Luke's Blog

I have such a better experience on the new double-decker NJ Transit trains that I've actually changed my commute times in order to ride them.

If you don't ride the Jersey train, I'll give you a little background.  There are 3 classes of trains.

1.  Really old - single level trains with 3 seats on one side, 2 on the other side of the aisle.  Seats so old that you sink into them and feel the springs.  Everything is so dirty that you feel like you need to shower again after reaching work.  Too few seats that people stand in the aisles and in between cars.

2.  Kind of old - single level trains with 3 seats on one side, 2 on the other side of the aisle.  Seats are not as bad and there feels to be a little more room in the cars.  Signs and recorded announcements alert riders about next station.

3. Brand new.  2-level trains with 2-molded seats on each side of the aisle.  A few single seats at end of  upper level of cars.  Standing area inside ends of car.  Signs and recorded announcements.  Clean.  Usually everyone gets a seat.

I ride the Northeast Corridor.  During the morning and afternoon commute we had been subjected to only the trains that fall into category 1.  Then we started getting a few of the category 3 trains sprinkled in.

I will go out of my way to ride these trains because it makes such a difference on my commute.

I was reminded of the way I've tried to forget about as I rode in this morning at a different time than normal.  I got to be wedged in between two people in a middle seat, but at least I got one.

I'm a much happier commuter on a holiday week.  There was light traffic on the way to the train station this morning.  The NJ Transit train was half empty.  There were fewer people on my subway line.

Love it!

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No, I'm not talking about people being grumpy.  It's far worse than that.  It's getting to be the time of the year when I can't seem to avoid the hackers.  These aren't the 30 year smokers trying to hack up a lung.  No, this is far worse.  I'm talking about all of the people with colds (or worse) spreading their joy in the narrow train tubes.  The kind ones cover their mouths.  Many don't even go that far.  I even had someone go so far as to drip onto my leg.  I'm amazed sometimes that I don't spend all winter battling disease.  On the other hand, maybe I've become so exposed that I'm immune.

It's Saturday and I have to get ready to do the stare to avoid eye contact.  They're going to be out there with the cup walking up to my car at the light asking for a handout.  I don't have to give but they want to make me feel a little guilty for not giving.

No, I'm not talking about those unfortunate guys outside the Holland tunnel.  I'm talking about those cheerleader parents at the intersection near my house.  They've been out there for months, wandering into stoplight traffic begging for handouts.

I'm sorry, but to me it's pretty pathetic.  Where is the pride in begging for the kids?  When I was a kid and we needed to raise money for our group, we were involved.  We were washing cars, we were having fundraisers, we were having bake sales or we were producing something of value.  We certainly weren't having our parents stand in the road and beg for us.

Don't tell me that it's not safe for the kids.  There is something they could be doing for a fundraiser.  I bet the kids are out playing as the adults work their shift walking through traffic.

Now that I live in the suburbs I have to deal with the car trip to the supermarket.  I'm not sure if this is a New Jersey thing or if things have changed everywhere since the last time I lived in the suburbs but people don't seem to find themselves responsible for their shopping carts.

It drives me nuts.  Take the 30 seconds to walk your cart to the drop-off spot for carts instead of leaving them scattered around the parking lot.

Sometimes I have to drive around the lot trying to find an area that is cart-free.

I want to find the people who leave the carts and push them into their car doors.

I'm sorry people, your time ISN'T that important!!!

Just return the cart.

With the potential taxi strike I started thinking about some of my experiences in cabs.

I remember getting into a cab once with both of the windows rolled down as I got in.  I thought I should hurry and roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning.  Let me tell you, it took about 2 seconds to realize why the windows were down.  The cab had the worst stink in it.  I cut my ride short because I could not breate in the cab.  I tried sucking air in from outside of the window for a few blocks but it was that bad.  It was like that episode of Seinfeld because I swore that I could not get the smell off of me from the cab for the rest of the evening.

Another time my wife and I were in a cab and the driver decided that he had an itch or something in his ear.  He shoved his finger into his ear and started spinning it around in his ear.  It was making some horrible noise.  My wife almost threw up because he kept doing it and doing it over and over again and it was making some strange noise.

Thought I'd share.  I'd love to hear some other cab stories from you....

Thursday morning's commute into the city made me finally lose the vacation glow after having a week off.

My commuting fate is tied to NJ Transit.  There always seem to be problems on the Northeast Corridor line.  I know many of the problems are out of the transit agency's control.  The biggest issue is relying on tracks used by Amtrak.

I decided to get to work a little early this morning because I have a lot of work to do.  As I was getting to the train station I saw a train on the platform.  I was early so I didn't rush, knowing that there would be another train in about 7 minutes.

Needless to say, that was a big mistake.  Trains were 20-30 minutes behind schedule because of "track work".  When the next train showed up, they didn't open the doors at the front so dozens of us were forced to scurry back to other cars panicking that we wouldn't get on the train before the doors shut.

I'm now waiting to get into Newark because they are having control board problems.

Hopefully there won't be a disabled train in the tunnel into New York.  That would be the topper.

I saw something on the subway this morning that made me chuckle.  I saw a guy pouring hand sanatizer on his hands.  I do that sometimes (I usually wait until I'm out of the subway because I think it's a waste of time until I'm out of the stink hole).  Anyway, the man then proceeded to put the container in his mouth while he lathered his hands up.

What's the point if your just transferring everything from the outside of that bottle into your mouth?

It seems like an easy concept, but one a lot of people can't grasp during the rush hour on the subways.

It drives me crazy when I'm rushing to try and catch a train and people are blocking a long escalator but standing still all the way across the length of the steps.

It's fine if you don't want to walk when you're on the escalator, just let people by
!

If you missed Stacy-Ann's good-bye on Good Day New York, she went to RNN to follow her dream to become an entertainment reporter.

Here's a link to an article on the show.

No trains between Woodside-61 St and Times Sq
Take the E F or R at 74 St-Roosevelt Av instead
Weekend, 12:01 AM Sat to 5 AM Mon, Feb 24 -  Mar 26

For Manhattan transfer between the 7 and E F or R at 74 St-Roosevelt Av.

For Queens take the E at 42 St-8 Av or R at Times Sq.

For Grand Central
Take the E to Lex Av-53 St and transfer to a downtown 6 to Grand Central
or take the R to Lex Av-59 St and transfer to a downtown 4 5 6 to Grand Central.

For Fifth Av
Take the F to 42 St-6 Av.

For Times Sq
Take the E to 42 St-8 Av or the R to Times Sq.

Free shuttle buses
Free shuttle buses connect 74 St-Roosevelt Av with the 69, Woodside-61, 52, 46, 40, 33 Sts and
Queensboro Plaza N stations.