2014-12-31

 


Vae Viator58

From your Mole, to all who see this in hopes that you will have a:

¡Prospero Año Nuevo!

Bonne Année!

Happy New Year!

August 2015 marks your Mole’s tenth year of writing this blog.  He has been critiquing the LACMTA during the entire period.  A careful reading of all the posts could be considered a work-list for someone at the LACMTA. 


         
America’s Worst♪

The items below can be considered an open letter to Mayor Garcetti who is the Chairman of the LACMTA.  Notification of its publication has been sent to Mayor Garcetti.

Dear LACMTA Chairman Garcetti:       
                                             
The LACMTA does not focus upon minimal comfort and convenience for its ridership, two words that apparently do not exist in the LACMTA lexicon. It is also known for lack of focus on a well-integrated transportation system, bad planning, short-sightedness and insensitivity that has left/will leave its transportation legacy imprinted upon the landscape of Los Angeles County. 

The Mole’s transportation wishes for an LACMTA improvement program in 2015 are noted below, including, but not limited to: 

Understanding the difference between mass transportation and rapid transportation and always striving to provide rapid transportation;

Installing public restrooms at all light-rail stations, bus centers; daily, people resort to relieving themselves behind the Dumpster at LAXCBC.  It feels sort of third-worldly, doesn't it?

Honouring its commitments, e.g., a two-hour free transfer that is really, you know, a two-hour free transfer.  One that is not subjected to ridiculous, onerous prepayment rules and an immediate, overly severe definition of “two-hours”; 

Rolling back the price increase of Muni transfers charged to seniors and others with discounted access.  It causes them to pay a greater percentage cost increase than that paid by full-fare riders.  The .35 full-fare Muni transfer increased to .50, a product of 1.42 times the old rate of .35, while seniors (and others in special categories) had their Muni transfers increased to .25 which is 2.5 times their old .10 rate! Applying the1.42 rate to a .10 transfer, when rounded up from .142, yields a .15 senior Muni transfer cost; 


 LAXCBC Layout♪

Reconfiguring the LAX City Bus Center so that the distance between Metro buses is a minimum.  Presently all Metro Buses drop their passengers at the far south-western corner of the LAXCBC. Please note the diagram below which shows the encircled “Bus Bay” numbers.  The Map is in many respects years out of date, but after all, this is the work of the LACMTA.  Su Topo urges —as he had done before- that the bay 9 (presently unused) be made the new drop-off point.  Only the transfer distance between METRO buses are shown.  Transfer distances between CCMBL and BCT would also be improved.  Transfers between BBB and TT would be slightly lengthened.  The approximate distance, between the present drop-off point, Bay 14 and the suggested drop-off point. Bay 9, measured in paces is as follows:

Bay 14 Drop-off point to            Bay 9 Drop-off point
Bay 5 [117 Line] 130 paces           20 paces – net savings 110 paces
Bay 7 [(1/3)11 Lines] 150 paces    40 paces – net savings 110 paces
Bay 8 [232 Line] 130 paces           20 paces – net savings 110 paces

Additionally, passengers could end up catching buses that now pass them as they run for the proper Bus Bay.  This Mole was told as he arrived at the door exactly as it was closing, “… once the door is closed there can be no more boarding …” —he was left waiting for the next bus. 

Learn that the Green Line NOT the Blue Line is the proper model for an urban rapid transportation system.  Elevated trains or subway trains will yield the fastest point to point time while providing passenger safety.  This is something that the LACMTA seems incapable of learning although they are the owners of the most dangerous rail line in the United States, the Blue Line.  Learning what is and what is not rapid transit would cause a professional to STOP most if not all of the current projects and rethink them;

Replacing the near invisible signage at the LAX City Bus Center with an entry arch, black and yellow crosshatching, LARGE, easy to understandable “No Entry” signs supplemented by adequate policing to reduce/eliminate, by citing them, the many civilian automobiles that end up driving in to the center to: drop off bus passengers, mistaking it for the “Cell Phone Waiting Lot’, mistaking it for LOT C and etc.  Additional policing is also needed at 96th and Airport Bl (Vide infra: "White Line Incursion").


Bad Parallel Parking♪

Improving bus drivers’ skills, so that they can park buses properly at bus stops.  In this case it is the 98% (well maybe 60%) which give the rest a bad name.  A announcement warning passengers to be careful when leaving the bus, is NOT an acceptable substitute for proper parking;

Performing the required maintenance at bus centers and rail stations.  An example of long ignored problems is the situation at Mariposa Station on the Green Line, where there are a number of cracked windows above the platform;

Do a much better job of informing the public about transportation options.  Bad examples can be seen at the LAXCBC where the signage is cosmetic —more stylish than functional —that is, study the kiosks as they may, the typical user cannot translate the tables and maps into a coherent travel plan.  What is required at the LAXCBC is a twofold approach: (1) train the airport Travelers Aid staff and others about how to use the system to go to the usual tourist destinations —Hollywood,Downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, Beverly Hills and etc. and (2) For crying out loud, setup an information kiosk which is staffed by PEOPLE and has a ticket/pass vending machine available, so that visitors are not forced to beg for information and change from random strangers;

         
Green Line Noise Levels♪

Drastically reduce the noise levels experienced at freeway-center light-rail stations. Noise abatement should have been part of the original design, if it were not for the LACMTA's tendency to do EVERYTHING on-the-cheap.  Shown above are typical DB level readings, this reading taken at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station;

Establishing best practices for the audio levels of announcements made on-board buses, subway lines and trains.  Presently they range from quite loud to ear-splitting with more noise provided by dispatch radios on contract lines, think 232;

Rerouting the money wasting bus loop around Mariposa Station which has been a drain on Metro (although it is a contract line) resources since the elimination of Nash as one-way street forced a less than logical change in the 232 route;

Rationalizing LAX transportation and bringing it in line with the expectations of visitors who know that traveling to the airport should not require four seats and the hiring of a luggage handler.  The rationalization process should include subsuming the FlyAway buses under the LACMTA where they belong, because, this Mole predicts,  that people would rather ride a single seat, with their luggage stowed below them, directly to their airline terminal rather than the planned “four seats” to LAX.  The LACMTA is charging us a 1% tax to provide transportation, in this case it has chosen to abdicate their responsibility to LAWA which then charges a fare roughly four (4) times that of Metro;

Stop the constructing of the “Downtown Connector” whose “services” are already provided by lots of buses and will continue to be after the "Connector" is built —if it ever is built.  The money could then be used to extend the subway “to the VA Hospital” to a Santa Monica terminus —which is, after all, where lots of Los Angeles tourists want to go, you know, see the ocean and etc.;

Opening up the LACMTA and make it more transparent.  Transparency can be enhanced by appointing a civilian ombudsman as an LACMTA board member.  Regular publication of a “Chairman’s Report to the Public” detailing successes and failures along with the associated costs and benefits is desirable;

Finally, Professionalising the LACMTA must be step one so that actual transportation specialists can determine the needs of a County system, plan for it and build out in an efficient and effective manner, which limits political involvement to an absolute minimum.

Metro working for you, but not very well!
Will Metro do these simple things and improve customer service?  Until now the answer has been NO! Why didn’t they do it? Because they didn’t have to; the very reason that la Taupe terms them “America’s Worst”.  


When politicians involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures.

The photograph below documents the situation at the Maxella AV and Lincoln BL stop on the BBB number 3 Line. It is the sort of “work” one would expect from the LACMTA. They taped or caused to be taped shut the aperture in the plastic pipes associated with power poles. These pipes were used as improvised trash cans. BBB N.B. The stop still needs a trash can!
Su Topo will include this comment in every post with the above until BBB
corrects the problem. For quite awhile BBB has been charging for intra-line transfers, reversing the long standing policy of free transfers to other BBB lines. 

Too, BBB has spent lots of money to build a big headquarters on Colorado BL just east of 4th Street. Mr. King, just a few dollars for a trash can, you might need a few more to cover other bus stops too, will erase this section. After all, it is Marina Del Rey! :-)




BBB Maxella Trash Fix???♪


 Why a trash container is needed♪

The photo above shows exactly what people will do when a trash container is not provided.  They will jury rig something.  What they did in this case is rip off the tape which covered the plastic pipes at the base of the utility pole and stuffed their trash into the pipe, nice, huh?

Edward F. King,  Director of Transit Services
City of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus

(Photo: www.bigbluebus.com)

 The man pictured above could ensure that trash containers are installed along BBB routes with a simple three-line memorandum. 

White Line Incursion Series

Su Topo uses video to highlight the problem of scofflaw drivers endangering Metro bus passengers yet, no authority seems to want to take ownership of the problem. The issue is not unique to the particular site which this Mole documents, but is illustrative of a general problem. Your Mole encourages you to report similar problems to the appropriate agencies in your area(s) and hope that you will have better luck than he. In the youtube.com videos linked below one can see exactly what happens when the policing agencies fail to enforce traffic laws.

The videos linked below document the important fact that a never ending stream of vehicles fail to use the lane as required by law.
Neither are the policing agencies active when it comes to protecting us by bringing these obvious and frequent traffic law violations to an immediate halt. The LACMTA is derelict as well, in that they fail to use the near hourly proof of the violations captured by the on board cameras, mentioned here, and discussed at length in the posting of 2012-05-31.

In the following video(s) we see further instances of scofflaw drivers, some in convoy, cutting in front of Metro 111/311 buses.

Please see the www.youtube.com video of an auto crosses the solid white line and is followed by a taxi, both cut off a Line 111/311 bus. 

Please carefully note that, in some videos, pedestrians are pinned to the curb by the vehicles that cut in front of the bus —as a result these pedestrians are illegally denied the right-of-way. Which right-of-way would be unchallengeablely theirs IF, and only IF, Mr. Leahy would have one of his staff explain su Topo’s  simple solution (vide infra) to him. 

In spite of the potential for these violations to occur several times per HOUR, I have never seen a police presence at this location. One would think that with a bus schedule taped to the dashboard one of the several policing agencies would have made some arrests by now. Unless they have "more important" work, than protecting bus passengers, to do.

La Taupe feels that it is appropriate to dedicate these video(s) to ALL the agencies that should be protecting us. So, they are dedicated to (1): Airport (LAWA) Police, the L.A.P.D., the L. A. County Sheriff’s Department and Mr. A. Leahy who is CEO of the LACMTA.

Su  Topo has recommended a simple solution to the problem. That is, have the 111 Line buses pull up to pedestrian crosswalk then stop and discharge passengers. Doing so eliminates the space in front of the bus which the always-in-a-hurry scofflaws use to cut in front of the bus. But, with the LACMTA nothing is simple. Although the solution could be implemented with nothing more than a memo to the 111/311 Line drivers, it is a task for which the LACMTA is inadequate.


OVERMATCHED
 The Mole reads the papers and other things, obviating the necessity of your doing so.

The Los Angeles Times covers (Nelson) the change in attitude on the part of Kinkisharyo of Osaka, Japan in deciding to build rolling stock in Palmdale, California.  It also highlights a win, hopefully, for the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Local 11, in protecting jobs with a reasonable wage level.  Please read Ms Nelson’s story for lots more detail.

Another Times story(Hirsch) is a report from the LA Auto Show.  It projects the future in which self-driving automobiles will play a larger role in society. It ends with this: “In the end, people will think, Why am I even bothering to drive at all?”

Your Mole is not in full agreement with the idea that people in Los Angeles will give up their cars.  The reason can be given in an acronym –LACMTA.

An L.A. Times opinion piece discusses the CHSRA plans.  But, your Mole likes it both for the text and the Ted Rall cartoon; the text of which could be changed to reflect almost ANY LACMTA plans/projects.  

The L.A. Times covers (Ganga) a topic which your Mole believes foreshadows the problems which wil be experienced by the Downtown Connector" project, viz., Seattle's experience with under city tunneling.  I'll quote only this: '"We are trying to decide if we can move forward with the work, ..."' from Ms Ganga's terrific report.  Someone in Los Angeles with the proper engineering experience should perform a cost benefit analysis on the "Connector".  The LACMTA can't close the last mile to LAX but they are willing to disrupt the downtown area for years with unproven benefits while viable surface options exist today and will continue to exist into the future, no mater what is done under the streets. 

The Times Architecture Critic checks in (Hawthorne) has some interesting facts about the Anaheim's "High Speed Rail station of the future, ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.  ARTICS producers, the architectural firm, HOK, has an impressive roster of accomplishments. But, in terms of Mr. Hawthorne's reporting on the traffic-flow forced upon/required of users of ARTIC, there are some design "gaps".  For example, Hawthorne describes the route taken by an arriving passenger and summaries it nicely: "You have gone outside to go back inside. You have gone up, very soon, to go down."  

Earlier in the article Hawthorne critiques CHSRA's approach to the "Bullet-Train" build out: "... [I] have to admit that this is not a careful effort to build links in what will eventually be an efficient chain running from the Bay Area to Southern California.  This is more like a primer on how to engineer a gap-toothed infrastructural smile."   Regarding this piece, Mole says, simply, "I love it!  With a very few changes it can be made to apply directly to the LACMTA.


I encourage my readers to read this article, because it contains much more, such as, fine points regarding ARTIC’s architectural features.

Apparently the "designers" used the LACMTA's approach to projects.  Everyone (those associated with the LACMTA excepted) should read this excellent article. 

                                         
«  Savoir écouter est un art. »Epictète (50~135) c,
 [Listening is an art.]

 Merci Beaucoup http://evene.lefigaro.fr/


Ars longa vita breva

Using the French character "cédille" causes the problem below- Blogger, PLEASE see my posting for 2014-12-31 and correct this issue.

Charles François Grenier de Lacroix [Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles et Messieurs, pardonnez-moi pour les français impropper!] is a painter with a strong talent for depicting nature realistically. 

Please find a sample of Lacroix's work here.

The BBC will present us with a nice show of some more of his work here.

¿Musica?

“The most important 18th-century French composer”, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-09-25~1764-09-12), has music which still lives.  Let’s listen to “The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Prelude No. 21 in B flat major, BWV 866”.  The hugely talented harpsichordist is Katherine Perrin.

Thank you very much! to our good friends at www.grooveshark.com for always providing the appropriate music for us. 

Also, Thank you very much to the San Francisco Classical Voice www.sfcv.org for its richly detailed background material on Rameau, which I’ve referenced and quoted above.

The Mole rides again, so you don’t have to stare in confusion at the output of Go Metro on your smart-phone's screen.
(All times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)



I know where I am but, does "Go Metro"?♪

2014-12-11 @ 09:15: Su Topo attempts to use the Go Metro "app" to determine when the next scheduled 115 Line bus is due at the corner of Manchester and Bellanca.  The photo immediately above shows the result of his attempt.

Well Mole. --We see the result, but, what exactly is the problem? 

I was on the north side of Manchester and wanted a west bound 115, however, Go Metro gave me EAST BOUND buses.  your Mole believes that the fault lies in the granularity of the GPS,  The east bound stop is diagonally across the street, about 60 feet or so away.  (Note at cut-off: A new release of "Go Metro" is available, it will be tested next month. M.)

2014-12-26 On board a 232 Line bus headed to LAXCBC:  As usual the ASA is set at full volume. At the bus center, su Topo assists a woman with a young son find the best way to return to her hotel by bus.  She is smoking while the child sips from a two-litre soft drink bottle.  Your Mole dispenses the asked for travel advice and remains quiet about health habits.

2014-12-29 @ 10:00 On board a 40 Line southbound bus: An elderly woman using a walker boards.  Another woman offers to help her.  Almost immediately, the elderly woman complains about being helped and continues to grumble for my portion of the ride.  Accepting thins gracefully is difficult for some.

Ear (and Eye) to the Rail


On December 23, 2014, NPR's Morning Edition broadcast an excellent report on London's "Cross Rail" subway line.  When you listen to the, admittedly, limited details of the project presented, you will have a better understanding for the reason that this Mole ranks the LACMTA's efforts as low as he does.
After more than twenty (20) years Los Angeles does not yet have a rapid transit connection to its airport.  Neither does it have a mass transit, excepting the FlyAway bus, connection and the transit option which the LACMTA is developing requires four seats from Union Station.
NPR has done a great job in allowing Los Angelenos a window on what a real transportation organization, staffed by professionals, can do.

You can find more information about Cross Rail here.  This enormous project has gone on for years while during the same interstice the limited cumulative intelligence of the LACMTA was devoted to, what?, dithering.

La Taupe's NPR station is KCRW, Santa Monica, which is found at 88.9FM or online at www.kcrw.com  See www.kcrw.com/about for other California frequencies and related information.  

You Mole chose KCRW as his station for a number of reasons: one of which is that, unlike another area-wide station, KCRW doesn't squeeze funding appeals into every spare second, including some "PSAs" recorded by listeners, which quickly become ANNOYING!  In other words, KCRW doesn't do fund raising 24X365!

Transit as unseen and unimagined by the LACMTA

The LACMTA (Subordinate to LAWA)

Presents

Every Which Way But Right!

OR

Four Seats to LAX!

OR

The LACMTA Tries Again; Asymptotically to LAX!

OR

The World’s Most Inconvenient Way in Which to Travel From City Center to an Airport!

The purpose of this section is to make people aware that the LACMTA is not home to many problem solvers.  I hope to accomplish this end by presenting the solutions adopted by other cities, some in foreign countries, in solving the city to airport rapid mass transportation challenge.

Cautionary Note: Those employed by the LACMTA or LAWA should NOT view the following video(s). The speed of the train(s), the fact that they neither share the right of way nor stop at stop lights, because they are truly rapid transit, will likely make you dizzy, nauseous, confuse and frighten you.

Singapore, with a population of 5,155,000 is slightly larger than one-third the size of Los Angeles.  When it comes to transportation, size doesn’t matter.  What does matter is determination and professionalism! Let’s take a tripfrom Singapore to its airport, Changi.  Along the way, please note the modern, easy to read signage and other features of this system.

 Thanks to our host www.youtube.com and to Singapore Michael for uploading  this video.

Cosmology
Your Mole has often smiled when seeing a picture of a galaxy with a “You are here arrow”.  But, really, where are we?  Einstein taught us that strong gravitational fields or high velocities low time down while low gravity can speed time up. 

A very interesting piece in Scientific American(Billings) has this subhead: “New theories suggest the big bang was not the beginning, and that we may live in the past of a parallel universe”. 

In discussing “the arrow of time” the author says: “Informally speaking, the crux of this idea is that “things fall apart,” but more formally, it is a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics, which Boltzmann helped devise. The law states that in any closed system (like the universe itself), entropy—disorder—can only increase. Increasing entropy is a cosmic certainty because there are always a great many more disordered states than orderly ones for any given system, similar to how there are many more ways to scatter papers across a desk than to stack them neatly in a single pile.”

I commend this work to those with an interest in the topic, which quickly becomes complex. Please use the “Works Cited” link (Below).

www.drudgereport.com directed me to an interesting article which introduced me to the term post-biological in reference to "robots" which are super intelligent and are different from humans in many respects.  La Taupe is NOT a science fiction fan, however, this discussion is more along the lines of scientific fact or prediction.  The article contains a link to a paper by Professor Susan Schneider called "Alien Minds, which paper describes a process by which humans might transition to super intelligent robots via cyborgs.  These are the sort of "devices" which are truly suited for both intragalactic and intergalactic travel.  It would be a method by which the slow, tedious learning process which all of us have experienced.  


This information node is easy to understand and informative.

Fare Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame
I.D. Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes: 9452 (2014-12-29);
Note: No or few entries above do not necessarily mean all fare boxes are in operation.

I.D.Numbers of Distracted Drivers: xxxxx (i);
None included here, but observations of a minor nature may be included in the main posting;
Codes: (i) Extended conversation(s) with passenger(s) or (ii) cell phone call(s). Frequently, details can be found in the text above, (ii*) cell phone call(s) which are aggravated by some other action, (iii) Self-distracted. Codes (ii*) and (iii) will ALWAYS be explained in the posting.

I.D. Numbers of Buses Defaced by WhoIs stickers: xxxx;
~UR or +UR = (+UR) whois sticker and the ugly residue left after passengers partly remove the sticker. (~UR) = Only the ugly residue left after passengers almost completely remove the sticker. +L = an old (legacy) sticker black letters on a plain white background –these are the original form of the defacement.
* Another reason for displaying the operator's ID on the internal display and the headsign.

ID numbers of Buses whose Head and Tailsigns disagree: Not noted xxxx/xxxx;
Format is Bus number followed by Headsign number/Tailsign number.

ID numbers of Buses without Braille signs: xxxx;

METRO drivers Lack of Basic Technical Skills Report
The format is Driver number F[{Y/-n/+n}] C[{Y/N+/-}]. Meaning of F if Y the driver stopped with the Bus stop “flag pole” somewhere between the bus front door frames. A negative number, e.g., -3 is the approximate distance in metres (think yards dear readers) between the nearest bus door vertical frame member and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped short of the flag. A positive number, e.g., +3 (metres) is the approximate distance between the nearest bus door vertical frame member and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped past the flag. The value for C[{Y/N}], “Y” tells us that the driver stopped within an easy step from the curb to the bus, “N” means it was NOT an easy step from the curb to the bus. It is this Mole's belief that an average experienced good driver should be able to control his bus so as to position in near the curb and with the flag pole slightly to the front of the bus.
xxxxx F[+4] C[Y];

I.D. numbers of drivers who are unable or unwilling to position their buses parallel to the curb, a short step from the curb and/or equidistant from the vehicles exits.
XXXXX F[+10] C[Y]; F[+7], C[Y]; xxxxx F[Y], C[Y]; xxxxxF[Y], C[Y]; N.B. distances are in metres, think yards.
13 metres is this is MORE than a bus length.  nnnnn* = Contract Driver

I.D. numbers of drivers who are almost guaranteed to give you a Rough and Jerky (R& J) ride: xxxxx;

I.D. numbers of drivers who will give you a potentially life-threatening ride: XXXXX(J)date; XXXX-XX-XX(-);
Codes: S = not wearing seat belts; J = bad judgment (unsafe driving practices).

La Taupe's Abréviations
ADADO = Automatic Destination Announcement (on) Door Opening. This feature is installed on many buses and operates on extremely few. Another“money down the toilet” LACMTA investment. La Taupe that this is intended for the visually impaired because people who can see can read the “head signs”.

ASAS = Automatic Stop Announcement System the GPS (Global Positioning System) driven mechanism for generating audio for the upcoming stops. N.B. Because of the low power (read weak) processors used in the on-board stops may be too close to identify stops separately. This is known as a granularity problem. Then too, if the driver operates the bus at speed above the speed limit you will find the system “back announcing” stops which you have already passed. I find that this will NOT keep some drivers from complaining “that you didn’t signal (ring) in time. They don’t understand their relationship to the system and how, by driving faster than the GPS computer, they can bias it.

BART = Bay Area Rapid Transit – Please note the use of the word “Rapid” because it is a word we almost never hear in Los Angeles.

BBB = Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus

CHSRA = California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is the equivalent, in more ways than one, of the LACMTA.

 CC or CCMBL = Culver City (Municipal) Bus (Lines)

CCTC = Culver City Transportation Center this is the place formerly known as FHMTC = the Fox Hills Mall Transportation Center (Sepulveda& Slauson)

FFE = Full Fare Equivalent (presently $1.50)

GMBL = Gardena Municipal Bus lines

ITC = Inglewood Transit Center

LAWA = Los Angeles World Airports.

LAXCBC = the LAX City Bus Center.

OCTA = Orange County Transportation Authority.

OOS = Out Of Service.

Rapid Transit = does not compete for right of way, that is, it will not run at grade unless it has EXCLUSIVE DEDICATED USE of the right of way).

R&J = Rough and Jerky [ride].

T= Torrance Transit.

T1= the normal type of driver/staff.

T2= is the non-stop talker type of driver/staff, on the phone or to passengers,

T3= the uncommunicative type of driver/staff, sometimes surly.

WLATC = the West Los Angeles Transportation Center (Fairfax & Apple)

Su Topo’s Disclaimer and apologia
Your Mole always attempts to write an easy-on-the-eyes page using text input. Blogger.com however, has other ideas and will often not stay with a single font type or point size, produces extraneous spacing and etc. I wish I had time to debug the HTML which they produce, it is NOT the straight text which I pasted into the form, but I don’t. Therefore, I apologize on behalf of Blogger.com for the changes which they make, of which I do not approve. Sometimes, what I see, thankfully you don’t, is 24 point type –it is giant and other times they swallow my text, although it still seems to be there. In fairness to them, things seem better, although this is partly because I do understand which of their “features” do the most damage to me and consequently do not use them. Communicating these problems to them, for me, is something like having teeth extracted without the benefit of anesthetic, actually it is less fun than that. By their design, there is no simple e-mailing them with "Please look at my say, posting of 2009-06-28, it is weird!” I have been submitting feedback and experiences slow but positive progress.  Until all issues are resolved, lo siento. [Addendum 2014-07-31]: Things have been much better lately.  There is a more responsive feedback system now.  If things keep this way, I may have to delete this "Disclaimer and apologia" section in the near future.  Almost immediately after writing the preceding, the system "returned an error" on a save.

Your Mole’s Copyright Statement
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Your Mole’s Conflict of Interest Statement
This is to certify that I, the blogger who is known as the LAmetroMole, with respect to this blog, except as described below, am not now nor at any time during the past year have been, nor is it my current intention to ever be:
1) A participant, directly or indirectly, in any arrangement, agreement, investment, or other activity with any vendor, supplier, or other party doing business with any of the entities about which I have written, which has resulted or could result in personal benefit to me.
2) A recipient, directly or indirectly, of any salary payments or loans or gifts of any kind or any free service or discounts or other fees from or on behalf of any person or organization engaged in any transaction with any of the entities about which I have written.
Any exceptions to 1 or 2 above are stated below with a full description of the transactions and of the interest, whether direct or indirect, which I have (or have had during the past year) in the persons or organizations having transactions with any of the entities about which I have written.
There are no exceptions.

Date: 2009-06-24 S/LametroMole

Works Cited

Billings, Lee. "2 Futures Can Explain Time's Mysterious Past". Scientific American. Dec. 8, 2014. Web. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2-futures-can-explain-time-s-mysterious-past/

Ganga, Maria L. "Tunneling unsettles Seattle".  Los Angeles Times. Dec. 23, 2014:A1. Print.

Hawthorne, Christopher. "Station in O.C. a flashy, curious symbol".  Los Angeles Times. Dec. 25, 2014:A1. Print.

Hirsch, Jerry. "In a self-driving future, we may not even want to own cars".  Los Angeles Times. Nov. 21, 2014. Web. http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-1121-la-auto-show-future-of-driving-20141121-story.html#page=1

 Nelson, Laura J. "Japanese firm plans to build light-rail cars in L.A. area after all". Los Angeles Times. Nov. 25, 2014. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-kinkisharyo-20141126-story.html


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The above is ### 30 ### in Braille 

# posted by LAMETROmole @ 08:53

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