patrick.net

I didn’t say “only” I said “one of the only”.

Oh. Me bad.

Now how is it that sushi can de-rail almost any topic?

What are you talking about? :roll:

I'm talking about toro, hamachi, mirugai, sake (the fish), shiro maguro and any other good sushi... I just ate, but now I'm hungry again.

=)

I’m talking about toro, hamachi, mirugai, sake (the fish), shiro maguro and any other good sushi… I just ate, but now I’m hungry again.

I had some deep-fried sea urchin. Very interesting. Spongy. :)

Now that's different, deep fried sea urchin! I'm not a fan of the stuff in the first place, but if it's deep fried I might be able to stomach it. I gotta go, early meeting tomorrow. I will be dreaming of sushi... mmmmmm....

I’m not a fan of the stuff in the first place, but if it’s deep fried I might be able to stomach it.

Actually, I like it steamed better.

Instead of high-speed trains, I rather support automated highways. With computers, vehicles will be able to cruise at high-speed (80mph - 100mph) in tight formations without human errors.

This should greatly improve capacity and eliminate accidents.

This is America.

We drive.

If you don't support that, you're supporting the terrorists.

Here's what Senator Grassley of Iowa said last year:

“You know what? What makes our economy grow is energy. And Americans are used to going to the gas tank (sic), and when they put that hose in their, uh, tank, and when I do it, I wanna get gas out of it. And when I turn the light switch on, I want the lights to go on, and I don’t want somebody to tell me I gotta change my way of living to satisfy them. Because this is America, and this is something we’ve worked our way into, and the American people are entitled to it, and if we’re going improve (sic) our standard of living, you have to consume more energy.”

On a more serious note, there was a great article in the NY Times last year about how they interviewed some Mainland Chinese people - and they were drooling over cars.

Honest to god, they quoted one of the PROCers as saying "Look at Los Angeles. I want to be free like them and have cars."

Cars are an amazing demonstration of the human inability to understand TCO.

From the previous thread:

P.S. Has anyone ever seen a Chinese (or Jewish) homeless person?

Yes. Chinatown, Manhattan. The person was a senior citizen and potentially deranged. But that's just because he was visible.

Remember that there's a big difference between the Visible Homeless (the guys at the UN Plaza on Market St) and the Invisible Homeless. :(

As for Jewish - I know what you're getting at, but at the end of the day, it's technically a religion and not a ethnicity (though in NY it's more of the latter.) So technically you could have a Jewish Chinese homeless person. :)

Hah, the force returns. :D

Now let's see if my problem was related to my change (not by choice) of hotmail a/c.

someone go and rustle up Robert Coté... let's talk trains...

I wonder whether Japan also got good trains from the fact that not many people had cars, and there are limits on car ownership due to space -- by putting the wealth of the nation through taxation or whatever into building a public transport network before the car mania of Henry Ford could really gain hold -- i.e. the money people in other countries pour into private car ownership and road-building may have gone into public transport. (Of course there's some history there from being late industrialisers in the early 20th C. through to WWII...) Some of these small Asian city-states like HK and Singapore make it very difficult to own a car still... (or is it pwn a car :lol:)

Nope, must have been external.

Anyway: Peter P/SFWoman,

The Eurostar is pretty cool, I admit, and it'll be a lot better once the Brits finally get of their collective butt and complete a decent track into Waterloo.

Even the regular French stopping trains are not bad; I took one this year from Basle to Paris and it actually had more passenger space than the Eurostar/TGV. Maximum speed's only about 90, though.

However,

As DS points out Shinkansen/TGV/Eurostar (to say nothing of MegLev) track is expensive, because as well as the electrical supply/catenary and the track itself, you have to have the entire line completely fenced off to avoid animal collisions etc. Here in Australia that would mean quite a high fence, as if there's one thing a roo can do it's jump. (And in passing, I can tell you first-hand that hitting an adult roo in mid-jump even at 40 miles an hour is no fun at all.)

One other thing you may or may not have noticed is that there are no level crossings at all on the UK/European express train routes. All road/path/canal crossings are overpass/underpass. In fact the Eurostar/TGV's full speed sections are dedicated lines, and don't carry other rail traffic. The Shinkansen even more so, it's a separate line (the name roughly translates as "New Line") and I don't think it even has the same gauge as the rest of the Japanese network.

All-in-all, true High-Speed Rail is likely to remain prohibitively expensive for a country the size of the US unless/until energy costs alter markedly. For here in Australia it's even less viable, given we are roughly the same size as the continental US with only 20 million people.

no sooner does ajh speak than the same curse strikes me :(

Peter P states the essential case - high-speed rail relies on the quality of urban transit at each stop and terminus.

The DC/NY Amtrack service is in the black primarily because it connects a functioning urban system (NY) with one which has committed to expansion and is becoming reasonably useful. The original Paris/Lyons EuroStar service was established along similar lines.

Cities like Amsterdam and Vienna did not have comprehensive metro networks in 1970 when I first visited them. Today is another matter. It has taken decades and presumably hundreds of millions to transform them into cities where a car is more an option than a necessity, and to make them into ideal candidates for EuroStar links.

It's anybody's guess whether or not any pair or trio of American cities have the intestinal fortitude - and the staying power - to recreate such systems here. The more likely scenario, I imagine, would be one or schemes which are poorly planned, terribly expensive, and which will give the concept a black eye in the public's opinion.

By the time I left the 7ieme, checked in at CDG, flew to the suburbs of Lyons and took a sedan service into the city, I'd pretty much tripled the time and expense (and aggravation) required to do the same by TGV. Would love to be able to do the same Tampa to Atlanta. Not bl**dy likely.

here's some fun stuff on personal vehicles of the future:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Vehicles/vhehicles.htm

the UQ UltraCommuter under design is predicted to get 535 mpg, by the way...

Well. Triple post must be some kind of record. *blush*

you mean :oops: heh

except the posting engine thingo is slow at times, it seems to successfully post text very early, then sometimes stall refreshing the page looking as though it's hung. if in doubt, copy the text to the clipboard with Ctrl-C, and refresh the page or restart the browser from scratch, and you will often see it actually has posted...

Brand said:
It spares a daily commute by car, and that is really where most people spend 90% of their yearly driving time.

Wasn't that the whole point? Driving ocassionally is not a problem, if you can eliminate the need for driving in rush-hour every day. Especially when the destination is a cubicle-job that most people hate. What a waste!

SP

I'd like to put a shout in for the huge, loved, dilapidated London Underground system - the mother of them all.

Many millions of Londoners never learn to drive....what's the point?
Central London's streets are midaeval in size and shape, where a car is more a liability than a help. The 'Tube' is never more than a couple of hundred yards away.
Going on vacation? Hop on any one of the Gatwick/Heathrow/Luton/Stanstead Expresses and get there in under an hour - no need to park you car in unsecure expensive Long-Term Parking, as your car never left your garage.

When I first came to L.A, I would get very strange looks when I said I didn't know how to drive. Even stranger looks when I explained I'd never needed to.
Now I can drive, people still give me stange looks. But for different reasons now.....
................................
IIRC, one of the reasons that L.A has such a useless train system is because the residents of the City of Beverly Hills protested mightily that letting the trains - and consequently the 'hoi-polloi' who live further East and (gasp) may not even speak English - would flock to the streets of BH to harass the residents and loiter/loot on Rodeo Drive.

Apparently, they were amenable to letting the tunnel destined for Santa Monica go under Beverly Hills, but no actual stops in 90210 were allowed.
At some crazy price like 1 Billion a mile, its become overly expensive to tunnel all the way from Hollywood to West L.A, so Beverly Hills effectively stopped all transport plans westward, to where people would actually use it.

Go Beverly Hills (not)! - if there's ever been a city in dire need of decent, fast, affordable public transport, L.A has to be in the top 5 in the world.

Sorry.....can't spell. Financial.....

Pick a Metro, pick a project, and it’s the same song; different verse….anyone want to comment on the “Big Dig” in Boston?

Until Gov. learns how to award a binding, not to exeed contract, why should taxpayers fund ANY “solution”, especially transportation?

How's that different than any other government spending? Weapons, planes, schools, parks, office buildings, courts - they're almost always chock full of cost overruns.

The Big Dig (which didn't do anything for mass transit) was a few billions over, but if you want to see something really egregious, check out this Coast Guard story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/us/09ship.html?ex=1166331600&en=8806bc180da9e666&ei=5059&partner=AOL

Long story short: Feds try to improve efficiency by hiring contractors to manage project run by contractors. What could possibly go wrong?

I’d like to put a shout in for the huge, loved, dilapidated London Underground system - the mother of them all.

Why do they hate our freedom?

SP,

That's totally what it boiled down to for me! I wasn't in a cubicle exactly but it was pretty clear that this was all the farther my career was going to go at the bank. This is the case for most of us not in mgmt. by 35 or so. So........ what's the point? I was just burning up valuable resources (not the least of which; my TIME!)

Most of us spend a fair amount of mental energy at work and 98% of brain capacity while actually commuting, on figuring ways out of the rat race! (At least "I" did) The problem for most of is..... once we make that final turn into our driveway and we see our kids playing in the yard and dinner's ready we forget all about "the pain". We're now in "our" world and *not* on "their" time!

About a month after going independent I was at an event sponsored by one of the fund managers at the Benson Hotel in Portland. I saw a lot of familiar faces and was seated with one of the young gals I used to work with. Upon seeing I wasn't wearing my "monkey suit" she said, "Oh, I hadn't heard you'd gone independent!" Well before I could even pat myself on the back she said, "ABOUT TIME!" It's amazing what you can learn from a 23 year old!

Believe it or not half the battle is not just taking "the plunge" it's not beating youself up on a daily basis for all of the years (and effort) you wasted. Ditch the commute, embrace your future! IMHO.

My husband loves the TGV because it is very easy to do work on it and is more comfortable than a plane- you can walk around and the first class tickets are not 10x the regular tickets, they are worth purchasing.

As a result the first class ticket is usually sold out.

They also strike a bit too much in France.

Doug H,

What's even more shocking about the SkyTram is that locals overwhelmingly rejected it and yet Erik Sten and the city went ahead and did anyway! I have to go up to the VA Hosp. (Pill Hill) on occasion and REALLY, it's not that big a deal! Passing under it on the off ramp to Harbor Drive and Front Ave. (yes I call Front Ave. NOT Naito Parkway) it already has the look and feel of Stonehenge. (As in it's been there for an awfully long time...... but no one can explain exactly why?)

For anybody flying this summer to Europe- Air France has a special, business class tickets are only one and a half times the price of economy tickets. I just bought some for July and August, so they go out longterm. One of my friends just got a $259 each way economy ticket to Paris on United for early February as well.

Very attractive. Is it 1.5x full-fare economy though?

Thanks, DS, I'll be more patient in the future.

I should say that, having reviewed the flight option, I did take the train. Comfortable, quiet journey - back to Mr. Street (Rue Monsieur) with no fuss the following morning. I'd love to have that option here, but Florida cities are not configured very well for rapid intercity service. Once you've arrived in mid-town Orlando or Miami, your trip has just begun.

eburbed Says:
Why do they hate our freedom?

Because, like a dog licking its nether reigons, we do it because we can...

Hi Bruce,

I went ahead and erased the duplicate posts.

Scott J.,

I'm really not sure where you were going with the 10:12:17 PM post - I'm pretty sure it was the French and English who let Israel happen. American support came later.

The Marshall plan did a lot more than fix up Japan. It fixed up a good part of Western Europe and got them to more or less work together for peace. It brought prosperity to Taiwan and ROK. US goofed plenty, but give credit where credit is due.

Not to say Bush II or anyone else in US today could pull it off. Especially Bush II - he has, as a sometime commentor/agitator here has recently posted elsewhere, fecal fingers.

Peter P,

Yuck, deep fried sea urchins! That sounds like an even worse idea than deep fried oysters. I prefer my sea urchin as fresh and raw as possible.

Can I bring out my old pet idea about the train/personal transport crossover again?

Yuck, deep fried sea urchins! That sounds like an even worse idea than deep fried oysters. I prefer my sea urchin as fresh and raw as possible.

I like it raw, steamed, deep-fried, in pasta, and in rice congee.

Can I bring out my old pet idea about the train/personal transport crossover again?

I love that idea!

SFWoman,

Sounds very interesting. Maybe I should plan for a trip to Europe next spring. $600 (after taxes) from CA would be even cheaper from DC. The flier miles will help fund that first-class ticket to New Zealand.

Here's the sob story of the week from CNN:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/11/real_estate/help_the_Williams/index.htm?postversion=2006121112

This couple's primary mistake was obviously to buy their new home before selling their first. Why on earth are people doing this? Since when did this become the norm? Growing up, it always seemed to be the case that you sell your home first, THEN buy the new one.

Growing up, it always seemed to be the case that you sell your home first, THEN buy the new one.

Depending on whether it is a buyer's market or a seller's market. One just cannot be delusional or emotional.

skibum,

Shame on you! Haven't you learnt that real estate always goes up and you'll always get multiple offers above listing when you sell? Even in Indiana!

When my parents sold their old home, one of my mom's best friends told her that she must buy a house before she sells.

And watch out, BA, because this lady is moving to South Bay in June 2007.

Oh thanks, astrid! You know how I love darkening pixels, but really.

Funny about the Marshall Plan. Our histories tend to overlook how poorly implimented it was - lot's of bad feelings in the early years of the program, though the honorable intent was well-understood. We rushed into foreign cultures ill-prepared, telling the French they must close their museums, etc., you can imagine the uproar.

Sound familiar? Well, it came out all right in the end. The Brits call it 'muddling through'.

"Since when did this become the norm?" (buying new before selling old)

I keep trying to figure that one out! What makes this particular SSOTW interesting though is that it takes place in East Jeebus, IN. If you read between the lines there really is a much broader story. These aren't your typical DINK specuvestors in a "hot market" (like Billings, MT!) They didn't flip on the 2 year anniversary and they genuinely need the extra room.

What the article says to me is; none of ya'll are safe! IN has one of the highest home ownership rates in the country and frequently homes are sold to relatives, co-workers or just plain old word of mouth. If they're not safe.......?

Btw, CNBC added a free scrolling ticker to the bottom of their home page. Pretty cool for a freebie huh?

Ideally, one should not have to sell his old houses ever. Just keep accumulating houses after they are paid off. Ideally...

Bruce, astrid,

The Marshall Plan worked pretty good if you were a 'former' enemy. Allies weren't treated quite as well. The Philippines were left in ruins and it's been a sore spot to this day.

On Topic:

They actually USE their LRT (light rail transit) and it passes right by Rojas Blvd. by the embassy. It's exhausting getting up the platform steps in that heat though!