Even when a flight isn’t delayed and everything goes perfectly, I guarantee you’ll still end up waiting somewhere along the trip, which will suck and probably be completely unnecessary.
Case in point, I caught a 6:40am flight this morning coming back to NYC and things were great until we landed. Then we sat on the tarmac for 15 mins for no reason. Then we taxied to the gate and sat there for another 15 waiting for the baggage people to remove the non-checked bags, which I had to wait for even though I didn’t check anything at all. At least the bus trip into the city was without problem.
I just seem to think that airports today are giant clusterfucks of incompetence and long lines. Airlines try to put on a mask of friendliness, causing the traveler to ignore the rules of the polite and tolerant stewardess because heaven forbid that the traveler should be forced to accommodate everyone else and turn off their cellphone for 2 hours. Flying should be a privilege, not a right that many seem to abuse. No wonder why airlines barely make any profit as it is.
To further complicate things, I’m currently on the train to NJ, heading to Point Pleasant to get my car, so I can return to the city tonight and move out of my apartment tomorrow. So fun.
Monthly Archive for July, 2007
One thing I never realized about NYC was how horrible the airport layout is. LaGuardia is too small, JFK is too big, and Newark is too far away. When I used to look at ticket prices online, I never took into account the travel and time cost to get the airport, but it’s one of the first things on my mind now as I’m sitting in traffic trying to get to JFK.
I’m heading home to Pittsburgh for the weekend, so updates might be lacking, but hopefully I can take some pictures and we can all laugh at them. I really hate Pittsburgh as a city, it’s such a depressed town. The only people I know who like it are the ones who live there. I guess that’s probably who counts the most though. TGIF!
It’s been interesting to watch how my life has changed since I got my Blackberry. We aren’t talking a major change, but more so how several things are more convenient thanks to it. Having a phone, the Internet, all my contacts, and a calendar connected together is nice. I was even reluctant to have my camera integrated into the device… but as with all technology, cellphone cameras have reached the point where they are passable and I don’t abhor using it…
So on that topic, its interesting to read about how laptops are becoming more pervasive when hanging out with friends and family. Technology is something we are all familiar with, but it shouldn’t necessarily become the focal point of our social lives, removing the normal interaction that we are used to. They bring up a great point of how it’s great to just show someone a funny YouTube video, but they might not react the same way as you. They are being forced to watch under strained circumstances. I’ve been in this situation before and pulling out a laptop in a crowded room just to show off a funny video does loose some of the context, viral videos just don’t seem like a very communal experience to me. The victor writes history and in a situation like this, your own interpretation of the video is what someone could get instead of just watching and then wind up more even more interested. Overall, I totally agree and find the social ties to be worth keeping.
Also connected, I loved read an article describing a “telebrunch”:
- an intransitive verb meaning “to partake of a relaxing meal with a physically absent friend, communicating with them via the use of a smartphone or similar device”
- a noun meaning: “a relaxing meal where one or more of the party are not physically present, but are communicated with via the use of a smartphone or similar device”
and I laughed because I’ve been in this situation many times already. Technology is great because I can be connected anywhere and anyplace to any of my friends. Half my friends have moved out to CA and I still talk to them daily, whenever I want, even that happens to be at brunch. Cellphones might have been the first major connection technology, but being able to just chat with someone at your and their convenience is even better. I love where the world is headed!
To relate to an earlier post I made about money, I found another person saying the same thing: “At what point does frugality trump enjoying life?”
Life is about the experience, what you get out of it, which you have direct control over how positive or negative that experience is. Don’t worry about the small things and just enjoy doing what you want.
It was my 21st birthday yesterday, but I spent the entire day sleeping recovering from my night out Saturday… I started with some fabulous sushi at Haru, before we headed out to go clubbing. It was just a great night to enjoy with my friends, before the Patron kicked in and I woke up the next morning with no clue where I was! I also treated myself to a new blazer and some other clothes. I gotta keep saving though, my internship is almost over!
Now to rant for a bit, this birthday was almost completely pointless, in relevance to being allowed to legal drink. Thanks to traveling the world and going to college, I’ve been drinking since 14 and this birthday changed nothing, except making it easier for me to continue doing what I have been doing for most of my life. Choosing the arbitrary age of 21 annoys me even more. I guess that I am an adult at 18, I can join the army and fight and die for the country, but I can’t have a drink at that age? Let alone the fact that as soon as you leave the US and enter the sanity of other countries laws, you’re allowed to drink at 18 and younger. Waiting until 21 places so much extra significance on the event, leading to binge drinking and people doing stupid things, myself included. Such a pointless law.
I visited the open house of Fog Creek Software earlier today, the personal company of Joel On Software.com, and even though I was expecting a giant room of nerds, my expectations didn’t turn into reality and I definitely enjoyed going!
So yea, what else would I have expected? Joel has set himself up as quite a guru of programming and the software process, and giving out an open invite to any worshipers in the NYC area would definitely lead to a room of showered nerds. Walking it around 5:30PM and taking my first glance, I wasn’t that bad. About 3 women in the crowd, a few pony tails, a few people in shorts, but mostly a varied crowd of ties and professionals. I grabbed a glass of wine and mingled around. The office takes the entire floor, with an interesting slanted-wall desk arrangement. Every office gets 2 windows so that the sunlight can be seen from anywhere. Large dual screen monitors were abound and the bright green walls, along with the wooden floors were a nice touch. Also a lunch table with an xbox360 and HDTV are cool.
As for the crowd again, I don’t mean to insult, but programmers in general do have an assumed unkempt look and anti-socialness to them. I definitely try to break from that mold. You might be a genius but if you don’t know how to communicate that knowledge, what good is it? I met a visiting IT guy from Tampa who was in town, a few guys from the NYC Google offices, one individual who works in finance who was really a surprise for being there, and of course plenty of Fog Creek staff. I had several lengthly discussions with them about the working environment, most of them were happy to talk tech about the FogBugz software they write and the work that they were doing. I also managed to meet up with Joel himself for a brief moment. He was making the effort to go around and meet everyone, which was quite nice. He seemed a bit scatted, but some of the smartest people that I know are that same way.
Overall, several things resonated with me. The open office environment, both online in discussion and code and in the physical space of the office is a very nice environment to work with. Everyone seems very friendly and the fact that they are even holding an open house, yes, everything in the office was open, is very cool. I have to admit, I’m pretty clueless about their software, but it still looks like an awesome place to work. I am definitely gonna apply for their internship program next summer! Thanks Joel!
Stupid explosion. So when I checked the MTA website at 9AM, the 456 trains were not stopping at Grand Central, but now that I check back… they are! Dammit, I walked to work today.
It was an interesting walk though, the streets are entirely clogged with people and traffic due to the subway situation and the streets being blocked off. It looks like Park Ave from 41st to 43rd is blocked from traffic, most of Grand Central seems blocked as well. Despite all the traffic though, no one was honking! It was a nice silence from the normal “loud” traffic noise, everyone was being pretty calm.
In the end, there’s a giant hole in Lexington Ave and oh yea, there may or may not have been asbestos in the air. Great. Another exciting day!
Some kind of steam explosion just happened at Lex and 43rd st, I’m checking it out now! Grand Central looks to be being evacuated.
I checked out a store called theory just now, their midtown location is right next to the building where I work and yet I’ve never noticed them! It’s interesting how hidden away some locations really can be…
I step in and glance around, having to head to the back for the Men’s section, but after 10 minutes of looking, nothing has caught my eye aside from the prices. $135-235 for a shirt is a high price, but I’ve grown used to it in NYC. However, their styles and colors were almost exactly like H&M or Exchange. The quality is better, I will admit that, but $165 for a shirt that only a few will notice the difference? I would pay that much for jeans, but not shirts. I’m grateful that I haven’t reached that threshold for fashion yet. Time to keep browsing…
I headed out to the Adirondacks this weekend, from late Thursday night to Sunday. Once again, it’s great to take a break from the city and just relax in nature. Camping is something that I love, but never seen to do enough.
Best parts of the weekend: paintball in the woods, pissing anywhere, lots of fire, hot tubs, cannonballs off the wooden diving platform we built last year, breaking up beaver dams, and of course the people!
Worst parts: being covered in bug bites and scratches, and of course, coming home…
One of the other interesting aspects of this weekend was the removal of myself from anything electronic. No computers, no electricity, no cellphone, and no email. No worries. Coming back now, I’m just staring at my Blackberry and thinking, “Do I really need this?” Oh well, it will pass once I get my addiction back!
