For those of you who don't know, I work a considerable distance away from my home in South West Dade county, and for the past year-and-a-half I have been driving with a carpool buddy, but then she had the audacity to quit on me! As a result I have finally bitten the bullet and started taking the Tri-Rail. I avoided it for a number of reasons, including the time it adds to my commute and my doubt that any sort of public transit in South Florida can reliable. Then I discovered that several of my coworkers use the train and swore by it.
However, it's not that bad. Yes it does add about 1-1.5 hours to my commute, but it's so much less stressful to drive the 25 minutes to the station. So, after about a month and a half of taking the Tri-Rail, this is my list of pros and cons.
Pros:
1. I save a ton of money on gas and tolls
2. My employer is part of the Employee Discount Program so it's only $75 a month to ride (it cost me more in 1 week to drive)
3. The trains are typically on time, and you can sign up for alerts to find out if they aren't
4. There are shuttles from the station to my job
5. Shockingly, everyone who works for Tri-Rail has been extremely helpful, polite and friendly (this might be a sign of the Apocalypse.)
6. The trains are air conditioned (usually)
7. It's pretty easy to get tickets and refill my pass
8. I get a chance to read and listen to music - this is a great way to decompress after the work day
9. There are generally not that many crazies, as most people take the train to work
10. You can take the train to the Fort Lauderdale airport and save a considerable amount of money by not taking a cab
11. Even when the train is late, you can comfort yourself by looking at 95 with the realization that you don't have to sit in that traffic
Cons:
1. It sucks when the AC breaks on the train
2. The train is surprisingly busy so if you get on in the middle of the tracks during rush hour, it can be difficult to find seats -- especially if one car has broken AC
3. I have to book it to get to my shuttle so that I don't have to stand
4. I often look like a bag lady with too many things hanging off me
5. You can only buy the Easy Pass at 3 different stations, and their hours are all different and that's highly inconvenient
6. Sometimes people like to ask you if you "have faith"
7. People LOVE to interrupt you while you are reading to ask you if you "like your Kindle." It's very difficult to stop yourself from saying, "no, I hate it. that's why I am staring at it so fiercely"
8. All the stops are open-air. This sucks when it's raining or really hot
9. It's a gigantic pain in the ass when there's an accident on the tracks (the motorcycle accident last Friday shut things down and I didn't get to work until 10:15 a.m. Normally I'm there by 8:30)
10. If you park at the Miami Airport you have to park down the street from the station. It's not a far walk but it's the only station with that set-up and there's no security in the parking lot.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Heat vs. Bulls - A Bird Road Celebration
So, in case you live under a rock, or nowhere near Bird Road, the Heat beat the Bulls tonight. If you didn't get 80 million texts, you probably found out by hearing the horns from across the world. As soon as the Heat won, I started hearing horns blaring. El Hombre decided this was the optimum time to show me how Westchester celebrates these types of events. I have heard about people beating pots and pans outside of La Carretta, but I never quite believed it.... until tonight.
Honestly, words and pictures don't come close to explaining what happens. So I took video. See for yourself... there are no exaggerations:
Honestly, words and pictures don't come close to explaining what happens. So I took video. See for yourself... there are no exaggerations:
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Contemplative
Last Sunday I spent the day in Fort Lauderdale beach. El Hombre was at Ultra (out in a hot field with portable bathrooms and lots of people? NOT my scene) and my family was in town, so I made my way up to Broward to see them.
There's nothing particularly special - we didn't do anything crazy or wild. Instead I spent the afternoon playing cards with my little cousins, going to the beach and burying said little cousins in the sand. Later on that night, after dinner, we walked out into the yard, which faces the Intercoastal. Some people were sipping drinks, the guys were puffing cigars and the kids were fishing. After much pleading, I finally agreed to help my youngest cousin (she's 7) fish by holding the pole. Every time there was a tug on the line I would hand it over to her and she would gleefully it in.
Then, out of nowhere we spotted these floating red things in the sky. One of the older uncles was teasing the kids that they were UFOs while his wife rushed in to grab binoculars. On closer look, it was some sort of lantern with candles inside. They drifted higher and higher, slowly burning out while everyone theorized where they came from.
Out of nowhere my little cousin piped up, "I heard that when Chinese people die, their family light lanterns like that to honor them." What an interesting thing for a child to know, and what a great allegory for life that alleged ritual is. Whether the lights just went out, or consumed the lanterns they were in I don't know. I don't think they were released to honor someone's death, more than likely they were released by the yacht wedding that was slowly drifting up and down the Intercoastal, but it was an interesting symbol that resonated and calmed some of the inner turmoil I've been experiencing of late.
There's nothing particularly special - we didn't do anything crazy or wild. Instead I spent the afternoon playing cards with my little cousins, going to the beach and burying said little cousins in the sand. Later on that night, after dinner, we walked out into the yard, which faces the Intercoastal. Some people were sipping drinks, the guys were puffing cigars and the kids were fishing. After much pleading, I finally agreed to help my youngest cousin (she's 7) fish by holding the pole. Every time there was a tug on the line I would hand it over to her and she would gleefully it in.
Then, out of nowhere we spotted these floating red things in the sky. One of the older uncles was teasing the kids that they were UFOs while his wife rushed in to grab binoculars. On closer look, it was some sort of lantern with candles inside. They drifted higher and higher, slowly burning out while everyone theorized where they came from.
Out of nowhere my little cousin piped up, "I heard that when Chinese people die, their family light lanterns like that to honor them." What an interesting thing for a child to know, and what a great allegory for life that alleged ritual is. Whether the lights just went out, or consumed the lanterns they were in I don't know. I don't think they were released to honor someone's death, more than likely they were released by the yacht wedding that was slowly drifting up and down the Intercoastal, but it was an interesting symbol that resonated and calmed some of the inner turmoil I've been experiencing of late.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Boating in South Florida - Monument Island
Now that the weather is finally hot enough to go on the boat without a windbreaker, El Hombre and I have started venturing out onto the high seas again. Boating is a nice alternative to going to the beach here in the Spring and Summer for a few reasons - on the boat you can explore lots of different places instead of being squashed into one space, you can spend the majority of your time with only a few people instead of the perpetual jam of people on the beach, you don't have to listen to every reggaeton song that's ever been recorded and you can still get sun and be in the water.
Anyways, on one of our recent excursions, El Hombre and I decided to head over to Flagler Monument Island. When I lived on the beach I never really paid attention to this small island with an obelisk just off the Venetian Causeway. In fact, I didn't even know what the island was until I went on the Miami City Tour a few years back.
Flagler Monument Island is just what it seems, it's a small, man-made island in the bay that was built to honor Henry Flagler in 1920. The island monument itself is quartered off by fences, but has statues at each corner of the square base. Though covered with the same trees and underbrush which are typical of all the bay islands, Monument Island is a nice place to tie up your boat and stop for a picnic or a short walk (though I recommend sneakers or some other type of covered shoes if you plan to walk through to the monument itself.
There are trash cans all around the island to dispose waste, but I don't think they are collected too often, and you will see some trash on the island. Don't get me wrong, there is not a ton of litter all over the beaches, but it's definitely there. Fortunately organizations like Ecomb do frequent outings with volunteers to go clean up the island, and in fact El Capitan has participated in this recently.
Can you spend a whole day admiring the beauty of Monument Island? Probably not, but it's definitely a recommended spot to stop for a walk and some firm land - just please pick up your trash and take it with you.
Images below:
Anyways, on one of our recent excursions, El Hombre and I decided to head over to Flagler Monument Island. When I lived on the beach I never really paid attention to this small island with an obelisk just off the Venetian Causeway. In fact, I didn't even know what the island was until I went on the Miami City Tour a few years back.
Flagler Monument Island is just what it seems, it's a small, man-made island in the bay that was built to honor Henry Flagler in 1920. The island monument itself is quartered off by fences, but has statues at each corner of the square base. Though covered with the same trees and underbrush which are typical of all the bay islands, Monument Island is a nice place to tie up your boat and stop for a picnic or a short walk (though I recommend sneakers or some other type of covered shoes if you plan to walk through to the monument itself.
There are trash cans all around the island to dispose waste, but I don't think they are collected too often, and you will see some trash on the island. Don't get me wrong, there is not a ton of litter all over the beaches, but it's definitely there. Fortunately organizations like Ecomb do frequent outings with volunteers to go clean up the island, and in fact El Capitan has participated in this recently.
Can you spend a whole day admiring the beauty of Monument Island? Probably not, but it's definitely a recommended spot to stop for a walk and some firm land - just please pick up your trash and take it with you.
Images below:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Restaurant Recommendation - Boca Raton
One of my biggest gripes about working in Boca (aside from the commute) is that it's hard to find good, affordable places to eat for lunch. Most of the places around my job are mediocre, and for awhile I had resigned myself to Panera being the best option. Don't get me wrong, I love Panera, but there's only so much you can eat of it.
The one of my coworkers introduced me to Carole's Kitchen, and it was love at first bite. Carole's Kitchen is a locally-owned diner, tucked behind Boca Town Center. Most of the people working there are related to Carole, and the diner is almost an homage to the family, with pictures all over the place. The food is nothing crazy, mainly sandwiches, salads and soups. But they are GOOD sandwiches, salads and soups. If you know me, you know I love soup. I'm a soup snob and I can eat soup every day, summer or winter. This place has about 7-10 daily soups, with a few that are daily staples. Each of the ones I have tried have been phenomenal. They are cooked to perfection, and you can have your choice of a brothy soup, or heavier cream soup. My friend Nat's favorite is the tomato bisque - a hearty cream-based tomato soup, rich with flavor, and perfect paired with one of the grilled cheese's on the menu. My favorite? The Italian Wedding Soup, a lighter soup, with meatballs & veggies. It's delicious, not too salty and super savory. I like it so much that I know it's only served on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and when we venture out to eat, those are the days I try to convince everyone to go.
Carole's Kitchen closes early, it's definitely not a late-night place, but it's a great place for lunch, and it doesn't catch a crazy crowd at noon like most places.
The one of my coworkers introduced me to Carole's Kitchen, and it was love at first bite. Carole's Kitchen is a locally-owned diner, tucked behind Boca Town Center. Most of the people working there are related to Carole, and the diner is almost an homage to the family, with pictures all over the place. The food is nothing crazy, mainly sandwiches, salads and soups. But they are GOOD sandwiches, salads and soups. If you know me, you know I love soup. I'm a soup snob and I can eat soup every day, summer or winter. This place has about 7-10 daily soups, with a few that are daily staples. Each of the ones I have tried have been phenomenal. They are cooked to perfection, and you can have your choice of a brothy soup, or heavier cream soup. My friend Nat's favorite is the tomato bisque - a hearty cream-based tomato soup, rich with flavor, and perfect paired with one of the grilled cheese's on the menu. My favorite? The Italian Wedding Soup, a lighter soup, with meatballs & veggies. It's delicious, not too salty and super savory. I like it so much that I know it's only served on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and when we venture out to eat, those are the days I try to convince everyone to go.
Carole's Kitchen closes early, it's definitely not a late-night place, but it's a great place for lunch, and it doesn't catch a crazy crowd at noon like most places.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Miami Brunch: A review
Every Sunday we talk about going to brunch, but we never do. This Sunday we broke that routine. I have been hearing alot of things about Sugarcane Raw Bar, and their menu looked interesting so we drove over to Midtown to check it out.
Sugarcane has great decor. We walked into a lush patio area and they immediately sat us outside in the shade. This is the best time of year to sit outside, while seeing that everyone else is 10 feet under snow after all, but I digress. As we looked around, I realized that the restaurant has one major failure - staffing. We were outside at around 1:30 on a Sunday at a place that offers brunch. There were at least 7 other tables sitting in our same courtyard and there was 1 waiter. one. That's setting the poor guy up to fail, I mean, brunch is huge on South Florida weekends, and you have one waiter? There's no way you are going to get good service unless your bussers and runners are epic. Which brings me to my second point. We had to ask for water several times. The bussers were walking around with trays and blank looks on their faces, like they weren't quite sure how they got there and what they were supposed to do.
Our waiter finally got to our table, was very apologetic and quickly took our orders. He had good knowledge of the menu, and checked back a few times to let me know my coffee was on it's way, but the coffee guy took awhile. It was well worth the wait. My cappuccino was amazing, close to what I had in Italy. In between getting our drinks and our food, one foodrunner kept trying to bring us someone else's food. When we got our food, the runner totally forgot to bring an entire part of El Hombre's meal.
My meal was fantastic though. I got the flatbread because I had read that it was a great dish, and it was truly tasty. It was a thin bread with tomato, squash, zucchini, asparagus, mushroom and manchego, topped with an egg. It was almost a little pizza and it was well worth the wait.
At this point our waiter came back, we complained that part of El Hombre's meal was missing and he quickly got us a discount on our ticket.
My synopsis? Food was great and very reasonably priced, but the management needs to work on the staffing, big time. As in, train their bussers and runners (which, honestly, anyone can do) and have more servers working. And make sure their servers maintain the excellent attitude that our guy had.. poor guy was totally in the weeds, but was polite, helpful and apologetic to everyone around us.
Sugarcane has great decor. We walked into a lush patio area and they immediately sat us outside in the shade. This is the best time of year to sit outside, while seeing that everyone else is 10 feet under snow after all, but I digress. As we looked around, I realized that the restaurant has one major failure - staffing. We were outside at around 1:30 on a Sunday at a place that offers brunch. There were at least 7 other tables sitting in our same courtyard and there was 1 waiter. one. That's setting the poor guy up to fail, I mean, brunch is huge on South Florida weekends, and you have one waiter? There's no way you are going to get good service unless your bussers and runners are epic. Which brings me to my second point. We had to ask for water several times. The bussers were walking around with trays and blank looks on their faces, like they weren't quite sure how they got there and what they were supposed to do.
Our waiter finally got to our table, was very apologetic and quickly took our orders. He had good knowledge of the menu, and checked back a few times to let me know my coffee was on it's way, but the coffee guy took awhile. It was well worth the wait. My cappuccino was amazing, close to what I had in Italy. In between getting our drinks and our food, one foodrunner kept trying to bring us someone else's food. When we got our food, the runner totally forgot to bring an entire part of El Hombre's meal.
My meal was fantastic though. I got the flatbread because I had read that it was a great dish, and it was truly tasty. It was a thin bread with tomato, squash, zucchini, asparagus, mushroom and manchego, topped with an egg. It was almost a little pizza and it was well worth the wait.
At this point our waiter came back, we complained that part of El Hombre's meal was missing and he quickly got us a discount on our ticket.
My synopsis? Food was great and very reasonably priced, but the management needs to work on the staffing, big time. As in, train their bussers and runners (which, honestly, anyone can do) and have more servers working. And make sure their servers maintain the excellent attitude that our guy had.. poor guy was totally in the weeds, but was polite, helpful and apologetic to everyone around us.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday Morning
It's a sunny, chilly day and we are just taking it easy for a bit, and this song popped into my head, so I thought I would share. A live, slightly jazzy version of Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Perfect for lazing about the house, pretending that you don't have to work the next day...
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