I could see the Thruway Authority giving a huge crap about this, but the MTA?!

Maybe they should use their pretty new green (for the environment) MetroCards instead of driving…

So I decided to redesign the site. The last one was pretty good but I wanted something text based. Love it, hate it, I don?t care.

I?ll be posting a lot hopefully since I freak out every time I read the news these days.

I guess I?d like to say… prepare from my craziness.

-tuner

When we got to Albany my brother picked us up at the station and drove us to my father?s house where we were staying. Normally when I visit home I stay with my brother because its within walking distance to a lot of stuff , but his future in-laws were in town. So we grabbed a quick bite to eat at my dad?s then went to my brother?s to pick up his truck, which he was kind enough to let us barrow.

On the way home he got a call from his fiancee who is a police officer in Albany. Apparently Friday night there was supposed to be a shooting after the Albany High basketball game and she was out on the corner of 1st and Quail, not the nicest of neighborhoods. We were really close by so we stopped by to see her.

When we got there she was out of her car and there were a ton of kids around. She was happy to meet Erin and was talking with us when she screams… ?GO THE FUCK HOME QUENTIN!? Then this kid turn around all upset and start stomping off down the street.

She told us that he was the leader of one of the major gangs in Albany and that he was supposed to be the one doing the shooting after the game.

At that point Erin lit up with excitement. My brother?s fiancee was now her hero. Punking down a gang banger in front of all those people. ?She?s such a badass…? I thought it was cool too.

I?m not really sure if anything went down that night but all I know is that my brother?s fiancee came home alright and thats all that really matters.

Like always I booked the 5:45pm heading to Albany from Penn Station but this time it was a little different. I had to book two tickets.

It was a big step to bring my girlfriend home to meet my folks. She?d gain a little insight into how I became who I am.

I was really excited for the trip up because I love the train so much. Its nice to be able to sit back, listen to music, maybe read a book or watch a movie on your laptop / ipod. We choose the latter because it could fill up most of the two and a half hour trip. I have a very limited selection of movies on my laptop?s hard drive (They?re all legal rips from my own DVD collection.) but we decided to watch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. A classic movie that she?d never scene. Unfortunately the two girl sitting in front of us wanted to recline their seats all the way back. Normally I would be fine with this, but the way in which they did so almost snapped my laptop screen.

I always hated people who put their chairs back without looking back and seeing if there was room… a simple courtesy to prepare the person behind.

Anyway… after the chairs slammed back I wasn?t able to keep my laptop screen fully open. (To this day I slightly regret not buying the 15in MacBookPro, the 17in is way too big for travel.) I transfered the movie onto my ipod and we sat there for a good hour and a half squinting at a 2in screen.

The girls in front of us became slightly more annoying as the trip moved on. They were in their late teens I believe due to their retarded behavior and the UGG boots…which look UGGly… (Don?t kid yourself ladies) At one point they started singing loudly… ?Ninety-nine Bottles of Bacardi on the Wall…? to which i heard the greatest response from the man in front of them. ?What are you… 10?? and the girls got really embarrassed and shut up… well at least until that dude got off.

I don?t know where this post is actually going… but I guess it comes down to… be courteous when traveling because one day I?ll punch you in the throat.

More trip posts later.