thinking jewish

Do Dial 7

Ashamti, bagadti, gazalti... shakarti.

I lied. I'm sorry.

Dial 7 did not try to take advantage of New Yorkers during the strike. They charge an extra 20% on December 24th because it's Christmas Eve.

I guess it's easy to forget that we live in a mostly Christian country when you live on the Upper West Side.

Oops.

Quote of the Day

"Three types of people do not see even the facade of Gehinom (Hell) because the pain and misery they suffer in this world atones for their sins. These are: those who suffer the exactions of poverty, intestinal disorders, and the pursuit of creditors.

And some say: also, someone who has a bad wife."

-Talmud Bavli, Eruvin, 41b

Don't Dial 7

This strike sucks. Yes, it sucks.

The TWU has selfishly and illegally chosen to bring New York City to a standstill so that they can fight to be paid far more than anyone else with similar jobs in public service at a time when their employers are foreseeing record budget deficits.

But apparently the TWU is not the only group that needs to do a little learning about being naughty or nice this Christmas season.

Dial 7, the most prevalent and recognizable car service in New York City, offers car service from Manhattan to all of the area airports. This used to cost $49 (a taxi costs $45). Recently they raised their prices to $51. Fair deal.

The strike costs Dial 7 nothing. In fact, it likely ensures that they have the highest number of filled cars all day long than at any other time this year. This strike means big bucks for Dial 7.

And so, at a time when this city's residents are being choked with no way of getting around, Dial 7 has chosen to milk this situation for all it's worth and raise it's prices by 20%.

Dial 7 is selfishly choosing to reap the benefits of New Yorkers' loss. When the rest of this city is busy coming together in a time of trouble, Dial 7 chooses to exploit New Yorkers for every dollar they're worth. They do not deserve anyone's support or business, not to mention the honor of calling themselves New Yorkers.

S-T-R-I-K-E

The TWU finally followed through on their threat of a city-wide strike this morning, effectively bringing the capital of the world to a standstill.

Now, let's just ignore the fact that this strike is illegal and look at some of the grievances the TWU is protesting:

• Pay - The TWU is asking for an annual 6% raise to their salary. Currently, the average subway operator makes $63,000. That means that in three years the average subway operator would make about $71,000. The average non-Wall Street New Yorker makes $49,000, and that includes Doctors and Lawyers and Rabbinical students! Survey says? X
• Retirement - TWU workers can currently retire at age 55, but the MTA wants future employees to work until they are 62. The accepted age of retirement in America is 65. What gives? Survey says? X X
• Benefits - TWU workers currently contribute nothing, that's right, nothing, towards their health coverage. The big mean MTA wants them to pay 2% of the costs. In a world a stinky (to say the least) health coverage (let me tell you a little about Blue Cross) 2% ain't bad. And did I mention that this would be a requirement ONLY of new workers? Current employees aren't affected at all! Survey says? X X X

So what's the deal? The TWU sees that the MTA has a huge surplus this year and wants in on the pie. Not bad. But let's remember that huge deficits are forecast for next year, and prices for metrocards are still slated to go up. Besides, free bus rides on Saturday nights of December are a much nicer way to spend a surplus than worker benefits!

This is pretty damn exciting though. Who knows, maybe I'll have to walk to my finals on Thursday. That's roughly 85 blocks, with 20 blocks to a mile, so I'll be walking 4.5 miles each way. 9 miles, at about 100 calories a mile means I get to eat a ton of holiday sweets come Thursday.

Thank you TWU!

Back to the Treadmill

This is me:

This is me, tonight, realizing my dream of becoming a yoga master was never meant to be:

Conversation of the Day

misha4383: which institute
David Singer: huc-jir
misha4383: hebrew university colelge jewish institute radicool
David Singer: exactly
misha4383: im well apraised of the hebrew acronyms

Quote of the Day

"The symbolic 1776 dimension [of the Freedom Tower] was proposed by Daniel Libeskind and embraced by Gov. George Pataki. David M. Childs [an architect] of the Freedom Tower, was quoted... as saying that he 'never understood' that decision, 'because this building will be measured in meters.' At 541 meters, the Freedom Tower will symbolically represent the year Totila became king of the Ostrogoths."

-Memorial Pools Will Not Quite Fill Twin Footprints, The New York Times

I Hate Blue Cross

When socialists say that big corporations are evil, they must have in mind Blue Cross.

• They live to make my life painful.
• They make me take excessive amounts of trips to CVS to fill routine prescriptions that I get on a monthly basis.
• They epitomize what can go wrong with bureaucracy.
• They make no sense.
• They needlessly charge me for stupid things.
• They provide almost zero benefits for basic services that should be covered in full.
• They try to make me happy by authorizing a three-day prescription while I jump through hoops and juggle while declining Hebrew verbs for Stanley Nash.

Misha works for Blue Cross. She is my new best friend. Thank you Misha. You bring an otherwise evil corporation that much closer to just being despicable.

P.S. Brenda, I like you too. Just not as much as Misha.

Things That Suck

There's usually a five second delay in between the time when the doors close on the subway and the subway car actually starts moving.

Tonight, as I ran onto the subway car, I barely made it inside the doors as they closed. As the doors snapped shut, I turned around to look out onto the station platform as we moved away.

Then came the five seconds of waiting. A long five seconds of waiting.

Time seemed to stretch from seconds into minutes into hours. Eternity passed.

Those five seconds I gazed at the ground of the subway platform staring - staring at my wallet.

There was nothing to be done. The doors were closed, and soon we'd leave the station. But for those five seconds I prayed that the reality in front of me would change.

Five. I push on the doors, trying to open them back up. Four. A woman to my right sighs, "Oh no!" Three. Two. A woman on the platform sees my wallet and bends down. One. The woman looks at my ID and picks up my wallet. Zero. We left the station.

Five seconds of horror. Five seconds of regret. Five seconds that sucked.

Kashrut 101

After a messy Shabbat dinner, my dad decided to help out and wash the dishes...

Dad: Hmm...

Me: What?

Dad: All the dishes must have been placed in something...

Me: Why's that?

Dad: I keep finding and having to wash off these round spots of stuff on the bottom of the pans and dishes...

Me: Those were the marks showing that they were meat dishes smart guy.

Dad: Oops.