Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/22/city-hall-station/
A 6 train pulls through the loop at the abandoned City Hall subway station.
Back in May I joined a New York Transit Museum tour of the abandoned City Hall station. This was the original Southern terminus of the Lexington Ave line, built on the loop underneath City Hall where trains would turn around and head back North. It was abandoned before long for several reasons, including the proximity of the Express station built at nearby Chambers St when the system was expanded, and also because when the trains moved to having middle doors, the gap on the curved platform became all the more dangerous. Lastly, it is impossible to lengthen this curving station to accommodate the longer trains run on the contemporary New York subway.
There was a plan to move the New York Transit Museum here, but folks became skittish of opening a subway museum beneath City Hall after 9/11.
You can get a quick glimpse of the station by hopping on a southbound Lexington local train at Chambers St. Our tour began at Chambers St, where we boarded the front car of a train ready to enter the loop and were dropped off by MTA staff at the station to take pictures. It was a bit dark for my camera, it is more compelling as a legend than it is in person.
Update: A very similar photo take in 1903.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/21/adorable-panhandler/
We all gotta eat!
New York City is full of hustlers. Some prey on tourists. Here, a tree-dwelling Manhattanite offers two backpacker girls some novel photographs and an adorable memory, in exchange for cookies. Of course, a shrewd Brooklynite like myself is not above taking quick advantage of the situation for his own cute photograph, but then the squirrels and I have an understanding.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/20/maxwell-will-eff-you-up/
Back in Brooklyn, Maxwell was ready to brawl. He has mellowed some in California.
A color-enhanced Maxwell from May, done in the style of the earlier photo of Maggie.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/19/brick-giants/
Stuyvesant Town, as viewed from the Brooklyn Bridge.
A photo I took from the Brooklyn Bridge last May. I cropped in on these buildings, did a color enhance and then “sharpen” to help bring out the feeling of the masonry.
Thanks, Jenny, for identifying these buildings as belonging to Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/18/climate-best-by-government-test/
Climate Best by Government Test
I have always been pleased by the delicious absurdity that some dull San Mateo suburb saw fit to immortalize a government report saying that, if nothing else, the weather in Redwood City is close to perfect.
I shot this out the window of Caltrain on a rainy day.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/17/facebook-cookbook/
Books of dubious value.
Technical professionals have long known to go for “the animal books” from O’Reilly Publishing.
At first I’m like “why do we need a book for Face . . . ooooohhhhh right, Apps!” I like that blogging is a bunch of cute-looking wild cats stumbling over each other, and somebody wrote a book on Skype because hey these things are better in threes, right?
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/16/pink/
A tree blossoms at the light rail station.
This photo was taken on a beautiful day earlier this week. It has since begun raining again.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/15/valentine-pie/
For Valentine's Day, Mei baked me an apple pie.
I made pork chops, Mei baked an apple pie. A nice pairing.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/14/mandala/
A large mandala in the sand at Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
Castles made of sand.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/13/sf-fire-truck/
Some firefighters look over their truck on a sunny Saturday.
We had some errands to run in the city this weekend. I also spent a little time hunting the 38-Geary buses to photograph their destination signs.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/12/maggie/
My Alarm Clock
Maggie runs the house. She declares when it is breakfast time, time to go outside, and time to eat dinner.
I named her Maggie for the Simpsons character who is small and doesn’t speak. Usually she has an adorable silent meow. But when she is excited to receive her meal, she does an impressive monkey imitation.
I did another of her feline companion, Maxwell.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/11/38-geary/
A 38 Geary Muni bus, bound for 48th Ave
This evening Mei and I ran up to San Francisco to dine with her sister at a French restaurant on Geary. While waiting for dessert I took a peek at my e-mail and there was a message from an acquaintance who is a transit consultant in Australia, who wanted to double-check a claim he was making about the destination sign for the 38 Geary bus.
As we waited to pay the bill, I borrowed Mei’s camera and stepped out to the street, and there was a Geary bus! But I was too slow on the draw. Alas, the transit consultant was thinking about one of Muni’s most frequent lines, and another bus was right behind.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/10/look-both-ways/
Mountain View VTA Light Rail Station
Today, all eyes are on Egypt. This morning it sounded as if Mubarak would be removed from power, and I felt a euphoria at all the times in my life when I have pumped my fist in the air and chanted with the crowd that “The People–United–Will Never Be Defeated!”
At lunch, we watched the captions on the TV as Mubarak spoke, and said he wasn’t resigning. I have work to do but I have Al Jazeera on in my headphones.
It felt like today could be one of those days when the people triumphed. Not today, but soon.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/09/boy-toys/
A lego train, a polar bear, and two squirrels. Things I've loved since I was small.
Late in the day and I have no photo. Looking across the living room and I like the result. The lego train is a gift of Mei, and I’m pretty sure all three stuffed animals are from Grandma. Polar bears, squirrels, and trains have long been favorites of mine.
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Link:
https://dannyman.toldme.com/2011/02/08/comcast-hijinks/
So, one of my peeves is companies that charge new customers a lower rate, and then raise the rate after you have had them for a while. I think it is really weird that loyal customers are charged more than new customers. For example, I signed up for basic cable service with Comcast at $60/mo, but paid the introductory rate of $30/mo, which is about the most I’m inclined to pay for monthly television. (And I’m only willing to pay that much because I prefer to live with someone who likes TV.)
Anyway, my rate recently went up to, as best I can tell: $45/mo for the next six months, after which it will go up to $60/mo. “Homie don’t play dat.” So I called them and explained that I was only going to pay them $30/mo, either through them or DirecTV, which both offer new customers $30/mo. They transferred me to some other lady that said that it was $45/mo or bust unless I wanted the cheaper $30/mo package but no more Bravo. I said I’d check with my sweetheart and the lady on the phone said “okay, $30 package for you.”
Not sure if we have Bravo or not, I looked online. Aside from pirating shows, which is inconvenient for the non-techy sweetheart and the old analog television, Amazon.com offers “Top Chef” and “Project Runway” which is what we watch on Bravo, for $2/episode. If both shows are running then we’d pay $16 in a month, otherwise . . . ah and yes, Amazon on-demand service pipes straight through the TiVo: no technical expertise or computer connections required!
So, I think I’m paying Comcast $30/mo now, and if I don’t have Bravo then I’m purchasing shows a la carte. Vivé consumer empowerment!
Update: Comcast got in touch with me due to this post, and switched me back to the six-month $30 rate that includes Bravo. Thanks, Comcast! I guess I’ll have to blog about this again in August.
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