The Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) became the second major public transit provider to recently appeal the decision of an arbitrator.  The DC Metro’s parent company, appealed the November 4 decision of an independent arbitrator which settled its labor contract with ATU Local 689.

The arbitrator’s decision awards:

• 2% lump-sum payment retroactive to July 1, 2008
• 3% wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2009
• 3% wage increase effective July 1, 2010
• 3% wage increase effective July 1, 2011
• 15% employee/85% employer HMO premium rate cost share
• $15 doctor and hospital visit co-pays
• Other changes around working conditions, retirement, etc.

WMATA appealed the wage increase sections of this decision, citing language in the statute allowing for arbitration which requires “the ability of the system to fund the award without adversely affecting the public welfare.”  WMATA’s position is that its dire financial conditions mean that the payment of these increases must result in service cuts and fare increase.

The New York MTA recently appealed an arbitration ruling granting wage increases to its members.  It also cited the economy and the impact of funding such increased on its customers in its appeal.

The MBTA and its largest union, Local 589 completed their binding arbitration process in July 2008, wherein the union won retroactive pay increases and increases in 2009 and 2010.  The MBTA faces a major deficit heading into 2011, when the next labor contract is scheduled to start.

Both MBTA Local 589 and WMATA Local 689 are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

I have to warn you. Usually I take a little break from the world between driving and the rest of my day, to decompress but today I didn’t. I decided to run home and type in hopes my rage and annoyance naturally spews onto the screen. ( wow almost typed pages, how archaic would that of sounded?)

You ever run into “Those” people? You know the ones who act as if they know it all. Yep “Those” people and do you ever notice those people don’t know what the fuck they are talking about?  There are lots of ” Those” people on the bus. I think they like to act in charge on the bus because they are totally unqualified to  be in charge anywhere. There is a slight problem with “Those” people.  THEY ANNOY THE CRAP OUTTA ME!!!!!

My particular  one of “Those” people got onboard during my last trip.  He starts off by announcing all the stops and the line on those stops and possible destinations around those stops. That sounds helpful right? No that irritates me to no end.  He’s loud, he is bossy and he is annoying not only me but everyone else. Also he acts bossy at my expense, trying to make me look like a lousy driver in the process.  ” Oh, I can’t believe the driver isn’t calling the stops out, so I’ll do it”   Hey loser, there is an automated announcer. you don’t need to add color to his play by play.

The bigger problem is people actually listen to him!!!  As if he has any clue.  His only qualification is a disabled bus pass and a dependence on the big orange bus. When A guy ask me how to get someplace today and he butted in, Thats when I lost it.  ” Look if you wanna play like your in charge, fine, just as long as you realize This is my bus and I’m paid to be here. So shut the heck up and let me talk to this guy.” that didn’t sit well with him ” Well, I’m just trying to help and I know so and so, your boss”  Those kinda of people always know somebody.  I don’t think he appreciated the irony when I told him that so and so could lick a certain part of my anatomy..   But I enjoyed it.    And really I could care less if someone wants to listen to him; buyer beware.  It just baffles me how someone would listen to him and not ask the person being paid for help?

I don’t tell my doctor how to cure me. I don’t give advice to my butcher on how to chop meat.  I don’t tell the pilot on my planes how to land. So why the hell do people feel this incessant need to tell bus drivers how to do there job?  Oh yeah I forgot. Ralph Kramden….  Fuck you Jackie Gleason and thanks again for the stereotype…..

THAT HAT WAS CRAZY DOPE!

This elderly lady got on my bus Friday. She had a walker and a whippet service dog.  As she got on, with the assitance of the lift, another elderly lady starts in on her ” You should feed that dog!!” ” your neglecting that dog!” The dog owner started emphatically defending herself. ” No, no it’s the type of breed he is, I feed him plenty”  blah, blah, blah this went on for about 15 minutes.  The funny stuff happens as she is getting off.

I pulled into her stop and started to deploy the lift and the lady with the walker and the dog rose and started towards the front of the bus.  As she passed the other lady she blurted out ” F U you stupid cow” and ran her walker right into her foot. The other lady responded by parrying with her cane!!! And all of a sudden a geriatric donnybrook  breaks out on my bus.  One lady stabbing with the walker the other slashing with a cane and all I can do is just think to myself ” This is my  friggen job?”  Eventually they separated and the dog lady went on her way.  I don’t blame her the other nana was rude and obnoxious and really had no clue what she was talking about…

This kind of thing happens. It happens more frequently on Fairfax; the 217 line has a famous reputation for it because that line carry’s a lot of elderly and disabled and they all feel entitled to the first two rows of seats…

It just proves my point over and over again, you can never tell. On the bus even sweet old ladies can be vicious and nobody is ever what they seem..

Have a great week!!!!

I love it when people I love screw me over.
I love it when I’m lost in a place that I’ve never been to.
I love it when I have to run away but my legs don’t move.
I love it when I get hurt.
I love it when I die.
Thus, I love dreaming.
-Dennis Oh

Some dreams strike fear and inflict pain on us while it happens, but they also give us meaningful messages to think about when we wake up. In a way, it prepares us.

Last night I had a dream and I was in a beautiful garden. If I had to picture heaven, it would look something like the garden I was in. It was such a wonderful place, but I was all alone and felt sad…I was sitting on a white marble bench and I really wanted to listen to music. I needed to. I happened to have some sort of music player and the same headphones that I currently possess: Klipsch Image S4 Earphones (the best in ear headphones ever). When I was about to put the earphones into my ear, I realized that the ear cushions were missing and some wires were popping out. The wires were colorful. I sensed that it may be dangerous to put the earphones on but I still did. Then it happened. I pressed play and I got electrocuted; electrical charges flowed into my ears and my brain got messed up. I think I became what doctors label as “Mentally Challenged.” All I did was try to listen to what I love most, but it got me good.

I think this dream was really cool because I do experience this everyday in tiny increments. Every time I listen to music, it changes my brain. It makes me believe stuff that may never happen, creates scenarios, makes me sad for no reason, etc. If I am exposed to enough of this, maybe it can be harsh to my mentality…

If you think about it, music is a drug. It eases your mind when you are stressed, helps you through certain tasks, makes you happier, and places you in another world. Be thankful that it is legal. Also, in my opinion, music can also become a form of torture. Don’t you think that listening to extremely loud music for a long period time would really hurt? What if the frequencies are so high that it starts to make your ears bleed and you run around holding your ears in pain? I believe one of the worst deaths is being tied to a chair, blindfolded with headphones on playing “Threshold of Pain” music. I learned about Threshold of Pain in my studio recording class and it is when the frequencies are so high that a human being would go insane. Crazy huh? There is also the Threshold of Hearing which is the quietest minimal sound a human being can hear. This is irrelevant but how peaceful would that experience be? My professor, a Grammy nominee, told me he was once in the quietest cave in the world and he heard his heart beat against his shirt. Priceless.

It is an interesting thought that something so beautiful can kill, like all other things….

Hello World! Hey! How ya doing!?
Today is Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Day! I want to thank all my Native American chiefs and the Pilgrims for giving us such a wonderful holiday. I hope everyone stuffs their mouths with a lot of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry, corn, etc. Mmmmmmm Yum! Well, since today is such a blissful day, I will enter your minds’ with a jubilant post.

Every school has that one class that every single student takes during one of their semesters because it is extremely easy and exciting. For Syracuse University, it is Human Sexuality. Once a week, you attend a lecture and the professor either puts up slides of body parts or brings in homosexual/transsexual speakers. The class is thrilling because we always see something that we have never seen before. Two weeks ago, the professor put up photographs of extremely hairy vagina’s and funky penises. Those pictures had me cringing in my seat like a Kindergartner looking at body parts for the first time! The class used to use the same exam every year so everyone would get an automatic A. However, they finally decided to change it but it is still quite easy. Finally, for a large portion of the grade, every student must either write an essay, attend a discussion every week, or attend six couple enrichment sessions if the student possesses a girlfriend/boyfriend. So what do you think I did? Hell yea babyyyyy. I do have a girlfriend. ;]

Let me take a quick moment to introduce her. Michelle Jeon loves to eat; she often brags that she can devour up to six plates of food at the dining hall. She also loves to take pictures and has an extraordinary talent in which she can look exactly the same in every single photograph. She is a very passionate girl who works fairly hard at what she wants (except weight loss) and is a girl of many thoughts. She is different from what she appears as and I’m glad that I saw it. And um… I can go into detail about all the other important traits and qualities of her but that’s only for me to know =).  Also, I was just kidding; she really is not fat at all. She is very good at being a girlfriend and should minor in it!

So here are the adventures of our couple enrichment sessions. We were able to shrink six sessions into four by making each one longer. You are lucky I am sharing!

Session 1:

Honestly, I was scared. Michelle was too. We had heard many rumors that couples would often break up because of these sessions. So with this terrified mindset, we both walked into our first session. The first day was slow. The activities were not very fun and Michelle refused to talk because she was nervous… Therefore, we had to rely on my smooth mouth. We had two counselors, Monica and Natasha: We were Monica’s last couple while also being Natasha’s first couple! So anyway, our first activity was a questionnaire. Michelle and I had to sit in a tiny room and answer questions about our relationship while the counselors waited outside; we had to circle a number from one to ten (Disagree-Agree) on questions like “Will you and your partner get married?” Sounds boring huh? It kind of was. We then proceeded to ‘Emotional Jenga’, which was a little bit more fun. Basically, it is the same as regular Jenga but under some of the blocks are adjectives that we would have to connect with our love life. So for example, if the word was “jealous,” whoever pulled it out would have to tell the significant other of a time when he/she was jealous in the relationship. What went on during the game will stay enclosed. It is a life between us two and it should stay like that. Don’t you think? But I did tell her that I will keep her safe forever when I pulled out “Safety.” Hehe.

Session 2:

This day was probably my favorite. By the way, we were in a larger room! Also, Michelle started to talk because she was now comfortable so it made our experience better. So when we walked in and settled down, the counselors whipped out a sandbox filled with sand. Then they also opened up three closets overflowing with toys. Our assignment was to use the toys to describe our relationship in the present, in the future, and how we view family. So we brainstormed together and built what was on our minds on the sandbox. The counselors took a picture of each situation but we liked the “Our relationship in the present” model the best so the counselors printed out a picture of that for us. Even though it is a bit embarrasing to say with my own mouth, I think the whole process was very cute; we tried really hard while giggling to closely translate whatever was in our brain to the sandbox. Our end product was this picture:

Michelle chose the treasure chest to portray that she treasures our relationship. She also decided that two little dogs would represent us and put us on a bridge to resemble that we will always be able to come together no matter the situation. I told her I should be a lion but she would not listen…She also picked two clay models, one with open arms and another crying, to say that we would always welcome each other with open arms at times of difficulty. I truly appreciated everything she did on that sandbox =). The first thing I did was place a snake and two devils under the bridge. From this, I tried to say that we would be able to be together even if there are obstacles. Then I placed a globe and made two soldiers point their guns at it. This means that we would be able to fight the world together and whatever it throws at us. The fire displays our love which will always be burning. The two empty books means that we will both write and live a beautiful story with each other. (It was really cute when Michelle placed just one book later on for the “Our relationship in the future” model and said that our life stories will become one). The open shell facing up means that we will always open up to each other without hesitation. On the other hand, the Spongebob hints that we will also be a joking couple in order to have fun at times. Finally, the genie means that I will try and fulfill all her wishes. Honestly speaking, when else would 19 year old college students play on a sandbox with toys? However, it was a very bonding activity and I hope others can experience it. I came to the conclusion that corny exercises help a lot in relationship building. Plus, if you are with the person you appreciate, everything should be fun.

Session 3:

We started off by drawing our family trees. This activity was good because we learned a lot about each others families. Obviously. One thing that I can tell you guys is that her family does not own a pet. On the other hand guys, I hope all you readers know about Yodi! Anyway, while I was figuring out my family tree, I realized that I did not know many names and ages of people in my family. But please forgive me, my mother has eight siblings. Somehow, I finished it and it was pretty accurate. As you can see, mine (top) is far more complicated than her family tree.

The activity that came after was probably the most meaningful activity out of everything. The counselors gave us blank white papers and told us to decorate a border. After we had borders, they told us to write each other a compliment. I told her that her smile brightens up my day and that all my stress goes away for a moment, and more. We then had to make another border and had to write each other a secret. I told her about a time in my life when I completely changed from a shy boy who had no friends to a confident young adult doing everything right. A story that may seem cliche, but how music saved my life (I will probably write about this in a future entry). It is a point in my life that not many know about, not even my parents. Anyway, with these two activities finished, we were dismissed. While walking out, Michelle and I told each other how happy these sessions make us; we would always walk out extremely joyful every time.

Session 4 (Last):

The last session =(. Although these sessions take up precious free time every Tuesday, I was really sad that it was soon ending. I liked it because I had fun but also because I knew that it made Michelle happy. Anyway, Michelle was in a bad mood this day; she felt sick and was feeling down because coffee sometimes does that to her. And to make everything better, one of the counselors (the fun and experienced one) was late. So we were stuck with an inexperience counselor working by herself which made it a bit boring. Our first activity was to draw a flower and write inside the pedals things that have changed within our relationship because of the sessions and what we should still fix. During this activity, Michelle was being very difficult: she sat down and did not do anything. LOL. Since I am such a nice guy and since I knew she was not feeling well, I did the whole activity by myself and acted as if nothing was wrong in front of the counselors. I made it seem like Michelle was contributing so that the counselors would not suspect anything.

After much hard work, we started the second activity. It was a game to find out how well we know each other. So for example, when the counselor said “favorite food” we would write our own answer on the bottom and what we thought the other person’s favorite food was on top. If you got it right, you would get a point. Another question was “What would you miss the most if you guys were long distance?” We both put “Everything.” You know what it is. Finally, when all the questions were asked, Michelle had more points than me and I had to give her a prize. She wanted me to make her dinner so I will have to do this once in the near future.

I am so glad I got a chance to attend these sessions. It was an opportunity in which Michelle and I were able to grow as a couple. We were able to look into what may happen in the future, how we could become a better couple, and learn stuff about each other that we did not know of. I really recommend couple enrichment to every couple, especially if you go to Syracuse University. I thank our counselors for leading us and hsowing us a great time. I asked them “Why did we have so much fun when other couples say it was intense and often break up?” They responded “We went easy on you. We sensed that you guy are really healthy and had no problems to bring up. You deserved to have a great time.” Michelle and I bought them chocolate and handed them a card each. They told us we were the first to ever do that. We ended our last session with a group hug. <3

Bottom: Monica
Top: Natasha, Michelle, Me

That’s the uptown 6 train down there and it’s running express in The Bronx- that’s my kinda’ train. And what am I doing, trying to get the perfect shot through the bars so I can tweet and blog about it later. HA! Me and my tech addictions…but, yeah I made the train *long legs and I through them ‘bows like a natives* And if I didn’t, the good thing about the 6 trains is that they run pretty frequently, but every other one is express.

Ladies I don’t get it, how do y’all do this: wear short shorts or a skirt and let your [almost] bare skin touch the New York City, Metropolitan Transit Authority’s seats. It that seat’s life time a bum shit and slept there, people had sex on it AND the lady came back to give birth RIGHT there. Gross, yuck and ewwwww. I wonder if you can catch an STD for sitting like that. Shoot, nylon stocking ain’t latex, seat goop will get up in there, especially if the radiator’s on under the seat. Come to think of it, I’ve seen transit workers sweep the floor and such all the time, but I’ve NEVER seen the seats being cleaned- EVER. *Squat At Own Risk*

Whenever I am trying to explain why it is totally feasible and in fact quite wonderful to raise a child in New York City, I invariably reference an article that I read in the New York Times in June 2008, shortly before I gave birth to MJ.  The author, Helene Stapinski, writes about visiting various New York City public playgrounds with her young children: “Since I’ve spent most of my adult life here, I know many neighborhoods intimately and use the playgrounds as an excuse to give my children an extended tour of the town they call home.”  The article goes on to describe their favorite parks, including descriptions of the neighborhoods they visited and the modes of transportation they took to get there.  

I’ve always said that the unlimited Metrocard is the “key to the city,” and I admire Helene’s desire to introduce her children to the different corners of the city we call home.  This is why it’s great to raise children in New York – the world is just outside your front door and the opportunities for adventure and exploration are limitless.

In the spirit of Helene Stapinski, this week MJ and I began our own quest: to find our favorite New York Public Library Children’s Room.  The New York Public Library system includes Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island; however initially we will limit our search to Manhattan.  As we get further into our hunt for the best children’s room, we may check out some of the branch libraries in the Queens and Brooklyn Public Library systems as well.   

Stay tuned for reviews of our favorite libraries, and please feel free to post recommendations!

Women have this uncanny ability to pick and choose which body parts they want to be warm that day.

Jeans, boots and a half jacket. Scarf, gloves, hoodie with short shorts and flip flops. A fur coat with a mini-skirt (I guess ankles don’t get cold on date night.) I know girls who would wear those skippy dippy flat shoes with no socks in the snow like it’s nothing. I think they were Himalayan sherpas in a past life. Now let me try to pull some hinky dink nonsense like that, even going to the store in shorts is a stretch for me. My kneecaps aren’t as resilient as this lady’s. It’s a good thing guys clothes are a little more basic (at least when it comes to covering what it’s supposed to.) Besides, I really don’t think backless shirts (and such) are something that should catch on for men. Let the women amaze us with their feats over homeostasis and adventurous clothing.

I was talking with my Aussie friend, @jintanut a while back when I first started this blog and I was ranting about Uggs on twitter. One of my first posts was about Uggs and she emailed me a brief history of the epidemic, a first-hand testimony:

Heres the low down on UGG boots from an AUSSIE.
History says the UGG boot was invented here by a sheep farmer with cold feet, apparently he made ‘do’ and so I would imagine he skinned a sheep, cut it up, and fashioned some type of ‘boot’ from the bloody mess. A NZ farmer also claims it was his idea…. but never mind that.

Then, a few years later, YOUR Pammy Anderson came to film Boobwatch here in OZ, and someone gave her a pair of high UGG boots, she wore on the beach, with a Bikini, and so, the UGG boot became world famous overnight. Suddenly the UGG is in magazines etc! So time goes by, and now EVERYONE is wearing UGG boots-everywhere.. Most Aussies did not embrace the trend of wearing out slippers out in public.
So then a company from USA decided to ‘buy’ the word ‘UGG’ and BAN its use here in OZ, and so now small sheepskin places are wondering what the heck to call the UGG style boots if we cant call them UGG boots anymore??? This became national news, and made the papers for years…during this time,the past few years- something strange happened to the UGG boot in OZ.

xxx

Yankee To Aussie Translations:

NZ – New Zealand

Daggy- (see glossary)

OZ- Aussie

I didn’t see a Kogi truck while I was driving my bus, but it is about the streets so I decided to set off  and find  out if the line was worth the wait.

1 hour and 30 minutes later I found my answer. Hell Yes!! Kogi BBQ trucks don’t have a line just because of their ingenious twitter advertising, they have customers because their food also kicks ass. And considering the average order I saw was between $15- $40 bucks I’d say they are making bank.

My order consisted of 1 Kogi Slider. 1 Spam Kim chi slider ( yes Spam and yes Kim chi)
2 Korean Short Rib Tacos
1 Spicy Pork Taco. $13.50

The Chef Special Spam Kim chi slider was amazingly flavorful. Neither salty nor pungent as I was expecting. Both the flavors married together to create a sharp, spicy flavor with a smooth texture. it was the tastiest thing on the menu

The best thing on the menu and the star of Kogi is the Short Ribs. You would expect high volume low grade meat from a lunch truck but this meat was sweet, tender and really high end stuff that melted in your mouth.

Overall. I’m not sure I’d make this journey regularly and if I was counting on Kogi’s for my necessary caloric intake for the day I’d be disappointed at the wait. But as a Culinary adventure it was kick ass. What could be better than standing in a line with 200 other Angelenos waiting for food from a lunch truck? I made new friends we chatted, I stole free wifi from a generous neighbor. and showed a guy how to sign up for twitter on his iphone. I say this is a go for any adventurous soul.
My recommendation Hit up the Eagle Rock location  but before hand cruise a few blocks down York to Galco’s Grociers and grab some great old hard to find Soda Pops ( like an Aspen or Grape Knee Hi) then roll out to Kogi’s and treat yourself to a flavor adventure all the while meeting new people. Kogi is a L.A. experience we all should try….
Ride on my friends…

There are multiple stories about our NYC transit system and its dangers.

• People falling into subway tracks and getting killed by speeding trains.
• Passengers being pushed deliberately by crazy people or actually climbing into the tracks looking for a lost personal item instead of asking staff for assistance.
• Public Exposure or rape cases.
• Typical case is when an innocent bystander is having it out with straggler not realizing “who they are dealing with”

The public has always been concerned with being pick pocketed, or groped during a train ride. They seldom think about the minor altercations that lead to death or major injury.

I witness something crazy everyday, it is up to us as the public to not allow situations to get out of control. The following story disturbs me.

Before I go on to tell this story, I want the readers to realize I took the D train several hours before this happened I live in Brooklyn, just want to thank God that i am alive and safe. Its crazy how the most random acts of hate occur and they can happen to anyone. Dwight Johnson 36 year old passenger who was riding D train was stabbed to death over a seat. Dwight was occupying two seats at a time and was asked to move, when he told the other passenger Gerardo Sanchez; “there are plenty of other seats”..Gerardo refused to give in stating “No!, I want this seat”. When Johnson decided that it wasn’t worth the argument, he moved his belongings. Sanchez stared at him with anger and began provoking a verbal altercation, he was spewing all kinds of maniatico statements!. “You think Im scared of You?, Im not scared of you!” ..PAUSE!!!!!! If some crazy man starts yelling at me, well.. even gets this close i seriously would consider either coming back at him with the “Im sorry are you still here?” or something to brush him off and just dead the drama if not slapping him into next week.. apparently that doesn’t work 100% of the time. Unlike my “I need to have the last word and i dont let people talk to me like that attitude” Johnson showed us a valuable lesson. Johnson ignored Sanchez and tried teh mature route of keeping quiet,  his only mistake was not knowing how crazy this man would turn out to be. Before Johnson had a chance to react, Sanchez began to stab him repeatedly severing his carotid artery among many stabs. The attacker then pried the doors open to dispose of the knife onto the tracks, and began mumbling his crazy talk until the next stop all the while passengers were stuck with dead man and murderer.

That isn’t the first murder on an NYC MTA line.

A few years ago a man was found dead at Coney Island stop after being reported missing he was already dead and riding train route before someone found him on last stop.

Incidents:

In 2004 a 19 year old Lina Villegas was hit and killed by a NYC train while trying to get her cell phone that she dropped on the tracks.

  Early November 2009 a 22 yr old male Seth Khan was struck by a bus driver in NYC, the driver was previously suspended due to texting and facebook photo uploads of his passengers before that incident.  The cell phone had nothing to do with his negligent driving..the hit and kill was purely his own stupidity.

There is a book called Subwayland by Randy Kennedy that describes alot of the horrific accidents and events of the MTA, he provides opinion on what the best step would be in scenarios that you may encounter. Like… dropping a phone: obviously ask for help DO NOT go get it yourself, ETC.

I HAVE A PERSONAL STORY TO SHARE!

A few months ago i was riding the Q Train from work. Around 14th Street Union Square a man entered the train and must have shoulder bumped this teenage boy , then spins around and tells the kid “You disrespectful ass nigga” <–excuse my french but im telling it like it happened. Anyway the kid is with like 3 girls and 1 boy.. they all look around 17 at most. The man continues to curse at the boy and threaten him, calls him a “pussy” and is starting an unprovoked argument. Being a teenage boy, he responds to this banter with his own remarks. Next thing you know the boy, and the girls are all cursing at this man, teaming up and telling him to watch his mouth and how they will beat his ass. Do you know what this grown ass man says? “Im a real Blood, young boy you dont know me im a OG”    WTF DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING??. So now it has been atleast 7 minutes we are all trapped over the bridge listening to what is about to be a rumble. People are getting nervous because it was an unpredictable situation. I got up, walked over to the kids. I asked the girls to stop yelling and tell me what is going on. I actually talked to them and told them how the other passengers had already called 911 and notified the conductor and they should just get off on the next stop and get away from this man being that he is obviously crazy, i also told them it isnt worth getting arrested because at 16 you get processed as an adult. The girls and that one boy told me how the man was provoking the level 10 pitched screams we heard, and they are all about 15/16 yrs old and are just trying to get home. I personally tapped that man on the shoulder and said “Do you see these kids?, they could be your friends children or your kids friends..do you have any respect for yourself?” “How are you still claimin OG as an Old man, you really need to stop threatening children because it shows how insecure your manhood is, This entire train car is dying for you to STFU and get off the train” He looked at me and said.. “they started it” im like seriously .. your going to pull a 9 year old tattle on this ?  “they are children, they dont know any better than to get defensive if someone demeans them, get out the train car because i refuse to deal with your CHILD ABUSER or Skitzo self”…he stared at me a moment and he took a deep breath and said “aiight cool, but only because your right..these basterd kids arent worth my time”..this is after he had made one of the young girls cry hysterically because he threatened to follow her and ” beat her” if they shared the same train stop.

This kind of  behavior is uncalled for and it is sad that we have to deal with these risks in public transportation. They have fare hikes constantly and they aren’t even upping the security, if they had cameras on the train there would be less insanity on wheels.

Taking the Subway:

1. Don’t eat an onion bagel then stand behind me, breathing your humid onion breath down my neck.
2. Stop staring and smirking. I know what you are thinking. And no, I really don’t want to be murdered slowly in the basement of your Mother’s house while wearing a pinafore dress. Creep.
3. If I have my hand on the pole and there are no other hands holding onto the pole, why do you insist on putting your hand right on top of mine?
4. If you are coughing or sneezing throughout the day, take a cab or walk. The fresh air is good for you. Really. I don’t want your tuberculosis.
5. If a woman is standing on the train and is visibly pregnant, get up. Offer her your seat. Lazy. Oh and that goes for you too, Ms. Murray Hill.
6. Don’t eat on the subway. I’m not sure what that Tupperware you’ve pulled out of your bag contains… However, your concoction looks gross, is a weird texture and smells disgusting.
7. Don’t strike up conversations with strangers. Its weird. You may be a lovely person but no one expects to be talked to. The rule is lifted with tourists.
8. This being said, be nice to tourists. Just because.
9. Stop reading over my shoulder.
10. Shower. Please.
11. If you are listening to your iPod, do not sing aloud. Michael Bolton off-key? Do.not.want.
12. If you are holding onto a huge bag, keep it close to you because its like a weapon to other people’s flanks. No really, thanks for your Louis Vuitton to my kidney. A perfect end to the day!
13. After you walk through the turnstyle, don’t abruptly stop and put your Metrocard back into your wallet.
14. Let me off before you and your pharmaceutical rep suitcase get on. Ghad!
15. Get your Sodoku out of my face.
16. If you are an “up and coming rapper”… save it for home. You suck.
17. If you are taking the train home with a co-worker, stop discussing work. And no… no one thinks you’re important.

Move over Knuffle Bunny, MJ has a new favorite book!  What we are reading this week is Machines Go to Work by William Low.  Grandpa picked out this story for our little truck enthusiast based on a positive review from the Wall Street Journal.  The illustrations in this book are great and the narrative follows a question-and-answer style that captures MJ’s attention and holds his interest.  The book has fold out flaps, which show the machines at work: a cement mixer, a fire engine, a helicopter, etc.

I like the illustrations in this book so much that I did a little research on the author/illustrator.  William Low is a native New Yorker whose art and illustrations have been featured in the MTA Art in Transit campaign.  I knew his work seemed familiar!  I particularly like his use of light, shadow, and color, which enliven his illustrations and make you feel as though you are transported to the scene.

And I love making the machine noises, too!

Can’t Practice Life

“When I say something, please just listen,
if I don’t get what I need, I’ll be gone in an instant.
You have it all wrong, we will not always glisten,
Happiness is our peak, we can only grow distant.

Why do I use so much of my time with you?
Why do I give so much of my thoughts to you?
Why do I spend so much of my money on you?
when 99 percent of the time, it never comes true.

The things I’ve given you have been too high of a price,
and until this very moment, I have never thought twice.
I will give you many chances, to avoid any strife,
but soon your effort will not be enough, I can’t practice life.”

-Dennis Oh



I think one of the downsides to the bus is that I see the same shit over and over again. The same scams, the same issues, the same people.  The problem is as we get older we experience lots of stuff and thus, as adults we seldome experience anything new, for the first time, hence we forget what it feels like to do something for the first time.  I bring this up because occasionally As Im driving I get to see people experiencing things for the first time and it makes me feel young, even if the experience isn’t a happy one.

I thought of this because on Friday I saw a couple break up, it was their first break up, they were all of 13. The boy and girl have been riding my bus for a few weeks, and they always got on together, sat together and made out as my bus rolled down the street, ahhh  young love. well on friday.. the guy wasn’t there only the girl was with her friend. The two girls had a conversation about the break up, seems the boy just moved on.  The girl was devastated.  Initially I thought she was too devastated, but then I realized I was judging it from the eyes of a 42 year old man and not feeling it from the heart of a 13 year old kid. And in that moment I felt sad. Not for her, but for me. She will be fine, she is good looking, she’ll have plenty of boyfriends. I however seemed to forget, if even for an instance, how it feels to be young… and in that moment I felt old.  I see many 1st on the bus.

Every time some adult gets on and tries to apologize for never riding the bus before and not know what to do, I’m laughing hysterically inside! Have they never used a change machine before? Is the concept of pulling the cord to stop too much for them? In those instances I revel in their explanations of how ” My BMW is in the shop, I don’t take the bus” well you do now buddy ” Get behind the yellow line!”

There are those magical times however, when kids get on and get so much joy from riding the bus. Hey The only happy day I’ve had on the bus was my first day, its all been down hill since then. But these kids wait with glee to pull the cord and I get pissed when an adult not paying attention pulls it first. I get so pissed I turn the bell off and on to reset it so the kid  can pull it.

All of this reminded me of something I saw and wrote about not too long ago. I saw a mother letting he son cross a big street (Roscoe) alone for the first time. The joy of his face as he crossed the street and ran into school was proportionally equal to the terror on his mom’s face.
It made me think of Heraclitus’s quote “that a person can’t step into the same river (street) twice.  I thought back to that child crossing the street and his mother and I think the street metaphor works better than the river. As parents we watch the journey of our children, we witness them cross their streets, we hope for the best,and watch them grow as people. Soon their journey will carry them across a horizon that we ourselves will never see, nor can imagine. But all along we will root from the sidewalk. But  try to remember while rooting from the sidewalk is important, it is equally as important to not just stay on the curb but to also let our kids see you step off that curb and cross our own streets.  To keep trying new things, because I think that’s how we never forget  what it’s like to be young!!!

Ride on People!!!!!

Being a bus driver is a stressful job. However not all the stress comes from the riders. A lot of drivers stresses comes from the company as well. Often the MTA likes to mess with us or other times the whole work rules process can be stressful, like now.  This weekend we have our semi annual Shake up. A shake up is where every driver gets to bid a new run and work that assignment for the next six month.  Honestly even now after all these years the shake ups still cause me anxiety

It’s not like anything important hangs in the balance. Will I get enough hours? Will I get a schedule that will work with all my commitments?  Will I spend the next 6 months driving my ass off? Will I get to see my kids during the week?  The answer is…  I have no frigging clue right now and thats where the stress comes in.  I’m not some type A super anal attention to detail OCD nut job. But I’m a guy who likes stasis in my life. I like a schedule, I like to have structure…. It’s all just a crap shoot with no guarantees. Yes I have some seniority, but I’m not at the very top so it’s all up to chance.

The sucky thing that I failed to mention  is that the runs hardly ever stay the same. For example my schedule now won’t exist in 4 weeks. The works been re cut and dispersed between several other runs, so it’s not like we bid the same schedules every six months.  Every shake up brings entirely new working conditions. I’m gonna stop blogging before I send my self into a panic attack!!!

So I’ll let you all know how it goes next week.

Thanks for the great responses I got from people listing to Alex’s interview of me  on Living in LA. It was a blast to do and I’m glad it came out well. Next week, more blogs, one more resteraunt review  and who knows what else?

Have a great weekend……

After spending two and a half years living in New York, its easy to see why the words  “clean” or even “pristine” would never be mentioned in the same breath as the word “subway”.  The aesthetic design of our mass transit would never be described by the words “cunning” or “crisp”. This is no knock on the MTA – the dirty and decrepit subway just adds to the average New Yorker’s persona. Wouldn’t you be terse and rude if you had to transverse this (<– click there) twice a day?  As I was reminded of when looking through some pictures from a trip to Denmark three years ago, the same cannot be said for the Copenhagen Metro.

In fact, they are so proud of their clean system in Denmark, they put a large, clear window on the back of the trains so one can always be reminded that the Scandinavian tunnels will always be cleaner than those of New York.  Their stations aren’t bad either, with plenty of artistic value and plain old ingenuity (<– click there too – OK its Sweden, but close enough..)  So Scandinavia, you have the piano on the stairs… but what beats a good ol’ New York City Subway performance?