Strike One

I'm guessing that approximately 100% of bloggers living in NYC are posting about this, so I have no fantasies about being original here. As you know, the MTA/TWU is on strike, meaning that there is essentially no public transportation running. Since several million people rely on this system, you can guess the sort of havoc coursing through Manhattan right now.

Yesterday, I woke up at about 5:30 AM thinking it was 6:30 AM (the time for which I had set my alarm.) I turned on the TV, and sure enough, the strike was on. I had planned on cycling to Midtown from Brooklyn in the event of a strike. So I bundled up and wondered why it was still pitch black outside at 7:00 AM, and I heard the TV news reporter say, "it is now 6:00 in the morning." Oh well. I figured I'd get a good jump on the traffic, which turned out to be true. Manhattan Bridge was nearly empty when I crossed it.

I managed to arrive at the office when it was still dark. It's about a 10 mile ride, and it probably took about 45 minutes, which was significantly faster than I had expected. Prior to the strike, I took the F train to work every day, and to get from my stop (Fort Hamilton Parkway) to 42nd Street took 45 minutes. So the commute time is the same. I was among the early birds at work, and it as kind of nice to be working alone in the quiet office while the sky turned pink and gold as the sun rose outside my window.

Getting home sucked. I was dodging cars and pedestrians the whole way. Since it is the season for giving, I gave the middle finger to several drivers. Unfortunately, they deserved a lot more than that, but I'm not the violent type and I just wanted to get home. It took me about an hour even though I had a simpler route. And all I could do was pass out on the couch when I got there.

I got a ride into Manhattan this morning. So even though I was warm and comfortable the whole way, it took over an hour and a half... to go 10 miles. How ridiculous it that? I'm considering staying home tomorrow. It's just not worth a 4-hour round-trip commute to be somewhere I'd rather not be in the first place.

Finally

I'm really excited (perhaps unnecessarily so) because we now have Firefox installed on our machines at work. My firm is ultraprotective of information, so they do not allow users to install programs. But now I have Firefox, and the world [wide web] seems brighter. Of course, I can't install any of the fun themes or extensions, but at least I have tabbed browsing.

I guess this post proves what a dork I am. If anyone still uses Internet Explorer on their PC's, I highly recommend you give Firefox a shot, you might never go back. There's a button towards the bottom of my sidebar that links to it.

Want One?

To iPod accessory manufacturers: For god's sake (no pun intended) stop putting an "i" at the beginning of your product's name. That was cool for about 3.7 days after the iPod was released.




iBelieve... if I believed, I would.

As I was typing this I was imagining other iPod accessories that might be out there. Lo and behold, the iBuzz exists; althought they chose a rather innocuous name, which is not the name I had in mind. Ladies, if you are ever in the UK, pick up one of these for yourself. For some reason, they won't ship to the U.S. Now you can get yourself off to a soundtrack (it sounds like it syncronizes with the music.) That's innovation.