A Rare Compliment to the MTA

As many of you well know, I loathe the MTA.  For many years, I have commuted on the Long Island Railroad and New York City Transit subways and buses.  Since starting my commutes to Manhattan, I have had to endure countless delays, cancelled trains, service cuts, and fare hikes.  For a while, I tried to defend the system.  I have an infatuation with transit systems.  I find them fascinating and New York's is one of the biggest and oldest in the world.  It takes a lot of resources to move the people of this city around in a halfway efficient manner, but the constant service cuts and hikes have made even me a hater.  


Today, however, I am putting the hate on hold and applauding the MTA.  For the first time in a long time, New York City transit finally did something right.  My current commute, on a day when I have school and work, looks something like this:  Around 9am, I take the N/R train from 8th St/NYU to Times Square and transfer to the 1 train uptown to 116th St/Columbia University.  Then, after class, I take the 1 train back downtown to 79th St and transfer to the crosstown bus, M79.  I take the bus from Broadway over to 2nd Ave where my office is.  After work, I hop on the M15 2nd Avenue bus downtown to St Marks Place and walk home.  Its an annoying commute, but I've gotten used to it and don't mind it anymore.  


The M15 is usually the worst part of the commute.  Its a crowded bus line and even the Limited bus takes forever to get down to the Village.  But those crappy qualities made it the perfect bus line for the MTA to test out a little slice of Europe on New York straphangers.  Over in Europe, you buy a ticket for the bus or metro, validate the ticket (stamp it at a machine for time and date), and board the mode of transit.  This proof of purchase method is extremely efficient.  And for the first time, it's now in New York!

My ride home tonight was a pleasant experience...  A type of experience that is not often associated with the MTA.  After work, I waited at the 79th St stop for the M15.  After a couple of minutes, a brand new bus, wrapped in blue signage, with two blinking blue lights pulled up.  I boarded the M15 Select Bus Service, the new proof of payment bus line.  While people were initially confused about how the system works, in the end, I saw a definite improvement.  While stopping at 42nd street, a very popular stop, about 25 people juggled positions on and off the bus.  Under a normal ride, this stop would take about 10 minutes, but alas...  2 minutes!  The same thing at 57th and 34th streets!  This was amazing.  My bus ride, which used to take about 40 minutes took about 25 minutes.


So, MTA...  I still hate you, but I can admit a job well done on this new venture.  Now please apply it to the M101 Limited and the M79 crosstown!

Sometimes Slowing Down Just Isn't an Option

Life is a supercar.  I like to pretend mine is an Aston Martin DBS, but thats beside the point.  The raw horsepower produced by the magnificent machine, which is me, allows me to go through each day with strength and to put forth full effort into everything I do.  As we all sit behind the wheel of our life, we decide how fast and in which direction to go.  Its our life to do with as we please.  Something that I am learning is that while it's important to slow down occasionally, sometimes, you just can't, for what ever reason.  And in other cases, even if you could...  Maybe you shouldn't.

Back in August of 2008, my brothers and I escorted my Grandfather to Germany.  We were taking a week's vacation to drink some beer, eat some kartoffel knodell and help my grandfather find information on his grandparents.  We flew into Munich, using that as our home-base to explore surrounding areas.  The information my grandpa was looking for, however, was almost 300 kilometers away, ugh... wait, about 190 miles, stupid metric system.  In order to plan out our trip to find our origins in Wurzburg, we headed to the hauptbahnhof, or the train station.  I love taking trains in Europe.  You get to relax and watch the european countryside zoom past while enjoying a snack or a drink.  It really can be stylish and adventurous traveling on a train.  Unfortunately, we quickly learned that it can also be an expensive venture.  How expensive?  180 euros per person!  This was a problem...  We had come a quarter of the way around the world to find information and now were going to have to pay an extraordinary amount to get to it.  I didn't know what to do and thats when my grandfather suggested renting a car.

Wait...  Hells no!  I have travelled all over Europe and have vowed to never drive over there.  Those people are nuts!  As far as I could tell, all european cities either lacked traffic laws or people just didn't care.  The cars were tiny weird looking things with odd names like Citroen and Peugeot.  And I had almost lost my life countless times walking through Rome, Athens, and Paris.  The Greeks seemed to be the craziest drivers of all...  So, no.  No driving.

But, as we went back to the hotel room, I examined our options.  The train tickets were just too expensive and I couldn't tell my grandfather no.  So I checked out google maps to see what kind of drive we would have been looking at.  It didn't seem too bad.  A9 north from Munich towards Nürnburg, then the A3 towards Frankfurt...  Whoa.  The Autobahn.  After some discussion, it was decided, we were driving.  

The next morning we went down to Europcar and rented our mighty steed.  Here we are... in the heart of Bavaria, in Germany, renting a car to drive on the autobahn!  BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen... the greatest cars in the world and we were gonna get one to drive though the German countryside!  Thats when we got our roomy, powerful, reasonably priced Ford diesel.  Sigh...  You see, it was the only automatic they had available and while I knew the logistics and theory behind a stick shift, I wasn't about to start practicing while driving in downtown Munich.  I needed to be able to focus on the road and traffic, so this little Ford automatic was going to have to be up for the job.  

As I pulled out of the parking garage, my nerves were getting to me.  It took a little while to gain my bearings and get accustomed to the signage and laws.  We left Munich after the morning rush and made our way to the northbound highway.  Merging on to the A9 highway was nothing different than getting on I-95 back home.  The speed limit was a slow 80 kph or about 50 mph.  I drove, Steve sat shotgun, with Nick and Grandpa in the backseat and we were now cruising, passing the Allianz Arena (home to FC Bayern Munchen), and leaving the small metropolis of Munich behind us.  The further from city limits we got, the faster the speeds went.  Eventually we passed a sign saying the new speed limit was 100 kph (62 mph).  The lanes were wide and smooth.  Trucks minded their business and kept to the right as an array of different european cars flew down the road.  These people knew how to drive and it was an honor to be amongst them.  Eventually, we passed a sign indicating the new speed limit of 120 kph (75 mph) and collectively, all the cars sped up accordingly.  

Another dozen or so miles later, we passed another speed limit sign.  This one was not a number.  It was a symbol: ///.  A sign with three slashes to indicate that all previous speed restrictions are removed.  That was it.  This was the autobahn that was so famous: wide open, no speed limit.  This was a driver's road.  So drive I did.  I mashed the pedal of my little diesel and took off, as did all the cars around me.  The poor Ford had trouble keeping up with the Bimmers, Benz's, and Veedubs.  But I was still having some fun and I started to drive faster than I ever had before.  In the back seat, grandpa was calculating the conversions as he informed me that I was now at about 105 miles per hour.  The coolest part was that it was legal.  

At that point, traffic picked up a little, but was still moving at that pace.  I came up on a truck rather quickly and decided to make a pass.  This required me to enter the left lane of an unrestricted autobahn, something I wasn't sure our car could handle, but I went for it anyway.  In true racing style, I let off the gas and put some space between the truck in front and myself.  I examined my mirrors.  There was no one behind me and no one to my left.  I floored it.  As my car sped up, using the runway I gave it behind the truck, I check the mirrors again... nothing.  With the coast clear, I turned my signal on and merged to the left lane.  I was now in the fastest lane of the fastest public road in the world.  What an amazing feeling that was.  I was a driver on a driver's road in a driver's country and I was in heaven.  That was until I checked my mirror again and right on my rear bumper was a brand new Mercedes AMG.  Where the hell it came from, I have no clue...  He must have been going 200 mph cause he literally appeared out of know where and scared the bejebus out of me.  My pedal was still floored and the car couldn't get out of its own way.  The benz got impatient and rode my bumper until I bravely retreated to the middle lane.  

Needless to say, Steve was not the most comfortable person in this situation.  I give him and my other passengers credit.  Steve told me that he thinks I should slow down.  I probably wouldn't feel too comfortable in such a car at such a speed, either, but really...  As a driver, I didn't have too much choice.  First, Im on the freakin' autobahn.  I don't get to drive like this too often and I wanted to make use of it.  Second, if I slowed down, we'd probably get run over by the surrounding traffic.  Sorry guys, but this is one of those times that even if I could slow down, I wasn't going to.  We reached Wurzburg around 11am and spent most of the day there.  Grandpa found the information he was looking for and we headed back to Munich.  This time traffic was heavier as we entered Munich during rush hour.  We returned to the parking garage and dropped off our little car that had fought gallantly in battle on the fastest roads in the world.  Our adventure had come to an end, but I had a full throttle experience that I will never forget.

Like me in that little Ford diesel, we all control the pace and direction of our lives.  We control how hard we press the gas in our supercars.  There are times to slow down and savor moments in life.  But then there are moments to just mash the pedal and go for it.  If there is something out there that you want to do, something you want to achieve, do it.  Put all your energy into that something, floor it, and feel your life running on all cylinders.  I used this mentality when I focused on losing weight.  Now I'm using it through school to become a doctor.  Its helping me make new friends, experience new things, and rebuild my life for the better.  I go day to day excited for what full throttle adventure awaits me tomorrow.  Sure, one day I'll let off the gas.  But for now, I'm only going to do that to make a run and pass slower cars in front of me.  

Wait... You Own a What?

I pretty much grew up in the water.  I remember taking guppy lessons at Newbridge Park Pool when I was really really young and progressed into swimming lessons, a lifeguard class, the high school swim team, boogie boarding, kayaking, and eventually surfing (stay tuned for a story on this).  I love everything to do with the water, except for one thing.  Fishing, and everything involved with fishing.  I hate catching them, I hate touching them, and I hate eating them.  I have an agreement with the fish...  They don't eat me while I am surfing, therefore I won't eat them.  So far, its worked out well for me.  However, just because I don't eat them, doesn't mean I won't help buy and cook them, and thats where this story begins.


Saturday, July 24th, 2006...  My mom, older brother Steve, and I went down to local fish market in Freeport.  We were buying some fish (and then some meat for me) for a special occasion dinner.  On the following Monday, both Steve and I were starting new jobs.  Steve had left his previous job to try something new and I was about to begin my four year career as a programmer, I think that calls for a special occasion, don't you?  For such an occasion, the family wanted scallops and tuna steaks for dinner (gross!).  So we were heading to a place called Cap't Ben's, located on what is called the Nautical Mile, a street packed with marine related stores and restaurants.  Marinas, boat sales offices, fish markets, bars, and even some trinket shops all lined both sides of this street.


Parking is usually a pain as the place can be pretty popular, however, it was raining and windy, so the Mile was essentially empty.  We pulled up in front of Cap't Ben's and parked across the street, the closest we could get since the weather was so terrible.  Coincidentally, across the street from the fish market was a place called Kydd's Marine, a boat sales office.  Out in front of the office was a brand new 16 foot fishing boat.  It was the type with a center console and plastic seats all around.  The boat was designed to catch, gut and clean fish and then just hose the inside down after to clean the mess.  On the trailer was a sign indicating a monthly payment as low as a hundred dollars per month.  This caught Steve's interest.


After he got out of the car, he went over for a closer inspection, while Mom and I followed.  He looked the boat over and turned to me and said, "wouldn't this be cool?"  I, with my hatred for fishing, replied that a boat in and of itself would be cool, but this one was not.  I like a little more luxury as opposed to the utilitarian fishing purpose that this boat had.  Either way, he was not deterred and went into the office for more information.  Mom and I continued to follow.  As Steve was casually inquiring about the boat out front, I walked around the office looking at the other boats on display.  As the office manager was talking up a storm about how great that boat was, I started looking at, climbing on, and playing with a little bow-rider in the showroom.  The thing was beautiful.  It had plush seating, a sundeck in the back, a swim platform, seats in the bow (hence bow-rider), and a 135 horsepower engine.  This was a cool boat.  


Steve and the manager stopped talking and I called Steve over.  I explained to him that this is what I would want in a boat.  Something that's comfortable to go out on, its fast, you can swim, etc...  The boat was perfect to me.  He complained that fishing in this boat would be terrible cause it would make a mess of everything and that the boat was not in fact perfect.  As we were arguing over the perfectness of the boat, the salesman came over.  He started talking up a storm about how great this boat was and how much better the bigger version is.  Steve expressed his concerns while I was curious about the bigger one!  With out saying a word, the salesman went into the boat and turned all the seats upside down and proceeded to take the carpet out.  He turned to Steve and said... "plastic floor, plastic seats... here's your fishing boat."  We were both speechless.  This one boat was exactly what both of us wanted and after some more selling on the part of the manager, we had one last question...  "Do you have it in blue?"

A couple of days later, we cruised to our new dock on our brand new boat, lovingly called "First Purchase" as this was the first thing we both spent our new paycheck on.  Talk about an impulse buy.  This was pretty uncharacteristic of Steve (not so much of me, ha) but neither of us have had any regrets towards the purchase.  Sometimes you need to take a big leap and just do something crazy.  We went to buy fish and came home with something that has since provided countless hours of entertainment, memories, and good times.  Be impulsive.  Be spontaneous.  As I have learned so many times recently, great things can come of it.