On San Francisco and public transport / On heroism / SDM 10-years / Notes

Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why. Kurt Vonnegut

On San Francisco and public transport

Matti L asked me whether I really consider SF as a public transport paradise. He pointed out that the service level of transit in NYC is much higher, which would suggest NYC as a paradise rather than SF. I cannot refute this valid objection. So, I have to clarify why I called SF a transit paradise. First, I was impressed by the accessibility provided by transit in the SF proper. It seems that one can take a bus from any place to any other place with reasonable ease. Second, I was impressed by the variety of transit vehicles. The historic trams as almost too cute to be true, the cable cars are live museum exhibits, and the BART is the cleanest subway I have seen - it even has wall-to-wall carpets and very comfortable cushioned seats. And it is really fast. I was also impressed by the use of trolley-buses and their reliability.

On heroism

In Return to the Moon Harrison Schmitt writes about a man who "was the hero of the first bombing of Tokyo in WWII". If bombing Tokyo, mostly a civilian city, was an act of heroism, how much more heroic an act it was to bomb Pearl Harbor. Whether an act is heroic depends on the act itself, not on later developments of history.

SDM 10-years

Our SDM-program in MIT is now 10-years old. We had a party yesterday, with some faculty, some alumni, one third of SDM05s and most of SDM06s, and some spouses. The party took place in the Sloan Faculty club, which has a good kitchen. Now they even had an open bar, which is always welcome to poor (?) students. But even open bars close, and we had to find another - we ended up in the Hill-bar at the foot of the Beacon Hill. Quite a loud and dark place, but I enjoyed to company of fellow students and had great time.

Notes

Today, due to some pints of beer yesterday, nothing much. Lunch with S at the local Chinese, then to MIT to listen to a lecture on "What leadership is not", hanging around, and finally just taking the tram to the Boston College.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January to February 2006".