A wins 215-214-82
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Scrabble with the gals who were sock knitting.
March 08, 2009
February 07, 2009
February 01, 2009
Link dump
I've got a bunch of links that I've been collecting in my browser that have nowhere else to go, so I'm going to plop them here. In no particular order:
- What Carriers Aren't Eager to Tell You About Texting
This is a brilliant NY Times article that explains very clearly why text messaging in the US is completely overpriced. To me, it is no wonder that cell phone users in this country were/are slow to adopt texting at rates that far exceed any rational pricing structure. (Bonus part of this article was the explanation of control channels.)
- Why I drive a 13-year-old car
Read this article, then read the second comment after the post. The comment explains why although the spirit of the article is great, the math the author uses is slightly off.
- The case for Candyland
- The case against Candyland
January 24, 2009
R. wins 349-329
R. wins 349-329
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
This was a back and forth game, but my one bingo was not enough to win.
January 14, 2009
Arrival times are meaningless
There's a tough lesson to be learned in commuting from a far west suburb to a north suburb. The idea that you can predict (or control!) when you'll arrive at your end point is pointless. You'll either arrive before you had hoped to get there or after you would have liked to have been there.
I've been taking the train every work day for roughly five and a half months. My daily commute presents me with essentially two options: I either take the commuter train from Aurora to Union Station, walk to the CTA station and take the Purple Line to Evanston, or I take the commuter train from Aurora to Union Station, walk to Oglivie Transportation Center and take a commuter train to Evanston. The first route takes longer on the train, but it's a shorter walk at the end. The second route is faster, and the longer walk doesn't bother me, but the trains are much less frequent and I end up more often than not taking the first route. Either way, I have to take the train from Aurora to Union Station. When I get to Union Station, I make a choice as to which way to go to get up to Evanston the soonest.
When I realize last Fall that I had two options, but that my second option was limited, I made a note of all the possible combinations of trains that would work to cut as much time off of the on-average two hour one-way trip. I realized that the best way to get on the second commuter train would be to catch the 6:47 a.m. train. In order to catch that train, I would have to leave the house at 6:27, to guarantee that I could drive to the station, park, pay for parking and walk all the way around the train in order board before the doors close at 6:47 a.m. Not being a morning person, and not having a morning class to teach last term, I often slept late and caught either a 7:07 a.m. or a 7:22 a.m. train. This term, I teach a 10:00 a.m. class every MWF, and in order to give myself an hour of buffer (in case the trains are delayed) I need to get on the 6:47 a.m. or the 7:07 a.m. train. And, if I have to get one of those trains, why not make it the early one, so I can cut the commute down as much as possible?
So, for the first eight work days of the year, I have tried to leave the house at 6:27. It's easy to time it, because the traffic reports on WGN are give "on the sevens" in the morning. More often than not, I end up leaving closer to 6:30. I know that 6:33 is the absolute latest I can leave and still have ANY hope of catching my early train.
But once I leave the house, I have little control over how quickly I get to campus. This morning, I actually left at 6:27, as the traffic was being read. (I could have left 2 minutes earlier, but I left my wallet upstairs and had to run back up to get it.) It had snowed overnight, which you might think would slow me down. True, I drive at a slower speed, and take turns more cautiously, but the streets I take are on a bus route, which is kept fairly well cleared of snow, so I'm not slowed too much by the snow.
What I couldn't anticipate this morning was that at 6:31, several garbage trucks would be turning onto the street I take make the weekly collection. I have driven on that street every Wednesday for 5 months at nearly the same time and have NEVER before seen a garbage truck making rounds. Usually, the trash is collected after I pass through. There was a car ahead of me which stopped between the garbage truck and the curb, in order to pick someone up. I'm sitting in my car, waiting for this mini traffic jam to clear, and there is nothing I can do.
The rest of the drive is uneventful, and I get to the parking lot with 5 minutes to spare. Because parking is a premium in Aurora and the waiting list for monthly parking passes is over a year long (last I knew) I park in the daily lot, which means I have to pay for parking at the machine off to the side of the lot before getting on the train. After depositing my $1.50, I start walking to the train. There is a tunnel that I walk through to go underneath the freight tracks running next to the Aurora station.
When I emerge from the end of the tunnel, the train is sitting right in front of me. It takes no more than 30 seconds at most to walk from the parking pay station to the side of the train. I could walk right up onto a brand new platform and touch the side of the train, if I chose. I could touch it, but I cannot board it. For some inexplicable reason the conductors will only open the doors on the opposite side of the train. Everyone who parks in the East lot is forced to walk around at least half of the train. Everyday, I trudge past five or six train doors that remain closed. I have yet to work up the courage to ask a conductor why they cannot open any of those doors, but I feel that day is coming.
Today, because it was so bitterly cold this morning, I decided to sort of walk/run around the train. Good thing I did, because as I went around the front car, the bell started to ding, meaning it was about to take off. I made it in ahead of three other people who were also running to make it.
I made the 6:47 train, which means I should have been getting off the train at 7:40, with enough time to get to Oglivie Transportation Center for the 7:52 train to Evanston. Except that the train did not get to Union Station until 7:51, meaning I might as well go straight to the Purple Line.
I walked down to the Quincy Station and swiped my Chicago Plus card. There were a lot of people standing in the station trying to stay warm. I took that as a good sign that there might be a Purple Line train coming soon. Ten minutes later, when I overheard someone who had been there longer than I had asking about whether the Purple Line was running at all (!) I understood that the train had been seriously delayed. It did pull in soon enough, but by the time I got to Evanston, my total train time had been going on 2 hours, 20 minutes. Certainly, I did not save any time on my commute this morning by catching the 6:47 train.
So that is the lesson that I've been slowly learning. However, none of that compares to the craziness of what I read on one of the local paper's website:Secret Service Agent caused Metra Scare
If you read the article, you'll see that not only was everyone searched, but some cars were emptied and people were forced to stand out in the cold and snow while the situation was being cleared up. The article does not say how late the train ended up being, but it was at least an hour past due when it started moving again, and was probable closer to two hours behind when it got to Union Station. Reading between the lines, it seems that this Secret Service agent, who may have never ridden the train before, was asking the at the ticket window about security procedures for the train regarding his gun. He did not identify himself as Secret Service (Why not? Is it a secret?) which was a huge mistake. The ticket agent got scared and called police, thinking that a random person had a gun on the train. I'm not going to say that the ticket agent overreacted, per se... But can you even IMAGINE what it would have been like to be on that train? And that train is an express that I rode several times last fall. It's just another example of how train riders lose most of their control over arrival time once they leave their house.
I wrote all of this after getting on the train tonight, for a train that was supposed to leave at 4:28 pm, but didn't leave until 5:20 p.m. because an Amtrak train derailed outside of Union Station and blocked all but one or two commuter tracks.
Ahhh....we're here.....
I've been taking the train every work day for roughly five and a half months. My daily commute presents me with essentially two options: I either take the commuter train from Aurora to Union Station, walk to the CTA station and take the Purple Line to Evanston, or I take the commuter train from Aurora to Union Station, walk to Oglivie Transportation Center and take a commuter train to Evanston. The first route takes longer on the train, but it's a shorter walk at the end. The second route is faster, and the longer walk doesn't bother me, but the trains are much less frequent and I end up more often than not taking the first route. Either way, I have to take the train from Aurora to Union Station. When I get to Union Station, I make a choice as to which way to go to get up to Evanston the soonest.
When I realize last Fall that I had two options, but that my second option was limited, I made a note of all the possible combinations of trains that would work to cut as much time off of the on-average two hour one-way trip. I realized that the best way to get on the second commuter train would be to catch the 6:47 a.m. train. In order to catch that train, I would have to leave the house at 6:27, to guarantee that I could drive to the station, park, pay for parking and walk all the way around the train in order board before the doors close at 6:47 a.m. Not being a morning person, and not having a morning class to teach last term, I often slept late and caught either a 7:07 a.m. or a 7:22 a.m. train. This term, I teach a 10:00 a.m. class every MWF, and in order to give myself an hour of buffer (in case the trains are delayed) I need to get on the 6:47 a.m. or the 7:07 a.m. train. And, if I have to get one of those trains, why not make it the early one, so I can cut the commute down as much as possible?
So, for the first eight work days of the year, I have tried to leave the house at 6:27. It's easy to time it, because the traffic reports on WGN are give "on the sevens" in the morning. More often than not, I end up leaving closer to 6:30. I know that 6:33 is the absolute latest I can leave and still have ANY hope of catching my early train.
But once I leave the house, I have little control over how quickly I get to campus. This morning, I actually left at 6:27, as the traffic was being read. (I could have left 2 minutes earlier, but I left my wallet upstairs and had to run back up to get it.) It had snowed overnight, which you might think would slow me down. True, I drive at a slower speed, and take turns more cautiously, but the streets I take are on a bus route, which is kept fairly well cleared of snow, so I'm not slowed too much by the snow.
What I couldn't anticipate this morning was that at 6:31, several garbage trucks would be turning onto the street I take make the weekly collection. I have driven on that street every Wednesday for 5 months at nearly the same time and have NEVER before seen a garbage truck making rounds. Usually, the trash is collected after I pass through. There was a car ahead of me which stopped between the garbage truck and the curb, in order to pick someone up. I'm sitting in my car, waiting for this mini traffic jam to clear, and there is nothing I can do.
The rest of the drive is uneventful, and I get to the parking lot with 5 minutes to spare. Because parking is a premium in Aurora and the waiting list for monthly parking passes is over a year long (last I knew) I park in the daily lot, which means I have to pay for parking at the machine off to the side of the lot before getting on the train. After depositing my $1.50, I start walking to the train. There is a tunnel that I walk through to go underneath the freight tracks running next to the Aurora station.
When I emerge from the end of the tunnel, the train is sitting right in front of me. It takes no more than 30 seconds at most to walk from the parking pay station to the side of the train. I could walk right up onto a brand new platform and touch the side of the train, if I chose. I could touch it, but I cannot board it. For some inexplicable reason the conductors will only open the doors on the opposite side of the train. Everyone who parks in the East lot is forced to walk around at least half of the train. Everyday, I trudge past five or six train doors that remain closed. I have yet to work up the courage to ask a conductor why they cannot open any of those doors, but I feel that day is coming.
Today, because it was so bitterly cold this morning, I decided to sort of walk/run around the train. Good thing I did, because as I went around the front car, the bell started to ding, meaning it was about to take off. I made it in ahead of three other people who were also running to make it.
I made the 6:47 train, which means I should have been getting off the train at 7:40, with enough time to get to Oglivie Transportation Center for the 7:52 train to Evanston. Except that the train did not get to Union Station until 7:51, meaning I might as well go straight to the Purple Line.
I walked down to the Quincy Station and swiped my Chicago Plus card. There were a lot of people standing in the station trying to stay warm. I took that as a good sign that there might be a Purple Line train coming soon. Ten minutes later, when I overheard someone who had been there longer than I had asking about whether the Purple Line was running at all (!) I understood that the train had been seriously delayed. It did pull in soon enough, but by the time I got to Evanston, my total train time had been going on 2 hours, 20 minutes. Certainly, I did not save any time on my commute this morning by catching the 6:47 train.
So that is the lesson that I've been slowly learning. However, none of that compares to the craziness of what I read on one of the local paper's website:Secret Service Agent caused Metra Scare
A Metra train headed to Chicago from Aurora was stopped in Lisle on Wednesday morning and everyone on board was searched by police after an armed Secret Service agent caused a scare by asking a ticket agent about security on board.
If you read the article, you'll see that not only was everyone searched, but some cars were emptied and people were forced to stand out in the cold and snow while the situation was being cleared up. The article does not say how late the train ended up being, but it was at least an hour past due when it started moving again, and was probable closer to two hours behind when it got to Union Station. Reading between the lines, it seems that this Secret Service agent, who may have never ridden the train before, was asking the at the ticket window about security procedures for the train regarding his gun. He did not identify himself as Secret Service (Why not? Is it a secret?) which was a huge mistake. The ticket agent got scared and called police, thinking that a random person had a gun on the train. I'm not going to say that the ticket agent overreacted, per se... But can you even IMAGINE what it would have been like to be on that train? And that train is an express that I rode several times last fall. It's just another example of how train riders lose most of their control over arrival time once they leave their house.
I wrote all of this after getting on the train tonight, for a train that was supposed to leave at 4:28 pm, but didn't leave until 5:20 p.m. because an Amtrak train derailed outside of Union Station and blocked all but one or two commuter tracks.
Ahhh....we're here.....
January 05, 2009
New year - new(ish) commute
Today was my first day back to campus for the new year. I got downtown and decided to take the Purple Line up to Evanston. I had about 10 minutes before I needed to be up on the platform, and since today is Monday, that means free McLatte at Mickey-D's. So I walked in and asked for the small latte, and they asked me for $2.22. To me, that seemed like a lot for a free latte. So, I said that I wanted the free latte, and I got a dirty look and a free latte.
Since that transaction took a little longer than I had hoped, I ran up the steps at Quincy and saw a sign on the lower landing saying that the Purple Line was going to be boarding on the inner loop side from now on. It was news to me that the whole time I've been riding the Purple Line it was actually NOT on its "normal" track. Apparently, the CTA construction projects forced the Purple Line to the outer loop tracks. The net effect is that I save about 10 minutes in the morning if I have to take the CTA to Evanston. If I have to take the CTA to the loop in the afternoon, however, I might consider changing to a Brown Line so that I don't have to go all the way around the loop to get off at Quincy. But, most likely this quarter I'm going to be taking Metra back in the afternoon to Oglivie.
Tonight I took a late train out of Evanston. I was surprised that the waiting room at the Davis Street station was open so that I didn't have to wait in the cold. (Another new twist to the commute!) The waiting room being open may have something to do with the coffee shop in the station actually being open in the evening. It didn't look like they were getting too much business at that time, but it did look like they had a carpenter in there who seemed to be taking measurements for making some updates to the shop.
I got a little confused at Union Station and hopped on local train to Aurora. I am about 80% sure that it was still my fastest option for getting home, but I didn't reach our garage until right before 8:00 tonight.
Now, bed!
Since that transaction took a little longer than I had hoped, I ran up the steps at Quincy and saw a sign on the lower landing saying that the Purple Line was going to be boarding on the inner loop side from now on. It was news to me that the whole time I've been riding the Purple Line it was actually NOT on its "normal" track. Apparently, the CTA construction projects forced the Purple Line to the outer loop tracks. The net effect is that I save about 10 minutes in the morning if I have to take the CTA to Evanston. If I have to take the CTA to the loop in the afternoon, however, I might consider changing to a Brown Line so that I don't have to go all the way around the loop to get off at Quincy. But, most likely this quarter I'm going to be taking Metra back in the afternoon to Oglivie.
Tonight I took a late train out of Evanston. I was surprised that the waiting room at the Davis Street station was open so that I didn't have to wait in the cold. (Another new twist to the commute!) The waiting room being open may have something to do with the coffee shop in the station actually being open in the evening. It didn't look like they were getting too much business at that time, but it did look like they had a carpenter in there who seemed to be taking measurements for making some updates to the shop.
I got a little confused at Union Station and hopped on local train to Aurora. I am about 80% sure that it was still my fastest option for getting home, but I didn't reach our garage until right before 8:00 tonight.
Now, bed!
January 03, 2009
A. wins 421-273
A. wins 421-273
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
First game of the new year! I had two bingos and R. had one.
January 01, 2009
A wins 387-243
A wins 387-243
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
First game of 2009 was with Robby Mac! We played at home. No bingos in this game.
December 13, 2008
December 05, 2008
R. wins 398-321
R. wins 398-321
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. killed me tonight, although we both had bingos: inquires and sanders.
Scrabble night in DeKalb.
Scrabble night in DeKalb.
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
No Scrabble last weekend over Thanksgiving. This was our board from a fun night in DeKalb with friends the week before that.
December 01, 2008
Day of Firsts
This is my first major post about commuting since I started working at Northwestern and taking the train for two hours each way every day. Today was a day of a lot of firsts for me. It was the first day of the month (obviously), and today was the first day of reading week at Northwestern. It was also the first day after the first major snowfall of the year. And this morning was the first time I slipped and fell on the Adams Street bridge by Union Station.
Chicago only got maybe 2 inches (if that) of snow that actually stuck to the ground; apparently no one bothered to clear the walkway on the bridge before the morning commuters tramped the snow down into a solid pack of ice. I was quick off the train this morning, and when I got out of Union Station the bridge was mostly clear of people. The snow had been packed down, but not evenly. It was a bumpy layer of compacted snow and my dress shoes were not equipped to handle the lack of friction. Have you seen a cartoon where the character's legs slip out from underneath the body? That was me on the bridge. I landed flat on my derriere. I was able to get up quickly, fortunately nothing was broken (on my body or in my bag), and nothing had fell out of my coat or bag. As I limped slowly down the street an older man with a cane gave me some friendly advice on icing down my back. I kept a straight face, even though I was not really in the mood for conversation at that point.
I got to the Quincy station and made sure the train pulling in was not a Purple Line train. I had just received my Chicago Plus transit card, but didn't know if it was active (long story for some other time, maybe) so I tried using the kiosk to check the balance of the card. The display said that I could not add money to this type of card. I took that to mean that the card was not active, so I hurriedly added $20 to my CTA transit card. It was at that point when I realized, I should have just tried my Plus card on the turnstiles. I did, and it worked. So today was the first day of my unlimited ride card (another first!), but now I have a $20 CTA card in my wallet that I don't really need.
The rest of the morning commute was relatively uneventful. The coffee at Linz and Vail tasted extra delicious after all my earlier excitement. The evening commute was also relatively boring. The packed snow-ice had been cleared off the bridge sometime during the day. The only interesting thing that happened tonight was that after I got back to Aurora and was walking from the train to the car, I saw a mouse (first rodent spotting?) in the parking lot of the transportation center. It was just hanging out in the ice and slush of the parking lot. It wasn't moving very fast, but it did move away when I tried to bend over to get a better look.
If this is what the winter commute is going to be like, I might have to look into gearing up with some crampons. Or at least some galoshes with traction.
Chicago only got maybe 2 inches (if that) of snow that actually stuck to the ground; apparently no one bothered to clear the walkway on the bridge before the morning commuters tramped the snow down into a solid pack of ice. I was quick off the train this morning, and when I got out of Union Station the bridge was mostly clear of people. The snow had been packed down, but not evenly. It was a bumpy layer of compacted snow and my dress shoes were not equipped to handle the lack of friction. Have you seen a cartoon where the character's legs slip out from underneath the body? That was me on the bridge. I landed flat on my derriere. I was able to get up quickly, fortunately nothing was broken (on my body or in my bag), and nothing had fell out of my coat or bag. As I limped slowly down the street an older man with a cane gave me some friendly advice on icing down my back. I kept a straight face, even though I was not really in the mood for conversation at that point.
I got to the Quincy station and made sure the train pulling in was not a Purple Line train. I had just received my Chicago Plus transit card, but didn't know if it was active (long story for some other time, maybe) so I tried using the kiosk to check the balance of the card. The display said that I could not add money to this type of card. I took that to mean that the card was not active, so I hurriedly added $20 to my CTA transit card. It was at that point when I realized, I should have just tried my Plus card on the turnstiles. I did, and it worked. So today was the first day of my unlimited ride card (another first!), but now I have a $20 CTA card in my wallet that I don't really need.
The rest of the morning commute was relatively uneventful. The coffee at Linz and Vail tasted extra delicious after all my earlier excitement. The evening commute was also relatively boring. The packed snow-ice had been cleared off the bridge sometime during the day. The only interesting thing that happened tonight was that after I got back to Aurora and was walking from the train to the car, I saw a mouse (first rodent spotting?) in the parking lot of the transportation center. It was just hanging out in the ice and slush of the parking lot. It wasn't moving very fast, but it did move away when I tried to bend over to get a better look.
If this is what the winter commute is going to be like, I might have to look into gearing up with some crampons. Or at least some galoshes with traction.
November 15, 2008
A. wins 358-272
A. wins 358-272
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. had all the high point tiles and all the S tiles, but could not capitalize on them. I had one bingo: caution.
November 08, 2008
A wins 420-331
A wins 420-331
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. started the game strong with a bingo: ranterS. I had 2 bingo: sleeveS and sputnik.
November 01, 2008
A wins 332-257
A wins 332-257
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
This was our first timed game in a long while. No bingos.
October 24, 2008
A. wins 328-295
A. wins 328-295
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Tonight we played at Caribou with 50 of the finest of the future of Naperville providing PLENTY of background noise. No bingos tonight.
October 12, 2008
R wins 332-282
R wins 332-282
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
New coffeeshop today: Saxbys in Plano. One bingo: loaders was not enough to win.
October 09, 2008
Got one!
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October 04, 2008
A. wins 367-352
A. wins 367-352
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Today's game was played at Dunn Bros Coffee shop in North Aurora. since the first place we went to decided to close 3 hours before their posted closing time. This coffee shop has free internet terminals running linux! Plus, they roast their own beans. Yum!
One bingo today: details.
September 29, 2008
Test post!
Here is a new paragraph.
And another.
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