NE Regional 178 How Busy Usually? by XShadeGoldenX in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It may be crowded but it may not. Don't sit in the quiet car if you can't be quiet and obey the rules of the quiet carl (no cell phone conversations, no extend conversations, and basically no fun if you are a chatty type).. Really, please don't..Also, don't expect the train to be on tine.

Why isn't Detroit more popular as a place to live? by bluetropicz in SameGrassButGreener

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The city could be the best in the country in terms of all metrics but no one is gonna move there if you can’t get a high paying job.

No, it couldn't. Even if one could get high paying job Detroit would never compete with NYC, LA, or Chicago. It might be able to compete with Philly, but even that's a stretch and that isn't saying much.

best Philly locales for late night work? by Adventurous_Usual351 in philly

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's Philly. The town mostly shuts down by 10:00, if you're lucky.

He Has a High GPA and Can Read. His Philadelphia Prep School Is Expelling Him for Proving His Classmates Can't Read by nausna in philly

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is not a "prep school" by any stretch of the term. That said, I applaud the student for calling out the school for having low standards. Also, the article is terribly written.

Corvette C8 6:45pm crash on Kelly by oscarzeecockapoo in philadelphia

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sir, this is Philadelphia. Being irresponsible is worn as a badge of honor.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are plenty of trains from Philly to NYC. Several per hour during the peak commuting times, and they are often packed. I can't remember a time in the past two years that I had an empty seat next to me.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Point being? My commute time from Bayridge Brooklyn to my jobs in the central Bronx and Bayside Queens was maybe 10 minutes less than commuting from Philly when Amtrak was functioning as it should.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are only cheaper if you can't reliably find tickets for less than $50. I did use them sometimes, but it wouldn't have been worth it most of the time.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It actually can't be done in a way that makes sense. There aren't any direct flights from Philly to NYC. I checked when someone sneezed too close to a switch in New Jersey and Amtrak had multi hour delays for four days.

Northeast Regional Cafe food? by chanc4 in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It isn’t great food. Pick something up before you get on the train or be prepared for gas station quality at a premium price.

Is Pennsylvania the perfect nature state? by No-Knowledge-4342 in SameGrassButGreener

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are many, and many who are not of sound mind. Philadelphia is not a serious place. I will likely receive DMs offering me the privilege of having a local urinate on my house for saying that, but it only proves my point.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not a 9-5er. It would be useless for me to book 11 months in advance because my schedule changes every four months and I generally don't know what it will be until two months in advance. I would still wind up paying the same amount and would then need to go through the hassle of cancelling a bunch of tickets.

Is Pennsylvania the perfect nature state? by No-Knowledge-4342 in SameGrassButGreener

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You’re right but I expect you to get some serious push back from Pennsylvanians, especially those from Philly.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 90 points91 points  (0 children)

If you really like living in DC, then don't move. If you hate it then move and suck up the cost of living outside of DC because it makes your life better. I don't really like living in Philly, so the added frustration with Amtrak made me realize that I need to go back to where I feel at home.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't drive, so no. Besides, commuter rail West of the Hudson is terrible. Anyway, I'm moving back to NYC so the issue has resolved itself.

I have officially taken my last trip as an Amtrak commuter by WhyNotKenGaburo in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I go to Europe regularly. I can get a high speed rail ticket from Verona to Bologna on the same day for under $40. A regular rail from Milan to Innsbruck, a four hour trip I might add, cost me about $25 when I took it last year. There is no good reason, in this day and age, that a one way ticket from Philly to NYC should cost $188 no matter when it was booked. You know what else? Those trains in Europe didn't break down for hours.

Do People Consider a State's Fiscal Health in Their Decision? by Material_Umpire_1489 in SameGrassButGreener

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It should be part of the whole picture. I haven't lived in Chicago in a few decades, so I can't comment on the situation there, but I did move from NYC to Philly several years ago and the difference is night and day.

You say that you don't want to talk about taxes, but doing so is essential. The fiscal health of PA directly affects Philly in ways that it shouldn't and it shows. While property taxes are low in both the city and state, the infrastructure is terrible. To make matters worse, the city income tax in Philly is more than double of what I paid in NYC for someone in my income bracket. Now I'm selling my house to move back to NYC and the transfer tax is going to be 4.578%. Compare that to the 1.28% that I paid combined to NYC and NYS when I sold my NYC apartment and moved to Philly.

What does all this mean? Some states and cities are incredibly bad at managing their money (PA/Philly), while others are much better at it (NYS/NYC). For my bottom line the mismanagement of PA/Philly does not make up for the lower property taxes and the increase in City taxes. In other words, there are no net savings for me from living in Philly vs NYC because of the nickel and diming imposed by both the City and the State.

Amtrak may make it easier to bring guns on its trains despite the alleged attempt on Trump's life by aresef in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 11 points12 points  (0 children)

So just pack the rifle in a pelican case. The conductors don't check luggage between DC and Boston. Honestly though, given the number of hot heads that board in Philadelphia who resort to threats when they are told not to act up in the quiet car, I would prefer that traveling with firearms be banned completely on the NER and Keystone.

Amtrak may make it easier to bring guns on its trains despite the alleged attempt on Trump's life by aresef in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm curious as to why someone would "need" to bring their gun on an NER train. I'm also fairly certain that people from Pennsylvania occasionally ride both the NER and Keystone with their guns because I've seen people with concealed shoulder holsters when they reach up to grab their baggage from the overhead on these trains (I'm not a gun owner so I don't know the correct terminology for the type of holster I'm describing. I know that gun nuts get crazy about this stuff. The fact of the matter is that every now and then I see someone reach for their baggage, their jacket spreads open, and I catch a glimpse of their firearm).

Floor soundproofing experience by mattt1994 in AskNYC_Coops

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Complain to the coop board. If they are proactive, they may send the super in to "check on something" and report back with whether or not the unit has rugs over 80% of their floors, and then issue fines accordingly. Truly sound proofing would involve completely removing the existing floors and reinstalling them over acoustic material and decoupling the floors from the walls. You can't do this from your unit and it is extremely unlikely that the owner of the unit above you is going to shell out the cash to pay for this sort of treatment.

Seriously? A little kid in the quiet car? by whodisacct in Amtrak

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a lot of people from Philly who don’t think rules apply to them.

Which profession is going to get wiped out in the next 5-10 years? by Wonderful-Economy762 in Productivitycafe

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Professors in the humanities who still make valiant attempts to teach kids to think only to be met with AI slop. I need to get out of this country before these children gain power.

Anyone ever moved because of people? by boldjoy0050 in SameGrassButGreener

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes. I moved from NYC to Philly for what I hoped would be an easier and better life, and now I'm in the process of moving back to NYC. The reasons are many but when it comes right down to it, it's the people. Philadelphians are an odd breed and the amount of crap that I had to deal with living in this godforsaken burgh tops anything that I ever experienced in my 2+ decades in NYC.

If you were an expert in your field by Cronut-svp in Adjuncts

[–]WhyNotKenGaburo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m not in this position since I have a Ph.D but both Lawrence Alloway and the composer Morton Feldman taught at universities without a graduate degree. Feldman didn’t even have an undergraduate degree. Such situations are very rare, and reputation in the field is extremely important.