Life After Grad School

While taking this photo during my lunch break the other day I was offered a job.

I politely declined having washed plenty of windows at my parents’ house. There is a different philosophy about the use of windows in Germany. First of all, one should be able to look through them (imagine that), for which they must be clean - inside and out. And no, rain doesn’t count. My mother will be happy to explain. Fortunately they open in such ways that cleaning the outside is possible without risking one’s life. Furthermore one should make use of windows to let fresh air into the house, even in the dead of winter, whereas in this country (well, in the cold parts) windows get taped over and don’t get opened for 6 months. In modern office buildings, those fortunate enought to have windows will find that they don’t open at all. God forbid that somebody should actually be exposed to fresh air and natural light when one can use HVAC systems and fluorescent lighting and contribute to global warming instead, but I digress.

There’s really no good seque from window washing to the next picture taken during that same lunch walk, so I’ll just throw it up here.

The Cow Parade is coming to Boston this summer and at the grand auction in October you can purchase the cows. Transit nerds save up! This is your chance to own a “T” cow.

- It takes about two days to fix a chemical imbalance of the water in the pool. It takes an infinite amount of time to fix the chemical imbalance of MIT as a whole or that of a notoriously pugnatious masters swimmer.
- I was told the other day that “somebody who sends out this many emails to the masters list must be able to swim stroke”. Great, now that I know there might be a correlation, I’ll send out more emails in an effort to improve my “feels like I’m moving backwards” breaststroke.
- In case you were wondering - and I’m sure you were - there is absolutely positively no way to swim while laughing. In fact, it could be hazardous to your health.

Planetizen editors put together their Top Ten planning issues of 2005 in the United States including links to a few relevant articles for each topic:

• Kelo vs. New London - Eminent domain
• Hurricane Katrina
• America’s failing infrastructure
• The McMansion backlash
• Condofication
• Google democratizes mapping
• Wi-Fi networks and economic development
• The new suburbanism and creative class debates
• Peak Oil and planning for alternative energy
• The high cost of free parking

I wonder what will be on the 2006 list? A bursting housing bubble or a continued housing shortage? A new focus on planning for disaster prevention and response (earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, climate change)? The return of nuclear energy? A new era for skyscrapers? Water wars?

I’m not being sarcastic, really. Commuting without a car is so much better in so many ways than having to drive to work. Trust me, I’ve done both. I’ve noticed a trend among local bloggers to write about the strange behavior of fellow transit riders or the shortcomings of the T, which in itself is testament to how much more interesting it is to commute by transit. When I drove my car to work - on the other coast back in the days when I had no feasible transit option - the only distraction from my own thoughts were the news on NPR (which were usually depressing) and traffic jam induced road rage (even more so). Now I still listen to the news on my walk to the T thanks to my nifty MP3/radio combo, enjoy watching people on the subway and buses, occasionally have a conversation with a random person, read books and listen to music. Sometimes I’m annoyed by the T’s nebulous interpretation of on-time performance or stunned by the behavior of fellow travelers, but much more often I am amused and entertained.

As a bonus I get exercise by walking to the station, I always know exactly what the weather is really like outside and can complain about it in an informed manner, I see the first crocuses and snow drops optimistically break through the soil in the spring (apparently unfazed by single digit wind chills) and shuffle through fallen leaves in autumn feeling about 8 years old. How could commuting by car possibly be better than that?

It’s Saturday morning 9am and the brain and the body are having a fierce argument:

Brain: You really ought to get up!
Body: It’s nice and warm in here and I’m still tired.
Brain: There are things to do, people to see, places to go …
Body: Who cares? I can’t be bothered. Plus, it’s Saturday!!
Brain: Oh come on, you can do it. Move!
Body: Let me remind you that it was YOU who made me swim that hard workout last night! Your fault, live with it!
Brain: Sigh …

- Meanwhile, a roommate is stirring in the kitchen.

Brain (kicking into overdrive): If we do this right, there might be coffee in our near future.
Vocal cords: “Good morning, dearest roommate! Wouldn’t it be great if somebody brought me a cup of coffee to bed?”

Amazingly it worked. Brilliant plan. Awesome roommate. Coffee arrived and helped brain convince body to get up. Eventually.