es ist nicht gut, wenn man am montagabend nicht mehr weiss, dass montag ist. das ist zumindest bedenklich.

die busfahrer-episode: er duzte mich. was mich einigermassen erstaunte, hatte ich mich doch schon länger nicht mehr rasiert. was mich, so dachte ich auf jeden fall bis zu diesem moment, älter macht. er aber duzte mich. 

er sah merkwürdig aus: graues langes haar zu einem engen zopf gebunden, ein bart, ebenfalls grau. und ein wenig gedrungen, beleibt, füllig. nicht übermässig. aber trotzdem, er hatte etwas imposantes, ja aggressives, schon rein äusserlich. ich war ein wenig eingeschüchtert. spürte dieses unangenehme ziehen in der bauchgegend. wenn man vor einer ungerechtigkeit steht, wenn man infrage gestellt wird in seiner integrität, wenn man beleidigt wird. dann fühlt man das. ich aber sagte nichts. wie meistens.

es ist montag. jetzt weiss ich es.

I love watching people in the bus…

Right now I’m on a break and don’t work online anymore. I have to take care of some projects for my masters program which I’ll finish this summer and make some work papers for some colleagues that are smaller than me. Well, it’s not that I fully enjoy doing this, but it brings me some money, that I don’t do by showing off, but by using my brain.

Being online is sometimes difficult. You gotta have a pretty much joyful and accepting personality to be able to handle all that’s going on in your own free-chat. Members are demanding, because they know that in the end, you depend on them! And they do not depend on you. They can come and go as they wish. But being a model with brains, well, that’s sometimes just too hard to handle for them. Most are simple men, not very educated and rude too. Many can’t even say anything else than “show ass, pussy, clit, show milk, show lactat, show bootie” etc etc etc. And they expect you to act like a toy, just because there are girls that do it all in free-chat for a 1$ tip and don’t really think much or have any kind of respect for themselves. But that’s understandable, this job can be degrading if you can’t handle yourself and especially your member friends.

And I was asking myself… who is behind that screen? Faces change, some you never get to see or know for real – from the distance, because as for real life, well, that might never ever happen anyway. Maybe some pretend to be stupid, but some really are so. And others just went nuts and now see no other way than to spend their fortunes on this kind of websites. As a performer, I had a vast experience with difference kinds of men. Some of them who were mentally sick indeed!

One of them confessed he can’t talk in free-chat, because he is afraid of crowds and doesn’t even like thanks giving dinner since it gathers everyone together. He told me that his psychologist told him he will never recover, and that this is due to a sad childhood. You know, it kinda amazed me, since he was afraid to get out of the house and he confessed he also isolated himself from the society on this basis. My question is: this kind of person, how does she earn her living and have enough to spend on this kind of website at least for 2-3 hours a week?… And still seem normal for the rest of the time…

Another man told me that he wanted me to stuck a chair’s leg into my… you know. I guess that says it all for most. But there’s more! After that, he wanted me to commit suicide or at least cut myself all over. Now isn’t that sick? How can we girls not go insane there under these conditions?…

I kept the best example for the last part… There was this one great member that came into my private one night… He only wanted to talk to me and kept telling me that he bought this time for me and to make me feel special and that he had not met somebody as special as myself ever since. He showed me his webcam at some point, when I decided he looked exactly like Santa Clause. The guy was 57, had a 14 yo girl and his wife had left him. Now he was searching for a mom for his girl. He had just had a second heart surgery, which he’d carefully hide from my eyes…

Second time he went private with me on the same night, he felt like having some fun and after one hour I slowly took my shirt off… The guy was pretty much happy about me and he wanted to see me as much as possible. He even gave me his daughter’s e-mail address and “she” wrote me. I figured there was something wrong since they wrote in the same manner and because of him telling me she was jealous of me because I had had all of her father’s attention, but at the same time she’d write me mails telling me she loved me.

After one week, he kept complaining about huge chest pains caused by the surgery… So one day, as he was feeling like this, he kept on asking me to get naked for him and play together. At some point I said to myself: “Why not!”, but I was worried he’d harm himself, as I felt he didn’t have much strenght… First thing next morning I find an e-mail from his daughter telling me her dad was in the hospital, in huge pain with high fever and unstable. I was so scared and felt so guilty… I couldn’t sleep for 3 nights in a row… After that, I accidentally checked the Top Members Awards on the website… And there he was on the 3rd place, even though this was a new week and he was in the hospital, supposingly not having access to the internet. I asked him what that was all about and he simply said: “A friend of mine has the password to my account and he goes online as me”. Well, isn’t that bullshit! BULL-SHIT! Come on, I mean… 1 day before he had sent a friend of his in my free chat to tell me where he was and what happened to him and this friend of his tells me he doesn’t even want to be on the website, he just sends along his friends’ message. And the next day he tells me it was this same friend who had the password to his account and that came over to tell me this stuff. Plus! I don’t believe somebody is as stupid as for letting a friend spend all of the money he has on his card or give access to his personal info on his credit card, d’oh! But members do sometimes believe that it’s impossible for models to think.

So there I was blaming myself for the death of Santa Clause. When in fact he was spending his time chatting to his new crushes. Well, it’s not jealousy, let me make this clear. It’s just the fact I hate lies and liars and people who say something but think 100% otherwise and also believe they can fool around with others’ minds and feelings and try to buy their affection and compassion. So it’s not always about the money, guys. Some performers care about their mental estate more. Because I practically asked this member to go to hell and never talk to me again even though he was always on number one in the awards… So how do people go nuts? I believe this one went nuts when his wife left him.

As for me watching people in the bus… well… There was this young couple right in front of my face and on the chair that was in front of me, there was another young man, a bit fat, but that seemed normal. The girl in the young couple could’ve been an actress, she had a very beautiful face, expressing so much tenderness and love… So I was so busy analyzing her that for a while I did not even get to see that the guy on the seat right in front of me was looking at himself in the mirror and talking to himself on a low voice. He was smiling and even tapped his own hand on the window… Why did he go nuts? Was it because he was too lonely for most of his life? Lack of confidence?… Being isolated from the others because he was fat as a kid and his colleagues would make fun of him?… I just don’t get it! Why are there so many sad people on this planet?…

Very early morning bus to get across the border and a lot of customs searches, which I guess is not suprising. Argentina has paved roads though, so the second bus of the day was a much more pleasant experience.

We decided to go straight to Cafayate, about 4 hours south of Salta on the same day rather than staying in Salta. If anyone needs to do this route, everything has changed since the guidebooks were written and a different bus company (Saeta) now does the route. So thankfully my basic Spanish is getting better as we managed to understand this and find a bus.

Cafayate

It´s a long way from Cafayate to Ushuaia

- Very pretty town, in the northern wine regions. Spent the first day there wondering around a couple of Bodegas and vineyards. The first very chilled glass of white wine (Torrontes) since leaving the UK was good, very good.

All the bodegas offered tastings (and for free), but would obviously only let you taste the cheaper wines, which were ok but quite tanniny (not sure of spelling there…)

In the evening we went to a restaurant and had the proper ones which were great - particularly the better Torrontes with goats cheese! 

Also:

Alex with steak (and good wines)

- Alex ordered steak. I had nothing to do with this, it was free choice

- Second day, not so successful. Hired bike, fell off bike, bled a bit on the road and put a large plaster on my chin (vaguely reminiscent of a family holiday when spent the two weeks with a stitched up chin). In my defence, I had two options with the bike breaks, on or off, and nothing in between. Luckily this is only a graze so will hopefully not lead to any stupid tan lines

Salta

- Nice city, large central square surrounded by cafes, and last night there were couples tango-ing on a bandstand in the square. However we´ve spent most of the day changing our blog to this one which actually lets you upload photos!

- Alex is struggling with heat – it´s about 35 here, and late, late Spanish style eating around 10pm. Something to get used to for when we get to BA

Night bus to Mendoza tomorrow……..

Well, Saturday, for once, we decided to do something. Initial ideas involved going to Caen, or Nantes, but, as it happened, Fougères won. Anyway, we all arrived at the Gare Routière at 11.30 (give or take, some were tardy), purchased our tickets and waited. Waiting took quite a while, until the bus arrived. More waiting ensued on the bus, but this time, waiting to get there. Fougères is only 36km from Rennes. I don’t know what that is in real measurements, but it’s not 1h10 away. Anyway, we arrived, mid dinner-time, so naturally the castle was closed. After a walk around the outside of the castle and into what appeared to be a public toilet (hole in the ground, duh), we decided that it would be a good idea to have something to eat. This is where Fougères made up for the castle being shut. I’m not a fan of galettes. I’m not afraid to admit that. But the one I had for lunch, the galette paysanne, was actually the best meal that I have eaten abroad. Ever. It was basically galette with chips, bacon and a parsley and garlic sauce. So. Amazing. Anyway, we got let into the castle, with our free audio guides, and the adventure began. This was a proper castle. Finally. A few issues arose: the annoying man on the audio guides; the scary steps up anywhere; the “spectacle” that was actually nothing. Anyway, after that, we attempted to explore the rest of Fougères. It’s a bit nothingy to be honest. It’s pretty, but just so nothingy. Anyway, after what felt like an AGE trying to find it, we finally found the “bus station”. This consisted of a bus shelter, and a slightly bigger bus shelter. We weren’t even sure if it was the bus station. But it was. And we made it home alive, so all is good.

This picture sums up the day.

It was a while ago now that I questioned the hydrogen bus plan for Whistler,  in fact May 1, 2007. That post attracted a comment from someone using the pen name “Astrolounge” who is obviously an insider, since (s)he revealed that the “plan” was even worse than I imagined. Over two years later and long after most of the money has been spent, Ian Bruce of the David Suzuki Foundation has caught up – and is now being quoted by the Province yesterday.

Bruce says he is concerned about the priority of spending on the hydrogen buses as part of the 12-year $14-billion provincial transit plan announced in January of 2008.

“The new money was roughly $11 billion and of that just under $5 billion was committed from the province,” said Bruce. “Yet in the last budget we had roughly $150 million (toward public transit) so it is not even putting us close to being on track.”

The so called “transit plan” was bogus. I said that at the time as well. There was never any money – other than the funds committed to the Canada Line and this daft Olympic showcase as part of the “hydrogen highway”. The plan relied on money from the feds, and from the municipal level as well. Neither was consulted – and no commitments by either were ever made. The “plan” was simply a hasty rehashing of earlier proposals, designed to look like a plan. And there was never any thought given to how these projects might get enough operational funding.

The Gordon Campbell government was, as that time, looking forward to the election, and trying to appear green. Somehow they managed to work this trick with a totally inadequate carbon tax. Carol James seized on this as her (failed) strategy, when it would have been much easier to discredit the BC Liberals due to their much greater commitment to greenhouse gas increases through the Gateway – a major freeway expansion – the expansion of oil, gas and coal extraction and the yet to be realised plans to build more pipelines to export tar sands output, as well as the very real threat to open up drilling for oil around Haida Gwai.

Added to the question of costs is the fact that the hydrogen has to be bused in from Quebec, as it cannot be produced in B.C. in great enough quantities.

Actually that’s nonsense too. If you are going to spend these sorts of sums, a new electrolysis plant running off our own abundant hydro resources should not have been too difficult. After all, how can you have a hydrogen highway without the hydrogen? Of course, the fact that apart form these buses there are no hydrogen vehicles that need the fuel now or in the foreseeable future is just one of those nitpicking details that can be readily dismissed.

But, said BC Transit spokeswoman Joanna Morton, investing in future technologies is a must.

Actually, it isn’t. There are all sorts of well proven technologies that would increase transit use, reduce car dependency and start building a greener future. The problem is that would require a government that understands how transportation and land use needs to be changed to a more sustainable model. That would, for a start, mean abandoning freeway widening – something that Gordon Campbell has made clear he has no intention of doing even though studies the government themselves sponsored show will increase ghg emissions. It would also mean that some new funding source would have to be found to ensure that the proposed capital projects would actually be able to be operated. This is the most pressing problem in Greater Vancouver – not for BC Transit, since none of the other cities in the province will ever see modern transit investment in anything other than buses. Translink  (SoCoBriTCA) cannot afford any system expansion – and has simply raised fares and taxes to keep operating the same system it has now for the forseeable future.

The real question that needs to be answered is why this government can find millions for hydrogen buses which cannot operate effectively in Whistler and meets no identifiable needs at all, when all sorts of worthwhile projects that would increase transit use and enable a more efficient land use pattern are neglected. The Evergreen Line is the one that springs to mind, but let’s assume that BC Transit has to be involved and needs to spend in other places – so perhaps Rail for the Valley and on the E&N on the Island  come to mind. Or perhaps streetcars for Victoria. None of these looks Olympic of course. None offer photo ops with the Governator. But they would actually work to increase transit use and encourage transit oriented development, and thus actually do something effective about ghg emissions. Something that can not be claimed for hydrogen buses in Whistler.

verfasst von Joe

Wenn man im Bus oder im Zug sitzt, auf etwas wartet, oder gerade auf dem Heimweg ist, dann ist die beste Möglichkeit, Zeit totzuschlagen eindeutig Gaming. Wenn man dann noch seine liebsten Retro-Titel unterwegs zocken kann, dann fängt der Spaß erst so richtig an. Ich liste euch heute ein paar meiner Retro to go Games auf.

Dragonball Z Buu's Fury

Mein erster Tip ist gleichzeitig ein Geheimtipp. Mit Dragonball Z Buu’s Fury ist nämlich eines meiner liebsten GBA Spiele erschienen. Das tolle Action Kampfsystem mit den Rollenspielelementen und der Dragonball Saga rund um Buu macht diesen Titel für mich zu einen wirklichen Hit. Ich habe viel Zeit mit diesem Titel verbracht, auch nach dem Story Ending war es spaßig, die Charaktere hochzuleveln, die Welten noch ein bisschen zu erforschen und neue Fertigkeiten zu lernen. Sehr cool: Man kann zwischen allen Dragonball Z Charakteren, die in diesem Teil der Saga tätig sind, spielen und wechseln nach Lust und Laune.

Final Fantasy IV Advance

Ein weiteres Rollenspiel darf hier in diesem Artikel dabei sein. Dabei handelt es sich um Final Fantasy IV Advance, welches ich schon seit SNES Zeiten gut kenne. Damals hat mich das Spiel schon begeistert, heute laufe ich noch gerne mit dem Gameboy Advance herum und spiel den Teil. Busfahrten werden so nie langweilig und auch der ein oder andere Sitznachbar ist sofort still und schaut gespannt auf dem Bildschirm um die sofort ergreifende Story mitzubekommen, oder die toll gemachten Kämpfe mitzuverfolgen.

Klar, es gibt noch viele andere Final Fantasy’s auf dem GBA, aber die müssen nicht alle genannt werden. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance etc. sind alles wirklich gute Titel, aber das hier ist einfach das beste Handheld Game der Reihe!

Mega Drive Collection (PSP)

Um auch eine gelungene Collection zu erwähnen, bringen wir diese mit ein. Schon allein die zwei Phantasy Stars (II und IV) berechtigen den Kauf dieser Collection allemal. Die anderen Titel sind auch wirklich gut. Wer mehr Info’s zu den einzelnen Titeln will, sollte einfach auf Amazon nachschauen…

Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow

Auf sämtlichen Handhelds ist Castlevania nun schon erschienen, aber auf keinem konnte es mich mehr überzeugen. Aria of Sorrow ist eines der wenigen Titel, dass die Elemente von Videospielen so gut verbindet wie sonst. Die RPG Elemente und das gut umgesetzte Metroidvania Prinzip, sowie die Liebe zum Detail seitens Konami machen den Titel unheimlich gut. Man spielt ausnahmsweise keinen Belmont und peitscht auch nicht in der Gegend herum, stattdessen sammelt man verschiedene Waffen und Seelen und läuft im Schloss von Graf Drakula umher, besiegt gigantische Bossgegner und erkundet die Umgebung.

Meiner Meinung nach eignet dieser Teil sich sowohl für lange als auch für kurze Sessions, da man jederzeit in Speicherräumen sein Spiel absichern kann, jedoch auch einfach fortfahren kann.

The Legend of Zelda - The Minish Cap

Schade dass ich Minish Cap erst jetzt nachhole. Denn hätte ich dieses Zelda Abenteuer früher gekannt, wäre ich wohl öfter mit dem früheren Bus gefahren,  um dann vor der Schule sitzend Zelda zu spielen. Stattdessen darf ich jetzt daheim spielen, weil ansonsten keine Zeit für das langwierige Adventure bleibt.

Ich habe übrigens bewusst zu Minish Cap gegriffen, da mir dieser Teil von den Handheld Zelda’s am besten gefallen hat, neben Phantom Hourglass. Aber Phantom Hourglass ist noch kein Retro Game, von daher…

Pokémon - Silberne Edition

Diese Videospielreihe prägte mein Leben als Gamer. Dank ihr spiele ich jetzt Rollenspiele, durch sie hab’ ich lesen gelernt und mit ihr gehe ich gerne auch heute noch aus dem Haus. Zwar nehme ich, um nicht mit dem klobigen Kultklumpen Gameboy aufzufallen, lieber meinen GBA mit, allerdings kann es schon oft passieren, dass genau dieses Spiel im Slot steckt. Die unheilmich gute Spielmechanik packt einen unheimlich gut, man kann allerdings auch jederzeit speichern und dann ausschalten.

Wer mehr über die Pokémon Reihe in Erfahrung bringen möchte, kann sich auch gleich die Retro-Perspektive dazu durchlesen. Hier hat Edgar mit mir über die gesamte Pokémon Reihe gechattet und wir konnten neben hilfreichen Details auch einiges an Material und Zusatzwissen bieten.

Hier zur Retro-Perspektive!

Jetzt seid ihr an der Reihe, was sind eure Lieblingsspiele für Handhelds? Wo und wann spielt ihr? Postet eure Geschichten einfach in die Comments!

A 74-year-old man is seriously injured after being struck by a double-decker bus in Glasgow city centre…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: city planning. The blog is also related to: food city.

A council begins a three-month consultation on proposals which could see out-of-county school transport for children cut…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: teaching course. The blog is also related to: seminars.

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, while providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board. It is also sometimes casually shortened to mobo.

Prior to the advent of the microprocessor, a computer was usually built in a card-cage case or mainframe with components connected by a backplane consisting of a set of slots themselves connected with wires; in very old designs the wires were discrete connections between card connector pins, but printed circuit boards soon became the standard practice. The Central Processing Unit, memory and peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards which plugged into the backplane.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, it became economical to move an increasing number of peripheral functions onto the motherboard (see below). In the late 1980s, motherboards began to include single ICs (called Super I/O chips) capable of supporting a set of low-speed peripherals: keyboard, mouse, floppy disk drive, serial ports, and parallel ports. As of the late 1990s, many personal computer motherboards supported a full range of audio, video, storage, and networking functions without the need for any expansion cards at all; higher-end systems for 3D gaming and computer graphics typically retained only the graphics card as a separate component.

The early pioneers of motherboard manufacturing were Micronics, Mylex, AMI, DTK, Hauppauge, Orchid Technology, Elitegroup, DFI, and a number of Taiwan-based manufacturers.

Popular personal computers such as the Apple II and IBM PC had published schematic diagrams and other documentation which permitted rapid reverse-engineering and third-party replacement motherboards. Usually intended for building new computers compatible with the exemplars, many motherboards offered additional performance or other features and were used to upgrade the manufacturer’s original equipment.

The term mainboard is archaically applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability. In modern terms this would include embedded systems and controlling boards in televisions, washing machines, etc. A motherboard specifically refers to a printed circuit with the capability to add/extend its performance and capabilities with the addition of “daughterboards.”

Hello, eta Elder Belyeu,

I’m glad to hear that you’re all doing well.

Things are going fine on the Eastern front. I don’t remember if I said that I got transferred to another area on transfers (same apartment, but a different branch). Before you ask, no the church is not just huge here, we have to ride a bus for about half an hour to get to our area. I miss my car (sigh). My new companion is Armenian, but his family moved to England when he was 8. He’s really cool, I like him. He has the most baptisms of any missionary in the mission (He served a transfer in Provo before he came out here and baptized 15 people.) and is a good missionary. The work is going well.

Interestingly enough, in our mission there are people from the US (obviously), England, Armenia, Germany, Sweden, and Russia. I have actually been in the same district with an Armenian/Brit and a Swedish elder–all people who you don’t meet in Alabama.

As a note to Joseph, my companion’s dad actually owns a MIG-22. It is functional, and they both have jet-pilot licenses. Also, his great grandfather was a chess grandmaster (See if you can find him in the chessmaster listing. Before you ask, yes I have played him, and yes, he beat me. He said I played pretty well, though, it took about an hour).

All right, I’m running out of time, so I’d better start to wrap this up.

If you don’t mind, could you tell Estevan hey, and say that I’ve been planning to write, but haven’t quite figured out the mail here. (Did I mention that everyone here speaks Russian?).

I tried to send pictures today, but for some reason, the computer didn’t let me, so I’ll have to try again next week–sorry.

Also, could you find Jimmy Newland’s Facebook mission group- think and:
(1) get me his address off of it, I lose everything, I know.
(2) Tell them hello, and
(3) copy off any interesting news to me. I’d like to see how he’s doing.

Also, as a matter of interest, I get to make a phone-call home around Christmas (I don’t exactly know when). The way that this works is, I send you my number and you call my missionary cell phone at a time arranged before hand. More on that later, I’m out of time.

Tell everyone hello, I am still not sure how to arrange individual letters to brothers and sisters. It’s hard to smuggle them out past the Iron Curtain, but I’ll figure it out. Like said before, individual emails would be easy…

Well, I’m out of time, have a good week…
Elder Belyeu
Старейшина балу

I just returned this morning from the most amazing weekend ever. Pictures and a full update to come, but probably not for a few days. I haven’t slept in 24 hours and somehow have to make it through class until 9pm tonight. After I play academic and sleep catch up, the Montreal report will surface. Until then, remember this helpful travel tip: Don’t leave your purse under your seat if you’re traveling by bus. Some creepy, drugged out passenger will try and surreptitiously rob you the minute you close your eyes. Keep your handbag firmly planted on your lap, covered with your hands, at all times if you find yourself seated next to someone. Seriously. It happened to me this morning. Not fun.

In the meantime, check out a few twitpics from the weekend.

They’ve resolved the transit strike in Philadelphia with a decisive union vote, and I was a bit surprised to read this line from the union boss: “The work stoppage began at 3 a.m. on Nov. 3 and left city bus, trolley, and subway riders scrambling for alternatives. Many crowded onto jammed Regional Rail trains; others were stranded with no way to get to work.

The lack of warning infuriated riders, and union president Willie Brown later acknowledged that the timing had been bad.”
He didn’t apologize–that would probably be considered bad labor politics–but he did acknowledge that a strike is more than politics.  It affects a person’s daily life.  And people miss that about transit generally–that when we make decisions about whether to maintain and/or improve transit, we change people’s lives.

I took a different bus home today, which happened to be a better choice because, even though it was crowded, there were a few empty seats and, more importantly, they were almost all busy and therefore much quieter than, though probably equally self-obsessed as, the school kids that I too often end up on the bus with.

But that wasn’t the best part.

The best part was guy who was sitting in front of me.  He was wearing a bright green t-shirt and had his head tilted at an uncomfortable-looking ninety-degree angle.  It bobbed a couple times in rhythm with the bumps in the road, and I realized he had dozed off.  When he’d feel the jerk of the bus as it stopped to let passengers off and on, his head would spring up, and he’d look around wildly for his bearings.  The bus would ease forward with the traffic and his head would again fall gently forward until his chin rested on his chest.  This repeated for about 3 stops until it was finally his turn to disembark.  It made me wonder if the guy who was sitting next to him was thankful he was finally gone there was no more possibility of a stranger drooping onto his shoulder.

I wish I could apply this to something spiritual and meaningful, but, well, I can’t.  I’m glad there are things we can enjoy in life and simply enjoy them and not have to look for anything deeper.  There are always parallels if we want to dig them out, but sometimes it’s best to just stick the shovel in the ground and enjoy the flowers and sunshine.

Have you ever felt the emptiness without a clock when the phone is dead and you really don’t want to miss your bus? It would have been easy just to raise your tiny arm and look at the watch on your wrist.

Well, I’ve felt that feeling too and I’m gonna do something about. I’ve been looking at Swedish Ebay (tradera) to find something really cheap, but still good, but I can’t even find an expensive one that I like, so that didn’t work out well. So I’ll ask you about it! Do you know a clock that could fit me very well? Something cute, nice and a little bit special. Maybe with a touch of Sandra! I’m not really girly and not manly either, so maybe something unisex?

Being an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, I am always trying to engage my students on relative topics in a contextual form, and I have an abundant amount of materials with which to work. Recently we have been discussing the usage of mobile phones based on a chapter of our text book. We discussed in which locations and situations they are either appropriate or not to use. One scenario seems to be a source of mixed opinions not only for international students, but also the citizens of San Francisco: riding the bus. In using MUNI as my main means of transit around this fair city, one will notice that people act in a variety of ways. I personally get off my phone before boarding the bus, or sometimes will chat quietly if the bus is relatively uncrowded. Some people seem to follow a similar, simple method: speak discretely or stick to texting. However, there is also a wide range of people within a spectrum of folks who speak quite loudly and openly on their phones, with some sort of consciousness that the other passengers are then privy to this form of communication, thus engaged on some level. People talking about their family drama, about their favorite TV show, about their day… talking to someone but certainly nobody on the bus. Internationally, we seem to be working with this concept of how much space we are taking up while in each others space. Everyone is privy to details, as long as they are tied to some electronic medium. Some people still keep it wide open without the phone or the blog the social networking page. The other day on the #7 Haight Inbound (soon to be discontinued as of 12/05/09, goodbye busline!) a young woman and her friend were speaking quite animatedly on the bus about a woman, and letting the entire rear end of the bus know intimately how they felt about a third woman, not on the bus but the subject of their loudly spoken conversation. Apparently she had traded down for an apartment on Haight as opposed to Cole Valley, and did not her building look like a tenement—indicated by the purple metal railings and front stairwell design. The rest of the conversation was just as brazenly catty, dotted with lots of self-absorbed consumerist details and inanely odd personal details around cannabis club locations and other subjects maybe not best discussed loudly on public transit, even in San Francisco? That may just be my latent paranoia, but nevertheless, it was a public discourse in that all the other passengers were the unwilling eavesdropping audience to this odious trite. Where is the line when we are riding the bus, or when we are on the train or aeroplane? What boundaries should we strive to create around honoring where we are presently, but respect the desires of those who want to be plugged in to someone else not on the bus with us?

Here’s a great video of someone splashing some kids waiting at a bus stop.

The first time I watched this video I couldn’t stop laughing. Something about the accent and the entire setup, followed by the “BRILLIANT!” after drenching the kids… I can’t get enough.

In two separate accidents on November 22, a bus and a truck collided with trains, killing nine people and injuring 10 others.

The bus BKS 30S-2371 is out of shape after colliding with the train TN1 in Hanoi November 22 (Photo: VnExpress)

In Hanoi’s Thuong Tin District, a 30-seat bus was hit by train TN1 going from the capital to Ho Chi Minh City, killing seven people on the bus and an unfortunate motorcyclist who happened to be in the vicinity of the accident.

The impact flung the bus on his motorcycle.

The railway authorities and local residents took the 10 injured people to Thuong Tin Hospital.

The Hanoi police said the bus driver carelessly crossed the track and caused the accident.

In the central province of Phu Yen, a truck crashed into train SE 7953, which was also traveling from Hanoi to HCMC. The truck was totaled and its 37-year-old driver was killed instantly.

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Fahrschule 80803 München-Schwabing, 81675 München-Haidhausen: Kostenloser und unverbindlicher Schnupperkurs vor der Führerschein-Ausbildung

Künftige Autofahrer brauchen bei der Auswahl ihrer Fahrschule nicht die Katze im Sack zu kaufen.

Es ist ganz einfach: Man probiert die Fahrschulen aus, bevor man sich bei einer verbindlich für die Führerschein-Ausbildung anmeldet. Die Münchner Fahrschule Theorie + Praxis zum Beispiel bietet kostenlose und unverbindliche Schnupperkurse zum gegenseitigen Kennenlernen an.

Eine gute Fahrausbildung ist Vertrauenssache und abhängig von der stimmigen Chemie zwischen Fahrlehrer und Fahrschüler. Deswegen laufen die Schnupperkurse bei Theorie + Praxis so ab: Als erstes nimmt der potenzielle Fahrschüler an mehreren Theoriestunden in der Zentrale an der Münchner Freiheit (80803 München-Schwabing) oder in der Filiale im Stahlgrubercenter (81675 München-Haidhausen) teil. Dabei kann der Interessent die Fahrlehrer der Fahrschule kennenlernen und sich einen aussuchen, mit dem er eine kostenlose Fahrstunde zur Probe machen möchte.

Erst wenn der Fahrschüler dann wirklich überzeugt ist, bei einem Fahrlehrer gelandet zu sein, mit dem er gut auskommen kann, meldet er sich verbindlich zur Führerschein-Ausbildung an. Der Fahrschüler trägt keinerlei Kosten und keinerlei Risiko. Beides übernimmt komplett die Fahrschule Theorie + Praxis.

Man kann also zunächst alles in Ruhe ausprobieren – ohne einen Cent zu zahlen und ohne sich festzulegen. Dann erst entscheidet man sich ohne Zeitdruck, ob man den Führerschein tatsächlich bei Theorie + Praxis machen möchte. Man kann sich jederzeit für den Führerschein anmelden und sofort mit der Ausbildung beginnen.

Theorie + Praxis ist eine der wenigen “kompletten” Fahrschulen in München. Hier wird für den Mopedführerschein, Motorradführerschein, Autofürerschein, Lastwagenführerschein und den Busführerschein ausgebildet. Dazu kommen Seminare, Berufskraftfahrer-Qualifikation und sogar Schulungsfahrzeug-Verleih.

Mehr Infos zum Probesitzen (Schnupperkurs) bei der Fahrschule Theorie + Praxis in München

Den nächsten, der “Schweinegrippe” in so einem unheilvollem Tonfall sagt, streckt tatsächlich etwas nieder, aber es wird kein Virus sein.

Ich bin ja so genervt von dieser Hysterie… Es treibt schon seltsame Blüten… Es ist ja nun so, dass es im Bus immer etwas bequemer ist, wenn man keinen neben sich zu sitzen hat – da kann man sich ein wenig breit machen oder sogar hinlegen (wenn man ein Schlangenmensch ist . Es ist aber auch so, dass gerade die Acadian-Busse ganz gerne mal gut voll sind und man einen Sitznachbarn hat. In Zeiten der Schweinegrippe lässt sich das aber gerne mal verhindern, indem man jedes Mal, wenn der Bus eine Haltestelle ansteuert, eine Maske aufsetzt. Genauso gesehen: Gestern auf der Fahrt von North Sydney nach Moncton. Und der Typ saß auch die ganzen neun Stunden alleine…

“Text 4 Next” is OCTA’s new text messaging program that will allow bus customers to use their cell phones to get the next 3 scheduled times the bus will arrive at their bus stop.

Here is how it works:
TEXT: 628246 (OCTAGO)

TYPE: The word: bus, your stop number and your route number.
Example: bus 3563 71

GET: The next 3 scheduled bus arrival times for that stop, based on the time the text message was sent.
Example:
959a route 071
1034ap route 071
1109a route 071

If you want to check the arrival times of future trips, lets say your ride home in the afternoon, you can also get that information. In addition to the stop number and route, you will need to add the time and/or date.
Same Day Example:
bus 3563 71 400p

Get Example:
426p route 71
501p route 71
536p route 71

Future Day Example:
bus 3563 71 1100a 102309

Get Example:
1109a route 71
1144a route 71
1219p route 71

Rules for success:
There are some rules that need to be followed when entering the information to ensure you get your desired result. If you do not receive a return message in 2 minutes or receive an error message, check your input data.

* You must enter the key word first: bus
* You must enter the information in the proper sequence: stop number, route, time, date
* You must enter one space in between each piece of information.
* For time, you can enter any time format, but must include “a” for “am” or “p” for “pm” when entering non-military time.
* For date, you must enter in the following format: MMDDYY

What you need to know about Text4Next.

What is Text4Next?
OCTA’s Text4Next program is a Short Message Service (SMS) that allows users to opt-in to receive information from OCTA via SMS or text messaging on their cell phone.

What carriers are compatible with OCTA’s Text4Next service?
Compatible cell phone carriers include: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Nextel, Boost, Alltel, US Cellular, and Cellular One.

What is the cost for OCTA’s Text4Next service?
There is no charge for OCTA’s Text4Next services. However, normal text messaging rates or package deductions may apply. Check your cell phone carrier for text message details on your plan.

Are there any additional carrier charges associated with the service?
Standard message rates apply to all text messages. Message rates differ from carrier to carrier, so please contact your wireless phone service provider to inquire about the details of your plan.

How do I opt-in to for OCTA’s Text4Next service?
Currently, you can only receive bus information from OCTA’s Text4Next program when you initiate the text message. In the near future, OCTA will be offering customers the option to opt in to OCTA Alerts to receive specific bus route rider alerts simply by texting OCTA to short code 628246 (OCTAGO).

How do I discontinue receiving OCTA SMS messages?
Once you have subscribed to OCTA Alerts, to discontinue receiving Text4Next messages from OCTA, you will simply text “STOP” to 628246 (OCTAGO) and you will be removed from the list.

Need help?
For additional help, please email busalerts@octa.net or call our customer information center at 714-636-RIDE (6433).