Monday, August 22, 2011
Tricks
So, I don't know if there are any of Trimet's bus driver's out there that are reading this, but if there are, I've got a few tricks an old bus driver of mine used to do on the bus which were quite entertaining.
Now, this first one works best on the 1700s, but also can work on the 1800s (I don't know about the 1900s, but I would assume it might work on them too). This old driver i had always seemed to have trouble with those old lift buses and so one day when his lift ended up stuck halfway out of the bus and he called dispatch, they told him that turning the steering wheel usually gets the lift unstuck because the steering wheel and lift are somehow connected (I think it was something along the lines of the air). But what he found out is that even when the lift is working at its usual sluggish pace, turning the steering wheel while deploying or retracting the lift also makes it make this funny noise (that I really can't find the words to describe) and also gets the lift working slightly quicker.
The other one works on the talking buses. Another driver showed me this one. When the bus is talking (announcing the stops, when opening the doors and announcing the bus number, ect.), if you press the PA button lots of times quickly while the bus is talking, the bus's talking gets cut off and on and usually sounds pretty funny.
These two are only some of the many tricks and such that different drivers have shown or told me about. I might post more later.
Now, this first one works best on the 1700s, but also can work on the 1800s (I don't know about the 1900s, but I would assume it might work on them too). This old driver i had always seemed to have trouble with those old lift buses and so one day when his lift ended up stuck halfway out of the bus and he called dispatch, they told him that turning the steering wheel usually gets the lift unstuck because the steering wheel and lift are somehow connected (I think it was something along the lines of the air). But what he found out is that even when the lift is working at its usual sluggish pace, turning the steering wheel while deploying or retracting the lift also makes it make this funny noise (that I really can't find the words to describe) and also gets the lift working slightly quicker.
The other one works on the talking buses. Another driver showed me this one. When the bus is talking (announcing the stops, when opening the doors and announcing the bus number, ect.), if you press the PA button lots of times quickly while the bus is talking, the bus's talking gets cut off and on and usually sounds pretty funny.
These two are only some of the many tricks and such that different drivers have shown or told me about. I might post more later.
Classic TriMet (tweeter)
nootelluh: RT @Dan_Christensen: Overheard on my #TrimetBus "I'm short a nickel is it ok if I ride..." Me: "Yes but you will have to get off a block early"
Tweeterlites
God, I just love these. :) Enjoy!
mahaloluinoa: @trimet Will you EVER enforce the maximum limits on the number of bikes per train? ·
RT @sarahesterman: Sometimes I wonder if I text trimet transit tracker more than I do my friends... #trimet
@Dan_Christensen: Overheard on my #Trimet bus: "I can't decide if Portland was laid out by a wild psychopath or expertly laid out by a blind man."
Zakyrie: I have the best morning #Trimet driver! :-D
Yuu_you_U: @Ya_rail_mylife そうだ、シアトルでモノレール乗ったぞ TRIMETと言い何といい、こっちの都市交通は進んでる、何処まで行っても人が密集してる日本と違って設計しやすそうな気がす
VanauRemus: SA AVETI O SAPTAMINA PLINA DE FRUMOS LINISTE IUBIRE SI PRIETENI ADEVARATI .VA TRIMET O IMBRATISARE .MARIANA ·
KakashiIreneiv: Punkrawker needs to work at TRIMET: Yea! Come on over here!t.co/btfo25f ·
JakeMcNeal: Thank God #TriMet has air conditioning #90+degreesout
MeesterJordan: I should take TriMet more often. There's some hotties on the 76
@IsaacKnight: @trimet it'd be nice if your buses came when your text system says they will. Failing that you could tell me that it's not coming.
throwthegnome: Wow. @trimet driver left the transfers unattended while on break. Watched a guy just walk on the bus and grab one nonchalantly
diedotcom: Hey @trimet bus 15 driver, don't give me a fucking attitude because the cash machine on your bus is broke. I wanted to pay. Not my fault.
gemsong: Stupid 12 you've been coming in 4 minutes for 8 minutes now. #trimet ·
Dan_Christensen: #Trimet may be building a new bridge for big money but it's bus fleet is just old. Today my bus overheated 7 times, Sorry people.
lauramwebster: Being told I look like an oil painting makes up somewhat for the trashy dude on TriMet who told me I had great legs. Quality matters
mariamazing32: Why is everyone who works for trimet fat?
paperstahz: hey trimet guy, go find a bathroom stall to fuck yourself in. #rudepeople
mikerigsby: Man the @Trimet 33 bus on Saturdays is a whole bag full of batshit crazy. Jerry Springer would be in heaven
TrishCarey: Not so sure about this mass transit/exercise idea I had today (@TriMet Rose Quarter Transit Center)
Magellanova: Air conditioning on second bus isn't working either. Is #Trimetbroken?
jobotslash: Bus never arrived at 10877. Waiting on next one. :(
MPdaCNA: @trimet SERIOUSLY! RT @pdxcommute: Dear #TriMet line 17 (bus 2011): that red light at NW Everett and Broadway means stop
HatHats: On #trimet bus 2709 being driven by my favorite kind if driver: friendly, patient, informative, and announces all the stops.
flowersbyfarha: @Ms_Melisande I hate jack-rabbit bus drivers! Those are the ones worth sending @TriMet a complaint about.
WashCoScanner: RT @pdxcommute: ALERT: Mechanical issues causing problems on Blue, Red lines of MAX. Shuttle buses serving Rose Quarter to Jeld-Wen Field
Ms_Melisande: This bus driver speeds toward each stop and brakes hard upon approach. Watch the riders brace themselves each time! #trimet
rehmee: "Excuse mr. trimet operator, my roommate really wants me home to party and watch Sailor Moon. Could you hurry it up?" #lovelife
FranSeaLou: WTF is wrong with Tri-Met? Why can't they run the MAX on Friday afternoons? #TRIMET
Danredwing: RT @sicklittlejag: Three cars in three stops driving in the bus only lanes. Enforcement anyone? @trimet @MayorSamAdams?
Kods1983: RT @itsElleMC: @Kods1983 I wanna exchange public transportation stories via twitter sometime..I'm the queen of trimet!
neekaneeks: Late train is late.... WHAT THE HELL #trimet 15 minutes on the first red line to the airport. Oh well... *writes* ·
moochcassidy: Sweet Jesus that's disgusting @DaveFromPDX: @moochcassidy, have you seen this? A Tri-Met driver told me about it: t.co/f0Z2NnU"
pdxcommute: RT @japuvian: The seats on the @trimet #WES are so comfy I always fall asleep in the morning.
kelcach: Kids on the @trimet MAX: "Don't you just love poking homeless people?" WTF?! #portland #trimettweensdrivemecrazy
tjzero: Why is it that the best Trimet bus drivers either have mullets or fu manchus?
nicejackson: Oh the Trimet Transit Cops hit a nerve I am attacked...Yes on Wednesday this group of Transit Cops stopped dwntTwn and stared me down.
doctor_jeff: Another commuting tip - if you hit a guy in the face with your bike, go home and practice before bringing it back on the train. #trimet
The pink box
With nothing to do anymore these days, I've kept looking through my old stuff on my computer and I found another thing I had written (I think) while en route on the 8 sometime last winter. Haven't really reviewed it, just wrote it on the spot.
Enjoy:
Ah TriMet. You gotta love to hate them sometimes, but other times you'll just plain love TriMet. Today is one of those days.
The bus stops at one of its stops downtown. Only 3 or 4 people get on, but as the last guy gets on the bus, you see a big pink box in his hands. Anyone who has been around Portland for only a week or two would know what that box was from: Portlands's infamous VooDoo Doughnut store. The guy gets his transfer ticket and then proceeds to open said box. "want a doughnut?" he says.
The driver politely declines, but the guy persists and so the operator takes a doughnut and the guy sits down, satisfied.
A grin crosses over my face as I watch from the back right corner of the bus. After the guy sits down and a few moments pass, the passenger sitting across from the doughnut guys speaks up, "can I have one?"
"sure," the doughnut guy replies .
The passenger happily takes a doughnut and things fade back to usual on the bus as we all wait for our stop to come.
Keep Portlandia weird! ;) I love riding TriMet. Always something weird or entertaining going on some place or another. That's one reason I started this blog; so I could share this interesting stuff about TriMet that I have found and learned from my many different bus drivers that I've had over the years.
Enjoy:
Ah TriMet. You gotta love to hate them sometimes, but other times you'll just plain love TriMet. Today is one of those days.
The bus stops at one of its stops downtown. Only 3 or 4 people get on, but as the last guy gets on the bus, you see a big pink box in his hands. Anyone who has been around Portland for only a week or two would know what that box was from: Portlands's infamous VooDoo Doughnut store. The guy gets his transfer ticket and then proceeds to open said box. "want a doughnut?" he says.
The driver politely declines, but the guy persists and so the operator takes a doughnut and the guy sits down, satisfied.
A grin crosses over my face as I watch from the back right corner of the bus. After the guy sits down and a few moments pass, the passenger sitting across from the doughnut guys speaks up, "can I have one?"
"sure," the doughnut guy replies .
The passenger happily takes a doughnut and things fade back to usual on the bus as we all wait for our stop to come.
Keep Portlandia weird! ;) I love riding TriMet. Always something weird or entertaining going on some place or another. That's one reason I started this blog; so I could share this interesting stuff about TriMet that I have found and learned from my many different bus drivers that I've had over the years.
Stop Clinging to False Hope and Face Reality
Everyone is complicit to some degree, but perhaps it is the people themselves, those being ruled, who are most to blame for the circumstances in which we all now find ourselves to varying degrees. Surely the American majority's willingness to shun the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights has enabled the "power seekers" to regulate and dominate virtually every aspect of an individual's life. For without the consent of the larger body, the rulers would have no power with which to abuse.
But as it is today, the greater mass of voters is still busy watching "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol." The vast majority of youth care not of real issues; rather they are focused on increasing the number of new "friends" who sign on to their Facebook accounts, or are busy discussing what Lady Gaga ate for dinner or some similar nonsense. It is a shame that people have fallen out of touch with the act of thinking and being responsible for their own lives.
http://www.thedailybell.com/2825/Anthony-Wile-Stop-Clinging-to-False-Hope-and-Face-Reality
But as it is today, the greater mass of voters is still busy watching "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol." The vast majority of youth care not of real issues; rather they are focused on increasing the number of new "friends" who sign on to their Facebook accounts, or are busy discussing what Lady Gaga ate for dinner or some similar nonsense. It is a shame that people have fallen out of touch with the act of thinking and being responsible for their own lives.
http://www.thedailybell.com/2825/Anthony-Wile-Stop-Clinging-to-False-Hope-and-Face-Reality
After Cellphone Action, BART Faces Escalating Protests
Early last month, a BART police officer shot and killed a knife-wielding homeless man at the San Francisco Civic Center station. The incident provoked a series of small protests that drew little attention until Aug. 11, when the transit agency took the unusual step of shutting down cellphone service for several hours as activists prepared for another rally.
With that flip of a switch, BART has come under siege — in cyberspace and underground.
According to officials, BART’s technology personnel have been working round the clock to fend off a disparate group of hackers who penetrated the agency’s Web sites last week and released sensitive information, in retaliation for the shutdown of the cellphone and wireless services.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/us/21bcbart.html?_r=2
This Ain't Portland
http://maxredline.typepad.com/maxredline/2011/08/this-aint-portland.html
That cyclist got what he deserved!
That cyclist got what he deserved!
CRC Poised to Swallow State Transportation Budget?
One of the 'promises' of the Columbia River Crossing project is that it would not cannibalize funding for other projects in the region. The idea was that this was a "project of national significance" and Congress would provide dedicated funding for the Federal component above and beyond our usual allocation.
But as we noted when analyzing the State Treasurer's presentation to the Governor on the CRC finance plan, there was an allusion to using "GARVEE" bonds, to be repaid from future Federal funds.
Portland Transport
History is Not Your Therapist
Nobody can believe what's happening. Nobody knows what to do. Well, here's some straight dope: do you want to have an economy? Then prepare to cut your losses and move on. There's so much to do "out there" in America, but the catch is it's not the same as what we've been doing. Do you want to eat a few years from now? Get serious about reorganizing agriculture on a smaller, finer, more local scale. Believe me, there will be plenty of jobs. Only they won't be like sitting in a cubicle writing a marketing plan for a video-game about the slaughter of gym rats from another planet. Do you want to be able to travel around this big country in a few years? Start working on the nearest reconstructable railroad line - and get over your techno-grandiose fantasies about running all the cars on algae, corn, or the plug in the wall. Do you want have some household goods in the future without sending an order halfway around the world? Figure out a way to make stuff in some North American place where there is running water for electric power.
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