Sweet Stink

Last week a new bubble tea chain store opened right below my office despite the fact that there's another one right around the corner.  I didn't know there was such a demand for bubble tea, especially after that whole incident about tainted Taiwanese foods and drinks.  Oh well.  We'll see who will last the longest.

Anyway, everything seemed fine at first, but after a couple of days the smells of them mixing the drinks was bellowing up to our floor.  It wasn't a foul smelling odor, but rather a sweet one.  I believe it's the stuff they mix to get the milk tea, but it's smells like hot caramel up here.

The smell didn't really bother me at first.  In fact, I kind of liked it.  However, after three days of smelling the same milk tea aroma every couple of hours, I started to get sick of it.  It hasn't made me to the point of getting nauseous yet, but it has began turning me off of these drinks.

I guess it's true what they say about too much of a good thing.  I wish they and the Starbucks across the street traded places though.  I'd probably be a little more tolerant and patient with their smells! 

Pedestrian Offenders Galore

After yesterday's walking tour in Queens I decided to stop by Queens Mall on the way back home.  The mall was quite crowded and as expected I encountered some pedestrian offenders... people who do stuff while walking to create problems for others walking nearby.  This included people slowly zigzagging down the path, slowly walking/suddenly stopping in the middle to text, wait for a friend, or figuring out which store to go to next, walking with a group of people and not allowing people walking the opposite direction through, the list goes on.

I expected to run into these ignorant/impolite folks in such a crowded venue like this, but I didn't anticipated running into so many!  Every other person I walked into did some annoying thing to impede pedestrian traffic flow.  The worst one was this one person who decided to put all his shopping bags right in the center of a walkway while waiting for someone to come out of a store.  Really?  You couldn't move to the side?  A careless person texting and not seeing where they're going (there were plenty there) could've easily walk right into your numerous bags and kicked your stuff all over the floor.  Then you're going yell at the person for doing that, but really you should be yelling at yourself for failing to realizing that you're right the middle of the freaking walkway!

I've heard of people getting road rage while driving, but can people get similar rage by walking?

Queens of Yesteryear

This week's third installment of Transit Museum walking tours leads us to the borough of Queens and retracing the steps to the New York City World's Fair. Thankfully today's started at 11am, which meant I didn't had to wake up as early.


We first started at the old village of Dutch Kills, now known as Queens Plaza where our tour guide Andrew Sparberg explained to us the history and uniqueness behind the Queensboro Plaza Station.  We then got on a 7 train and headed over to Flushing Meadows Park, the former site of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World's Fair.  From the subway ride to the walk in the park, our guide gave us all sorts of tidbits and answered all sorts of questions.  To my surprise we didn't stay at the park as long as I thought we would and left rather fast.  We barely got to the Unisphere and turned around after that.


After a brief lunch break we headed back onto the 7 train to 74 St-Roosevelt Ave and transferred to a F train to 71 St-Continental.  At Forest Hills I thought we were just going to talk more about the World's Fair at the station, but actually they arranged a R train to take us around nearby Jamaica Yards before heading back to Bay Ridge.


How was this related to the World's Fair you ask?  Well, our guide mentioned that back during the 1939-40 World's Fair, there was actually shuttle train service to the fair grounds from 71 St-Continental station via the rail yards.  The station at the fairgrounds is now long gone and the right of way and tracks to that station has been almost completely dismantled and taken over by the Van Wyck Expressway.  What remains are the tracks around the rail yards and the tracks leading to and from 71 St-Continental station.

All in all it was another interesting tour filled with stuff I never knew about the World's Fair and Queens in general.  Would've liked it if we walked around more in Flushing Meadows Park, but that private R train ride around Jamaica Yards made up for it!

Go Right

For all those games that you start by walking right, which by the way I didn't realize there were that many!

Made It!

Yesterday the Transit Museum posted their tour and special event schedule for the upcoming summer season and today members got early access to make reservations.

There were the usual nostalgia train rides to Coney Island and Rockaway Beach and tours from previous seasons like visiting the old City Hall Station and a foodie tour.  They are good excursions, but I'm not rushing to sign up to them since I've participated in them in the past.  I'm more interested though in the new events.  There were quite a few new ones, but I quickly jumped on the couple I definitely wanted to join.  There was no time to think about it because I'm sure they were popular and would be full in no time, and by noon I was right.  The tickets were all sold out.

It feels good to have been able to make the list because I'm usually too late at these things.  Always bad timing on my part I suppose.

Yay for me making it, but so much about saving money.

No Driver's License, So What?

Yesterday I was laughed at for not having a driver's license.  While it is somewhat strange for someone at my age to not have a driver's license by now, it's totally not unheard of, especially in cities with a mass transit such as here in New York City.

So what if I don't have a driver's license?  At least I don't have to deal with the trials of car ownership.  Don't have to worry about insurance premiums, find parking in areas that rarely have spaces available, come back to your car to find a ticket, get stuck in vehicle traffic, wash the car that always seem to get dirty so fast, spend time and money at the mechanic whenever the "check engine" light goes on, have friends ask you for chauffer favors and complain endlessly about gas prices.

It's common to get a driver's license, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. 

Wrong Target Audience

Despite several attempts to correct this, CVS still considers me to be a female for some reason. I don't remember checking the "female" when I filled out their ExtraCare Card application.  Besides, couldn't they figure out my sex by looking at my name?  It's not like I have one of those names that can be both.

As a result of this I keep getting discounts to feminine products at the end of my receipt.  It's usually makeup related stuff, but yesterday I got a new one.  Yeah, I think I'm going to pass on this deal.

Since I can't change it, I guess I just have to live with it.  It's actually little funny getting these coupons.  I wonder if it would get to the point that I receive actual feminine product samples in the mail.

Awkward Intro Call

One of the least things I like do is make "cold calls."  Something about phoning a complete stranger to solicit information, or worse: make a proposition or some sort of sales pitch, is extremely off-putting.  I hate it when people do it to me and I hate it even more when I'm forced to do it to others.  The only exceptions I can think when calling strangers are okay are when you request service for some product of theirs you've purchased, like contacting tech support, or when you actually have requested someone to contact you to give you more information.

Anyway, today my dad asked me to give someone he worked with in the past a call to see if there were any new job leads that my dad could partake.  With my dad's limited English ability unfortunately, he could only remember a part of the guy's name.  That's just great.  I never met this guy, know only half of what I think is his name and now I'm suppose to call him and ask "what's up?"

After two tries he picked up and amazingly listened to my whole awkward introduction.  He didn't hang up on me instantly.  Thankfully he was a nice, and patient, guy after I explained the situation to him.

This whole ordeal felt like it took forever, but it actually was done rather quickly.  I guess all that contemplating how to introduce myself to someone my dad knows but not his name made it unnecessarily long.  Like I said before I dislike doing this.  I hope I don't find myself in this scenario again.

Sleepy Rainy Day

With the nonstop rain today, I scrapped any plans involving me going outside and stayed in. To make it even better, I spent a majority of the day napping and doing minimal stuff. The cloudy skies and gentle sound of rain all day make it perfect to do nothing and doze off.  I don't think I have ever slept so much in the course of one day except for the times when I was sick.

Besides the perfect sleepy weather, all this rain should help out the dry spell we had recently that caused all those brush fires earlier.

Power Up in Brooklyn Heights

Today I joined another tour led by the transit museum.  This week was about the electricity of the subway system... the history behind the miles of cables and substations, why you hear a humming sound over the train's PA system sometimes and how everything works to keep the trains running.  Our guide on this tour was once again Robert Lobenstein who led other previous substation related tours.  Since he has work with the power division of the MTA for so many years, he was the perfect guide.  Any electric related questions, this guy can answer!


The tour started off at the Transit Museum where we checked out the new electricity exhibit.  There were a lot hands on stuff that I'm sure kids would love.  They can learn something at the same time too!  After walking through the exhibit it was time to head out to a nearby substation .  Along the way our guide gave us some quick interesting facts about the surrounding Brooklyn Heights neighborhood as a bonus.


We also stopped briefly at this house.  It looks almost like any other brownstone in the area, but it's actually a MTA ventilation station to help keep smoke out of the tunnels.  The reason the facade looks like a brownstone was because so that it can blend in somewhat and not be an obvious eyesore to this fancy and pricey neighborhood.


A few minutes later we reached the substation.  There were no signs on the outside, but it was clear it was a substation because it had the same blocky, gated structure like all the other substations scattered across the city.  Inside were old equipment on display for tours like this and new hi-tech stuff that are actually up and running.  Being the expert that he was, our guide showed us how all the different switches and buttons worked on both the old and new machines.  The mix of machines in the building was a cool way to see how the system has evolved and how much more efficient it has become as electric demand grew.


The tour came to an end at the substation and seeing as how the weather was still nice outside, I decided to walk on down to BoCoCa (the area covering Boreum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens neighborhoods) and hanged out there for the rest of the day.  There was a hipster feeling the air in the area, but it wasn't as bad as Williamsburg.  This area had a yuppie feeling too as I saw numerous people dinning at restaurants with outdoor tables and countless baby strollers going up and down Court St.  Nice place, but I don't know if I'd fit in.

Rigged Toad House

You know, I always had a hunch this was going on.

No to Farmer's Blow!

Am I the only one that is disgusted when someone does a "farmer's blow" on the street?  Other people passing by seemed to be completely unfazed, but I feel sick when I see someone do that.  It's already bad enough when people spit on the streets, but this is a whole new level.

A farmer's blow is when one clears his/her stuffed up nose by covering up one hole with a finger and then using a little force, blow the contents out through the other hole that is open.  The description doesn't sound bad, but when you actually see it in motion, and with the loud snort sounds, it's a rather nasty sight.

Another thing I've noticed is that it's usually Asians I spot committing this dirty act.  Are we so classless that we don't care about the fact that we're in public?  This is not some rural area where you can do this kind of thing randomly in the open and no one would mind.  Then again, I think even in rural areas this is frown upon because it's unhygienic no matter where you are.

For the sake of cleanliness and manners, let's all refrain from doing this in public.  If you absolutely must, could you at the very least blow into a trash can and not shoot your payload onto the street! 

Rolly Mouse

Today was the second time at work where I had my feet under a desk rolling around an object thinking it was a cord but it turned out to be a dead mouse.  The first time I didn't find out until there was a noticeable smell in the room.  This time my coworker noticed the rodent on its side once I got up to get something and yelled out loud when she saw it.

It wasn't a big mouse and was about as thick as three to four cables, so that's why I didn't suspect anything at first.  Thankfully even after being rolled around/rubbed against the floor for a while by my shoe, it was still in one piece and easy to sweep up and dispose of.  If it wasn't I would've had one messy cleanup task ahead of me.

Once in a while I take off my shoes while in the office sitting down, but after these two incidents I think I may need to think twice before doing that.

New Cokes

A McDonald's in Lower Manhattan has set up new high tech drink dispensers that can provide an amazing amount of different drinks from a single small machine.  Among the many drinks available are some Coke flavors I've never had before: orange and raspberry.

Orange Coke tasted like a bitter version of Fanta orange while raspberry Coke was not as bitter, but tasted more like a melon soda than raspberry.  Although both drinks had that same brown color like regular Coke, you could see bits of orange or magenta liquid as it was coming out of the machine and mixing with the Coke.  That was pretty cool seeing the fusion in process.

Both orange and raspberry Cokes are a nice break from the regular Coke we're all familiar with, but they're really not my cup of tea.  They didn't taste as good as I expected.  Maybe I need to drink more to get used to them.  In the meantime though, I welcome potential new flavors of Coke to try out!

Exploring Lower Manhattan

This past weekend I officially kicked off another season of weekend touristy excursions with a brief walking tour of Lower Manhattan hosted by the NYC Transit Museum and led by Suzanne Reisman, the author of the book "Off the Beaten (Subway) Track."  I've been on walking tours of Lower Manhattan before, but I don't mind joining tours covering the same areas because I always learn something new on each tour.


She was a bit quirky at times, but was quite informative with a lot dates.  In the small area we walked, she threw out many history tidbits, especially of Aaron Burr, and did I mention lots of dates?  She was one of more enjoyable tour guides I've had.  I wouldn't mind going on another tour led by her, that is if she had another tour.


After the tour, I continued walking around the Financial District, Battery Park City and TriBeCa by myself.  I find this area most enjoyable during the weekends when all the workers from the numerous business buildings around are off and away.

The Tipping Point

I was invited to attend an event this week, but was on the fence whether I really wanted to go or not.  On one side, people were giving good reviews about this event, though the unusual high number of positive reviews has me doubting the authenticity of some of them.  It was also the last week they'll be in NYC and I would have to wait until next year if I missed it this week.

On the other side though, the starting ticket prices were expensive and it got only steeper from there.  It also wasn't something that was a must-do.  I don't mind seeing it, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't.

What really pushed me over the to the "no, thank you" side was that someone mentioned the event had religious overtones.  With so many things with overtones, I think I find religious ones to be the most irritating.  I like making decisions on my own and on my own pace.  The last thing I need is some overbearing person constantly telling me what I should believe in.

With my decision bow firmly set.  I politely declined, though I didn't really say why.  I found there was no real need.  No is no.

End of the Walmart Card

Today I finally used up my last Walmart gift card with a remaining balance on it.  I've had this card for almost two years now, but because there are no Walmart stores in NYC, I have to travel to Valley Stream out in Long Island where their closest store is.  Thankfully I have a ride to get there, otherwise it's 90+ minutes on the subway and buses.

I could simply order stuff online from their website, but the problem is that I don't want to pay shipping for every little item.  I could've also bought some mp3s from their online music store, but by the time I realize they had such a store, they were already announcing plans to pull out of the mp3 business.  The only option I had left now was to visit one of their brick and mortar stores and buy something.

Getting to a store was only half the problem.  Now I had to figure out what to buy with that remaining balance.  It's wasn't such a small amount that I could've just discarded the card, but there also wasn't enough on it to purchase something big or fancy.  In the end I wound up buying dishwashing liquid and light bulbs.  I don't need them now, but I suppose I'll need them eventually.

Mario Goes Beserk

I guess all those years of saving the princess over and over again from the same guy finally made Mario crack.

Breaking Concentration

Lately these days at work I am constantly interrupted only while in the middle of something.  No one decides to bother me when I'm free.  There aren't any incoming calls either.  When I'm actually working on something though, that's when the phones ring nonstop and the "Can you do me a favor?" all flood in.

I don't mind being kept busy, but all this is making it harder for me to concentrate on my current task on hand. It's annoying when I'm in the middle of calculating something and suddenly from out of nowhere someone taps me on the shoulder saying "Can you do me a favor?", and before the person can finish the phone starts ringing.

I think may need to make a "Do Not Disturb" sign and stick it to the back of my head because the actual sight of me in deep concentration doesn't seem to stop people from interrupting me.

Inside Voices Please!

Recently a client has been coming up to where I work and talk loudly.  Not just slightly louder, but as loud as those folks who scream for some weird reason when taking a call on their cell phone.  It got to the point that everytime he began talking I lost my concentration.

The funny thing is that the guy doesn't talk loud the whole time.  When discussing work matters he'd talk normally.  When the topic switches to one of his hobbies/interests though, he then cranks the volume up tenfold and talk feverishly.  It's fine to be excited when talking about something you like, but do you have to yell?  We're all indoors and in small close quarters, so we can all hear you perfectly fine when you're talking normally.

We gave him subtle hints to lower his voice, but he never got it.  Maybe if we talk to him just as loud he will finally realize how high he's talking?  Then again, I have a feeling if we did that he then would try to speak even louder.

Taking a Chance

Right around the time when I usually get out of work, I received an alert that there were delays on the subway line I take to go home due to signal problems.  In a previous post I stated that I almost always get these type of alerts when it's too late.  Well, today was one of this rare times I received it just in the nick of time.

Some delays you know it's best to think of an alternate route because of the nature of the delay.  This one though is one of the more vague ones.  A signal problem could mean that trains have to pass through that troubled area slowly and hope they don't trip the brakes.  It could also mean that a particular signal is malfunctioning, staying red the whole time and train operators have to override it somehow and pass by it at a snail's pace.  So as you can see, the degree of severity of the signal problem is so vast that it can mean either a couple of minutes delay or standing on a platform for half an hour.

I took my chances with this delay and stuck with my original route.  It turned out not to be a big deal.  In fact, time-wise it felt like the normal commute home.  Whew, I got lucky this time!

Fastrack

This week begins another series of consecutive overnight shutdown of entire sections of subway corridors in Manhattan so a slew of workers can work on several stations at once without having to worry about bypassing trains.  This shutdown is known as Fastrack.  Although a new concept in Manhattan, Brooklynites have experienced this many times before.

In the past, entire sections of the Brighton (Q) Line in Brooklyn have been shut down for the weekend due to various construction reasons.  That's 48 consecutive hours compared to Fastrack's 7 hours 4 nights straight.  During Fastrack, there is parallel train service to replace the train lines out of service.  We don't get this type of luxury when the Q shuts down between Coney Island and Prospect Park.  We get the good ol' shuttle buses.

The MTA may spin it as a new way of doing construction and rehabilitations, but we regular Q train riders can say "Been there, done that."

Peeps Easter

In celebration of Easter, I went out and purchased some Peeps to enjoy for the very first time.  For those that don't know, Peeps are these marshmallow treats shaped in the form of a chick, coated with sugar and sold around Easter time.  It is part of this holiday as much as the Easter bunny and those colored eggs.

>I know what Peeps are, but never actually ate them before.  I don't have anything against marshmallows, but I don't go out of my way to buy some to eat.  Seeing as how people always talk and reminiscence  about these things every year around this time, I finally decided to see myself what the fuss is all about.

Aside from being more sugary than I expected, they're your typical marshmallows.  They taste pretty "meh" to me.  I don't see myself buying anymore Peeps in the foreseeable future.

Another New Printer

After only about a year in operation, it's time to replace my printer at home once again.  This one actually started clunking out much earlier when the wireless printing capability went haywire and later when it couldn't receive incoming faxes at all as well.  The only saving grace about this printer that made me hold out for a new printer for so long was that it allowed printing even when the ink cartridges were low.  Other machines hold your print jobs hostage until you forked over $50+ for a new cartridge.

I already have this new Brother printer ready to replace the outgoing HP.  Judging from the reviews, it seems like a pretty decent machine.  This is also my first black-ink only laser printer purchase.  I'm tired of having to constantly replace color ink cartridges that mysteriously run low even when I rarely used them.  Let's hope this printer lasts longer.

Juice!

Apparently waking up with this is better than orange juice! Lyrics NSFW due to the obvious innuendos.

No More Dalies

Is it just me, or are those daily deals you get in your inbox everyday for the most past irrelevant?

It seems that a majority of the daily deals consist of stuff I'm not interested in like spa trips or facials, or deals for restaurants that even after the discounts they're out of my price range.  There used to be just a handful of sites offering deals which made the emails manageable, but because this business model is easy to replicate, a bunch of companies jumped on the bandwagon when it was hot and there are so many out there now that I lost count.

I thought about unsubscribing from some of them, but I'm afraid I might miss out on something good.  That hasn't happened in the longest of time and I think I should quit holding my breath.  It's time to click on the "unsubscribe" link on the bottom of those emails.

Spam Alternative

While washing the dishes I realized that the luncheon meat I ate for dinner wasn't actually made by the company Spam, but rather some other company I never heard of. I guess I grabbed the wrong can from the shelf in the rush of things earlier.  I'm fine trying out new companies, but with all the recent stories of tainted food, questionable food products like that "pink slime," I'm a little hesitant to try out food from manufacturers I never heard of or no know nothing about their track record.

The can says that this was made in the US, therefore conforming to US food manufacturing standards.  However, there's something funny about the can's overall design that cause me to have some doubt about that "Product of USA" statement.  I can't pinpoint it exactly, but the can looks like something you'd find at 99 cents store... not that there's anything wrong with buying food at a 99 cents store.  It's just that the quality of stuff there is usually not the best.  You get what you paid for.

I think this is one of those incidents where the can was made in the US, but the contents were created somewhere else.  If that's the case, then is true technically, but a bit misleading.

Where's the Common Sense?

You assume people (most people anyway) would have some level common sense, but every now and then you meet someone with such a lack of that it simply renders you speechless.  There is nothing to say except to do a facepalm as they stare at you wondering what's the problem.

I'll forgive the occasional absentmindedness.  However, when it happens so often to the point that I can't help but say "really?", that's where I draw the line.

You think you know someone, but then they throw something out of the left field and prove once again that you should never make assumptions.

No Announcements

Kinda pointless when you get them AFTER waiting forever for the train

Next time I have to remember to check my email for subway service advisories before heading down to the train station.  This is the umpteenth time I walk down to a packed subway station and wait there clueless with everyone else wondering why there's no train.  What makes it worse is that there's no announcement whatsoever.  No announcement of the cause of the delay, no announcement of a reroute, nothing!  We just stand there and stare at the empty tunnel hoping a train will arrive eventually.

I signed up for subway service alerts, but what good are they when I'm underground and can't get them ?  This is where announcements are important.  The MTA staff can probably receive them via their own intranet and relay those messages to us on the platform, but they don't bother making them like I said, so that's not helpful.

It's up to us straphangers to stay on top of sudden service changes and assume they're not going to tell us anything when you're actually waiting for a train on the station platform.

Google Quest!

Google's new innovation is Google Maps 8-bit where users can use Google Maps on their Nintendo system and go various quests as they look up destinations.  It looks like an interesting game!

Before anyone email me, yes I know it's an April Fool's joke.  No need to point out the joke, spoilsport.  To tell you the truth though, I wouldn't mind paying a couple of bucks if there was an actual game like this!