Amtrak blues

Amtrak is a rip-off and their on=line reservation system is outdated! I thought that these days computers were supposed to be one (or was it two) steps ahead of humans. Well, I found out otherwise, this morning at the Princeton Junction, NJ train station. For some reason, as I was making my reservation last night( for an absurdly over-priced ticket for the2.5 hour journey), they let me make a reservation for the exact date that I had selected. So far so good. This morning when I get to the train at the crack of dawn (the cheapest tickets are always that those which you sacrifice precious sleep) and the disgruntled New Jersey Transit lady says she doesn’t know anything about Amtrak and that there probably isn’t a train today because it is a holiday. I looked at her as if she was growing a 2nd head and barely kept myself from throttling her. What do you mean there are no trains! I promptly called Amtrak and yes, they verified the disgruntled NJ Transit lady’s story. The only train that I could get was out of Trenton, for 20 bones more. Well, by this point, I was already averse to taking the Chinatown bus back…I mean it’s like trying to decide to between a long stretch limousine and a beat up ’76 Chevy. The choice is obvious…right? The seemingly obvious choice still took quite a bit of rationalizing on my part. I did the cost breakdown as well as the time saved by taking the train. The numbers don’t really add up or paint a picture of “highest bang for my buck”. In the end, what won was the idea of getting home 4 hours earlier, sitting in nice reclining chairs with tons of leg room, no traffic, an empty seat next to me, no Chinese language film, no traffic, nice reclining chairs, tons of leg room, no traffic…as you can see, I am still trying to convince myself, even as I sit on the train, with lots of leg room, an empty seat next to me, no traffic, and no Chinese film – typing this entry. Oh yeah, and there is a gorgeous view of the countryside. In the end, Amtrak got me because I really had no other easy option. You see Amtrak doesn’t win people over by its service; they win people over by making you feel desperate. Honestly, the options (Chinatown and Greyhound) don’t even compare. There is no point in comparing – it is not apples to apples, like I said, it is like comparing a long stretch limo to a ’76 Chevy. The choice is quite obvious. On that note, since I am not eager to claim membership to the “Amtrak Club”, the Chinatown bus people are just as cordial as the Amtrak people, if not more so – and that is not saying much. Oh yeah, one last note: the Chinatown on-line scheduling is much more reliable than that of Amtrak…you see those Chinatown transportation business people could show the Amtrak people a thing or two about business!

8/23/2007

Good evening to all....What a crazy summer! Immigration reform is at a halt...the Democrats need to step up their game...and Reverend Jesse Jackson unofficially endorsed Senator Obama! You heard it here first (well, maybe not first but close enough.)

Aaaahhhh, the upcoming primaries. Who has your virtual vote? Need some help deciding? You should check YouTube's coverage. Some of it is informative and some is quite interesting.

On another note, I am reading "The World is Flat 3.0". Friedman, makes some interesting points, nothing earth shattering. He is just able to put in text what most of us are already thinking. He does make some assinine comments, which for me, take away from anything intelligent he may have been trying to say. Just to offer up an example, when writing about developing countries, he flippantly refers to them as "backwards" and their "backwards" ways. I mean really?!?!? Who says that nowadays? I guess he caught me off guard, much like the time all of those people creeped out of middle America and elected our ferret-like leader.

There are many things swimming around in my mind at the moment, but systems are shutting down quickly...I will have to write more when they are up and running once again.

ciao