Thank you, memepool. Another fine addition to my daily webcomic reading. Mehehe. Hehe. Sheriff Pony and Topato rule!
YASR! – Yet Another Subway Rant.
Here I am again on a train with the conductor who spews wisdom out of the loudspeaker. Guess what – bulky packages and bikes are prohibited from all train cars except the last one. An it’s a law. Not only a state law, but also a federal law – he says.
Speaking of laws. You know that little tag attached to the mattress, that says “don’t remove under the penalty of law”? The one that gave so much material to untalented comedians? Well, it only applies to the salespeople and the manufacturer. The current tags even say “except by the consumer”.
Holy crap, there is a whole industry for making those tags, and they even have an official name – “law and care tags”!
Memorable Quote: “We keep abreast of the latest bedding laws to answer any questions our customers may have in regards to the various state or Canadian laws.
“
Heh, heh :)
MTA cops are much more serious than the mattress police though. And they some things they’ll ticket you for are not advertised. For instance, smoking on an open air platform will cost you a $50 ticket. I’ve read in a book that MTA repeatedly denied requests of consumer advocates to put up “no smoking” signs there. Why would they spend money and loose an important revenue stream? From the frequency with which I see people getting these tickets on Kings Highway, I think it’s more profitable than the metrocard sales.
I bet tema is going to get a ticket like that when he’ll visit New York.
Kissed by a Train
A train conductor announced some words of wisdom today: “Don’t push a stroller into a closing train door”.
Train doors in NYC subway cars close with a tremendous amount of force and don’t have a sensor that would keep them open if somebody got stuck. You are at the mercy of a conductor, who usually rapidly opens and closes the door, hitting you a couple of times more before you can enter the car. Jumping into closing train doors is a main event in NYC Olympics though.
You can easily recognize a person “kissed” by a subway door – the rubber “lips” leave black marks on skin and clothes.
It’s interesting to note that the announcement probably was made because somebody actually tried to do this with a baby carriage. That’s Darwin Award material.
Manhattan Bridge Workers
This morning I have seen a guy actually _working_ on the Manhattan Bridge. Not eating donuts, not drinking coffee; not standing around looking at stuff or walking to or from the truck. Actually doing something. There were many others doing the things I described, but one was working! Amazing.
The dude is working on Manhattan Bridge Rehabilitation Program. Manhattan bridge is the youngest and crappiest of the four bridges. There are more trains running on one side of it then on the other, and because of that it twists and cracks. It also rusts horribly. The Rehabilitation program is sucking money like crazy and is scheduled to last from 2002 to 2004, meanwhile making my long commute even longer. Come on dude, hurry up!
Another thing that I noticed today was that they’ve got the biggest port-a-potty I’ve ever seen. Taking a crap on Manhattan Bridge is a rather unique experience I assume.
Japanese Grocery
I’ve found a really nice Japanese grocery on 43d street between 6th and Broadway. It’s a bit on the expensive side, but the selection is really good. They have raw fish for sashimi, a dozen different types of umeboshi, huge selection of teas, condiments and many other things any japanophile can appreciate. They even have Japanese cigarettes. I’ve purchased the tastiest green tea ever, Kikkoman “extra fancy” soy souse ($3 for a tiny little bottle), some umeboshi, bonito flakes, bonito soup base and a few other things.
Sam Bok Groceries
127 West 43 Street
New York, NY 10036
212 221-0845
10am – 9pm Mon-Sun
Happy Monday, Everyone.
Pruritus
“The general medical term for itching is pruritus (proor EYE tuss). “
Straight Dope again.
Brooklyn College Research
The research at my soon to be Alma Mater is on the cutting edge.
From “The Straight Dope”:
“Alexander Graham Bell suggested “ahoy!” as the standard telephone greeting, but it didn’t catch on–for obvious reasons, you may think. Don’t be so sure. Brooklyn College professor Allen Koenigsberg, author of The Patent History of the Phonograph, argues that the word that did catch on, “hello,” was previously unknown and may have been invented by the man who proposed it, Thomas Edison.”
As I always said, one year at Brooklyn College is like 2 at MIT. And this fall it’s going to be my 7th year there.
Interesting trivia about my college education: I’ve had a Pulitzer prize winning professor.
Jazz Song Titles
Jazz song names can be so cheezy :)
“Moon over my Amy”. Hah.
Subway Good, Bus – Bad
I am composing this entry on my blackberry device wile riding the D train. The conductor of this particular train is pretty distinctive – he announces all station with the intonations of a professional announcer. He especially likes to say “Loooooong Iiiiiiisland rrrrrailroad”. He’s been doing that for years. Sometimes he wishes everyone “happy Monday”.
This reminds me how many years ago, in my hometown of Odessa, Ukraine, all the buses, trams and trolleys got this little tape player that would announce the stops with pre-recorded messages. It was always weird to see the same regular tram operator, but hear a professional doctor’s voice announcing stops. I think that originated in Moscow during the Olympics because the drivers could not learn how to announce stops in all those foreign languages.
In Brooklyn bus drivers don’t announce stops at all. I should check if this is required by their rule book. They are extremely strict about picking up passengers outside of bus stops – they won’t open the doors even if they are stuck in traffic. I think I should make it a habit to write MTA supervisor to commend good bus drivers and to report various assholery perpetrated by bad ones.
For instance, once I was locked in a bus by the driver for 15 minutes, while he went to discuss something with another bus driver. That was 2 blocks away from my stop. That’s when I realized that I don’t remember which lever releases the bus door. Gotta look that up…