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May 15, 2002
Began a new three-year lease on a sharp-looking black 2002 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL. Usually, I’m not a “car guy” — you know, someone who knows the horsepower and gas mileage of every make and model on the road. But when it comes time to get a new car, I can’t help getting excited.
And since I expect to be driving quite a bit this summer (Stone Harbor and Avalon, here I come!), I decided to splurge on the higher model with a few nice options. Might as well drive to the shore in style!
I felt a little guilty turning in my silver 1999 Altima GXE. It was a fun, reliable car, and just leaving it behind at the dealership seemed like a slightly unceremonious farewell. But driving the 2002 Altima has made the transition fairly easy.
[ No. 20 ]
Photo credit: Nissan
May 7, 2002
It’s time once again for a rant about the incredibly stupid people that surround us.
The Malvern train station near my apartment, unlike most others in the area, lacks an nearby walkway to the other side. After getting off the train, most passengers usually look both ways and quickly cross the tracks to walk to their cars. I’ll admit that this isn’t a terribly safe practice, but it’s downright intelligent compared to the scene I witnessed yesterday.
Last night, as on most evenings, I rode the SEPTA R5 Thorndale/Paoli train from Center City to Malvern. After disembarking, I joined the familiar group of folks who wait for everyone else to get off the train. As usual, some people decided to start walking along the jagged rocks beyond the station to get a head start toward the parking lot, but I’ve never been in that kind of hurry.
However, on this particular occasion, a few brave souls walked beyond the front of the train and crossed directly in front of it before it left the station! (Even more astounding is the fact that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this take place.) But hey, people have to get somewhere. Why wait around for two precious minutes when you can risk life and limb in order to be the first one out of the parking lot?
The engineer blasted the horn at the reckless pedestrians before resuming the route — probably partly to make sure that everyone was out of harm’s way and partly out of exasperation.
I hereby nominate these daring passengers as candidates for a collective Darwin Award, Honorable Mention. (Full recipients actually perish in their endeavors and consequently improve the human gene pool.)
[ No. 19 ]