Just Because I Can. STUPID THREAD II
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now for something STUPID!!
tough babies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ComxjcfC8AA
Play "Little Green Bag" while watching for full effect!
Miss Bad Wolf, contact churches in your area, doesn't matter if you're a member or not. You mentioned a visit from your caseworker. Contact that caseworker first thing in the morning.
...more stupid.
"What Makes This Place Great"
Yep, these are some of our transit system's latest "big Ideas" which are right up there with the recent remodelling of the city Centre transit mall which made it totally useless to bus riders (though it did win an architectural magazine's award), gutting bus service system wide while building expensive light rail lines nobody wants, and dumping millions on "public art" projects while buses and trams are constantly breaking down.
Oh and that statement,about "making your voice heard", total malarkey as they'd rather listen to the needs of megabuck developers than those of those of the riders who pay to use the system.
:lol: Now that is stupid - I'll certainly agree. Though I can't get over how cheap it is to travel compared to our own
whole pile of stupid
when it comes to fares. [The more populated an area the smaller the zone so it can get very expensive.]
And the wasting millions on "public art" projects? Well, I think that is a whole other kind of stupid that could have a thread of its own ;-)
puplic transport in Adelaide is cheap enough if you can do it within 2 hours!
the train from Smithfield to my work is actually quicker than driving
if I do not mind getting there an hour early!!!
the problem being the inbetween ones are express to Adelaide after Mawson lakes and I get off at Dudley park or Islington so need to swap trains
my main issue is I mostly finish too late just after midnight for the last train just before midnight or I would use it.
...the thing is our commission is great at putting spin on the whole change to the fare structure so sounds so "convenient". However, you pay the same fare whether you go ten blocks or several miles. And the increase over the median fare under the old zone system we had is something like 30%.
The light rail network is based on an honour system, which encourages fare cheating as there are no "chokepoints" nor enough fare inspectors to go around (and the ones they do have are paid over 60,000USD a year + about another 30,000 in benefits). Ridership on Light rail is based on the number of "clicks" of people passing through the doors (using an automated counting system) while bus boardings are based on driver observations. Furthermore, the light rail system is electrically powered while the agency got themselves stuck in a high priced multiyear contract for Biodiesel for buses and paratransit vans which is less efficient per litre than regular petrol based fuel. Hence, on paper, light rail looks more "economical" than buses so they can go to the government to request additional funding for the building of more (and very expensive) light rail lines (the one currently under construction has a price tag of 1.5$ billion). while reducing bus service system wide (including in areas that are not serviced by rail).
Basically the agency is more concerned with putting on a "progressive" image nationally and abroad (after all a sleek light rail train or streetcar has more civic "sex appeal" than a lowly bus) than serving the commuting public.
Back in 1993 on The Simpsons animated television programme, there was an episode where a developer tries to sell Springfield on a monorail line claiming that you aren't a "real city" without one. In effect, this is pretty much what is happening with the whole push for light rail today . I think Mr. Groening was both prophetic and totally spot on.
:lol: Now that is stupid - I'll certainly agree. Though I can't get over how cheap it is to travel compared to our own
whole pile of stupid
when it comes to fares. [The more populated an area the smaller the zone so it can get very expensive.]
And the wasting millions on "public art" projects? Well, I think that is a whole other kind of stupid that could have a thread of its own ;-)
Well, isn't this a universal thing....
The zone-thingy here where I live is so big it's practically the entire city. They've upped the fare here too, but at least it's covering around 3 of your zones, s l f...
The one card that is used on all trams, subways and buses are a sort of prepaid electronic card. Just a swipe and it deducts what's on the card. And the subway is only part subterranean, as it goes underground in the inner part of the city (look at picture to see what I mean).
The only thing we have in our area as far as public transportation is buses. You can get a card from them though and use it instead of paying each time.
:) Talk about universal all right - we have a card called the "Go-card" which is very similar to your system - only we have to swipe on and swipe off - can turn into yet another pile of stupid as sometimes, even though the detector light turns green, it doesn't register that the card has been used - and you have no way of telling at the time - so the next time you swipe the card it registers you as being a fare dodger and automatically deducts the maximum fare.
For some reason, people find that just a bit annoying. ;-P I've been lucky so far which is a plus as I'm located very close by to the nearest bus stops - very handy. Just wish we had bigger zones.
@Kyoto Kid - But doesn't matter how stupid it is, as long as it looks pretty, does it? It's sad that 'sex appeal' always seem to overwhelm common sense.
I buy 10 trip multitrip tickets
have them for a year at least I so rarely use public transport.
unfortunately I gave my last off peak one away with 3 trips left on to a beggar at the Elizabeth shopping centre on my eay in to registering my new (secondhand) car a month ago.
I call them beggars because that is what they are, we can all get the dole (unemployment benefits) if we are out of work so there is no excuse.
He had a kid and wanted money to catch the bus, I do not give money so I gave him my ticket, if they say they want to buy food, I will give them food but money goes on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I do not buy those things so why should I help someone else to?
if he did not have a kid I would have suggested walking!
I am a hard bitch at 50 years of age!
there was a guy at work always asking for lifts, I would ONLY take him home after midnight otherwise would say, it is not raining and you have a train in 20 minutes you can catch, he was a creep though (got the sack for his continuous racist outbusts, it is a bit like the united nations at our work) he lost his license for trying to outrun the cops for speeding and knowing him, would have given a heap of verbal abuse!
I give lifts regulary to another worker when her car frequently needs repairs but she does not expect it as a right, he pretty much demanded it which got under my skin.
When I lived down near London (UK) they brought in a system called Oyster card, which was, as slf said, a swipe in and swipe out system, and that one went wrong quite often. I never used it myself, as I had a company vehicle, but did have to top my Step grandaughters one up for her quite often. A good system if they could only iron out the glitches. To encourage people to use it they made it cheaper to travel using the card than by paying cash. Also mean bus drivers don't carry much money, so are less liable to get any bother form those who would rather take money than earn it.
In my neck of woods most intra-city lines use swipe cards as well; in my home city, you can get them in 10 & 40 trip packs, or 1-moth-ride-as-much-as-you-like or 1-year versions. They are also cheaper than per trip prices.
Gosh, I miss the city, well what passes for one around here. I'm in nowhere with nowhere to go and lots of nothing to do. If ya need to get anywhere here in nowhere you better have a car.
You couldn't pay me enough to live in downtown Youngstown Oh. We use to be on the top 10 cities in America for deaths(shootings) per capita. Plus it was a havn't for the mob in the 60s and 70s. There is still some influence but our county prosecutor is squishing them to bits. Especially since they tried to take him out in his home. He was shot three times but pulled through.
I would love to live in nowhere!
esp somewhere along the river Murray like Gweenways landing or Nihldottie about 40years ago (used to camp there every weekend, my Dad fished) but now everyone lives there.
I am in the 'burbs! First Bastion's the neighbours yards looks exactly like where I live.
they are putting in lots of parks with artificial lakes everywhere on the new housing developments a block away where there were paddocks between me and Gawler when I moved here 6 years ago.
I used to live near Port Adelaide by the Wool sheds which was an industrial area so a lot quieter here.
liked the Port though but houses half the price here and mine had to be demolished so I could not afford to stay in the area, at least I own this one outright.
I must admit I am enjoying living in the nowhere I live now, although at one time the County town of the area, which gives the COunty it's name, was one of the most important towns in SE Wales, nowadays it is most certainly not that any more, due to the devline of the Iron and Steell industry in the area, it is now quite rural, and I only have to travel a mile or so to be in real rurla Wales.
It does have one drawback, which is broadband speed. Our area is among the worst 12 areas in Wales for broadband speed, Max we can expect in the area is 1.9mb/s and I only get half that as we live so far from the exchange.
:) Talk about universal all right - we have a card called the "Go-card" which is very similar to your system - only we have to swipe on and swipe off - can turn into yet another pile of stupid as sometimes, even though the detector light turns green, it doesn't register that the card has been used - and you have no way of telling at the time - so the next time you swipe the card it registers you as being a fare dodger and automatically deducts the maximum fare.
For some reason, people find that just a bit annoying. ;-P I've been lucky so far which is a plus as I'm located very close by to the nearest bus stops - very handy. Just wish we had bigger zones.
@Kyoto Kid - But doesn't matter how stupid it is, as long as it looks pretty, does it? It's sad that 'sex appeal' always seem to overwhelm common sense.
...in the Seattle "metroplex" they have a similar setup. It's called the ORCA card and it's good on the following services:
--King County Metro (Seattle and it's environs)
--Pierce Transit (Tacoma Lakewood and Fort Lewis)
--Community Transit (Everett, Marysville, Edmonds, and the 'burbs north of Seattle)
--KItsap Transit Bremerton
--Sound Transit's CentralLink light rail, express buses, and Sounder commuter trains
--South Lake Union Transit (Seattle's streetcar line - won't mention the acronym here)
--Washington State Ferries (single passenger only).
Future additions could include extending the service to Whatcom Transportation Authority (Bellingham)
The card includes a two hour transfer that activates on the first leg of the trip (except for Sound Transit rail services and the Washingon Wtate ferries).
Should the card be stolen or lost, it will be replaced with a new card with the current balance value and the old one will be blocked (this feature requires one to have a registered ORCA account).
The cards also allows one "load" an unlimited monthly pass on it for any of the participating transit systems.
Definitely better than the "stupid" (as well as both inconvenient and expensive) system we have where I live.
No longer would one get a "short transfer" (this has happened to me before and I've been forced to pay two fares to get to work/home sometimes, or faced a very long walk) as the transfer would be activated for it's full duration on the first leg of the trip. If they implemented it correctly, it might also help reduce the issue of fare cheating on the mostly unsupervised light rail network. The nice thing with a system like this, you could "recharge" it any time, which means I could do it on my mid month paycheque or even on a weekly basis rather than having to come up with 100$ up front for a monthly pass when rent and other bills are due. There are some systems that even offer a discount to use the card over paper passes or tickets.
Meanwhile here they are still mulling over introducing a similar smart card system. They seem to be loathe to do anything that smacks of real "improvement" for the ridership. About a third of our bus fleet is well past it's viable service life with some buses "old" enough to legally get a pint at a local brewpub. They keep reducing frequency on bus routes yet they refuse to purchase longer high capacity articulated buses to help alleviate overcrowding issues that have resulted from it.
One of the worse (and very costly) parts in all of this is they "cut a deal" years ago with the local union chapter by offering all mechanics and drivers a "gold plated" health benefits package (0$ individual contribution, no deductible, 5$ copay, and coverage that continues after retirement) in return for a provision that they wouldn't go on strike.
The total value of this plan is more than I earn in an entire year and I have no health coverage because the plan I'm offered through my company isn't really any better than being uninsured. When my company moved across the metro area four years ago, I actually had to choose between paying transit fares to get to work or having health coverage.
...how's that for stupid?
I took a shower and now I am wet.
I think it would be extremely worrisome and, well, stupid... if you took a shower and you were dry.
...however, that would happen in a "sonic shower" aboard the USS Enterprise.
...what a stupid concept even if it is Sci-Fi
...up there with flying cars. After seeing how many "attempt" to operate a vehicle while still on the ground, I'd be in fear for my life every waking (and sleeping) moment if they were above me as well.
...as I cannot afford to drive and have severe arthritis, I'd be unemployed and starve within a couple weeks as I' could never make it to work or the market. I needs to be in the city.
Ditto. Yet, there are people who insist that modern computer-aided planes would be perfectly safe solution for this. Uhhh, no thanks. Really. Really really no thanks. Having been involved in embedded system development... really no thanks.
Would you rather have a sonic shower or a sonic toothbrush or a sonic screwdriver?
I rather live in a box that is bigger on the inside.
Actually Advanced cleaning can be done with ultrasonics. It is a tecnique used a lot in "clean room" cleaning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanroom
Ditto. Yet, there are people who insist that modern computer-aided planes would be perfectly safe solution for this. Uhhh, no thanks. Really. Really really no thanks. Having been involved in embedded system development... really no thanks.
...the Airbus 320 incident at Mulhouse-Habsheim in 1988 is a good example.
A catastrophic failure of and Ariane 5 booster in 1996 (due to code errors in the flight control software) is another.
Despite claims by some media outlets, the A320 wasn't completely under computer control. However there is good reason to believe that the plane's computerised flight system gave the pilots erroneous readings during the flyby at the airshow. The entire case ended up in scandal amidst charges of a cover up when it was revealed the black boxes presented at the captain's trial were not the original ones from the downed aircraft.
In any event, such a system, while being more critical for a fighter jet that is required to perform extreme combat manoeuvres, is really unnecessary on an airliner. It's kind of akin to putting a supercharged motor and sports tuned racing suspension on a city bus.
...yet another stupid idea supposedly conceived by "smart" minds.
Well, there's always Vault 101, if you're worried about things falling down, like planes, asteroids or other things.
What I miss is the real world equivalent of the Pipboy 3000, with GPS, radio, dictionary, translation-programs etc.
<*sigh*>
Lot's of people want to live in nowhere untill they have lived in nowhere after living somewhere. The nowhere gets old real fast. As for flying cars lots of us have storm shelters here in nowhere. Of course you would need to live in it to be safe 24/7.
I live in the middle of nowhere and i miss a few things about the big city.
Movie theatres.
Decent restaraunts.
.........well.... a couple of things anyway.