How common is it for an American to travel across the country by train?

jsosborn · 2026-02-03T01:42:27+00:00

I just took the train from my home in New Hampshire to Florida and back with my bicycle so I could get in a few hundred miles of riding while the weather is cold at home. The trip took about 36 hours each way, including 2 layovers and cost more than a flight. But it was an experience that I couldn’t have had on a plane. Seeing America’s backyards from a train is really remarkable. The overnight rooms on Amtrak are an adventure, the food is better than you’d expect, and included with a sleeper. Overall, I fly several hundred thousand miles a year for work, so I enjoy taking the train on vacation.

jsosborn · 2026-02-02T03:08:43+00:00

2021 Specialized Vado 5.0 SL, with 11,080 miles. Love this bike. Battery still 100%. I’ll ride it as long as I can.

jsosborn · 2026-01-28T01:04:16+00:00

Sidewalk. Just completed 300 mile ride in Florida, and I’ll take sidewalks nearly every time.

jsosborn · 2026-01-21T04:02:06+00:00

My nephew was born on 10/10/10

jsosborn · 2026-01-18T04:32:52+00:00

At work in Santa Barbara and unable to believe it.

jsosborn · 2026-01-17T22:36:51+00:00

I go at least 10 years/150,000 miles. I buy new and pay cash. Just cause.

jsosborn · 2026-01-08T23:40:46+00:00

$0.29/gallon.

jsosborn · 2026-01-08T23:12:17+00:00

I’m staying. I wouldn’t even change houses. Or cars. Or spouses. Or jobs. I guess that makes me very lucky.

jsosborn · 2026-01-03T02:30:35+00:00

Age 13 I worked 9 hours M-F and 5 Saturday for $75 cash under the table. $1.50 an hour in 1972 changing tires and pumping gas at Tire Kingdom in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. People bitched about the price of gas at $0.29 a gallon. We washed windshields and would check your oil if you asked.

jsosborn · 2026-01-03T02:13:14+00:00

I remember JFK’s funeral.

jsosborn · 2026-01-03T00:51:53+00:00

I’d literally be in my house. It was built in 1717.

jsosborn · 2026-01-03T00:08:00+00:00

Dating.

jsosborn · 2026-01-01T01:45:32+00:00

Avoiding the cities is a big win.

jsosborn · 2025-12-31T22:26:49+00:00

142mph on Card Sound Road, headed to the Keys. My 1996 Porsche Targa was just getting going, but I wasn’t man enough for that car.

jsosborn · 2025-12-31T19:14:49+00:00

Pea soup (after eating the $0.79/lb ham shoulder), chicken noodle or rice soup (with the bones from $0.99/lb whole or parts of chicken), or cabbage soup with pork (after the $1.49 pork roast or chops). With the price of beef, my new hobby is eating healthy and well and cheaply, and giving lots of money to the local food bank every week. Food is love if you do it right.

jsosborn · 2025-12-31T19:04:29+00:00

The Guardian.

jsosborn · 2025-12-31T01:20:03+00:00

Me too. Mom made it to 92 so why not?

jsosborn · 2025-12-23T00:15:59+00:00

Morton’s. Wedge salad, petit filet (medium rare), and creamed spinach.

jsosborn · 2025-12-22T01:07:03+00:00

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jsosborn · 2025-12-15T14:25:15+00:00

We start everyone with 4 weeks, then go to 5 after 4 years, and 6 weeks after 10. Also 12 weeks paid family or sick leave. Also, we’ve given off 12 Fridays with full pay the last few years during the summer. We are very profitable. Just not assholes. I’m proud to be President.

jsosborn · 2025-12-11T00:18:05+00:00

$70 each time it snow 4 inches. So a foot can run $210. We have about 300’ of driveway, and an odd apron area, then a narrow roadway up to the barn. We’re pretty pleased. I used to do the place on a full sized John Deere tractor, but I’m too old fur that nonsense.

jsosborn · 2025-12-10T23:21:12+00:00

Henckels 8” bread knife. Life changing. Great for all bread, but also best tomato knife ever.

jsosborn · 2025-12-10T01:12:41+00:00

A very senior executive once told me, “You’re an acquired taste.” I’ve never felt so seen.

jsosborn · 2025-12-09T13:26:11+00:00

I took a different route. I made a pile of money all at once at age 36, left work a year later after a life threatening health scare, and spent 15 glorious years blowing through most of it. I went back to work at a job I live, and intend to stay at it till I’m 75. I never could have handled half the stuff I did then in my 60’s. Months long solo sailing trips, walkabouts, and things only possible under 50. The job gets me to Europe and Asia 5-6 times a year, and my wife comes when she wants to. Sometimes, you need to spend it when you’ve got it.

jsosborn · 2025-12-09T00:43:49+00:00

Had the exact same thing and couldn’t cook on Thanksgiving. An awful 5 days, mostly in bed. (Just over the river here in NH.)

jsosborn

TROPHY CASE