Get That Man a Math Lesson!

On the train, stopped for 15 minutes due to a broken door. They fix it, we go. Conductor says, "sorry for the delay, we are now 6 minutes behind schedule."

I don't get the math. Something tells me the Common Core approach was used in the calculation.

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Fixing What Isn't Broken

Exhibit A: Man in yellow safety vest directs traffic
while three managers supervise

Back in September 2014, it suddenly became difficult to get to the Hicksville parking facility during morning rush. Why? A man in a safety vest was directing traffic into the lot. Rather than improving traffic flow, he made things much worse.

I was incensed by such an egregious waste of tax dollars, and wrote this linked post in frustration.

I have updates to share. The man in the vest is still directing cars into the garage, the traffic is still unnecessarily awful, and it's dangerous.

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The Steel Snake Survival Kit

Survival kits are important. Every time there's a weather event, you hear about the importance of them. Hurricane Horatio is coming! Gather fresh water, canned food, chainsaws, and batteries!

Commuting also requires a survival kit. Two rides per day takes strategy to maintain your sanity. In prior posts, I've written about my own survival kit, which includes headphones, a fully charged iPhone loaded with music and podcasts, my computer, and a book or other reading material.

Knowing I couldn't be the only one, I asked fellow steel snake warriors what they must have when going from point A to B. Some of the responses were run of the mill, and some were unusual.

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Gum and Paperwork, Part II

Get a load of this! On February 20th, 2015, I had trouble with a MetroCard and wrote about it in a post called Gum and Paperwork. To briefly recap, a wonderful and well-adjusted individual decided it would be a solid idea to gum up a MetroCard reader. The gum caused my newly filled card to buckle in the center. It was rendered useless.

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The iPad Hero

Don't you hate when you leave behind something important? It happens to people on the train all the time.

On Friday, I got out of the office on the early side and headed to the rat hole that is Penn Station, along with 829,609 other people. Got a great seat, pulled Alan Paul's One Way Out, the Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band from my bag, and read about Duane's sessions with Eric Clapton. The time flew by and before I knew it, I was in Hicksville.

I closed the book and stepped out onto the platform. Just then, someone about 20 feet ahead of me screamed. "Excuse me! Sir! Excuse me!" What was going on?

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An Olfactory Assault

On the train, guy next to me has removed his shoes. It is clear to all in the car, and perhaps all within the zip code, that he should invest in Dr. Scholl's foot powder. It's medicated.

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Morning Wine, Discretion, and Vegas

On my way into Manhattan yesterday, I witnessed a new odd behavior. You may be thinking, "how many odd behaviors can you possibly see on the Long Island Rail Road?" If you are a regular commuter, you know the possibilities are truly endless. Today, we'll talk about the morning drinking habits of a fellow commuter. Yes, I said morning.

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Stay Hungry

Have you ever been hungry in Penn Station while waiting for the train?  Yes? How unfortunate. Why? Because Penn is the worst place in Manhattan to be when you need something to eat. Penn's choices make me choose hunger 82.9 times out of 100. The other 17.1 times, I've regretted the indulgence.

Let's look at what Penn has to offer.

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