Pretty cool infographic on where nuclear weapons are found around the world and here in the US. Not surprised to see the decline in the number of weapons in stockpile but I did not expect to see such a sharp decline over the last two decades.

Via: Mozy

The last time I did one of these, the commute was 576 miles from Boston – this time it was only 500 miles from New Jersey. I’m still not sure if I like these better than coming in the night before but maybe I should ask my family who are up at 4:30 to drop me off at the airport.

I woke up this morning at about 4am and was on the road to the airport at about 4:45. By the time I got to the airport at 5:15, I was fully expecting to be through check-in and security within 5 minutes like the last time I visited Jersey. What caught me off guard was that the Porter employees hadn’t even set up their counters yet. So there were a few of us just standing at the entrance to the airport waiting for them to set up shop before we could proceed. That killed a good 10-15 minutes just watching them at their snail pace. Following that, there was no hassle at the check-in counter except that they printed the wrong gate on every passenger’s boarding pass and sent people going around in circles for a gate that didn’t exist. The security check was probably the nicest experience outside of the people at Logan even though it got a bit redundant. I am assuming the guard thought it was my first flight because he asked me take out my laptop, then take off my jacket, then my belt, then empty my pockets and then my shoes even though I am well familiar with the process by now.

Let me tell you about my lovely commute and day this morning. It started snowing here overnight and I had an 8:30 meeting in the morning. I initially thought about waking up at 4:30 to watch the Pakistani QF game but I was just too tired and slept again after my alarm went off. I also didn’t take my usual 7:10 train (which gets in at 7:45) but went for 7:30 (8:15) to give myself extra time to clean the car. I leave the house 20 mins early even though it is a 5 minute drive but the road was crazy slick. I tried to stop at a red light but my car decided it didn’t want to and I definitely skidded through the red light and just kept going. A couple of lights later, there were two accidents and a public bus was stuck in the snow, making a 3-lane road into a single lane. So after going roughly 20 KPH the entire time, i get into the station and there are no parking spots left… and on top of that, the train starts to arrive! I parked where no spot existed since everything was covered in snow anyway and no body checks on days like these, sprinted in my work shoes down the stairs, across the tunnel and up the stairs to the platform and just got on as the door closed.

I got into work about 5 mins before the meeting which started promptly at 8:30 went through lunch and ended at 4:00. Non. Stop. I even had my lunch at my seat in the conference room, only left the room once to go to the bathroom in between. It was an awesome demo and discuss though, talking about Strategic Asset Allocation and the likes with some people head and shoulders smarter than me in the room. I wouldn’t mind working with them some day in New York.

Help Japan.

There aren’t many times I end up posting an entire comment from a site that I regularly visit but I read this when it was first posted a few months back and then again when the NY Times decided to publish his story but this is something that just needs to be read by everyone.

Just about every time I see someone I stop. I kind of got out of the habit in the last couple of years, moved to a big city and all that. Then some shit happened to me that changed me and I am back to offering rides habitually. If you would indulge me, it is long story and has almost nothing to do with hitch hiking other than happening on a road.

This past year I have had 3 instances of car trouble. A blow out on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out of gas situation. All of them were while driving other people’s cars which, for some reason, makes it worse on an emotional level. It makes it worse on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my car, and know enough not to park, facing downhill, on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel.

Anyway, each of these times this shit happened I was DISGUSTED with how people would not bother to help me. I spent hours on the side of the freeway waiting, watching roadside assistance vehicles blow past me, for AAA to show. The 4 gas stations I asked for a gas can at told me that they couldn’t loan them out “for my safety” but I could buy a really shitty 1-gallon one with no cap for $15. It was enough, each time, to make you say shit like “this country is going to hell in a handbasket.”