Tag: transit

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Finished reading Street Smart by Sam Schwartz (a.k.a Gridlock Sam) this week. One of the things he points out how easy access to transit information increases transit ridership. In hindsight, this is obvious, but I hadn’t really thought of it. Sure, public transit needs to be frequent, safe and connect many places. But, if it is difficult to decipher the maps and timetables, it’s also difficult to understand how to get where one wants to go.

I remember how difficult it could be to navigate an unfamiliar city’s transit network. Especially when one doesn’t speak or read the local language. Things have gotten so much better in the past several years. Most of us are carrying a connected computer with specialized apps, not to mention the inclusion of open data in the popular map applications. Tap to ride is also a great improvement. Tapping with a credit/debit card or phone makes transit in unfamiliar cities much more approachable. Don’t get me wrong, fumbling around the first time I used a strippenkaart (Dutch) is an experience I’m happy to have had. However, I’m sure the commuters waiting for me to do it are happy I can just tap and ride now.

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Last week, I talked about how the four-day work week felt so long. Sad to say, this week’s 5-day week didn’t feel any better. I am off next week, so I’ve got that going for me.

The new song I mentioned last week is starting to come together in this week’s session. We managed to all play in the same key and got through most of it. The drummer is really the standout here, perfect time, they never miss. For the rest of us, it’s just a matter of playing it a few times together. I think it has the potential to be one of our better songs.

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Photo of a sign on a building that reads "NO BALL PLAYING ALLOWED". There is a window on the right side of the photo.
Is it just me, or are these signs rarer than they used to be?

For those of you following along in real time, this is getting posted almost a week late.

Sometimes, short weeks feel longer than they should. That was certainly the case for me this week despite having Monday off. After a nice, long weekend, I was feeling pretty low energy. Not helpful when things are really ramping up at work as people look towards the end of the year and want stuff done.

We did manage a good jam session on Friday. This was the first time together trying a song we’re adding to the repertoire. It was a little messy. The lead guitar practiced it, but didn’t notice the tab he was using was tuned down a half step. The lead singer was still working out the cadence of the lyrics. I sort of had the bass down, but not the backing vocals. So, we launch into this thing and it sounds, um, rough. Despite all that, I think it has potential. We’ll keep working on it. Lesson learned, make sure everybody is working off the same music/tabs to begin with.

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Photo of a blue sailboat named Fury being moved in a boat yard.

Spent some time this weekend splashing a friend’s boat. Instead of sailing, we cleaned. Power washing is almost as fun as sailing though. This might be one of the prettiest project boats I’ve seen. She’s going to be gorgeous next season, and a hear a new name is coming as well.

Also spent some quality time with a wood fired pizza oven, which inspired me to make some more pizzas at home. We don’t have space for a wood fired oven, but I think we can turn out some quality pizzas in our kitchen.

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Photo of a sign advertising Rockaway Beach Surf Shop attached to a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. The advertisement is a cartoon of five people with pompadore hairdos surfing. The text above the cartoon is "ROCK ROCK ROCKAWAY BEACH". Below the cartoon, the text is "Since 1972, Rockaway Beach Surf Shop, 177 Beach 116th St, Rockaway Park, NY 11694, 718-474-9345." There are other, smaller signs attached to the fence around the surf shop sign and there is ivy growing on the fence, obscuring some of the signs. There is some industrial landscape in the background.
It’s not far, not hard to reach

We spent a couple days at Rockaway Beach. It was nice to get away, even if away means a different borough. It was very hot on Friday, so it was good to be near the water and not needing to ride the subway. We ate some delicious food and took in the local vibe. Plus, we got to engage in a bit of plane spotting. We can do that at home too as the LaGuardia arrivals flight path is over the neighborhood. But, the flights departing JFK in the evening tend to be going to more exciting locales than those arriving at LGA. Think Amsterdam vs. Atlanta.

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