Archive for November, 2007
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
The Disoriented Express
A party in Gotham had me on the 6:53 p.m. into the city Saturday night, one of the very rare occasions when I’m on the train outside of typical commuter hours. It’s quite an experience, the train packed with people drunk on anticipation of the night ahead, or simply drunk on the 6-pack they’d been working […]
No Comments » - Posted in Chappaqua, Hawthorne by TJ
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
Word of the Week: Chatterblox
CHATTERBLOX: CHAT urr BLOKS \noun\: The act of covering one’s mouth with one’s hand while speaking on the cellphone on a crowded train.
Usage: I was getting the stink-eye from my fellow riders on the 5:46 to North White Plains while talking to my boss on the cell, so I threw up the chatterblox and everything […]
No Comments » - Posted in Word of the Week, cell phone by TJ
Monday, November 19th, 2007
My Official Escort to the Train Station
Woke up to some snowfall this morning–not enough to really be a pain, but just enough to keep my station bike docked in the garage.
I set out on foot, leaving just enough time to catch the train, as per the usual routine. I hit the typical logjam at Bradhurst and waited for a break before […]
No Comments » - Posted in Bradhurst, DOT by TJ
Monday, November 19th, 2007
iPass Passes Muster With Conductor
Eric From Bronxville, inventor of the downloaded photo of the monthly pass on his iPhone, attempted to use the digital image as his train ticket last Friday.
He writes:
As the conductor approached, I readied my iPass, positioning it on my briefcase to minimize the glare on the screen. In case of failure, my authentic, paper monthly […]
1 Comment » - Posted in iPod by TJ
Friday, November 16th, 2007
The iPass
A reader with a supercomputer for a brain, as opposed to my Commodore VIC-20, took our suggestion to keep the monthly train pass in your iPod holder several steps further: He downloaded a photo of his November pass into his iPod.
How will the conductor react? Will he simply look at the thing and walk on […]
3 Comments » - Posted in iPod by TJ
Friday, November 16th, 2007
(Almost the) Worst. Commute. Ever.
I was sitting on the platform bench in the boonies this morning, thinking about how Metro-North’s various strategies geared towards combating the autumnal tyranny of Slippery Rail seemed to be working. Here it was less than a week before Thanksgiving, and not once had I been on a train running at less than full capacity, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Waterworld, iPod by TJ
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
iTicket
The technology wizzes who design the wonder devices of tomorrow are hard at work tackling the topic of convergence–squeezing together your phone, music player, computer, TV, photo album, beard trimmer and pants-press all in a single device.
(Reportedly there’s something called the iPhone [or is the MyPhone? the iTube?] that successfully handles many of these tasks.)
Here’s one […]
1 Comment » - Posted in iPod by TJ
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
I Thought My Commute Sucked Vol. XI
First it was the TV writers, then it was the Broadway stagehands.
Now it’s strike three, as we say around these parts, as the French transit workers have walked off the job, locking up much of the country in an ugly gridlock mess.
A little background: the French strike the way you and I shower. Last time […]
No Comments » - Posted in Bike to Work, Uncategorized by TJ
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
The Big Board Rendered Small
We’re not big on repurposing content here at Trainjotting, but we’re bringing this back by popular demand. It’s compliments of G. Francis, who found out that the MTA had buried a real-time Web version of the Big Board–the Departures board in Grand Central–on its Website.
The post first ran in April, when Trainjotting readership was me, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Big Board, G. Francis by TJ
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
Word of the Week: FREMIX
FREMIX: \FREE miks\ noun: The aural overspill from a fellow subway rider’s portable musical device, usually identified by thumping bass grooves.
Usage: I turned off my iPod on the 6 train because the Jay-Z cranking from the guy across the train’s headphones sounded better than the Wang Chung I was listening to.