How was the commute today?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:46 am

Or did you just skip?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:53 am

It sucked. I took a $10 cab to Grand Central (I had no idea it would be so much). I'll be walking home from Grand Central tonight.

I hope this thing ends soon.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:58 am

Your train is still running? I know nothing about New York City public transit, so this is probably a really stupid question.

I hope things work themselves out though.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:40 am

Well, Metro North, Long Island Railroad and NJ Transit (the commuter rails - the first serves suburban NY and Connecticut, the other two are self-explanatory) are running fine. This strike is specifically confined to the NY City subways and buses.

I take the subway from my apartment to Grand Central, and then grab the train to Stamford. So this strike only affects the first part (or last, if I'm coming home) of my commute. But, now my choice is either walk 21 blocks up/downtown and 2 blocks crosstown (1 crosstown block is approx. 2 regular blocks), which is about 2 miles, or pay for a $10 cab. So it sucks.

I think AndyClark has it worse though. She lives a decent distance from her workplace. And people who live in the outerboroughs (Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island) are really screwed.

My anger might be tempered if I had ANY sympathy for the transit workers, but their demands are pretty irrational and this strike is greedy, not to mention illegal.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:45 am

I was playing the Spider-Man game, and I can get all the way across Manhattan in about five minutes, Steve!

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:45 am

Also, you have to keep in mind that New York is not like many other cities in that the vast majority of people depend on the subways and buses to get around. For most of us, there's really no other way to move through the city.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:47 am

justinpie wrote:

I was playing the Spider-Man game, and I can get all the way across Manhattan in about five minutes, Steve!

Well, the TWU (Transit Workers Union) has gathered up all of the city's precious radioactive spiders and web fluid capsules. Their representatives claim they did so in an effort to bring the city to its knees AND reveal the true identity of the Spider-Man.

It's pretty diablocal.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:00 pm

Could you maybe get on your skateboard and grab on to the back of a passing truck or car?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:03 pm

Biff broke my skateboard in half. Maybe there'll be some kids playing with one in front of the clock tower...

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:02 pm

Why don't you just have Bono drive you around?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:03 pm

He was drunk. Besides, Bono get up at 7am? C'mon Justin. C'mon.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:04 pm

Can Sting go out in daylight?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:14 pm

I'm not talking to Sting right now because he stole one of my DVD's and then tried to give it back to me all wrapped up as "a Christmas present."

And by wrapped up, I mean it was stuck in a crumpled coffee-ground-covered newspaper page.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:24 pm

My commute wasn't bad other than the fact that I have to drive 21 miles to work every day! (And back.)

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:47 pm

The secret is the go to the top of the Empire State Building, then just jump off and shoot a webline right before you hit the ground, and you easily have enough momentum to get to the other end of the city superfast, no matter where you're going.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

I also have a 21-mile commute to work! But during the holidays, when some people are off work and many people are out of school, it eases up a LOT. Normally 45 minutes, this morning it was about 25!

I hate that driving for 25 minutes constitutes a good morning.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:13 pm

Haha that's pretty funny. My range is the same! 25 minutes on a good day, 45 minutes on a fairly bad/normal day, and sometimes over an hour on really bad days. Do you take I5? Because that would be pretty funny.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

Nope, I take the 405. Which I know you have in Seattle too!

I did take the 5 when I lived in Orange County but worked in L.A., and that was a good hour in the morning too.

ALSO LET US NOT HAVE AN "I-5" VS. "THE 5" DEBATE BECAUSE IT IS STRICTLY A REGIONAL THING AND THAT IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE DEBATE

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:37 pm

Hey guys, my commute already takes 60 to 75 minutes on a good day, and this little game knocks it up to an hour and a half, at least.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 5828 Location: Los Angeles, CA

As much as that sucks, Steve, you can at least read or something during that time, right?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:40 pm

darthkittenlover wrote:

Nope, I take the 405. Which I know you have in Seattle too!

I did take the 5 when I lived in Orange County but worked in L.A., and that was a good hour in the morning too.

ALSO LET US NOT HAVE AN "I-5" VS. "THE 5" DEBATE BECAUSE IT IS STRICTLY A REGIONAL THING AND THAT IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE DEBATE

I CALL IT I5 OR JUST 5 BUT I DONT REALLY CARE WHAT YOU CALL IT YOU CAN CALL IT US INTERSTATE NUMBER FIVE IF YOU WANT

Also I take 405 for about 2 minutes when I get off of 5.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 2:42 pm

darthkittenlover wrote:

As much as that sucks, Steve, you can at least read or something during that time, right?

Yeah, I'm glad I don't drive.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:56 pm

The Famous Mr. Klaw wrote:

darthkittenlover wrote:

Nope, I take the 405. Which I know you have in Seattle too!

I did take the 5 when I lived in Orange County but worked in L.A., and that was a good hour in the morning too.

ALSO LET US NOT HAVE AN "I-5" VS. "THE 5" DEBATE BECAUSE IT IS STRICTLY A REGIONAL THING AND THAT IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE DEBATE

I CALL IT I5 OR JUST 5 BUT I DONT REALLY CARE WHAT YOU CALL IT YOU CAN CALL IT US INTERSTATE NUMBER FIVE IF YOU WANT

Also I take 405 for about 2 minutes when I get off of 5.

MAN SERIOUSLY I TOOK "THE" 80 ALL THE WAY FROM CHICAGO TO SAN FRANCISCO ONCE

SERIOUSLY THAT IS HELLA "THE" STUPID

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 3:58 pm

I took 80 from chicago to Salt Lake. And then I forget what from Salt Lake to Seattle.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:02 pm

Sometimes you can get to the Statue of Liberty but you have to hang from a passing helicopter and even then it's quite the jump!

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

Commander Steve Carey wrote:

I think AndyClark has it worse though. She lives a decent distance from her workplace. And people who live in the outerboroughs (Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island) are really screwed.

i had to walk 44 blocks downtown and 6 or 7 blocks crosstown Sad

and my boss' passive aggressive daughter called me every so often, asking me why it was taking more than five minutes

i got to work and my hands and feet were numb Sad

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:21 pm

If you beat Shocker, you can get a speed boost that lasts for a little while.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:24 pm

Dude, that's awful. According to Steve's estimates, that's more than four miles each way. Which is ridiculous! I hope your seething rage kept you warm along the way?

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:26 pm

Oh man, I am NOT looking forward to getting home.

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:28 pm

Stop at every bar between Grand Central Station and your apartment.