Jwill's Log

It speaks for itself.

From the T’s website:

The Red Line Subway is experiencing delays during am peak 5:00 am – 9:30 am for 10-15 minutes due to switch problem
Last Modified: 8/22/2007 8:18:08 AM

Can’t blame the T for an occasional problem I guess, but that extra time I spent on the Red Line because of that “switch problem” was a little nerveracking for me. I don’t like being in the middle of a crowded space. What bugged me was that people were still trying to board the train even though it was ridiculously full. Also, because of the delay, the tions were loaded with people waiting to board.

It happens every once in a while, and it is what it is. No reason to blast the T over switch problems, as I’m sure so many other people would, since they like to remember all the bad things and not remember the good things as well. I just hope they fix whatever issues they’re having before I get off work today.

Six inches sounds like a small deal, but it won’t be when you see what happened to this truck.

Whenever you’re going under certain tunnels, drive-throughs, or any other low level, there’s always a sign that says something like “CLEARANCE 12’4”” or some other measurement.

So yesterday at 4:40 AM, a truck driver was approaching the New Jersey entrance of the Lincoln tunnel. The clearance was 13”, and his truck was 13”6′. What do you think happened?

Mr. Cantu drove the entire 1.5 miles of the tunnel from Weehawken, N.J., to Manhattan, tearing his way under the Hudson River in the tunnel’s center tube and peeling back the roof of his tractor-trailer as if it were a tin can. No one was injured, but an undetermined number of decorative tunnel ceiling tiles were ripped off.

He ripped off the top of his truck and damaged the tunnel. I have a feeling the Lincon tunnel authority won’t be done with him for some time now. Check the original article for the picture and the whole story.

IN PRISON: You get time off for good behavior.
AT WORK: You get more work for good behavior.

IN PRISON: The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK: You must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

They forgot something:
IN PRISON: You’re there all day, every day, until you’re let out.
AT WORK: You’re there for eight hours then you go home. And you get paid for your time.

But go read it; it’s interesting.

The topic of that Sunday was finance and balance. He started with the five circles of commitment to the church. You know the thing where there’s an extremely large circle and then smaller circles are inscribed? Consider that, with five levels.

The most inner level is called the “Core” – the core consists of the people in the church that work (work for the church; i.e., ushers, deacons, pastors, other volunteers) and tithe.

The second level consists of the “Committed” – people who don’t work at the church but tithe.

Next level would be the Congregation – they don’t work at the church and they don’t tithe, but they deserve credit for being good givers.

Fourth level = Crowd. They sometimes attend church (i.e., on special occasions and holidays). They only go to one church, but they don’t go very often

Fifth level = Community. They almost never go to church.

The Bishop called the Financial Foundation: The Ability to Reach, The Ability to Reproduce, The Ability to Rule.

A lack of balance hinders the pursuit of goals.
Reasons attributed to lack of balance: Ignorance, Disobedience, Grumbling/Faulting, Laziness.

I got cut short but here’s the reasons I managed to write down for things to do to achieve financial balance:

Strong work ethic
Discipline of delayed gratification
Budgeting to live beneath your “needs”
Saving/Paying Yourself
Didn’t get the fifth one.