The Return Of Mechasmack

Whoa, it's been forever! But recent events on the train have inspired me to write.

First of all, what is up with the new announcements on the CTA trains these days?

Do not attempt to board this train! Doors are closing!

Yeah right, like we're gonna wait for the next train. Now I understand this is the CTA's reaction to the unfortunate incident a few months ago where a baby stroller was dragged along the platform after being caught in the doors. But I feel like this is an overreaction. And because the train operator is the one making the announcement, it comes across like a crotchety old man yelling at you to get off his lawn. The trains barely stop long enough for people to get off and on as it is, do we really need someone barking at us to not even attempt to get on the train that is right in front of you because they're ready to go?

Last night, I was riding the train home and sitting near two women who were having a conversation about their workplace. I wasn't eavesdropping, but it's hard to ignore a conversation when the people involved are speaking loudly and perhaps the only ones talking. I don't really remember most of the conversation but one thing that struck me as amusing was when one of the women was talking about a co-worker who was "African-American" she lowered her voice. She didn't say anything disparaging about this person, but I got the impression that she was nervous about saying "African-American" too loudly in front of me, like she was talking about me or something.

I feel like we've gotten too sensitive about stuff like this. First of all, I don't even like the term African-American. I know somebody at some point thought it sounded more respectful but it's probably just an insult to Africans. I'm sure many them would not consider Black Americans to be anything like the people of Africa. It's two complete different cultures. Actually more than two, because Africa is not a country, it's a big ass continent. In addition, using the term can lead to confusion. Once, someone in conversation referred to someone she had met from London as African American. I just laughed when she said it and told her that he was not African American. She was confused and stated that he was and I had to remind her than he was English, not American.

So from now on people, just say Black. And capitalize that shit when you write it. And maybe even pump your fist in the air when you say it, but not in a Jersey Shore way. :p

30 Rock continues to crack me up. The last episode had an appearance by Tracy Jordan's son, who is filarious. I just found this clip on Funny Or Die. Enjoy.

I'm sure I've bitched about this before, but it something that gets me slightly riled up every few months or so.

Women need to learn to hold the door for people behind them!!

I'm not asking for anyone to go out of their way to be nice to me. I'm certainly not asking women to be chivalrous. I'm just asking for a little common courtesy. Maybe it's their parents' fault. When I was a child, my parents taught me that it's polite to notice if someone is entering a door behind you and to hold the door for them. This seems to be an accepted practice here in the United States of America. It's really not that hard to be somewhat aware of your surroundings, especially in public places during your commute to work. You just got off a train with about 50 other people. Maybe one of them is walking about 3 feet behind you and would appreciate not having a door slam in their face. And it's even worse when the person in front of YOU holds the door and you just slide through without even holding it for yourself.

Now I know that it's not only women that do this. It's just mostly women. Perhaps it's because men are taught to be gentlemen and ladies sort of expect to have doors held open for them but don't think about holding doors for anyone else. In any case we could all try to be a little more considerate to our neighbors.

Steve Jobs decided to skip MacWorld yesterday. There's all this talk about his failing health. IMHO, that's his business and people need to respect his privacy. And people need to start getting ready for Apple without Jobs at the helm. Yes, he's become the icon of innovation for the company, but he can't do it forever unless they're working on a Steve Jobs android.

So let the bitching continue!! Apple caved in to the record companies' demand for variable pricing for tracks on iTunes. In return we get DRM-free music. Coolz!! But what about all the stuff I already bought from iTunes with DRM on it you ask? Oh, you can get it de-DRM-ed, but it's gonna cost you. 30 cents per track. So they're charging us again for something we already paid for? And if that's not shitty enough, you can't do it for individual songs. It's all or nothing. So that would cost me about $480. Yeah right.

I have a feeling I'm going to find something to bitch about all week.

Today was the first day I rode the train since before Christmas. And in addition to the bright new lights at the stop near me, I got the sticker shock. The price went up by 50 cents. That's an extra $20 a month!! In these hard economic times I need to be saving as much money as I can for beer!

What the hell is up with all the loading zones on North Avenue near Milwaukee and Damen?

One thing I have always enjoyed about the Bucktown / Wicker Park area was the bounty of places to shop and hang out at night. And you could usually find a parking spot within two blocks of the activity. In the past couple of years the entire neighborhood has changed and it's almost become Lincoln Park West. That in itself isn't so bad, but now there's a new pain in the ass - Loading Zones.

You used to be able to find a spot on North Ave without searching too much but now it seems a third of strip from Ashland to Damen is loading zones. All these places have valet parking now, which is nice, but they cut out way too many legitimate parking spots to facilitate this. Last night I had to pass up a ton of open spaces because they were loading zones until 10pm. WTF? And after I finally found an open meter, I encountered two women who were confused through no fault of their own as they couldn't figure out if the spot where they parked was legal or not because there were three parking signs that seemed to indicate you couldn't park there anytime but luckily there was a 12 foot length of curb was it was ok. Lucky for them.

My car is making noises anyway. Maybe I should just give it up and join the hipsters on their bikes.

I know this is old but I'm impressed with how well it syncs.