Complaint Submitted to Caltrain

I ride the train to work from San Francisco to San Jose 1-2x/week because I enjoy it. Today, the VTA lightrail was a few minutes late, and there wasn't time to validate my 10-ride ticket before boarding the train in Mountain View because the validators are all the way on the opposite side of the platform. The 2 female conductors (373) were incredibly unpleasant about it. 20-30 people ran to make the connection that is usually seamless. We in no way delayed the train. In fact, the train was 2 minutes early to Millbrae and had to sit and wait.

I understand there must be some kind of policy about onboard validation; Caltrain employees have also instructed me to do this. But that's not the point. I ride the train because it is pleasant. If Caltrain attendants are going to be unpleasant, I believe a lot of people will find another way to travel.

One of these attendants made the statement: "that has nothing to do with us," which indicated to me a complete lack of understanding of how public transit works. People ride one form often to access another. In addition, VTA funds part of Caltrain. They have everything to do with each from both functional and administrative perspectives. I'm not even suggesting something so radical as timing the transfers (gasp!) -- I'm suggesting not being a jerk when people need a few seconds of your time onboard because another service is delayed and didn't even delay your service.

I noticed one attendant talking on her cel phone immediately upon arriving at 4th and King -- perhaps she was having a personal crisis. This was also not my fault.

Please train your employees in how public transportation works and in how to be pleasant to customers. If they can't understand that, please transfer them to cleaning toilets or something. There is just no excuse for having unpleasant staff onboard the train.
Thank you.
Lilia

PS, the new bike cars are also bad. Most people need their bike on both ends of a trip. Caltrain's multimodal capabilities were always its best feature (until these new cars!).

My sister Ilana's project in the news

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Hipster Olympics

Sleep

Time: How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
A recent study found that people who sleep between 6.5 and 7.5 hours/night live the longest. I can imagine how people who sleep less might use themselves up, but I think the shortened lives of people who sleep more should be associated with other health problems that cause them to need more sleep. The study did not suppose any reasons at this release.

Meanwhile, G found this napping diagram:

Source: Boston.com

I love the graphic display of information. But more than that, I was fascinated to read their suggestions for when and how to sleep. For example, they note that most animals typically sleep in several short naps over the day's 24 hours rather than in one long stretch. Perhaps that is healthier and more effective.

People seem to have a lot of judgement about sleep esp when and how it should be done. I wish I could sleep 4 hours in the night and 4 hours in the day, but I would need the rest of society to cooperate bc it's terribly boring to be awake when everyone else is sleeping. The last time I went to Europe, I had a lovely experience with no jetlag after a 4 hour afternoon nap and plenty of exercise. In fact, I think most sleep problems are really exercise deficits... and that becomes a matter of priorities. Just please don't use that assertion to judge anyone's habits. The result is just misery and insonmia resulting from worry about not sleep or exercizing enough.

Gas and Food

I worry a lot. I worry about where my food and wine comes from and how the farmers and their families who produced it are doing. I worry about the ozone and global warming. I worry about wildlife losing their habitat to development. I worry about my weight. I worry about the streets not being safe for children to play in, about people not knowing their neighbors, about living a fulfilled life. I surprised myself recently by feeling worried about the price of gas.

Most people know that I don't own or drive a car. So, why should I care? ...Well, it's not all about me. People I love drive cars. I worry about them spending all their money on gas. I worry about the transportation of food becoming too much. I worry about the public transit systems and their bottom lines. Someone on one of my carfree lists recently expressed the desire for drivers to stop being able to afford gas and to have to just stop driving right in the middle of the road. I'm more frugal than I am idealistic, it turns out.

The other day, I spent a few minutes scouring the web for a community supported agriculture system we can join to support a local farm. No luck. I found some, but they are all fully subscribed. I got on some waitlists. What kind of a place is this that you can't even promise to buy overpriced vegetables from a farm for a year and pay in advance? Frickin' hippie San Francisco!

I finally got some space in a community garden. It turns out the gardeners have decided that the whole garden should be a service to the community, and no one is allowed to grow vegetables for themselves. They told me I can only grow tomatoes (or raspberries or potatoes -- I choose tomatoes). As a member of the community, I'm not sure how I benefit from being limited in what I am permitted to grow. Gardening brings me joy, and I'm not letting myself get annoyed by the hippie dogma. I planted a bunch of tomatoes at the garden and some lettuce in a planter box in the apartment.

A while back, my friend Mitja sent me this link which recounts an argument that buying local food loses its benefit if you cook it inefficiently... and then refutes it. It made me want to plant more lettuce seeds in the apartment. Would it be possible to grow all my food right here?

The issue makes me feel anxious and itchy. I have a lot of projects, but I crave more. Farming in my Mission studio doesn't seem like the right on tho -- I'll keep looking.