Rob's Rants

I wrote before about how I have traveled Amtrak’s Acela Express from end to end – that is from Boston to Washington, DC. In fact, when I travel to DC, the Acela is my preferred mode of transportation. Some (most) of my friends can’t understand why. Why would I sit on a train for 6+ hours when a plane takes 1½? This question inevitably follows the puzzled look when I tell I am taking the train, because most people don’t know anyone who has ever taken Amtrak anywhere.

I’m writing this on yet another train trip to DC, doing 120+ m.p.h. between Back Bay Station in Boston and Rt. 128 Station in Westwood, MA. And I will be the first to admit that six hours on the train is a long time. But as I make this trip I am trying to put down in words what it is that makes me choose the train again and again over what would arguably be a simple airplane flight. I think the train does hold some advantages over the plane that help to reduce the time penalty and make the 6+ hours bearable.

Good morning America, how are you?

‘Said don’t you know me, I’m your native son.

I’m the train they call the city of New Orleans,

I’ll be one 500 miles when the day is done.

The Whole Experience is More Civilized

Part of the allure of the train is that, relative to modern air travel, trains are still much more human. Airports and particularly airport security are cold and impersonal. The train has none of this silly security theater. No x-rays, no full body scanners, no groping by TSA goons. No lines, ID checks, or being herded like cattle through velvet ropes. Hell, if you pick up your e-ticket with a credit card, you rarely even need to show ID on Amtrak.

You know how you are warned never to leave a bag unattended at the airport? At an Amtrak terminal station (South Station, Penn Station, and Union Station on the Acela route) just drop your bag with an Amtrak Red Cap and they watch it while you roam around and do whatever. And, you know how in the airport, regardless of the best intentions of the crew, boarding the plane is always a long line and a fight for overhead bin space? The Red Cap Service gets you priority boarding as well so you can pick your seat and they will stow your bags for you too. All for the price of a tip (I usually give $5 a bag).

Train stations, even the amazing ones like Union Station in DC, are still built on a more human scale than airports. No shuttle buses, trams, or trains. No endless moving walkways or underground light shows. Just easy to navigate, usually historic buildings, in downtown locations.

Dealin’ card games with the old men in the club car,

Penny a point; ain’t no one keeping score.

Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle,

Feel the wheels rumblin’ ‘neath the floor.

As the sons of poor man porters and the sons of engineers

Ride their fathers’ magic carpet made of steel.

Mothers with their babes asleep,

Are rockin’ to the gentle beat,

And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

The On-board Accommodations Are Better

Everything on the Acela is business class or better. Like Jet Blue, all the seats are wide and leather-covered. The tray tables are huge and all the seats recline comfortably. But they go beyond that – seats are 2 x 2 and every seat has 110V electrical power. There’s FREE Wi-Fi on all Acela trains, and it works pretty well. Cell phone use is allowed at all times, as are all other electronic devices. Want to get up and move around? Go ahead. There are no seatbelts and no restrictions on when and where you can stand. Want to stretch in the area at the end of the cars – no complaints from the crew. The even have a snack car and you can go there whenever you want – not just when they feel like bringing you a 6 ounce beverage in a cheap plastic cup. For this trip, I arrived at South Station about 45 minutes before my train’s departure. Dropped my garment bag off with a Red Cap, then went to the ATM without having to lug the extra bag everywhere. Grabbed two slices of pizza and a Coke at Pizzeria Regina, and headed back to the Red Cap area 35 minutes before departure. We headed out to the train 30 minutes before departure. I picked whatever seat on whatever car I wanted and the Red Cap through my bag in the overhead for me. I sat down, reclined my seat, dropped my tray table, got out my computer and phone, plugged in, and had a little lunch. No one made me “return your seat back and tray table to the upright position.” I had a nice lunch, got up and threw away my trash, and returned to my seat to write this.

The windows are huge and there is actual scenery to see. Railways run through the heart of our cities. On the east coast, that means getting a close-up view of places like Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. It’s important for people to see these areas – so many of which have been forgotten. Abandoned factories and run-sown housing remind us that not all of America has prospered in the last decade and there are areas that still need help. The train serves this important function well.

It also means that you get some spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal areas of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland.

But all the towns and people seem,

To fade into a bad dream.

And the steel rail still ain’t heard the news.

The conductor sings his song again,

The passengers will please refrain.

This train got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night America, how are you?

‘Said don’t you know me, I’m your native son?

I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans,

I’ll be gone 500 miles when the day is done.

Rail is a Worthwhile Cause to Support

Many of my friends say they support high speed rail in the US, but have never ridden a train. I believe there is an important place for rail in America and I choose to support that with my money and time. Do I wish that the Acela didn’t make so many damn stops between Boston and DC? Absolutely. I mean do we really need to stop in Stamford, CT; Penn Station, NY; Newark, Metro Park, and Trenton, NJ, and then Philadelphia? No. The stops should be Boston, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and DC. But I deal with it because I think that rail would better serve these short-range trips better and more efficiently than planes. So I vote with my butt and with my time and occupy a seat whenever I can. I have to say – in all the times I’ve ridden the Acela – at least 5 round trips now, every train has been full, so it can’t just be me with this idea.

There are a host of other personal reasons as well … for someone feeling busy and over-scheduled, the six hours of productive time on the train is a welcome respite from the rush of airport commuting. When else would I have had time to do this post?

I’m somewhere near New London, CT now and still speeding along on one of the last truly high-speed sections of track. I’m going to recline my seat, close my eyes, and listen to some music. Somewhere past Philadelphia I’ll be back online preparing for work tomorrow.

But for now I’m riding the rails …

Update: 4/30/11

About three weeks ago, Parkmobile finally released an update to this app which fixed the Android connectivity issues. So I’ve been able to use it to pay for parking again. That is a big improvement. The Android interface is still cludgy, but it works. The iPhone version seems to be a generation ahead now and it has some additional features that I hope will be trickling down to Android soon. But at least this app works now.

Below is my original post ….

———————————————————————–

After trying the Android version of their app this morning I am now beginning to hate them. The iPhone version was always quirky and clunky – but the Android version positively sucks. This morning it won’t load and keeps telling me I’m not connected to the Internet. Which I plainly am since I was reading the newspaper and typing this on the WordPress app just fine.

I even rebooted my phone. Thankfully I had my work iPhone so I used the app on that to pay. But after trying the Android version a dozen or more times today I am willing to declare the Android Parkmobile app: Worst. App. Ever.

The main problem – it works fine on a Wi-Fi connection. But absolutely won’t connect on a mobile data connection. 3G or 4G. And this is not a new problem. Here’s a sample of recent reviews on Absolutely Android:

By: AizikS
I am excited about this app, however it fails to communicate with the network. Tmobile G2, cyanogen 6.1

By: David
Cannot login, even with good 3G signal, it says connection too slow. Therefore, completely useless until they fix.

By: Jay
Not able to login, connection times out even on full bars. Pointless waste of time. Samsung vibrant (galaxy).

By: jefbags
Doesn’t work at all on Android 2.2. Pretty disappointing…

Seriously – it’s a mobile app so connections will be spotty. You have to do better than spinning with no status indicator and then telling the user they aren’t connected when they plainly are.

Total. Fail. And to think, I praised Parkmobile when the MBTA first switched. Shame on me.

Update: 1/13/11
This app still won’t work over a cellular data connection, but I was able to turn on Wi-Fi on the train and complete a parking transaction. And unbelievably, this app is clunkier than the iPhone version. So, bottom line, right now, even if you can get it to work, it’s not pretty. Daily Parkmobile users should use the iPhone version or pay via SMS. This app doesn’t add much value to the process.

Last October I wrote about the time I was an idiot and left an expensive jacket with my house and car keys in the pocket on a Commuter Rail train and how MBTA Customer Service handled my problem very efficiently and I ultimately got my stuff back in just a couple of days.

Last week something else worked, so I figured I’d let the world know.

Payment Box (photo from http://www.innismir.net/article/159)

I ride the Commuter Rail most every day and parking is a real pain. Such a pain in fact that I think there is an opportunity for a business  that relieves the misery for daily commuters. For those not familiar with the system, you park your car in a numbered space and then walk to a little payment box where you are supposed to stuff your $4 into a tiny little slot so small that only two bills at a time fit if they’ve been folded in half three times. Then, ideally, you shove the money all the way in using a little metal pusher, but the pusher is usually missing since they are constantly ripped off the little attachment cable by kids with nothing better to do. If you fail to pay, the lot attendant puts a little collection envelope under your wiper and you owe $5, which you need to leave in a special fine box.

Anyway, I usually park in the same row every morning, and because most other daily riders follow their own routines pretty closely, I usually get one of about a half-dozen spaces between #48 and #54. Last Friday morning I got #50. On the way to the little payment box, I reached into my pocket and realized that I didn’t have four $1.00 bills. The best I could come up with was a wrinkled old $5.00 bill. So I figured I’d have to pay $5.00 anyway if I skipped the payment and I put the $5.00 bill in slot #50 and happily boarded my train.

When I returned that evening (in the rain), I found a little fine envelope under my wiper. And I was immediately pissed off. I was absolutely certain that I had put $5 in the box and pretty sure that I put it in the correct slot. And there was no way in hell that I was going to pay a $5 fin on top of the $5 I already paid. No Commuter Rail parking space is worth $10 a day! I checked the receipt (which was soaked from being in the rain) and it had space #50 and my license plate on it. Man was I pissed.

There’s a telephone number on the receipt and I called it first thing Monday morning. I navigated the voicemail to the complaint section, where it transferred me to a guy’s mailbox and instructed me to leave my name, license plate number, and a phone number and they would call me back. I left the message.

The next day: nothing. Not a word from them.

On Wednesday I was really angry. At lunch I was contemplating how I was going to escalate this outrageous injustice! I would call again, but I would start using Google Voice to record every call. And I would keep a log of calls on Google Voice too. Maybe write to my State Rep and Senator. This would not stand!

Around 1:30 my phone rang.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Mr. Havasy, this is [name] from Central Parking. I’m calling regarding the non-payment fine you received last Friday. I’ve looked at our system and can tell that you did pay. Our operators sometimes make mistakes. I’m sorry.”

I was thinking to myself … what? No fights? No arguments? And the guy apologized…

Me: “You can tell I paid.”

Caller: “Yes. Because operators sometimes make mistakes, we have them take a digital picture of the back of the collection box door as soon as they open it. The bins are clear so we can see the contents of each. I can see a payment in slot 50, so you’re all set.”

Me: “Wow. Who knew. I remember because I didn’t have dollar bills that morning …”

Caller: “Yes. If I zoom … hold on … I can see a single $5 bill.”

Me: “Thanks. How can I be sure the ticket is cancelled to I don’t get towed or something.”

Caller: “I have the record on the screen in front of me and I have just cancelled it.”

Me: “Thanks.”

Caller: “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

And that was it.

See … sometimes the MBTA does something right. That’s twice in two years now. They’re really improving…

In early February I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC for a work-related conference. My office is just about in the middle between South Station in Boston and Logan airport. Since I would be traveling to DC in the evening prior to the conference, I would be leaving from work. So I had a choice — fly or take the train. Getting to either departure would be equally easy. And after some investigation with our work travel company, the cost was comparable, or even a little cheaper going by train if you factored in parking and car transport at the DC end. So it really came down to just how I wanted to go.

I’ve flown a lot in my life. I spent a good part of my early career flying around the United States. And then for my second job I did a fair amount of business travel. I’ve also flown some of the toughest routes – like Boston to London to Johannesburg South Africa, twice, in coach (Gov’t travel money don’t pay for 1st class). So mucking through airports and playing on airplanes isn’t my idea of excitement.

So I decided to take the train. Here’s my story.

South Station

They called for boarding 15 minutes before the scheduled departure. Then made us stand at the end of the platform for 3 full minutes before allowing us to actually board. Interesting tactic, but not terribly inconvenient in the grand scheme of things. Boarding was a cinch. This totally kicks flying’s ass. For example:

1. No security lines full of tourists and lost first-time travelers who don’t know how to take their laptops out of their bag for the x-ray machine.
2. I didn’t have to take off my shoes. My fellow travelers may have appreciated this even more than I.
3. Plenty of room when finding a seat. And at South Station, plenty of seats available. You’re almost guaranteed to have your pick of aisle, window, or even a table.
4. No hassle — I can’t emphasize this enough. Just arrive 20 minutes before your train, and then walk right on.
5. You can take stuff with you. Like the hand-sanitizer I keep attached to my backpack (I work in and around hospitals). Even though it’s a liquid — you can still bring it on board. Ditto for your shaving cream, shampoo, etc. I didn’t have to comb through my pockets and bags looking for all loose change and metal to make it through security. This is worth the extra time in my book.
6. The seats have room. Even the Business Class seats have real leg room. And footrests. And they recline.
7. The overhead bins are HUGE. I brought my full-sized garment bag and it fit in the bin over my head (folded in half) and didn’t even take up half the bin.
8. Electricity. Real 120V electricity. Two outlets for each seat. Charge up your computer or whatever.

The train left on time and then picked up a few people in Back Bay. Then on to Route 128, where a bunch more people got on. But even after that my car still had several open seats.

We made Providence Rhode Island in about 25 minutes. Seriously. There’s a stretch of track in Mass where the train can hit 120 MPH, and the Acela takes full advantage of it. After Providence we were down to three of four open seats in my car, but it still didn’t feel crowded. There’s actual leg room on this train so the seats feel roomy and not claustrophobic.

The ride to New Haven was interesting. There was still enough light left for me to see some nice coastal views around Mystic, CT. The train slows down for much of this part, but it still moves along.

It was dark before we reached New Haven and totally black before New York so I don’t have too much to say about this section. I just sat back and read and enjoyed the room.

From New York through Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore, I will admit that the time started to drag. The train isn’t high-speed by any stretch of the definition in this section, so it is pretty boring. But getting up and moving around helps.

Tips

As I said, the overhead bins are huge, so as long as your suitcase follows the published size guidelines you should have no problem, assuming you can lift it up to the bin. At the end of each car (leaving South Station — the front of each car leaving DC) there is a small closet where you can hang a garment bag if you want.

There is a footrest for each seat, which was perfect for me when I was working on my laptop. It was much more useful than the tray table which was way too high.

There is also a club car where they serve basic sandwiches and soda. Amtrak apparently has a contract with Pepsi so there are no Coke products, but I made due. It’s kind of nice to be able to stand up and go get something to eat or drink whenever you want. Much nicer than the one-time half-a-can beverage service on a plane.

While the dining car has quick sandwiches and snacks (and oh yeah, beer), you may want to bring your own food as well. But I think the moving around and walking to the dining car and back is worth it.

Overall Impression

In the end, the Acela is a trade-off of comfort and convenience for speed. A flight from Boston to BWI is about 1.5 hours. Add an hour driving onto the end to get to DC itself and an hour in the airport prior to the flight and you’re investing about 3.5 to 4 hours to take a plane. The train is about 6 hours, downtown to downtown. So you’re really giving up two hours of travel time for less hassle and more room. If you don’t have to be somewhere in a hurry, I think the train is worth the extra time. It’s just so much easier … no security hassles, easer working because of the electricity, and more room. I would take the train again.

Getting to know your fellow commuters ...

What the hell is happening on the Worcester-Framingham commuter line these days? Since the holidays ended, I’d swear they’re running some rush hour trains at least a car shorter than before the holiday. I routinely take the P529, 6:15 Worcester train home (and have for over 15 months now) and for the last two weeks at least the damn train is packed to overflowing nearly every night. It was not like this before the holiday season. I have no empirical evidence — I didn’t routinely count the cars in the train every night, but I swear something has changed. Perhaps lot’s of people have made a New Year’s resolution to take the train more. Or perhaps it’s a symptom of the broken-down MBCR/MBTA and the result of too many cars in the shop.

Whatever the reason, it sure makes for a crappy commute.

Like most commuters, I’m pretty hard on the MBTA. So I figured I should write about an incident resulting from my own stupidity and incompenence, where the MBTA’s systems worked well and saved me a bunch of hassle and money.

Basically, a few weeks ago, on one of the first cold days this fall, I grabbed a jacket as I headed out for work. This was the first day of the year that I needed a jacket… I’d like to think this contributed to my boneheaded move on the way home.

I caught the normal Commuter Rail train to Worcester in the afternoon and sat in my normal place in the vestibule of a double-decker car. I threw my jacket on the overhead rack above my head and rode all the way to Grafton. We were 20 minutes late BTW … Anyway, when we stopped a young man who clearly hadn’t ridden the train before slid open the door to the stairs and then looked back at me in a panic – the stairs leading down led only to the chain link fence in between tracks – we had been switched to a different track than normal and the conductor hadn’t adjusted the stairs in our car. So I pointed to the far end of the car where people were getting off and we walked all the way down and made it off the train. I bet you see where this is going … As the train started ro roll out I realized that my jacket was still on the overhead rack. Great.

As I reached the top of the stairs to the parking lot I also realized that my house and car keys were in the pocket of the jacket. Shit.

I called my wife and she agreed to strap our 4 1/2 year-old into the car seat and come rescue me with a spare key to my car. And I started down an MBTA Customer Support odessy that actually worked. Here’s what happened:

1. I got on my cellphone web browser and searched MBTA Customer Service. I found an 800 number and called. (This was at 7:45 PM BTW). I navigated the voicemail and got to “lost items.” A nice woman answered the phone (at almost 8 PM — a real person) and I explained my situation. Good thing #1: real people answered the phone at night.
2. The woman explained that items left on the train, if turned in or found by a conductor would be taken to Lost and Found at South Station. I didn’t believe this, thinking that they must check the train at Worcester, but it turns out that she was absolutely right. She also gave me the phone number and said that if I called and left them a description they would call me back if it was turned in. Good thing #2: the late night Customer Support person gave me correct information immediately.
3. I called the Lost and Found number the woman gave me and left a message as the recording instructed. But I didn’t believe I’d ever see my keys again.
4. Not believing the woman, I got the new keys from my wife and drove to Union Station to see if it might end up there. The night security guy said, “No — all that stuff goes to South Station. And the train already turned and went back to Boston.” So, basically, if I had just waited on the platform in Grafton, the train on which I left the jacket would have come back and I probably could have boarded and grabbed it — but anyway …
5. I went to Lost and Found the next morning at South Station. A very nice young lady helped me and looked to see if anything was turned in to match my description. It wasn’t. But she checked the “log” and lo and behold, my information from the message the previous night was logged. Good thing #3: the information was correct and the voicemail system worked as I was told. The woman also said that it wasn’t uncommon for something found on late night runs by the crew to be turned in late the following day — they often put the stuff in their lockers since Lost & Found was closed at night and turned it in when starting their shift the following day.
6. I didn’t hear from them all day and figured I’d never see my jacket again. On the way home I checked in person and was told that crews might have a day off and it would very likely turn up.
7. Still not hearing anything the next morning, I went and bought a new jacket. Now you know what’s coming right … the next morning I got a call from Lost and Found at South Station. My jacket and keys were turned in. Good thing #4: the honest people at the MBTA actually followed the system and I got my stuff back.

It turns out that the train had been 20 minutes late due to mechanical problems, so when the train made it back to South Station it was taken out of service. The delay in finding my jacket was because it was a maintenance worker who found my jacket after the repairs were done and who turned it in.

So there you go — something at the MBTA worked well. Everyone I spoke to was kind and courteous and gave me correct information. And the system worked to get me my stuff back. See — it’s not all bad!

Taking Advantage of the MBTA’s Terrible Commuter Rail Parking

Here’s an opportunity for an enterprising young (or old) person to make a little money for what doesn’t seem like much effort. Take the idea and run with it … I certainly don’t have time to implement it.

The Premise

The MBTA currently charges $4 per space at Commuter Rail lots (at least at the suburban ones — some close to Boston are more). The payment system is a terrible pain for most people. They currently use payment boxes and numbered spaces — you insert your money into a little slot corresponding to the space you parked in. Of course the slots were designed for the $0.50 fee charged long ago. Now, you need to feed four dollar bills folded tightly into the slot, or four dollar coins, or some combination of coins and bills to reach $4. And that’s where the business comes in.

You see, many people riding the commuter rail aren’t doing it for cost savings, they’re doing it for convenience. And even if there is a savings over parking in the city, the savings is on the order of $10 to $30 a day, so I think people would be willing to give up a little in exchange for some convenience. That’s where the idea comes in.

More Convenient Parking

As much of a pain as it is to stuff four bills or up to 16 quarters into a little slot in the morning, the bigger pain is getting the bills or coins in the first place. Most people with jobs and families don’t have time to go to the bank and get $80 in bills or coins for each month, so we hope that we have enough one dollar bills or quarters around each night to pay the next day. Or we have to bug our spouse or kids to get some change. This is the real pain of the system. Getting the damn change to pay with. And herein lies the opportunity.

The Opportunity

You will sell the service of Commuter Rail Valet. With the proper setup, you will allow people to buy a parking subscription, ideally via Pay Pal to cut down your overhead. Each month my account with you gets topped up, and every morning that I park, I identify my space to you somehow and you take care of putting the fee in the slot. You simply charge a small transaction fee for the service, like $0.50 per day. With a little creativity, the service can be set up so that I don’t even need to deal with parking payments at all each morning — you’ll identify the customers parking in the lot and deposit the payment without need for a check-in or anything. I simply drive to the station and get on the train knowing that you’ve taken care of it.

The Details

To make it lucrative, you’ll only work the three busiest morning times, so you’ll put in no more than three or four hours a day. The current system allows a user not to pay and the fine is essentially $1 – you need to put $5 into the “fine” envelope in the evening. Getting the correct change is such a pain that I watch three or four people a day simply walk past the parking boxes knowing they will pay $5 later. That’s an indication that there is demand for a convenient system.

So, here are some points on how I think this could work:

• Users sign up and agree to a PayPal subscription for monthly parking fees.
• A convenience or service charge is applied to each monthly subscription (I think 25 to 50 cents a day would work).
• Each user is given a sticker for their car.
• Each day after the last busy train but before the parking fee collectors arrive, you will walk the lot and note the customers parked via their stickers.
• You deposit money in the corresponding slot.
• You can offer a fall-back plan as well — let’s say the car with the sticker is in the shop. If a member text messages you before a pre-determined time you can still take care of it.
• Potential Value-Add Service: On a day when it snows, for $5 you can clean their car prior to the evening train! Make it opt-in and print a snowflake or something on their sticker as a reminder.

Customer Benefits (The Sales Pitch)

1. Convenience! No more digging for change or going to the bank. You handle it all.
2. Peace of Mind — late for the train? Hear the wistle blow while you’re still in the lot? No problem — run to the train knowing that parking is all taken care of.
3. Comprehensive Accounting: Provide a year-end receipt of all parking fees paid.
4. Winter Ease — now, when it’s snowing in the morning, people have to either dig to find their space numbers or hope the parking people declare a snow emergency and let them put $4 in the envelope. You can offer to find the number for them!

I think you’d need to offer some kind of money back guarantee — that’s where PayPal comes in. No one (well almost no one) is going to trust you with $120 a month until you’re really established. PayPal gives people some control and guarantee. This way you don’t have to extend credit and they have a dispute resolution mechanism.

My guess is that you could find between 20 and 50 people at a given train station who would sign up for this. With 20 people at $0.50 per day, you should end up with $50 per week in gross profit. Not bad for maybe five hours work during the week and another couple hours on the weekend.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve decided to move this post to its own page.

It’s hard to know how many MBTA commuters on the Framingham-Worcester line signed up for Clever Commute when it was first launched in Boston. But I think the service could definitely give better information — or at least faster information — when something goes wrong than the MBTA notification system. So I’m challenging myself to actually post when things go wrong for the next 6 months, to see if others pick up on it.

Here’s a case in point:

On 9/10/2009 the P529 6:15pm Worcester train was 12 minutes late arriving in South Station. It didn’t get in until 6:27pm. And then boarding took another 13 minutes, so it left for Back Bay at 6:30pm. During that time, I was able to quickly send three updates on what was happening. How many did the MBTA system send? Zero. Her’s the proof from my mobile inbox:

Clever Commute Beats the MBTA Notification System

The three messages I sent were received back in my inbox at 6:08pm, 6:23pm, and 6:32pm.

So if you were standing on the Back Bay platform wondering what was going on — if you used Clever Commute you would have known. And so would anyone waiting at your station to pick you up.

Let’s see if we can make this work for the next 6 months … Please join and give it a try. Just click the picture above.

I found this in my inbox today:

****** CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE ******

NOTICE:

This e-mail message and all attachments transmitted with it may contain legally

privileged and confidential information intended solely for the use of the addressee.

If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified

that any reading, dissemination, distribution, copying, or other use of this message or

its attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error,

please notify the sender immediately and delete this message from your system.

Thank you.

First, I want to say that it’s nice to see some progress being made. I applaud CSX & MBCR working together to get this project going only 2 months after the major problem.

But, what’s up with that silly disclaimer? I think the MBCR needs to re-think it’s ridiculous blanket e-mail disclaimer policy because I’m clearly in violation by re-posting this, but I think they would actually WANT people to know about this before it happens. Again – I don’t think there is anything beyond normal incompetence going on here. The person who sent this probably had no idea that stupid disclaimer gets slapped on the bottom of every outgoing message. But they could at least tell people to ignore it if they can’t remove it.