From f166d7e051b2268059333b3adc7c6dced3564fdd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Neale Pickett Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2023 09:33:00 -0600 Subject: [PATCH] date format + trains --- content/blog/2023-03-07-trains.md | 76 +++++++++++++++++++ .../blog/2023-03-14-universal-date-format.md | 10 +++ 2 files changed, 86 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/blog/2023-03-07-trains.md create mode 100644 content/blog/2023-03-14-universal-date-format.md diff --git a/content/blog/2023-03-07-trains.md b/content/blog/2023-03-07-trains.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a940de --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2023-03-07-trains.md @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ +--- +title: Trains +date: 2023-03-07 +--- + +This year I am trying to spend less time on airplanes, +as part of a global movement motivated by carbon emissions concerns. + +Amtrak, the US national passenger rail company +(the *only* national passenge rail company in the US), +is in a really sad state right now. +They keep getting their budget cut, +and freight companies have found several innovative ways +to save money at the expense of safety and passenger rail quality. +So rail exists in the US, technically, +but it is not generally considered a desirable way to go. +Maybe that will change as people seek non-airplane methods of travel. + +The place where I work will let me take rail, +but they won't reimburse more than the equivalent flight. +This has never been a problem for me: +flying has always come in more expensive than train. + +On this upcoming trip, I have to stay overnight in Chicago, +because there is only one train per day on each line. +Even though the train is $315 less than the cheapest flight, +I am not allowed to apply any of that toward lodging reimbursement. + +If you assume people are going to take the option that +lines up closest to their personal economic interest, +that's 2 points against the train, +both of which carry an outsized societal burden. + +Point 1: Time +------------- + +My time is worth something to me, +and taking 4 additional days for a work trip kinda sucks. +A lot of people will stop considering rail travel based just on this point. +There's a way to fix this, +by upgrading tracks so that passenger trains can go much faster, +and by finally addressing how the mega-long freight trains can't yeild to the passenger trains, +because there aren't stretches of side track long enough for them to do so. +(People who would know assure me that the freight companies are well aware of what they're doing to passenger rail) + +This fix requires two things: a country willing to spend lots of money on passenger rail, +and the political will to do something that will make freight companies really upset. +I'm not seeing that the country is excited about any kind of infrastructure spending, +much less passenger rail. +And I'm definitely not seeing a country that wants to hurt any kind of commerce. +But maybe if more scientists are inconvenienced by rail, +the winds can shift. + + +Point 2: Money +-------------- + +Even though it costs fewer dollars for me to take the train, +my company is not set up to handle this. +The result is that I have to pay out of pocket for the hotel stays, +and I will not get reimbursed. + +If taking over 3 times longer wasn't enough to dissuade people, +telling them it will also cost them $400 that won't be reimbursed +is going to make rail travel look like a bad decision. + +The fix for this is easier: +my company needs to figure out a way to consider that the train is saving them money, +and allow me to spend some of that savings on the required hotel. +I've started trying to see what I can do to make that happen. +It may take a few years, and depends on senior management caring, +but I think it has a higher chance of happening. + +If enough places figure out how to stope penalizing people for taking the cheaper option, +maybe there will be sufficient public interest in point 1 for something to happen there. + diff --git a/content/blog/2023-03-14-universal-date-format.md b/content/blog/2023-03-14-universal-date-format.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9a5d99 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2023-03-14-universal-date-format.md @@ -0,0 +1,10 @@ +--- +title: Universal Date Format +date: 2023-03-14 +--- + +YYYY🌍MM🌙DD + +If we use this, we won't have to re-do date formats again when we colonize another planet. + +Posting here to bolster any future claim that I thought of this first.