Recharge In The Morning With Dietary Changes

My friend Andrew over at Jobacle.com has a post up on dietary tips for jumpstarting your brain.  They include avoiding sugar and assorted allergens (peanuts, wheat, dairy...), but also a few more off the wall ideas like "vinpocetine", something I've never heard of. 

The most important thing for me is to eat something, and I agree, sugar isn't it.  I tend to lean toward a simple egg and cheese, which I see is in Andrew's "foods that feed your brain" list.

What do you eat in the morning?  Maybe I should make that the next poll.

[New Poll] What's On Your Ipod?

Ok, last week's poll made it clear, 60% of respondents have an ipod or other MP3 player.  So the next logical question is, what do you listen to?  Music?  Audiobooks?  Motivational programs?  Let me know over in the sidebar.  Don't be afraid to pick a couple!

 

Technorati tags: survey, poll, ipod, mp3, habits, commute

Reboot Your Brain By Walking

http://lifehacker.com/software/walking/take-a-walk-that-will-reboot-your-brain-302177.php

Great post at Lifehacker about the benefits of getting up and away from the desk for a quick walk.  Not only do I get my 20 or so minutes in each day (to and from work), but I make it a point to go outside at lunch and walk around the park a few times as well.   Clear your head in a big way.  Energize yourself.

I'll say the same thing here I said there : What you're trying to do is make yourself "zone out".  Because when you do this, you empty your mind of all the stuff that's gotten in the way.  When that happens, the good ideas tend to pop in like lightbulbs. 

How you do it is entirely a personal thing.  I like to start with an audiobook or other spoken word, and then let my mind wander.  When I realize that I don't know what's going on in the book because my brain is off doing other things, I switch to music and then pursue the thoughts more fully.  (This, by the way, is also a trick I use to get to sleep at night.)  Others, though, might prefer silence. 

What works for you?

 

Technorati tags: lifehack, ideas, creativity, walking, advice

How Far Would You Go?

Here's a situation that I find myself in way too often.  You're walking to work.  You've stopped at what you know to be a busy intersection, because you walk it every day.  You know, for instance, that even though it may look safe to cross right this second, that the right turn only signal that you can barely see is green, and a steady stream of traffic is about to come flying by.

Now imagine that while you wait, another commuter walks up behind you who obviously is not paying attention.  Maybe she's talking on her cell phone, maybe she's just unfamiliar with this particular intersection.  But she's about to walk into it.

What do you do?

Do you say "Hey!" or something else equally brilliant?  Do you reach out a hand to hold her back?  If she's about to walk right out into the street would you actually pull her out, possibly risking injury to yourself in the process?

Of course, your guess could be wrong and maybe she knows exactly what to wait for, and wasn't planning on going into the street, in which case putting your hands on her was a big mistake.

What do you do?

In general I watch such people carefully until I am convinced that they are about to do something dangerous (naturally this bar moves depending on how quickly the traffic is coming).  When they've reached the point of no return I'll say, loudly enough to get their attention, "Careful!" and point at the oncoming traffic, or the green light, or whatever else will give them enough information to realize they're about to die. 

Thus far it's worked, nobody has ever walked into traffic on my watch.  But each time I do that, I do wonder whether I would jump out and pull somebody back if they didn't listen to me.  It's a weird feeling.  I don't particularly want to get hit by a car either. 

And besides, every now and then you're gonna get a moron who deliberately walked in front of an oncoming car because they think they've got the right of way and are trying to be a royal ass about it.  Those are the ones who I want to see get a good bump, just so I can say, "Officer, I saw the whole thing, that moron walked right in front of the oncoming car on purpose." :)

Have Cane+Map, Will Travel

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/09/18/cane-with-a-pullout.html

Now there's an intriguing little gadget, a cane with a map of Boston inside it.  Simple!  As BoingBoing notes, perhaps the coolest part is that it's made by the "In-A-Cane Display Company", a business that apparently does nothing but this.

Commute Cost Calculator

http://www.commute.com/default.asp?pgid=massrides/costcalculator&sid=mrlevel2

Although I found this page when searching Massachusetts-specific options, the calculator should work for anybody who drives their commute.  Enter in all the details (distance, mileage, cost of gas) as well as a few you might not have thought of (insurance, maintenance, both of which they will default for you based on national average), and learn how much you're spending on your commute.

I'm spending somewhere near $450/month according to this thing, and that's just to get back and forth to the train station.  How about you?

(I see that it's the insurance cost, something that most folks won't really be able to calculate off the top of their head, which is the biggest factor.)

Ease Traffic Congestion

Following up to the story about traffic congestion around the country on the rise, I found this link of resources dedicated to improving the problem.  Some interesting reading, mostly of the "what the government is doing to examine the problem" sort.

Ride The SLUT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070918/ap_on_fe_st/trolley_acronym

One for the branding and marketing textbooks.  If you're going to call a transportation system the "South Lake Union Streetcar", then surely somebody down the line must have said "Wait, isn't trolley another name for streetcar?"  Behold, the SLUT.  "Ride the SLUT!" the t-shirts proclaim.  "We welcome SLUT to the neighborhood," said a local barista.

Nice.

Traffic Wastes 38 Hours / Year

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/traffic.congestion.ap/index.html

New study shows, blah blah blah.  Interesting.  Is it accurate?   Personally, here's my deal, with rough numbers:  I drive 17 miles to the train station, so figuring 60mph that should take me 17 minutes.  In reality, on average, I leave my house at 7:40 and get to the train station at 8:05, so it takes me more like 25 minutes - thus I waste, on average, 8 minutes each morning in traffic.

At home, my train drops me off at 5:42.  I get home (same distance) at 6:07.  Again, about 25 minutes, so about 8 minutes in traffic.

That's 16 minutes per day in traffic, times a typical 200 work days per year is 3200 minutes, or 53.3 hours.

Dang, I'm screwed.

At least I'm not in Los Angeles, where they're upwards of 72hrs/year on average.  Other really bad cities include Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington and Dallas.  What's up with no Boston?

Update: After reading the full report, I see that Boston is ranked #16 at 46 hours on average.  I'm still over.

 

Technorati tags: cnn, news, traffic, statistics

New Feature : Weekly Poll

Sometimes the most interesting question to ask your fellow commuters is done via survey.  So over on the left nav there you'll find a regularly updating question of commuter related topics.  This week's question is, what are you listening to?  Sometimes I forget that it's not all ipods and mp3 players out there (yet) :).  Some people might even like silence, heaven forbid!

How A Millionaire Parks In New York

http://www.fortunewatch.com/how-a-millionaires-brain-works/

I had bookmarked that story based on the headline alone.  Turns out it's more of a joke than anything else.  But hey, since it's about how to get cheap parking in New York, it's relevant to this blog, right?

 

Technorati tags: New York, parking, story, funny

So, Feel More Secure?

This morning when I walked into the train station I saw a half a dozen men in police uniforms.  "Transit Police" stamped in big letters across the back.  They'd set up some kind of station between the lobby and the stairs, with a big sign.  Honestly, for a minute, I thought it was some sort of fundraiser or safety awareness thing.

But as I approach and read the sign it's the generic warning about heightened security concerns, blah blah, and basically we might decide to stop and search you if we feel like it, you know, for your own good.

I carry a backpack.  I walked right by, they never so much as made eye contact.

Surely this isn't an uncommon scene.  I know that when I get into Boston, for instance, there is a regular group of transit police, complete with dogs.  But, again, I never see them really do anything proactive.  I can't speak for how it is somewhere like New York, where I have to assume that security is more invasive.

My question is this : when you see that, do you actually feel more secure?  Is the net value of having these guys wandering around, occasionally stopping you or just letting you go by, a good thing?  Do you really think they're stopping anything?  Or, alternately, do you care one way or the other?  When you see such a "checkpoint" is your first thought "Oh, good, it's for my safety", or is it "Oy, what, you're gonna harass me now?  Bugger off, I want to go get a seat."  Or do you just not really care either way?

As I approached the table I was thinking "I don't really feel like sitting around while they search my bag for no reason."  When I walked by unmolested I thought, "Well, great, so what's the point of them being there in the first place?  I think I would have preferred them do something."

Sometimes They Are Around When You Need Them

So this morning, traffic was nasty.  On a good day the ride takes me 15-20 minutes, on a bad day, over 35.  Given that I'm trying to catch a train, that's a big difference!  And today was one of those days.

Today was one of those days where the right hand lane is completely backed up, but everybody else is getting by, ever have one of those?  I get to the point where I'm only about 1 exit (a mile or so) away from the exit I need, so I find a spot to get in that lane and just wait it out. I'm not one for waiting until the last second and then zipping across, especially in a situation like that.

As I'm getting closer to the exit, I notice people are now driving on my right.  In the breakdown lane.  On the one hand it's a reasonable thing to do, given that we're less than 1 exit away (i.e. it's not like you're going to kill someone who is coming onto the highway).  But it is still basically illegal, and rude.  I mean, really, what are we all sitting here patiently for?  Why don't we all just do that? Why, because it would create another traffic jam at the exit when two people hit it at once, of course, and then both lanes would be backed up, numbnuts.  Then your little trick wouldn't work.  You have to rely on being the only one obnoxious enough to go for it.

Anyway, as we get closer I see that there is in fact a tow truck on the right hand side of the road, so there must have been an accident.  Two of the cars that just zipped down my right hand side are now pulling back into my lane.  I assume that the breakdown lane is blocked, although I can't see it.  Then an interesting thing happens - they pull back out into the breakdown lane, still on this side of the crash. "Hmm, maybe I was wrong, maybe this was an accident and these people were rushing to get to it for some reason?"

No, they were pulling back over because the state trooper at the scene of the accident watched them coming down the breakdown lane and was now pulling them over for it.

I pointed and laughed so hard as I drove by I wondered if I was going to get pulled over too.  I laughed myself the rest of the way to the train station.

Lesson of the day?  Be patient.  If you get pulled over, then you didn't really get to work any faster, now did you?

Hurray for School!

School has started for two of my three toddlers - I've got one in kindergarten now, and one in preschool - and I have to say, it's the best thing ever to happen to my commute.  Previously my wife and I would wake up anytime between 6:45 and 7:15, try to catch some highlights of the news and then scramble around the house doing everything that needs doing until about 7:30, when I had to go to work.  On most days she'd have half the kids dressed and then she's on her own.  Meanwhile I'd fly out the door half the time with no breakfast or lunch and forgetting to take the trash out, copy down phone numbers, and basically any other errands I was supposed to do.

Well, here's the new schedule:

• Alarm goes off at 5:45.
• Watch about 15 minutes of the news, Tivo-style, so we can fastforward through the commercials, the multiple editions of the weather (you only need one, right?) and the useless traffic reports.
• Get up, get showered and dressed, start making beds.
• Kids start waking up around 6:30 or so.
• Everybody downstairs for breakfast by 7am.

Think about that.  Not only is everything done before I leave, it's done with half an hour to spare.  No rushing.  I have time to eat my breakfast instead of taking it with me in the car - and I have time to sit and eat it with my family.  Then I can pack a lunch, do a quick morning email check, and still get out the door 10 minutes earlier than I normally did.

Can't really ask for a better way to start the day than that.  They say early rising is the way to go, but I'll tell ya, when the whole house is early rising, it's even better.

And I Would Drive 500 Miles...if I had this thing.

CNN has a story up on a patent for a car battery that can run your car for 500 miles.  Very neat.  We're talking battery as in "alternative to gas", not battery as in "replacement for the battery that you already had." 

Whether or not it's realistic depends on your view.  If you think that the government is working together with the giant auto industry to keep innovation buried so we're all stuck in our oil dependency, then you can have this quote:  "We've been trying to make this type of thing for 20 years and no one has been able to do it.  Depending on who you believe, they're at or beyond the limit of what is possible."

However, if you still think it's possible for the world to change, and for someone to come along with a revolutionary idea that really is just that simple and really does actually work as claimed, have this one:  "By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary."

The article's actually heavy on the science (which is a good thing), going into detail about exactly how this battery is better (more storage for less charging), the sort of materials involved, and other projects trying to accomplish the same thing.

 

Technorati tags: cnn, news

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

http://blog.liferemix.net/24-tips-becoming-early-riser

It's easy to say "get up early", but that doesn't mean you can do it.  LifeRemix has some tips for making it easier, which go beyond just "go to sleep earlier."  I particularly like "Write down why you're getting up" and "Use the time productively."

Personally I got up before 5am this morning (usually I'm up at around 6:45).  I'd gone to bed at 9pm last night (normally closer to midnight), and that's just my pattern - go to bed too early for myself, and I wake up earlier than usual.  I'm cool with that.  I feel good about it because it keeps me from hunting around the kitchen for a snack at 11pm, which I know perfectly well is bad for me.

But here's the thing.  At 5am, dark house, wife and kids asleep, what can I do?  I have a good 90 minutes before anybody else wakes up, that should be some seriously productive time.  Here's what I did:

* Put away the dishes so my wife wouldn't have to do it.

* Made (and ate) breakfast.  Scrambled egg and cheese in a wrap.  Not bad.

* Read lots of internet news and made a few blog posts.

...other than that last one I was doing ok for myself.  But I would hardly call that a productive use of 90 minutes!

P.S. Their #15, "change alarm sounds often", is actually a really good idea.  I was just listening to a podiobook ("Beautiful Red", check it out on podiobooks.com) that had that as a minor scenery point, the character woke up to "male stranger's voice" that scared the living heck out of her, and changed her alarm to "birds chirping."  It's a scifi book, but what a great idea that is!  Does anybody have an alarm clock that actually allows you to do such a thing?

Traffic Ticket Myths

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/8TopTrafficTicketMyths.aspx

I hate to link to anything called "Top X blah blah blah" because it just makes people write more dumb headlines.  But, still, content is content.  I'm not a big fan of "how to get out of a ticket" tricks.  If you break the law, and you get caught, pay your ticket.  Simple as that.  No more of this "If the officer makes a mistake on the ticket it doesn't count" silliness.