Thursday, July 03, 2008

No Sweat!

Here's a question for the walkers in the audience . On any meaningfully hot day, if you're walking any great distance, chances are you're going to work up a sweat.  It's a work day, you're in your work clothes (or are you?) and you're about to sit in your office for the next 8 hours.  How do you handle it?

Do you even bother to walk once it gets hot out? How hot does it have to get?  Personally I'm not a big fan of the alternate, which is jamming onto a hot and smelly train with a few hundred other hot and smelly people, so it has to be pretty darned hot for me to take that option.

Maybe you wear different clothes for the walk?  One of my coworkers changes into shorts for the walk back and forth, and brings regular work pants in his bag.  We actually just got a stern talking to from the company president recently when people had gotten into the habit of just wearing their shorts all day.  Can't be doing that!

Lately as I arrive at work, the first thing I do is take a swing by the men's room, wet a few paper towels and clean up a bit.  Beats the heck out of sitting in your cube dripping sweat (I know, ewww.)  I keep telling myself to bring a handkerchief with me on the walk, but I keep forgetting.  At least the paper towels you can just throw away. 

It's never a bad idea to keep an extra supply of deodorant in your desk drawer, too.  You know, just in case.

10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas

Sure, in theory the "4 day workweek" is a good thing, but tell my boss that. And I certainly haven't seen a decrease in traffic yet. But in theory, the points are good ones.

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How Are Your Shoes?

If you're like me and you enjoy a nice walk to work, make sure to keep your shoes in good shape.  I found recently that I'd walked one pair down so far that the heel was basically gone.  Do you have any idea how bad that is for your back? 

If you're so inclined, wear the appropriate sneaker-like footwear on your walk across town, and then change at the office.  Personally that's too much trouble for me.  I don't have to wear fancy dress shoes at the office, but I can't get away with sneakers either, so I tend to find any nice comfortable shoe with good support that's comfortable to walk long distances in. You never really know until you take them for a good long hike, though.  I've had pairs that I thought would be great in the shop, only to actually take them for the 25 minute walk and find my feet are killing me.  But after you've done that it's pretty hard to bring them back, so choose as carefully as you can.

Mind Your Muni Manners

http://www.munimanners.com/

As a lifelong East Coast native, it took me a second to figure out what a "muni" is.  I'm assuming some form of public transportation.

As a lifelong Boston native, it took me a second to figure out what "manners" means....

Nah, just kidding.  Manners in Boston basically means not screaming F You! when somebody flips you off at the intersection.

Muni Manners is having none of that, and would like to remind people that there's still room for good old fashioned etiquette in the world, even on public transit.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

A Train That Never Stops

http://www.carectomy.com/index.php/Train/All-Aboard-the-Train-that-Never-Stops

Maybe something you'd see in a sci-fi movie, but certainly not something I'd want to ride.  The general idea is that to get on you board a single car that then gets up to speed and attaches to the oncoming train.  To get off, you'd board the "getting off car" which would detach itself from the train and then slow to a stop at the station.

The most glaring problem would seem to be "What happens when all the people are not on/off the appropriate car when the speeding train comes through?"  When a traditional train stops, the conductors at least attempt to do a sweep of the doors to make sure that everybody is clear.

Monday, June 30, 2008

How Many Hours Do You Have to Work to Fill Your Gas Tank?

CNN put up an "hours to gas" calculator to help you put things in perspective. You're likely to find that an hour or more out of each work week goes straight into the gas tank!

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The 10 Lamest Cars People Think Are Cool But Aren't

The cars on this list are not as cool as people think. There are only a few situations that it's acceptable to drive them. 1.) It's the only car available during a zombie infestation. 2.) It is the car driven by the very drunk person you're trying to take home for sex. 3.) Your regular car was destroyed in a volcano eruption.

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Affordable 150 MPG car coming soon

Only wish it was coming sooner.

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Chrysler To Turn Vehicles Into Wireless Hotspots

People who buy Chrysler vehicles next year will have the option of turning their cars and trucks into wireless Internet hotspots. The wireless Internet will come as a dealer-installed option and will work over cellular telephone links. It will come with a monthly fee which has not yet been determined.But....if I have the option of a cellular link, doesn't that basically get the job done anyway without the wifi?

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13 Things Your Car Mechanic Won't Tell You

Real mechanics give you the inside scoop on the tricks of the trade. A mechanic gave me some wise comment once and I replied, "Dude, I have no idea, that's why I'm the one paying you." Somehow I don't think I got a good deal that day :-/

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ecomodding: Tuning Your Car for 100 MPG

There are all kinds of ways to look at high performance. Times being what they are, a growing number of people think mpg is a lot more important than mph. It's all about a secret subculture called "ecomodding."

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Stingiest Sippers: The 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars in the US

Your leanest and greenest weapons with which to battle the $4 gallon

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10 Easy Hypermile Tricks That Save You Gas

Can you afford not to drive? Most of us depend on cars for some part of our daily lives. By using some easy Hypermile (or fuel efficient driving) tricks you can beat your car’s EPA rating and save some dollars. Here are ten easy things you can do to boost your MPG…

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Used Cars Make A Comeback

Demand for used, fuel-efficient cars is on the rise, driving the prices of these cars up significantly in the past six months

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Low Cost Gas Engine Innovation Doubles Fuel Economy

Revetec, a little known company from the Gold Coast region of Australia, may be on to something huge: they’ve created an engine that is 50% smaller, 50% lighter, has 50% lower emissions and is cheaper to manufacture than a conventional internal combustion engine of the same horsepower.

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Commuters Move Closer to Work

$4 gas prices change behavior and buying patterns

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Thursday, June 19, 2008

Nine Ways To Prevent Job Burnout

Headed for burnout at work? Incorporating these quick and easy healthy habits into your life will help you recharge your batteries.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Summer Streets : Walk Manhattan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/18/travelandtransport.carbonemissions

Here's an interesting idea.  For three weeks in August, a route linking Brooklyn Bridge in the south and the Upper East Side and Central Park in the north will be cleared of all traffic, with the intent being to open it to pedestrians, bike traffic, and so on. 

"If it works, we'll certainly consider doing it again," the mayor said. "If not, we won't. We have never been afraid to try new ideas."

Celtics Win. Oh, Great.

Born and raised in Boston, there's an experience that I will go through tomorrow that we do every few years, that some cities never do.  I'm speaking of the parade for our championship sports team.  In this case it's the Celtics, but it's also been the Patriots and Red Sox in recent memory.

Why is this relevant to a commuting blog?  Because on parade day, thousands upon thousands of very happy sports fans hang out from about noon to watch their team drive by for a few minutes, and then they (the fans, not the players) go hang out for the rest of the day in the bars.  Then, around rush hour, there's a few thousand extra people, many drunk, most tired and wanting to go home, trying to jam into the train.

Having done it several times now, I can honestly say, it's not fun.  Not looking forward to it.  It's not just the crush of people, it's the general attitude of many of them.  Woohoo, our sports team won!  Free excuse to act like an ass!

Not really.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Bumper Sticker Rage

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/17/0148238

The actual study refers to the quantity of "territory markers" - in other words, personalized add-ons like bumper stickers - is a stronger link to road rage than any of the other more typically expected factors.  It is the quantity of items, not the items themselves, that is the biggest indicator.  The more stuff you've branded your car with, the more likely you are to start something.