There were a few references to "the nation's birthday" even though
the actual start of the nation was on March 4, 1789. Up until then,
we had been free and independent states.
Guy Fawkes Day is a similar bonfires-and-fireworks holiday, and
I wondered whether it had undergone a similar shift -- until I
realized that even a yank can recite "I see no reason/why gunpowder treason/should ever be forgot".
An attempted assassination of a king seems an odd thing to celebrate.
I'll be in Buffalo for the NASFiC. I wonder if there's any memorial
or museum to the presidential assassination that happened there.
In article <v67mvb$1hf$1@reader1.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F. >Lynch) wrote:
An attempted assassination of a king seems an odd thing to celebrate.
It was much to do with celebrating the failure of a Catholic plot against
a Protestant monarch.
I'll be in Buffalo for the NASFiC. I wonder if there's any memorial
or museum to the presidential assassination that happened there.
Stephen Sondheim wrote a good song about it.
Orange, actually, since the natural color
of a tortilla is yellow.
I'll be in Buffalo for the NASFiC. I wonder if there's any memorial
or museum to the presidential assassination that happened there.
Keith F. Lynch wrote:
I'll be in Buffalo for the NASFiC. I wonder if there's any memorial
or museum to the presidential assassination that happened there.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/william-mckinley-assassination-plaque
"The site of William McKinley's tragic assassination is only marked by
an underwhelming boulder."
I've also learned that I should have gotten a ticket to the Exchange
Street station, which is less than a mile from the con, not to the
Depew station, which is ten miles away. Sigh.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I've also learned that I should have gotten a ticket to the Exchange
Street station, which is less than a mile from the con, not to the
Depew station, which is ten miles away. Sigh.
That is the main benefit of taking the train, that you can make last-minute changes for little or no added cost. It is only one stop farther on
the empire line.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I've also learned that I should have gotten a ticket to the Exchange
Street station, which is less than a mile from the con, not to the
Depew station, which is ten miles away. Sigh.
That is the main benefit of taking the train, that you can make last-minute changes for little or no added cost. It is only one stop farther on
the empire line.
--scott
On Thu, 18 Jul 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
That is the main benefit of taking the train, that you can
make last-minute changes for little or no added cost. It is
only one stop farther on the empire line.
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a
civilized man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the
beautiful scenery, perhaps a light dinner in the michelin star
restaurang section of the train. After dinner, why not enjoy a
game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized
man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps
a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train.
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized
man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps
a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train. After >dinner, why not enjoy a game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a
civilized man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful
scenery, perhaps a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang
section of the train. After dinner, why not enjoy a game of bridge
with your fellow passengers? ;)
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized >>man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps
a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train. After >>dinner, why not enjoy a game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Sadly much of this does not happen in the US although I will definitely give the trip to Buffalo a thumbs up for beautiful scenery.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized
man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps >> a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train.
I brought my own food, since I know that train food is overpriced. Also, the dining car was closed most of the time.
The scenery is nice, but I can't look at it long without wrecking my neck, since it's always on the same side. The trains were quite full, so I couldn't
change sides every few minutes.
This NASFiC is of course on con standard time, so nothing is going on before 10 am, which is why at the moment I'm wasting my time on the Internet instead of participating.
The hotel has an Internet station, which is nice. But it doesn't have clocks in the sleeping rooms, or exhaust vents in the sleeping rooms' bathrooms.
I did figure out how to get the time from the room's TV. And some rooms
(not mine) face a nearby clock tower.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized
man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps
a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train. After >> dinner, why not enjoy a game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Sadly much of this does not happen in the US although I will definitely give the trip to Buffalo a thumbs up for beautiful scenery.
--scott
D wrote:
On Thu, 18 Jul 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
That is the main benefit of taking the train, that you can
make last-minute changes for little or no added cost. It is
only one stop farther on the empire line.
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a
civilized man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the
beautiful scenery, perhaps a light dinner in the michelin star
restaurang section of the train. After dinner, why not enjoy a
game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Not those sleeper train things though. We all know what happens
on them during the night, the train gets caught in a snow drift
and somebody gets murdered... so they're a dangerous way to
travel.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
Another advantage with the train is that you can travel like a civilized >>> man! The train rolling along, you enjoying the beautiful scenery, perhaps >>> a light dinner in the michelin star restaurang section of the train. After >>> dinner, why not enjoy a game of bridge with your fellow passengers? ;)
Sadly much of this does not happen in the US although I will definitely give >> the trip to Buffalo a thumbs up for beautiful scenery.
The primary problem in the US is that you get to enjoy the scenery for days at a time. My wife and her siblings took a train from Chicago to LA to celebrate her brother's birthday. They really enjoyed it, but they had sleeper cabins that cost around $1k per person (one way). Coach is closer to $200, but I'm too old to spend two days with no bed (and no privacy).
They did say the food was excellent (although not Michelin starred). I'm
not sure if anyone was up for bridge.
Robert
Also, the dining car was closed most of the time.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Also, the dining car was closed most of the time.
I've since realized that this was probably due to the worldwide "CrowdStrike" update oopsie that made nearly all credit card processing stop working.
A couple years ago I realized that KeithLynch.net had stopped accepting all email
from verizon.net users. Last week I learned that gmail.com had stopped accepting
all email from KeithLynch.net.
Our civilization is increasingly fragile. It may be doomed.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Also, the dining car was closed most of the time.
I've since realized that this was probably due to the worldwide "CrowdStrike" update oopsie that made nearly all credit card processing stop working.
A couple years ago I realized that KeithLynch.net had stopped accepting all email
from verizon.net users. Last week I learned that gmail.com had stopped accepting
all email from KeithLynch.net.
Our civilization is increasingly fragile. It may be doomed.
On Fri, 19 Jul 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Sadly much of this does not happen in the US although I will definitely give >> the trip to Buffalo a thumbs up for beautiful scenery.
Well, to be honest, not much in europe as well. ;) The trains run late,
break down, the food is crappy, they are expensive and unreliable. And
this is from a swedish point of view.
There are some exceptions here and there though... like this one:
https://www.blataget.com/sv/history/
If I had the time and opportunity, I would definitely try it!
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I
would like,
because all the Buffalo-to-NYC trains are in the morning in order to accomodate the freight line schedule.... and then wait overnight in
NYC because the two daily trains to my hometown are also scheduled to accomodate the freight lines schedule.
The less said about the food the better.
Everything had to be scheduled well in advance since the Buffalo-NYC leg fills up completely well beforehand.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I
would like,
I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you say hello?
because all the Buffalo-to-NYC trains are in the morning in order to
accomodate the freight line schedule.... and then wait overnight in
NYC because the two daily trains to my hometown are also scheduled to
accomodate the freight lines schedule.
Same here, except that I'm leaving tomorrow morning. That way I can help >with teardown and loading. I just finished demolishing the art show.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I
would like,
I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you say hello?
I did! I shared several elevators with you and always said hello!
because all the Buffalo-to-NYC trains are in the morning in order to
accomodate the freight line schedule.... and then wait overnight in
NYC because the two daily trains to my hometown are also scheduled to
accomodate the freight lines schedule.
Same here, except that I'm leaving tomorrow morning. That way I can help
with teardown and loading. I just finished demolishing the art show.
You have far more choices than I do. You are restricted on when you can
get a train to NYC but once you are there, there are trains along the Northeast Corridor to take you to DC at any time of day or night.
--scott
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jul 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Sadly much of this does not happen in the US although I will definitely give
the trip to Buffalo a thumbs up for beautiful scenery.
Well, to be honest, not much in europe as well. ;) The trains run late,
break down, the food is crappy, they are expensive and unreliable. And
this is from a swedish point of view.
You should try Amtrak. I thought the Swedish trains were excellent, actually. And as a fan of free markets, I would think you would applaud
the fact that SJ now has actual competition on a number of routes. I recently did Stockholm to Valberg on MTRX and I was pretty impressed that
I could just walk in and get a ticket and go.
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I would like,
because all the Buffalo-to-NYC trains are in the morning in order to accomodate the freight line schedule.... and then wait overnight in NYC because the two daily trains to my hometown are also scheduled to accomodate the freight lines schedule. The less said about the food the better. Everything had to be scheduled well in advance since the Buffalo-NYC leg fills up completely well beforehand.
In Europe when the trains are filled up they usually just add more cars on and increase capacity for one trip up and one back. Amtrak does not have enough cars to meet demand as it is, let alone keep spare capacity for
demand peaks. Don't even think about holidays.
--scott
There are some exceptions here and there though... like this one:
https://www.blataget.com/sv/history/
If I had the time and opportunity, I would definitely try it!
Again, I just hope they will allow me to board at the "wrong" Buffalo station, rather than the one the Amtrak website defaulted me to
without
mentioning that there was another one that was actually *in* the city
rather
than in an outer suburb.
There is a small amount of free market, yes, but the tracks are
public, and so is SJ.
Kludge writes:
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I would like,
because all the Buffalo-to-NYC trains are in the morning in order to
accomodate the freight line schedule.... and then wait overnight in NYC
because the two daily trains to my hometown are also scheduled to accomodate >> the freight lines schedule. The less said about the food the better.
Everything had to be scheduled well in advance since the Buffalo-NYC leg
fills up completely well beforehand.
I have now contrasted this and come to the conclusion that despite its >faults, if things in the US are like you say they are, the swedish trains
are way better. Yes, delays and breakdowns, but nothing close to what you >describe.
In Europe when the trains are filled up they usually just add more cars on >> and increase capacity for one trip up and one back. Amtrak does not have
enough cars to meet demand as it is, let alone keep spare capacity for
demand peaks. Don't even think about holidays.
I had no idea that the US system was so bad. Once I took the train from NY
to Boston in autumn and it was a lovely experience, but it must have been
23 years ago. Maybe things worked better then? Or maybe I was just lucky. >Regardless, I enjoyed it!
There are some exceptions here and there though... like this one:
https://www.blataget.com/sv/history/
If I had the time and opportunity, I would definitely try it!
I have now contrasted this and come to the conclusion that despite its
faults, if things in the US are like you say they are, the swedish trains
are way better. Yes, delays and breakdowns, but nothing close to what you
describe.
Most of the issue there is because the tracks are privately held and the
cars and stations are publicly-owned and the organizations don't get
along well. So we get issues from both piled on top of one another.
In Europe when the trains are filled up they usually just add more cars on >>> and increase capacity for one trip up and one back. Amtrak does not have >>> enough cars to meet demand as it is, let alone keep spare capacity for
demand peaks. Don't even think about holidays.
I had no idea that the US system was so bad. Once I took the train from NY >> to Boston in autumn and it was a lovely experience, but it must have been
23 years ago. Maybe things worked better then? Or maybe I was just lucky.
Regardless, I enjoyed it!
I do still like it, and going north-south on the coasts is pretty good.
The good news is that the DC-Boston route is publicly-owned track, so
the trains are usually on time. The problems come when you are coming
from Pittsburgh, say, and get stuck behind a freight train and get
behind schedule. Then when you get into DC to change trains, you miss
the connector. Or my situation, where I am in southern Virginia and
if I can make it to DC in time on the CSX freight tracks, everything is
fine. But if I am late coming into DC then it screws their schedule
up and we wind up waiting behind other passenger trains for a slot to continue north.
So general rule is north-south is good and east-west is bad.
Amtrak buys trains from Europe but because the tracks are graded and configured for freight, they wind up having to pay a lot for design modifications to accomodate the tracks. Those modifications do not
always perform as planned. The freight companies have no motivation
to change their tracks for passenger service.
There are some exceptions here and there though... like this one:
https://www.blataget.com/sv/history/
If I had the time and opportunity, I would definitely try it!
We do have a few historic railways in the US, all privately owned and
some of which have some pretty peculiar rolling stock. This looks like
a fun trip though!
--scott
In article <d52824f2-a579-119d-fac4-85c645f3d5c9@example.net>, nospam@example.net (D) wrote:
There is a small amount of free market, yes, but the tracks are
public, and so is SJ.
The new government in the UK announced in the King's speech last week
that they are planning to re-nationalise the railways. Let's see how
that goes.
Privatising industries in the UK seems to have always been about making
more money for the very rich and not for giving a service. The
water-supply industry is much in the news lately for how the companies
have been fined huge amounts for discharging sewage into the rivers and
yet still giving their executives huge bonuses.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than I
would like,
I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you say hello?
I did! I shared several elevators with you and always said hello!
Sweden has a mixed track record of privatization. TV, phones and
pharmacies are roaring success stories!
Being moderately face-blind myself, I'm not going to laugh at the
running gag.
I used to work for the National Grid, originally part of nationalised electricity generation and supply industry. National Grid ran the electricity distribution part of the grid: the substations, overhead
lines and towers - never call them pylons. In the rail companies, there
was Railtrack which ran the railway infrastructure. In 2001 it ran into financial difficulties and was replaced by a government-owned company.
On 7/23/24 6:58 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
I used to work for the National Grid, originally part of nationalised
electricity generation and supply industry. National Grid ran the
electricity distribution part of the grid: the substations, overhead
lines and towers - never call them pylons. In the rail companies, there
was Railtrack which ran the railway infrastructure. In 2001 it ran into
financial difficulties and was replaced by a government-owned company.
There's a National Grid in the US which supplies electricity. No idea if it's related.
In article <a55f05b3-e580-eb1f-e9c4-8d9eaa6e6fb2@example.net>, nospam@example.net (D) wrote:
If memory serves, I think that sweden has a different track width
compared with the rest of europe. This makes international travel with
train from sweden to europe a bit more painful, since you need to
change
in denmark. But this could be something I've dreamed. I'd say I'm 60%
sure.
Certainly, the three times I've travelled to Stockholm, I've had to
change trains in Copenhagen, but no great difficulty.
Alas, the last time, going the Helsinki Worldcon, the train from Hamburg
to Copenhagen was delayed and I spent a couple of hours on Malmo station. Then, coming back I again missed a connection at Copenhagen and the next train didn't leave until about 23:00. I got into Hamburg about five in
the morning, it was just getting light but my hotel had kept my
reservation open, so I got some sleep before my train to Cologne.
There's a National Grid in the US which supplies electricity. No idea
if it's related.
Another nice stockholm/helsinki option is to take the ferry. Very
cheap, and good price on food and alcohol too due to some weird legal
EU exception.
In article <6fd963b2-ed0e-e10d-01a5-046b14806299@example.net>, nospam@example.net (D) wrote:
Another nice stockholm/helsinki option is to take the ferry. Very
cheap, and good price on food and alcohol too due to some weird legal
EU exception.
Well, yes, that's what I did. London to Cologne, Cologne to Hamburg,
Hamburg to Stockholm, Stockholm to Helsinki.
Nice trip, but my cabin was below the car deck and I'm sure they were
rolling around above during the night. When I got to my hotel room, I
spent a couple of hours sleeping. (Finnish hotel room curtains are very
good at blacking out the light.)
Again, I just hope they will allow me to board at the "wrong"
Buffalo station, rather than the one the Amtrak website defaulted me
to without mentioning that there was another one that was actually
*in* the city rather than in an outer suburb.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:...
Again, I just hope they will allow me to board at the "wrong"
Buffalo station, rather than the one the Amtrak website defaulted me
to without mentioning that there was another one that was actually
*in* the city rather than in an outer suburb.
I left the con hotel on foot for the Exchange Street Station at 7:30
Any suggestions who I should complain to about the door guard not
letting me in, and what I should ask them for? Or does anyone think
I was treated reasonably? Thanks.
Sorry to hear that. Oh yes, due to the very bright summers, good
curtains are essential up north!
In article <9e418bfd-d6be-23de-4401-8ecacedce380@example.net>, nospam@example.net (D) wrote:
Sorry to hear that. Oh yes, due to the very bright summers, good
curtains are essential up north!
I grew up in the north of England and according to the internet, the
latest sunset in Newton Aycliffe this year was 21:46. (In comparison,
here in Guildford it was 21:22.)
Helsinki this year, sunset 22:50. I went to Archipelacon in Mariehamn
back in June 2015. Mariehamn is on the Aland islands, a good way west of Helsinki. I remember walking back to my hotel around eleven o'clock at
night and the sun was in my eyes.
In article <6fd963b2-ed0e-e10d-01a5-046b14806299@example.net>, >nospam@example.net (D) wrote:
Another nice stockholm/helsinki option is to take the ferry. Very
cheap, and good price on food and alcohol too due to some weird legal
EU exception.
Well, yes, that's what I did. London to Cologne, Cologne to Hamburg,
Hamburg to Stockholm, Stockholm to Helsinki.
The train arrived at Penn Station at 6:45, having taken nearly ten
hours for a trip that never left the state of New York. Since it was
still daylight and I had plenty of time before my next train, I walked
to Times Square. On the way, I noticed a Macy's. I checked what
street it's on. Sure enough it was on 34th Street, just like in the
77 year old movie. I went inside and looked around, but it didn't
seem to sell anything but clothing.
Times Square felt like I had walked into a website without using an
ad blocker. I was able to confirm that it's a myth that that narrow
building with all the advertising screens is otherwise empty. I don't
know what may be upstairs, but the ground floor has an Olive Garden >restaurant.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
The train arrived at Penn Station at 6:45, having taken nearly ten
hours for a trip that never left the state of New York. Since it was
still daylight and I had plenty of time before my next train, I walked
to Times Square. On the way, I noticed a Macy's. I checked what
street it's on. Sure enough it was on 34th Street, just like in the
77 year old movie. I went inside and looked around, but it didn't
seem to sell anything but clothing.
Did you take the wooden escalator? It is worth the visit.
Did you take the wooden escalator? It is worth the visit.
On Mon, 22 Jul 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Amtrak buys trains from Europe but because the tracks are graded and
configured for freight, they wind up having to pay a lot for design
modifications to accomodate the tracks. Those modifications do not
always perform as planned. The freight companies have no motivation
to change their tracks for passenger service.
If memory serves, I think that sweden has a different track width
compared with the rest of europe. This makes international travel with
train from sweden to europe a bit more painful, since you need to change
in denmark. But this could be something I've dreamed. I'd say I'm 60%
sure.
On 7/23/24 6:58 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
I used to work for the National Grid, originally part of nationalised
electricity generation and supply industry. National Grid ran the
electricity distribution part of the grid: the substations, overhead
lines and towers - never call them pylons. In the rail companies, there
was Railtrack which ran the railway infrastructure. In 2001 it ran into
financial difficulties and was replaced by a government-owned company.
There's a National Grid in the US which supplies electricity. No idea if
it's related.
On 7/23/2024 6:40 AM, Gary McGath wrote:
On 7/23/24 6:58 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
I used to work for the National Grid, originally part of nationalised
electricity generation and supply industry. National Grid ran the
electricity distribution part of the grid: the substations, overhead
lines and towers - never call them pylons. In the rail companies, there >>> was Railtrack which ran the railway infrastructure. In 2001 it ran into >>> financial difficulties and was replaced by a government-owned company.
There's a National Grid in the US which supplies electricity. No idea
if it's related.
I've heard that there are three national level electricity grids in the
U.S., East of the Rockies, West of the the Rockies, and Texas, I don't
know whether any of them are called "The National Grid".
The word "national" occurs in many business names in the US, and it
denotes only ambition, not size or distribution. The US power
supplier National Grid operates only in the Northeast.
On 7/23/2024 6:40 AM, Gary McGath wrote:
On 7/23/24 6:58 AM, Paul Dormer wrote:
I used to work for the National Grid, originally part of nationalised
electricity generation and supply industry. National Grid ran the
electricity distribution part of the grid: the substations, overhead
lines and towers - never call them pylons. In the rail companies, there >>> was Railtrack which ran the railway infrastructure. In 2001 it ran into >>> financial difficulties and was replaced by a government-owned company.
There's a National Grid in the US which supplies electricity. No idea if
it's related.
I've heard that there are three national level electricity grids in the
U.S., East of the Rockies, West of the the Rockies, and Texas, I don't
know whether any of them are called "The National Grid".
On one occasion, a grid high-up got in a taxi and asked for the
National Grid.
"Do you want the main one in Wokingham?" he was asked, "Or the
secret one no-one knows about?"
Scott Dorsey wrote:
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Contrast this with my leaving Buffalo NY today much earlier than
I would like,
I didn't know you were here. Why didn't you say hello?
I did! I shared several elevators with you and always said hello!
This has been a running gag in real life over multiple cons.
Somehow Keith has a blind spot for your face, I guess. Early in the
con I ran into Keith and you a few minutes apart and asked if he'd
recognized you, and you said he didn't.
Being moderately face-blind myself, I'm not going to laugh at the
running gag.
1. How come you don't have a phone, and how do you overcome the
difficulties that creates?
I don't have a smart phone but I do have a regular phone and it does
create problems for me. I either suffer through it, or find someone
with a smart phone who can help me.
2. Do you always read the print newspaper?
3. How do you live without an ID?
As for the guard I suspect there is nothing legal you can do. But
if you have the time and energy I guess you could always write a
complaint to the station and ask that they teach their guards to
be more civilized. In my opinion, people who are drawn to that
profession enjoy bullying people, so I wouldn't get my hopes up.
The word "national" occurs in many business names in the US, and it
denotes only ambition, not size or distribution. The US power supplier >National Grid operates only in the Northeast.
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
1. How come you don't have a phone, and how do you overcome the
difficulties that creates?
I do have a phone. It's a landline. I've had the same physical phone
and the same phone number since the '70s. (It started as C&P, then
Bell Atlantic, then Verizon, and is now MagicJack, a VOIP, over Cox
cable.) I removed the bell decades ago because I was being driven
insane by telemarketers and scammers. But callers can leave a message.
Or, better yet, just email me.
Digression: One of the president's official duties is to ensure that
federal laws are enforced. If either major-party candidate were to
say that they're ordering the FTC and the FCC to make enforcing the do-not-call list their top priority, and if the volume of illegal
calls doesn't drop by a factor of 2 within 6 months and by a factor of
4 within a year, that they will fire everyone in both agencies that
they have the power to fire, I believe that candidate will win a few
million more votes, which is probably enough to make a difference in
who wins.
Unsolicited phone calls aren't the worst federal crimes but they are
by far the most common. Everyone is a victim multiple times per day
unless they greatly rearrange their life to avoid it. I know someone
who had to quit a lucrative job because it required them to answer
their phone at all hours. They were unable to get eight consecutive
hours of sleep thanks to scammers.
I read a recent case in which an enormously expensive mountain rescue expedition was mounted. It turned out the climber was fine; he just
wasn't answering his cell phone as he didn't recognize the number so
he figured it was yet another crook.
I don't have a smart phone but I do have a regular phone and it does
create problems for me. I either suffer through it, or find someone
with a smart phone who can help me.
I've never had a cell phone. Those things are expensive to buy,
expensive to buy service for, fragile, and quickly go obsolete,
requiring purchase of a new one. They are tracking devices which can
put me near a crime scene but which can't put me far away from a crime
scene since I could have loaned it to a friend.
I seldom travel. So far in 2024 I've been away from home only three
times, not counting short trips on foot. When I am on foot I'm always
at risk of being caught in a downpour, which might ruin a cell phone.
My main complaint about my return was my not being allowed in Union
Station, as I urgently needed to use a toilet. A cell phone wouldn't
have helped.
2. Do you always read the print newspaper?
My brother subscribes to the Washington Post, so I read it too.
3. How do you live without an ID?
Not by choice. Like millions of Americans, I don't have the papers to
get the papers. When Virginia was debating requiring ID for voting,
the Washington Post estimated that that would disenfranchise half a
million Virginians.
Ten years ago I moved out of the increasingly expensive, run down, and hostile apartment I had live in for 35 years. I rented a room from a
friend. One year ago I moved again, moving in with my with brother.
So for the past ten years my living situation has been too informal
for me to have the required "primary proof of Virginia residency."
The word "undocumented" has been redefined as a synonym for what
we're no longer allowed to call "illegal aliens," thus defining the
far greater number of undocumented US citizens out of existence.
Similarly, the replacement of "ex-convict" with "ex-offender" has
defined the falsely convicted out of existence. How am I supposed
to honestly answer the question as to whether I'm an ex-offender?
They've been gradually requiring ID for more and more things while simultaneously making it more and more difficult to get.
In the news recently, David O'Connor, a Tennessee man, a veteran and a trucker, attempted to renew his license as a new "Real ID." (Previous licenses were fake IDs?) He was told he didn't qualify, as his birth certificate was from Canada, and that's not in the short official
list, even though people born in Canada of US parents, as he was, and
as Ted Cruz was, are US citizens and always have been. So he was
stripped of his license and his ID.
We live in interesting times.
As for the guard I suspect there is nothing legal you can do. But
if you have the time and energy I guess you could always write a
complaint to the station and ask that they teach their guards to
be more civilized. In my opinion, people who are drawn to that
profession enjoy bullying people, so I wouldn't get my hopes up.
I have no idea whether the guard was breaking the rules. If not, it
is the rules that should change. It's called "Union" Station because
it's for users of *all* railroads. Yes, even Metrorail passengers
like me. Especially if we're in the midst of a mostly-Amtrak trip.
Coincidentally, a couple days ago Union Station increased security
because of nearby anti-Israel demonstrators, who were causing lots
of vandalism. Lots of passengers missed their trains.
Thank you very much. Very interesting read!
Scott may have said hello to me any number of times, as lots of people
do, but if so it was without introducing himself by name. With my
poor eyesight, I can't usually read name badges without getting
awkwardly close. And half the time the name badges are turned
backwards anyway.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Scott may have said hello to me any number of times, as lots of people
do, but if so it was without introducing himself by name. With my
poor eyesight, I can't usually read name badges without getting
awkwardly close. And half the time the name badges are turned
backwards anyway.
I'm the guy with long white hair and the Helsinki T-shirt on Saturday.
Or a "75 years of audio engineering" shirt on Sunday. I have known
you for thirty years now.
On 7/27/24 8:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Scott may have said hello to me any number of times, as lots of people
do, but if so it was without introducing himself by name. With my
poor eyesight, I can't usually read name badges without getting
awkwardly close. And half the time the name badges are turned
backwards anyway.
I'm the guy with long white hair and the Helsinki T-shirt on Saturday.
Or a "75 years of audio engineering" shirt on Sunday. I have known
you for thirty years now.
It wasn't white 30 years ago. How are people supposed to recognize you
if you keep changing?
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