My Varied Interests

I experienced an untoward exhilaration on the Metra this morning.  Why? Was it the attractive woman I sat next to?

No.

It was the purposeful stride of the conductor as he walked right past me, checking tickets, punching cards, etc.  Except mine.  He completely skipped me.

You see, I play the Metra Lotto and this morning, I was a big winner.

What’s the Metra Lotto?  It’s a game where I attempt to ride the local commuter rail without paying a fare.  That’s right.  I got this excited about not paying $2.  It’s the little things.

Why play?  Well, since Metra relies on humans and a manual system, you can guarantee that they are going to miss a certain number of riders.  The object is to be one of those riders they miss.

How do you play?  Some simple rules:

• Instead of a monthly pass, you purchase 10 ride passes.
• You must always have a valid pass with you.
• If a conductor makes a reasonable* effort at getting you to pay, you must pay.
• No arguing, no lying, no moving around.

*What reasonable?  If they attempt to make eye contact with me, I count that as reasonable and present my card.

What’s at stake?

Well, my winnings are slim.  I get a few free rides a week — maybe 13-14 rides on a 10 ride ticket.  I know a fellow player who’s best record is 21 rides.  I know another who almost never pays a fare on her morning commute.

This isn’t really about the money.  It’s about the same thrill as pocketing a glass from a favorite bar.  (I still have three from when I spent too much time at The Green Mill.)

It’s just entertainment.

• I missed the gmail outage and accompanying outrage. Of the various things I could have missed that is probaby he least problematic for me. #
• @ScooterGirl does a skunk with watering eyes smell worse than a regular one? About the same? #
• The walk from union station to Chicago and Orleans feels like an adventure ride through the land of the white headphones. #
• @popejephei In fairness the telemarketer did speak with a British accent even if they were calling from Dubai. #
• wait a min that was me. Or did Erez leave right after me?? #

• in fairness, no one could have predicted that eating six bacon wrapped sausage stuffed deep fried jalapenos could have turned out this way. #
• Up. Ellipticalled. Working on caffeinated. Next up: fed. #
• Oops: before fed — see what the calendar holds for the day. And maybe do some code. That sounds more awkward than it should. #
• @popejephi why else would you have named her “aria”? #
• Just installed twitterific on the iblackberry. Should make rapid tweet exchanges easier. #
• @popejephei you drive around with kayaks on your roof ? #
• The birthday girl at yesterday’s bowling. http://twitpic.com/7c1z #
• @thesqueeze @scootergirl Monday is starting with a suprise win on the metra lotto. I can only assume that your combined mojo is the cause. #
• @tylersclark howdy! how goes the battle with the steelworker diaries? #
• @tylersclark wait a minute you’re at barcamp on Monday at noon? Nice. Color me jealous. #

• only lasted a couple of hours at the poker tournament. on the upside, i made a couple of ridiculous errors during my short time. awesome. #
• Burrito Baby #5 - get it while it’s HOT - http://tinyurl.com/5q5ppg #
• @popejephei Awesome! Then when I trump my opponent and they complain this isn’t Euchre it’s Poker I can go all crazy and win the trick/pot. #
• @ScooterGirl Sorry, not ready for the shark jumping cross pollination of Burrito Baby & iDenial. Yet. #

• Battery on new iPhone still going strong on the first charge. I didn’t expect it to last. #
• And an hour later I just finished a single game of hold em. Nicely done game. #
• Burrito baby #5 filmed and ready for editing. #

• Put the kid down and he basically rolled over and went to sleep. Awesome. #
• since my plot to buy a phone this am was spoiled, I may attempt to buy one tomorrow morning. depends if I can get out of my 8:30. C’mon…. #
• today might be the iDay. #
• My taxi driver is humming “dancing queen”. #
• @thesqueeze happy birthday! #
• @scootergirl yo yo yo it’s my lucky iday #

• diapers purchased. formula purchased. yet another person appears have to bought an iphone before me. in fairness, I’ve kinda stopped trying. #
• So my wife says Hey did you see The Critter’s first tooth? And i sez to her i sez THESE THINGS GROW TEETH??! Holy moly they prob walk too. #
• @scootergirl …she twitters just as jimmy john’s walks (or saunters) in. #

• espresso maker mucked up this am. coffee slower than usual too appear. ohhhhhhh noooooooo. #
• long day of conference calls. getting super excited about dreamforce. journey — the band — will be cool, but they’re no modest mouse. #

• kid asleep. much writing done. shanghai knights, however, remains on the TV. So tempting, yet I think I’ll have to formally, finally, pass. #
• Full crowd scene on the metra milwaukee west this am. Uh oh-I wonder if this is the type of post that keeps me from winning the metra lotto. #