On a positive note...

It has been insanely hot and humid in New York the past few days and LA has very pleasant. I guess this boredom has a bit of an upside.

Death by Boredom

So I'm sitting in a large ballroom listening to some old guy talk about International Accounting standards... I know, everyone is insanely jealous.

Wow, this is boring. So boring that I think I might die. Seriously, the boredom is so severe, death may result. I'm at the back of the room, so I suppose I could sneak out but I haven't at this point.

So, I decided I would write about how boring this is in order to keep on living. Apparently I can only write so much on my Blackberry. More later...

They call Los Angeles the City of Angels...

Hey everyone - I'm in LA this week for a seminar and might not be posting as often as I would like, but I am going to have plenty to write about afterwards. So, I'll post when I can and I'll try to get you all caught up eventually.

I also didn't post on Friday, sorry about that. You might have to re-calibrate your expectations about the frequency of my posting. I'll do my best...Have a great Monday

Is it just me or...

...once the subway is in motion, you probably shouldn't try to maneuver from one end of the train to the other when it's standing room only (i.e. a full train).

This morning I watched a woman get on a the front of the car and after the doors closed, proceeded to walk through all of the people standing on the train in order to reach the very end of the car. I'm standing in my usual spot (with someone behind me no less) and she's trying to squeeze by the two of us while the train is clearly HAULING ASS.

She somehow gets by me and continues on and I watch this lack of courtesy the entire length of the car until she reaches the end. She callously interrupted numerous newspaper skimmings, iPod playlists, (insert your holy book here) reading, catnaps, wandering eyes, and general daydreaming without prejudice.

Once false move by that train and this lady is going flying into someone's Daily News.

I understand that you want to get to a specific spot on the train lady, but can't you wait to make your strategic moves until the train slows down a tad or sneak by while it's in the station? Or perhaps while we stop between two platforms? It's bound to happen! Just a suggestion...

There really should be an etiquette police for the subway. There would be a heirarchy of crimes just like in society but punishment would take the form in reprimands related to the subway. Examples could be: 1) Giving up all rights to empty seats, regardless of the number of people on the train 2) If seating privleges are not revoked, offenders would be required to sit next to obsese people 3) Mandatory sitting adjacent to a offensive (e.g. drunk, smelly) homeless person 4) Mandatory heavy tipping of any enterTRAINment (i.e. mariachi bands, accapela groups, teenage dancers

These are just a few simple suggestions that those at MTA should seriously consider. I think all straphangers would agree with these simple yet practical solutions. Please feel free to share your ideas for how to properly punish subway etiquette offenders.

Much Funnier than the R. Kelly Trial

So you may or may not have heard about the story about a couple of men in a spinning (i.e. indoor cycling) that got into a little fracas. Frankly, I am encouraged that the jury had the sense to find the defendant not guilty. Anyone that has worked out within earshot of a grunter knows how obnoxious it is. This guy went above and beyond just grunting as you can read in the articles below.

The grunter (aka Stuart Sugarman) was given fair warning but insisted on making his outbursts. Our hero (aka Christopher Carter) took it upon himself to make the class safe and idiot-free for his fellow spinners.

This the funniest story I've read about in awhile but it also reinforces the fact that we should not have to tolerate such nuisances in society.


Wrap up of the trial:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/nyregion/03spin.html?ref=fitnessandnutrition


Original article on Dealbreaker. You can find all of their coverage on their website:

http://dealbreaker.com/2007/08/spinning_out_of_control.php

I'll be posting a survey later today to pose a question to related to this story. Also, are there other annoying people (e.g. tone-deaf people who sing in public, slow drivers in the left-hand land, etc.) that deserve a similar fate? Please share your views.

Day Off

Hey everybody, I'm suffering from a major food coma and I'm going to defer to some of the better/more interesting articles that I've read on the web the last few days:

A good example of the crapiness of the federal drug laws:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052702531.html?nav=rss_email/components

A trashy article on Bill Clinton that doesn't name any of the sources:

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/07/clinton200807

The craziness on London's Tube on Sunday evening which was the last legal day to drink alcohol on the Underground:

http://dealbreaker.com/2008/06/facebook_tube_party_that_ended.php

If I muster up something more, you'll know. Happy reading!

Is There an End in Sight?

Am I talking about the Iraq War? The Democratic Nominee process? My splitting headache? No, no, and no.

I'm talking about the ever-present crapiness of flying anywhere within the United States. Since I started flying regularly (around 5 years ago) the process has gone from moderately annoying to a complete abomination.

How bad is it, you ask? Well, you typically have to arrive 2 hours before your flight departs. Then you get seated and if you're lucky enough that no one is in your seat, you still have to deal with no leg-room, a potential obese person and/or crying baby in your row/general area, crappy snacks, smelly bathrooms, recycled oxygen, and (insert your personal unfavorite thing about flying here).

Did I mention that the price of the ticket was a tad costly?

And with any problem, we need to find someone to blame. Terrorists? Easy enough to hate, but no. The price of oil? Again, easy to point the finger at, but no. I for one put the blame solely on the shoulders of the idiots running these companies.

Let's dispel the first two favorite scapegoats:

- Terrorists - Airplanes are a target and we've all accepted the concessions involved in order to keep everyone safe. The American traveler has become accustomed to this.

- Oil - This is a little more complex. Oil is refined into jet fuel. Jet fuel is used to...well, duh. SO the increasing price of oil is taking its toll on the airline industry, just like the American consumer. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Airline companies should be hedging their exposure to the price of the commodities they consume. There's no reason that they couldn't be locking themselves into cheaper fuel prices for 1, 2, 3, however many months into the future in order to control their costs. Any smart company that consumes a commodity (e.g. oil, copper, corn, etc.) that wants to control expenses will lock a price in for future periods to better predict costs regardless of the current price and where it goes into the future. If the price changes dramatically one way or another, the company should adjust accordingly. Good companies hire people to do this FULLTIME.

What does lead us to conclude? The guys running most of these companies are clueless. I don't really have much more to say than that other than flying shouldn't be a loathsome experience but it is. From the moment I purchase the ticket to the second I walk off the jetway, rarely do I feel good about my experience.

I will be flying on Sunday (JFK to LAX no less) and will hopefully have some, either shockingly good news, or typical bad news to share.

I'll share a joke today:

Two muffins are sitting in the oven. One muffin says, "man, is it hot in here?"

The second muffin says, "holy shit! A talking muffin!"