I keep getting filled with joy when I walk around San Francisco, just as I did before I left for a staycation in Hawaii. I loved going to the beach in Waikiki during Covid lockdown restrictions because the beaches were empty and the snorkeling views were full of plentiful fish. I guess the state fish …
Author Archives: driverdoug2002
I Sing the Song of a Trolleyman
Song of the Trolleyman By Driver Doug “I’ve seen them all: Young and bold Appear like a spark, Then depart as I start To read the latest tag In the back rag By the half-drunk can Wrapped in a bag. The ancient ones, Full of mold and scold Or just plain old, Short and fat, …
How would you design the city of the future?
We’ve seen planned communities built such as the one in Columbia, MD–heralded in the seventies as a “garden to grow people.” James Rouse bought up undeveloped farm land between Baltimore and Washington, DC, and sixty years later, urban planners still use aspects of this template in their current design plans. We also see strip malls …
Continue reading “How would you design the city of the future?”
Gratitude
My positive feelings come unexpectedly when I’m padding around my new apartment, or running into a friend in the street. Often, my atti-dude changes when I’m ordering a drink at a coffeeshop! I’m grateful it’s possible to dine-in at a coffeeshop, even if it is a chain like Starbucks. Many folks are haters on the …
How I Handle Spam
I recall an email blast which described a fascinating study on how people handled deleting, responding, and keeping up with their inbox. They didn’t link or show the entire study, but the notion that there could be patterns describing certain cohort groups got me to thinking how I clear my email inbox. I realized in …
What Bothers You and Why?
In a recent Bloomberg article about Zimbabwe, a novel idea about bringing that country’s inflation down to a manageable level was cited: backing the Zig, the Zimbabwe currency, with gold from their gold mines. What bothers me is that backing Gold with a nation state’s paper money is a time tested strategy that has worked …
A Guide to Public Transit
Bikes Pass On the Left It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of current US automobile users will drop the death monsters by 2030. Work from home doesn’t have to translate to far-flung suburbia. Cities with great transit will thrive as the car goes away. Biking, walking, and holding a fast-pass is the next awakening. …
Heaven’s Gate
It was a brisk mid-October morning in Provincetown, MA and we were hungry. Right in the center of town on Commercial Street we spotted Heaven’s Gate–and the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a wheat English muffin, with a perfectly hot cup of Joe–had to be the most delicious breakfast I’ve ever found. The cold …
Cuppa Joe
What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily? I first thought about the word “daily” and immediately went to my coffee maker and morning routine. My cheap Black and Decker Goodwill special curated after a cracked pot accident seemed inexcusable for this missive. And then it hit me. My special coffee mug …
Aloha the Bus
What’s the one luxury you can’t live without? I’m taking the bus to the airport tomorrow and I’m using my $45 a year fast pass to get there. I’m then going to fly first class to San Francisco to spend the rest of my life living there. Yup. Honolulu has been expensive—and I hear it’s …
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 