I’m on an Acela train right now, and it’s not the smooth, quiet ride I’m used to. Instead there’s quite a racket of shaking, squeaking, and creaking going on in here. It makes me wonder: were the Acela cars not built very well? Or is Amtrak not maintaining them well? No matter the cause, it’s a shame. I wish Congress would stop being stupid and actually fund Amtrak in a serious way – the $1 billion plan that was recently approved is a paltry amount, compared to what it should be, and doesn’t even actually allocate the funds.
Reading and Bookmarks
- Michael Norton: How to buy happiness | Video on TED.com May 3, 2012[…]
- Strange Loop 2012 - RegOnline May 3, 2012RT @strangeloop_stl: Strange Loop early bird closes in 4 days - May 11th! […]
- Level 78 - Yorkville - New York, NY May 3, 2012[…]
- Untitled (http://i.minus.com/i0dNFqpMjLFv5.gif) May 2, 2012RT @fj: Best cat gif ever: (thanks @jpnw) […]
- Keynote: Simplicity Matters - Rich Hickey - RailsConf 2012 May 2, 2012Source: http://twitter.com/strmpnk/status/197656957883129856 […]
- Valve's Gabe Newell Talks Linux Steam Client, Source Engine May 2, 2012For those that have doubted the exclusive Phoronix claims for quite a while now that the Steam client and Source Engine are in fact being ported to Linux, the doubts can be nearly laid to rest. Even… […]
- The Start-up Stack - Matt Biddulph and Simon Willinson May 2, 2012Matt Biddulph and Simon Willinson gave this talk at RedMonk's Monki Gras: The Start-up Stack. […]
- ImageOptim May 2, 2012[…]
- MEV Exocet May 2, 2012kit to convert Miata to a lightweight exoskeletal car, a la Atom […]
- The New Heroku (Part 4 of 4): Erosion-resistance & Explicit Contracts May 2, 2012In 2006, I wrote Catapult : a Quicksilver -inspired command-line for the web. I deployed it to a VPS (Slicehost), then gave the URL out to a few friends. At some point I stopped using it, but some… […]
Music I like from Pandora
- You've Got The Love by Florence + The Machine May 4, 2012You've Got The Love by Florence + The Machine from the album You've Got The Love (Radio Single) […]
- Creep by I'm Not A Pilot May 4, 2012Creep by I'm Not A Pilot from the album Need Money For Rocket Fuel […]
- Guitars Need A Sinners Touch by Computer Vs. Banjo May 4, 2012Guitars Need A Sinners Touch by Computer Vs. Banjo from the album Computer Vs. Banjo […]
- West Coast by Coconut Records May 4, 2012West Coast by Coconut Records from the album Nighttiming […]
- Yasmin The Light by Explosions In The Sky May 4, 2012Yasmin The Light by Explosions In The Sky from the album Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever […]
- Three Is A Magic Number by Blind Melon (Children's) May 4, 2012Three Is A Magic Number by Blind Melon (Children's) from the album Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks […]
- Broken Open by Cold War Kids May 4, 2012Broken Open by Cold War Kids from the album Mine Is Yours […]
- Animal (Punks Jump Up Remix) by Miike Snow May 4, 2012Animal (Punks Jump Up Remix) by Miike Snow from the album Animal (Remixes) […]
- Human Hands by Sondre Lerche & The Faces Down Quartet May 4, 2012Human Hands by Sondre Lerche & The Faces Down Quartet from the album Duper Sessions […]
- Two Weeks (Radio Mix) by Grizzly Bear May 4, 2012Two Weeks (Radio Mix) by Grizzly Bear from the album Two Weeks (Radio Single) […]




















No, not aging badly, just deferred maintenance. The undercarriage was scheduled for overhaul, but they are putting it off.
Good to know, but that’s still bad news. I hope the situation improves! I really do like Amtrak, and I want to like it more.