Open Door Policy

Hey! Remember TTIV? It's been a few weeks since I've shared any musings. I could say I've been too busy to write, but that's a copout. The truth is that I've looked at my backlog of ideas and have been less than excited by them. Combine that with an unhealthy obsession of binge-watching "Dexter" on Netflix, and I've gone radio silent.

Well, not completely silent. I've posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so if you're on those sites, can you please throw TTIV a like? Or a follow?

That was shameless. Let's get back to the core business of TTIV, which is to point out the weird, wacky, and unusual things that present themselves on the commute. Today, we've got an interesting one.

Read More

The South Lake Union Trolley

Do you remember the post where a reader shared a photo of the "TART?" That's the acronym for the "Tahoe Area Regional Transportation." How could level-headed people agree to that acronym? I have no idea, but it exists.

Today we'll explore a transit acronym that's worse. Or better, depending on your point of view.

Read More

The MTA Is Very, Very, Very Sorry

The MTA published an explanation and apology for September 2nd's commuting mess. The letter is little more than a weak attempt at damage control, and it got me thinking that the people who run the Long Island Rail Road's public communications should take a walk down the yellow brick road, see the wizard, and inquire about some extra brain power.

I often defend the LIRR when stuff happens, because hey, stuff happens. But in this case, the problem was exacerbated by poor communication, and that's one thing over which they had control.

Knowing that service improvements are as likely as getting a decent bagel outside New York, I'll quell my frustration by picking this press release apart.

Read More

Communication Breakdown... It's Always The Same

When I wake up in the morning, I check my phone. First things I want to know: Is everyone is ok? Were there any emergencies overnight? Did TTIV get any new subscribers? I mind the important things.

Today, I had about 75 messages in my personal email account. When my inbox is this clogged, I know that the Long Island Rail Road is attempting to share their latest service troubles. The LIRR is terrible at communicating concise information, so they overcompensate with a barrage of endless messages that do not stop until the situation is resolved.

Read More

Evil Fun With AirDrop

If you have one or more Apple devices, you may be familiar with “AirDrop.” It lets you easily transfer documents between Apple products. Party 1 offers a file or photo to Party 2. If Party 2 accepts it, it's done. Easy as can be.

On the train, we sit close together. If there are AirDrop-enabled Apple gadgets in range, they will appear by name in your AirDrop folder.

When forces for good harness AirDrop, it's a benign and useful tool. But today on TTIV, we’ll explore what kinds of fun we can have when we leverage this technology for evil purposes.

MOO HOO HA HA HA HA.....

Read More

Who Wants To Ride The TART?

A TTIV reader traveling in the Tahoe area shared this photo. The Tahoe Area Regional Transportation, or TART. TART? An entire civic board decided TART was the acronym to use?

Nevada and California tax dollars at work. I think the sun's gotten to them.

Read More

Off The Rails

We live in a world of sound bites. Twitter allows 140 characters per tweet. News channels have talking heads on all day long but who listens? You flip to the channel, you read the news crawler at the bottom of the page for a few seconds, and then you move on. Even Kim Kardashian only tweets one nude photo of herself per hour. Are 500-600 word essays about commuting life passé?

Who knows. I'm not a social media analyst. But in today's post, TTIV will serve the sound bite consumer community. We're going "Off The Rails" with a "Twitterized" series of thoughts.

Read More