ALL ABOARD!

The long awaited Phoenix Valley Metro light rail is finally in operation and free transit is being offered till the end of the year. ‘Free’ was my cue to give it a try so I started at the Eastern most station in Tempe and headed downtown. It was standing room only as it seemed half the valley wished to check out the latest taxpayer funded ‘black hole’. I know this will raise the ire of all the ‘greenies’ out there but limits have to be set. At a cost of $1.4 billion for the 20 mile “starter section”, a massive fleet of propane powered buses covering a much larger area might have been a better idea. Of course, it would not have been as stylish.

Getting back to the trip, it was smooth as can be but the juke in the tracks, as we passed the ASU stadium, was taken a bit fast and had the standees grasping for a more secure hand-hold. I got off in midtown and walked a bit finally ending up in front of Chase Stadium but not before being harassed by a handful of “got any loose change” panhandlers. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise as I noticed many empty corners where a more clean-cut type may make a living. 😉

The ride back was just as packed but I was afforded an extra special Holiday treat when an alcohol soaked couple wedged themselves only feet from my very sensitive proboscis. Luckily, their malodorous aura was only to be endured for a few stops but the ear piercing vocalization of inane conversation emanating from the female bowling ball behind me lasted till the bitter end. All in all, this was pretty much what I expected from public transportation. Of course, the niceties of brand spanking new cars (sans graffiti) and stations free of the oh, so familiar reek of stale urine attributed to local ‘street urchins’ and litter deposited by the throngs of ‘caring public’ may never materialize and the ‘light rail utopia in the desert’ may be a model duplicated nationwide. Yeah, dream on!

Good-bye to good eats: A traditional stop for many on tour is no longer with us. Sorge’s Italian and American Restaurant, situated in Corning NY, is all but ashes after fire gutted this 57 year old landmark last Saturday. The Online Leader has all the details. The stargazette.com has an even more detailed pictorial. Everything will be served “well done” from now on I’ve heard.

A simple explanation: Trying to understand the financial mess we’re in and how the government is here to help, is a daunting endeavor to say the least but I found this on the Net that clears things up quite a bit.

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He next announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announce d that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: ‘Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.’ The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.

They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!

Now you have a better understanding of how the WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WILL WORK !!