Tinypliny's Journal

05/10/2011 23:42 #54257

Missed yoga so much...
Category: dance

that I went to Zumba today.

That makes zero sense, but welcome to my life. The genre-defying deviation was because of some eleventh hour "planning" and last-minute dashing - which didn't produce much results except for a big sign outside the yoga studio which said something to the effect of:

Class is lamentably very full today. You are welcome to join us some other day for yoga, but NOT TODAY, you tardy little rat.

I almost retraced my steps back home when I remembered the zumba poster at my ballet/salsa studio and decided to check it out instead. It was an interesting experience. Zumba is like dancing an alternate-universe crazy version of salsa mixed in liberally with aerobics and strange disco-like moves which defy categorization. I was drenched in sweat by the end of the class but didn't really feel like I learned anything new. Who knows, I might even have unlearnt some salsa steps that took me ages to get...

I really really REALLY miss Erin's yoga class. I am 99% going to the Vinyasa session tomorrow and planning on getting to class early. I hope the 1% doesn't show its evil petty face at 4:00 PM.

05/09/2011 07:44 #54250

Why would you pay $5.95...
Category: the odes

For this advertisement/article from 2004:

when it's available freely here:

Amazon sells the most random crazy things.

paul - 05/10/11 10:02
Sounds like a business plan.

05/09/2011 07:37 #54249

He's dead, Jim!
Category: i-tech

Awwwwww. Snap!

Hate it when it happens and I lose a tab out of the zillion I have open.

05/06/2011 07:45 #54225

e:libertad, how did you quit smoking?
Category: science

(e:libertad), I know you have told me many time in fragments how hard it was but could you please share, in a consolidated post, how you quit smoking finally?

How long had you been smoking?
How much were you smoking?
When did you start?
What brands were you smoking?
How long did it take for you to quit?
When did you start trying to quit?
What all did you try?
What worked?
What didn't work?
What do you feel was the most helpful and the least helpful?
Who helped you?
Who didn't help you?
What factors dangerously pushed you into relapse?

This is a LOT to ask of you, I know, but I am honestly VERY VERY interested in success stories like yours who have fought single-handedly against a whole CORPORATION of evil. It's amazing really that your individual will power fought and defeated commercial interests who are pushing out this drug to the masses and encouraging addiction with a sole purpose of financial gain and complete disregard for the financial, health and emotional burden of communities across the planet. I think people who quit smoking are perhaps the strongest people anywhere.

05/05/2011 11:29 #54220

Amtrak Buffalo Exchange Street Station
Category: buffalo

Has anyone ever tried getting tickets at this station? I just booked some "pick up at station" tickets and am now nervous if this station has anyone there for giving me the tickets! All the times that I have traveled from this station, I have never seen the "office" open, ever.

EDIT: I went to the Buffalo Exchange Street Station yesterday and got my tickets. I didn't even need a print out of my confirmation email - which was great because I didn't have it anyway. The lady at the counter just asked for my photo ID and confirmation number and handed me my ticket. Their hours are from 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday and yes, they mainly deal with handing out tickets to people who have booked tickets online.

After some more snooping around in the Amtrak website, I found two more information pages:

Station Hours for Amtrak Buffalo Exchange Street Station:
Station building with waiting room details for Amtrak Buffalo Exchange Street Station:

It says ticketing hours are from 6:15 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Its closed on Saturday and Sunday.

I checked out google maps to see if anyone has ever had a successful ticketing experience at this station and found TWO place pages!!!

Place page one:

Amtrak: For Station Information Only Call
75 Exchange Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-2918
(716) 856-2075

Vague reviews. The latest one is mine - that I definitely intend on updating soon.)

Place page two:

Buffalo Exchange Street Station
United States
amtrak.com

No reviews or phone numbers but it has train schedules!
However the two measly train timings on that page are dated and most uninformative.
What the hell? I am going to post my review on this page as well.

I wonder how many other place pages exist for this one tiny joke of a station. Such a disorganized mess!

tinypliny - 05/13/11 10:29
Got my tickets and posted an update on Buffalo Exchange Street Amtrak Station.

tinypliny - 05/07/11 11:26
Cheap. Flexible. Two key words.

Around $160 cheaper. Flexible: I can shuffle my travel plans without charge as many times as I want to. I would be bankrupt if I did that with flights. I am going to NYC to help my brother move to a new flat and he doesn't know for sure when exactly he is moving so I keep changing my travel times according to whatever information he gives me.

libertad - 05/07/11 09:23
Why are you taking the train? Is it cheaper than flying or do you have a fear of planes or for environmental reasons?

tinypliny - 05/07/11 07:28
What I meant to say is I AM taking the 4:18 AM train again. DAMN typo!

tinypliny - 05/07/11 07:28
Central Terminal is not walkable from my place. I'd rather have the "hut" upgraded than having a train station further away - that I can't walk to.

I am not taking that 4:18 AM train again. I re-scheduled my trip. (I have to say that Amtrak is very accommodating about rescheduling trips if you have just received a confirmation and not bought the physical ticket. So, you could potentially reschedule your ticket as many times as you want without a charge till you actually print it out at the kiosk or get it at a ticketing booth from a clerk. That's really convenient and beats any airline experience.

Since I am traveling at 4 AM again, I guess I will have to make the trip down to the train station soon to see if I get tickets.

vincent - 05/06/11 20:12
Yea the "Hut" at Exchange Street as one of my friends calls it is a sad thing. Those people that think that The Central Terminal could re-open are nuts. Unless things go totally catastrophic and we are forced as a nation to go back to rail due to forced energy conservation, it's not going to happen.

At least we're going to get "higher" speed rail on the near horizon hopefully if it survives the Republican chopping block.

tinypliny - 05/06/11 07:51
Unfortunately, Amtrak doesn't let you print online tickets like airlines. It's ridiculous really. They email you a confirmation number and you need to take that confirmation number to a ticketing kiosk or a ticketing window run by a clerk to get the actual ticket. It's so behind the times.

They also mail the tickets to you if you select that option (but it is available only if you are more than 2.5 weeks away from your trip). Sometimes they forget to mail it out and you need to make several calls to the consumer help centre to make them mail it out - sometimes a week before your journey. It's a hassle.

I have taken the 4:30 AM train from the exchange street many times and had my brother mail me tickets from NYC post haste. I have also taken the bus all the way to the Depew station just because there is a ticketing kiosk there and I wasn't sure there was one on exchange street (there isn't). It is SO ridiculous that they can't even install a simple kiosk in the exchange street station - it's as if they hate the people who take the train from downtown buffalo!

tinypliny - 05/05/11 21:18
I will find out and post about what happened soon. I am going to NYC.

metalpeter - 05/05/11 17:34
Wish I could be of some help.... That being said I wish that and think that the way all trains should leave and go to Buffalo (even though it is closed) is through the Central Terminal , the place downtown and the one out on Dick road or where ever it is.... I also with out ever doing so think trains are a better way to go then planes... It used to be at least they could travel in the snow and ice unlike planes.... Granted for long trips it would blow but trains need to take over planes.......

leetee - 05/05/11 16:15
It's hours are very limited. When my nephew and his friend were in town, we drove them to the station on Dick Road. Apparently, some of their fellow train travellers got on the train at Exchange Street then hopped off to pick up their tickets at the Dick Road station.

libertad - 05/05/11 13:25
Let us know how it goes. Are you going to ROC? Can't you print a ticket online?