy stuff.

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March 31, 2010

Heading off to Japan…

Hey everyone, just saying goodbye for a little while… I’ll be heading to Japan tomorrow morning for some rail adventures there. I’ll be riding my first shinkansen, or as they are more commonly known around here, bullet train. Supposedly the train that goes from Tokyo to Kyoto which I will be taking reaches speeds of 186 miles per hour… so that should be pretty interesting. Other things on the agenda are going to Wakayama prefecture to see a rather famous cat named Tama, who I have briefly mentioned before. I’m not sure how well this meeting will go. From my...

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December 31, 2009

Farewell, Jose

Here I am yet again, sitting on my train, netbook in hand, enjoying my time. I don’t know about most people, but I figure the good majority don’t enjoy riding the train. Some times, riding the train is the high point of my day. On the train I can people watch, and there certainly are a bunch of crazies. The garden variety drunks and people who talk to themselves, all the way to the OCD folks that find it impossible to eat anything orange. Who decide to eat M&Ms. And are on the platform surrounded by discarded orange candies that...

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December 9, 2009

Attention New Yorkers: Win Chesley Sullenberger’s Hat!

If you are a New Yorker and you don’t recognize the name Chesley Sullenberger, you may be living under a rock… Captain “Sully” was the pilot that landed US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after a bird strike earlier this year. If you’re interested in having his pilot’s hat, which I must admit looks way cooler than my MTA Conductor’s hat, it is now available on eBay. It is even autographed! The proceeds from the auction benefit Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, CA, and Lockwood High School in Oakland, CA. The winner will also get a...