ITT: discussions about anything that is not football

[redbreegull]

margin

[redbreegull]

http://www.chilloutpoint.com/images/...-photos-06.jpg

[MyOneAndOnly]

http://cache.images.globalsportsmedi...3360header.jpg

[redbreegull]

anyone get any snow today? we were supposed to get 5-8 inches and then it just rained. never got below 40 degrees. I understand that meteorological forecasting, like any science, is about probabilities and not certainties, but I sometimes I just do not get how it can be that wrong

[redbreegull]

I did read though that part of the reason why US weather forecasting is so bad is that the national weather service is using way outdated computers the government hasn't bothered to update in decades.

[redbreegull]

where the fuck is the PRIVATE SECTOR to fix this

[redbreegull]

http://www.chilloutpoint.com/images/...-photos-20.jpg

[Eulogy]

i lost my transit card at some point over the last.... month.

there was $7.50 on it still : (

didn't realize it until i went to get on the train this morning either. lame.

[redbreegull]

that sucks. in the future public transit will probably just scan your fucking credit card and take money right out of your account

[redbreegull]

or maybe they will just scan the personal media chip implanted in your brain

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

that sucks. in the future public transit will probably just scan your fucking credit card and take money right out of your account

in chicago now you have the option of using your transit card as a debit card so that's kind of that. lots of fees and stuff though so fuck that.

[Order 66]

you lost you're card because your stupid

[mxzombie]

the new cta fare system is awful.

[Bread Regal]

how did it change

[Eulogy]

essentially using a plastic card you can reload online and just tap it on a reader

there have been some kinks but ultimately it will be better than what was in place before. imo.

[Eulogy]

the fares haven't changed except for the fact that they increase if you don't make the switch to the new card over the next few months. or at least that's what i thought was the case? i dunno i haven't been paying very close attention.

[Bread Regal]

wait so is it possible to reload it with cash?

[Bread Regal]

what was wrong with the old system

[Eulogy]

yes you can reload with cash. and the old system sucked because you could, in many places, only pay with cash (and where you could pay with a card, there was a $5 minimum when it costs $2.25 to ride the train or get on a bus), and the cards were flimsy and slow to be read and dumb. a solid plastic card that you just tap and can reload online or at a station with either cash or a card is better. it's pretty basic stuff that other major public transportation cities did long ago.

[sppunk]

That's what Boston and DC and soon nyc have. No more paper options.

[Eulogy]

couldn't reload online in DC, which was a seemingly unnecessary pain in the ass. it's my favorite part of the new system here.

[MyOneAndOnly]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

anyone get any snow today? we were supposed to get 5-8 inches and then it just rained. never got below 40 degrees. I understand that meteorological forecasting, like any science, is about probabilities and not certainties, but I sometimes I just do not get how it can be that wrong

plenty of snow here

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T..._140017373.jpg

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

couldn't reload online in DC, which was a seemingly unnecessary pain in the ass. it's my favorite part of the new system here.

I reload ours online ..

[sppunk]

We ended up w/v7.5" snow. More Wednesday and Sunday a massive Nor'easter looks favorable. Bring it.

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by sppunk

I reload ours online ..

well what the shit when did that happen

[Eulogy]

wait what the fuck

2011?

i could have sworn i tried to figure out how to do that. well now i just feel like a fucking moron. ah well.

or wait

Because SmarTrip fare value is stored on the card, rather than in a central computer, customers must complete their transaction by touching their card to a target, such as a Metrorail faregate, vending machine or bus farebox. Customers should allow up to one business day for value to be transferred to their card when touching a rail faregate or vending machine and up to three business days at a bus farebox.

that could have been the reason. a whole business day? fuck that noise. the chicago card has its value added immediately.

[redbreegull]

I was unaware that it was possible to reload DC metro smart cards on the internet. The DC metro still takes paper fare cards as well and I'm not sure that there are any plans to phase them out. Fares increase so often here that it's not even possible to keep track of the justifications for each one.

In some scenarios though, DC metro forces you to use a smart card, e.g. when you park in a metro garage. If you don't have a card, tough titties you best buy one if you want to leave the garage. Oh, what's that you say? your parking fee is only $2.50? man that is unfortunate because $10.00 is the lowest denomination you can put on a smart card when first purchasing it

[Eulogy]

why would you (i mean you personally not a general you) not have a smartrip card at this point?

[duovamp]

As a person living in a city with laughable infrastructure, public transportation baffles me and is relegated entirely to the poor and students.

[redbreegull]

I have one now, that was awhile ago.

Actually, the night I had to pay 10 bucks to get the car out was the night the Capitals went to the Stanley Cup or whatever you call hockey superbowl, and lost. There were a lot of really drunk and angry caps fans all over the metro. Right after I left the garage I saw an SUV of ostensibly all drunk people get stuck at the gate. They couldn't figure out how to pay to leave I guess, because eventually they had this like 8 or 9 year old boy climb on top of the hood and manually push the bar thing up as they moved under it. what the fuck