Atlanta sucks at trains

Okay, so I had a business trip and left in the middle of a work day and come back in the middle of a work day so I decided to take Marta.

First, Marta has these new-fangled gates - but you can easily crawl under them. How'd that improve anything?

Then on the train, the map was a 1996 Olympic map, complete with the Omni, Atlanta-Fulton County stadium and the North Springs station, opening in June 1996! I don't care if it's the 10th anniversary, MARTA needs accurate maps.

If this was just MARTA that'd be one thing, but I saw a road sign pointing to the Omni a month or so back.

So anyway, then I got to the airport and got on the Train. The announcement said the first stop was Concourse D. What the hell?!? Everyone knows the first stop is Concourse A, so I got off (and it was Concourse A). If they hadn't got rid of the good voice they wouldn't have the problems... "Next stop is Concourse A, the color coded maps and signs in the vehicle match the station colors. Please move to the center of the vehicle and away from the doors."

If I was visiting Atlanta, I'd have sworn everyone was stupid.

It pays to be observant...

So I get a couple emails from Chipotle, telling me about their new location that's about to open in Raleigh (woohoo!). There are a couple of "preview nights" or something, dress rehearsals for the new employees, where all the proceeds go to some local charity.

The emails I got didn't have the hours included. So, I clicked on the "click here if you can't view this message" link to display a web page with the contents of the email.

Message 1: http://www.chipotle.com/email/06-390.htm
Message 2: http://www.chipotle.com/email/06-391.htm

So, class, did you note the URL's? I did...

Extrapolating, I tried the following: http://www.chipotle.com/email/06-392.htm
Score! Free burrito!

Pushing my luck I then tried http://www.chipotle.com/email/06-393.htm
Woo! 2 free burritos!

http://www.chipotle.com/email/06-394.htm marked the end of my luck.

I should be mad that I didn't get these messages in the first place, but maybe they were never sent out and they're just meant for sad smart people like me to discover. Yeah, that's it.

A clear sign of the downfall of traditional media

ABC wants to know how Global Warming has affected your life.

Has your life been directly affected by global warming?

We want to hear and see your stories. Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small — altered blooming schedules, unusual animals that have arrived in your community, higher water levels encroaching on your property.

There are so many things wrong with this that I don't know where to begin.

It used to be that news organizations would research the facts and report them, so that they could correct any common misconceptions that us "regular folks" might have.

Nowadays, ABC just says, "Look, people think this here heat wave is due to Global warming. Let's get stories from some of them and put them on the air. All the people who send in stories are bound to watch the news... instant ratings!"

Sunday Paper

Did anyone notice this?

Incidentally, the sharks were still on the front page on monday.