The Day the Music Died

Today, Feb 3, marks 50 years since that a sudden plane crash took the lives of 3 Rock n Roll up-and-comers, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. Don McClean's "American Pie" goes on that this was the day the 'music died' and how it influenced an entire generation.

Well, there's a great article here about how the music didn't die, but instead Holly's influence lives on.

----

In other news, those of you paying attention know that Skank, SHEAm, and I routinely ride the 42/43 bus line for our morning/evening commute. Well, apparently we're in somewhat famous company. MSNBC reported yesterday (yes, from that plump pumpkin of a commentator, Keith Olberman. I know, I don't usually like him either...) that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld attempted to board a crowded 42 last week, just north of Dupont Circle. Instead of boarding he was booed by passengers and told that the bus was too crowded to accommodate him. He reportedly walked instead.

I have personally seen Rummy on 3 occasions in the past few months, sometimes in the Dupont area and sometimes in the Golden Triange south of Dupont. Have you seen Rummy recently??
We are going to start a Rum-Sighting series here on Connetiquette. Email or post anytime you see Rummy!!

----

In Cabinet news, the Senate voted and we now have an Attorney General (whoo hooo!) who doesn't promise to not prosecute the war criminals from the last administrations. Thank God.

Similarly, Republican Judd Gregg was announced today for Commerce Secretary. Though this came at the price of Democratic New Hampshire Governor John Lynch promising to appoint a Republican in Gregg's place, so as to not change the balance of power in the Senate. If the Dems get one more seat they'll have a 60-person supermajority that will be able to withstand a filibuster. As it stands now, on most issues there are one or two moderate senators who can be picked off and convinced to join the majority. But it's still an interesting little dance they're doing.

Finally, HHS nominee Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader, has withdrawn his name from consideratino. He's gotten a lot of flak over the past few days on some tax issues (seriously- this is the 3rd Cabinet nomination to have this prolem. Was nobody looking into this?!). While I personally think Tom Daschle is a great man and would do wonders for this country in the realm of healthcare (especially leading a task force on universal care), I have to agree that these issues are a best a distraction from everything. I just hope that he's still around for a non-cabinet appointment to work on healthcare reform. It would be a waste to not put his experience and relationships with Congress to good use...

---

Finally, just a small note on this weekend. What a game! I'm still surprised it went from snooze-fest to a really exciting, edge-of-your-seat game. I've already commented on my pride in the Steelers and the Steel City, but there were also some great ads. In lieu of posting my own recap of each ad, I'm actually going to defer to fellow blogger-extrordinaire Cocktail and his commentary. I fully agree (be sure to check out his upcoming post on the Emerald City). Some of the best were the movie previews. I'm absolutely obsessed with the fact that this summer so many great movies are coming. We have Transformers 2, GI JOE (so pumped), STAR TREK (even more pumped), and the newest Harry Potter flik (which has been uber delayed). I can't wait. There will be posts on all of this very soon.

That's all for now folks

Back to Basics

Okay Campers, I am officially back. Though it was an unscheduled and unfortunately long hiatus, I am now back for your reading pleasure. It's been hectic with work and inaugurations and whatnot, but I'll do my best to be more diligent about posting.

While this was not the post I originally intended to write this morning, I'm going to go ahead and rant about something near/dear to my heart and give you all a little background.

Some of you may or may not know that the original theme and inspiration for the name of this very blog was related to the fact that SHEAm, GWSkank, and I (like many of you) commute daily down Connecticut Avenue and have to deal with the complete lack of etiquette of most DC residents. Thus: Connetiquette.

Well today was a tour de force. Yes, I realize that it's wet and snowy out and the roads are precarious. I recognize that will inevitably lead to some delays on the bus route. That's fine. But even in times like these there are rules about how one should conduct oneself.

1. Queues- I realize that most Americans at most bus stops don't recognize the queue but rather stand in a glob and then play 'every man for himself' when the bus finally arrives. I can somewhat understand how a line would be unclear, especially if people are coming to the bus stop from different directions, but in general think something must be done to fix this. We stand in line for everything else, why not this? What happened to that great American ideal of first come, first serve? Makes sense, right? Well in any case, today I met a whole new kind of queue-related arrogance.

I was the second person at the stop this morning. One very nice elderly lady was there already and I lined up behind her, trying to lead by example for any other riders that may come along. Sure enough, one-by-one others trickled in and we formed a line. Victory! I was proud of myself and my fellow riders. I hardly expected a chilly/icy day like this to be the day I instilled a queue-culture on Metrobus, but hoorah!

But my celebration was premature. As the bus pulled up a guy in a black "The Wire" cap strolled along side the bus and walked right in front of the entire line of people waiting! Are you kidding?! How arrogant/insane/presumptuous/shocking. It wasn't like he somehow didn't see the 8 people waiting there. Worse yet, when people called out to him about his transgression, he ignored them. This was to be only the first offense The Wire would make today.

2. Seats- Though not all are clear-cut, there are definitely some rules when it comes to the seats, especially during rush hour. As before, I generally think first-come, first-serve is applicable here. The obvious exceptions are individuals with disabilities and senior citizens, they get to sit no matter what. Period. Who does NOT get priority? Women. Women with disabilities? Okay. Female senior citizens? Sure. Able-bodied women? Get in line. Fair is fair, ladies. Sorry.

Today, after scrambling onto the bus after The Wire, I took a seat on the bench-like row of seats. It was rush hour, the bus was crowded, and after only a few stops we had reached capacity (the ratio of people to busses today was out of control, I'm sure SHEAm will complain about that in his own post). Then this ugg-clad, prada-bearing harpy climbed aboard and decided she needed a seat. This audacious 20-something had the gall to basically demand my seat! "Um, do you think I could sit there?" I was thunderstruck. I looked over my shoulder to ensure she was speaking to me and then just stared at her. She eventually got the message and moved on.

Another seat rule- You cannot put a bag on the seat next to you to 'save it' or to prevent strangers from sitting next to you. It's mass transit, they point is for all the seats to be taken up and for you to sit next to strangers. Worst of all are the people who sit in the window seat of one of the 2-seaters on the bus/metro during rush hour and put their bag on the aisle seat. This is just begging for trouble. There is a special place in hell for people like this.

I need to go do some actual work now, but feel free to share your own Metro/Bus commute stories (funny ones, ones that ticked you off, etc)

Metrobus Route 43 to ...

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

There is a new Metrobus route that Metro hasn't announced!

BREAKING NEWS -- YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Hmmmm ... Where to start.

On most days, I bus to work - usually taking the 42 (or if I am lucky the H1) because both of them literally stop right outside my door.  Hence why this article is of particular importance to me - and anyone else who rides the 42.  Yesterday, I happened to notice a Metro truck sitting outside one of the 42's stops in Adams Morgan.  Since it was nowhere near an actual Metrorail station, I figured they must be doing something at the stop, perhaps preparing for the installation of a shelter, or something else excited - but I honestly did not think much of it.

Last night, since it was so nice out - I decided to walk home.  Normally on my walk home I don't follow the route of the 42, since it goes slightly out of the way of the convenient way home for me.  But last night was special, I needed to pick up something on 18th Street in AdMo - so for the rest of my walk home I followed the 42 bus route, which runs along Columbia Road.  I was walking on the North side of the street and happened to look up at the Metrobus stop sign ... and noticed something a little off.  The usual suspects were up there - the 42 and the H1, but something new was between them ... the 43.

What -- the 43??  I know!   I immediately wanted to know what it was and what it meant.  I got home and headed right to the *NEW* WMATA website (sidebar: I kind of liked when metroopensdoors.com sent you to the little graphic of the train doors opening and then redirected to wmata.com) to search for the new 43 route.  You know what ... this article is a waste of time, just go read about the bus on the website.   OH WAIT!  You can't!

That's right - the signage is up, the changes have been put in motion - but nothing on Metro's website.  The route isn't mentioned on the maps or in the timetables, and there isn't even a press release about it.  Shocking.  So I made a call to WMATA's Office of Media Relations in order to get the deets ... surprisingly they actually had them, yet had just decided not to let the public know about this upcoming change.

Route 43 will go into effect on Sunday, December 28th.  It will be a weekday rush hour only service, between 750am and 915am (meaning it will only run Southbound).  About 1/2 of the buses currently designated as 42s will henceforth be badged as 43s.  It will run between Mount Pleasant and Farragut Square.  It seems to me that the 43 will just be the 42 buses that currently run between MtP and FSq - so there will be no service increases or reductions.  

So this really wasn't the "extra, extra!" that was advertised ... no real changes - but it is exciting that there is a new bus in the neighborhood.

Tim.

It's called a queue!

I don't care what you call it - a line or a queue - as a bus user I've noticed that some people just do not get it.  Here in America, we are pretty good at it - we form fairly organized queues for basically everything.  Though it is my understanding that many countries around the world just don't 'do' queues - they just kind of mob up, fighting and pushing to be the first at something. 

Though I can't find an article to link to, I know the paper of record (for those of you who aren't aware, it is The New York Times) mentioned in a few articles about teaching the Chinese people to form lines before the Olympics.  It seems fairly foreign to me that certain cultures do not form queues, but I guess they just don't want to - which I guess is okay.  It makes things a bit disorganized in my opinion, but I am not really one to judge - so they should do as they please.  Though it is nice of the Olympic organizers to take into account that the Chinese people should learn to form lines so as to not anger tourists at the Olympics.

So ... we form queues everywhere - for everything.  Sometimes things get a bit out of control, but for the most part we respect the idea of a pecking order.  Yet, for some reason this system completely fails when we get to a bus stop.  Why are lines impossible at bus stops? -- they aren't!  Yet for some reason, if you are the first person at the bus stop - you likely will not be the first person on the bus.  Part of the problem has to do with the fact that bus drivers don't stop in the same place every time - which bothers me even more, but that's a tale for another time.

The other evening, I was waiting patiently for the 42 (link to a great blog regarding the 42 - check it out) in the direction of Mt. Pleasant at Q Street.  I arrived at the stop just as another bus was pulling away, but decided not to run for that bus because I was in no rush.  As two buses passed the stop because the driver had deemed they were too full, I was beginning to wish that I had ran for the first bus.  Finally a third bus arrived and the driver was kind enough to stop for us...

Now, being the first one waiting for the bus logic would say that I should be the first one on.  Of course I knew that wouldn't be the case, but I was a bit pushier than usual as I did not want to get locked out of this bus.  I was probably the fifth person on the bus, after dealing with the shoving and groans from people as a maneuvered in front of them.  I'm all about giving up my seat on a bus to basically anyone else (women, elderly, someone carrying a lot), but if you people aren't going to bother forming lines - I'm not giving you preference in getting on the bus.  I usually concede this harsh stance when it is an elderly person - but otherwise, I don't really care who you are -- just because you are a woman doesn't mean you get to board before me, sorry.

That is my rant about that - It is just something that is really starting to bother me.  Sorry if I sound like an evil person, but the facts are the facts.

Bus Hoppers

I noticed something peculiar today. In fact, I've now noticed it 3 times in the past week. While on my daily commute up/down Connecticut Ave I witnessed a hopping. Has anyone else noticed these? It's like a transfer, except it's not. Instead of boarding a bus headed in a different direction or with a different destination, these hoppers wait for a stop to come then get off one bus only to board one that's on the same route. I've noticed it only really happens during rush hour, when buses tend to 'stack up' one in front of the other on the road.

Last week I witnessed someone get off my bus, run behind it to get on the bus behind me which was running the identical route, only to see him get back on my bus a few stops later!

While I suppose there's nothing intrinsically wrong with these hoppers swinging from bus to bus, I just don't understand why. The destination isn't changing. The traffic isn't changing either, so it can't be any faster. The only explanation I can see is the atmosphere mustn't be good enough for them on Bus A, so they try their luck on Bus B. I'll admit that sometimes the Metro buses stink a bit, or the clientele is unfortunate (and certainly rude) but does this really warrant all the effort to change buses?

I'm puzzled about these hoppers. Maybe I'm just lazy. Or then, maybe I'm witnessing the newest fad in urban exercise. Can anyone explain this? Are there any hoppers out there?