Always remember, when you are feeling down, and things aren't breaking your way, you can always count on the MTA ... to kick you in the teeth to boot. This entire week I've left the house at different times of the morning. And yet, every day witout fail, I just miss the bus that goes to the train station. It's the same routine every time. I'm waiting at the red light, the bus pulls up across the street, lets people off and takes people on, and then drive away just before the light change, just in time to catch the other light change cycle and be 4 blocks away before I've even finished crossing the street. I've caught the bus on plenty of occassions. NOT ONCE has it ever pulled up, and let me on, BEFORE THE LIGHT CHANGE. NEVER. NADA. HAS NEVER HAPPENNED. But half the time (not just this week) I'm across the street waiting for the light change so I can catch the bus, it manages to drive away before I even get the chance to cross the street. So, while it is nice to live in a city that has mass transportation, and it is nice to be able to get about without a car, and it is really nice that it's good for the enviroment and all; you just can't forget it is, essentially, a luxury which cannot be counted upon to perform reliably when you need it to the most. For that, you'd be better off buying a car. :: I take a lot of pictures with my digital camera. At last count, nearly 4,000 within 1.75 years. I've pretty much lost all self restraint. And I have no editing skills, because 90% of my pictures are pure crap. But I like to take pictures, and this saves me the hassle of dealing with film. The reason I bring this up is because we were having a birthday celebration for a coworker of ours. I made a comment on how I wish I had brought my camera to capture the moment. Upon which a co-worker asked why I take so many pictures and what possible reason did I have for such a compulsive hobby. This same co-worker is a graduate art school alumnus, who has a workshop in his house dedicated to his creation of interactive multimedia sculpture. I gave him a piece of birthday cake and moved on to another conversation.