Let the commuting commence… May 1, 2012
Posted by travisthetrout in Daily Commute.4 comments
Regular readers will know I used to do a regular daily commute category when commuting by train for an hour each way to work. I stopped this when I moved to be a 10 minute walk from my office and now (3 house moves and a job move later) I am back to commuting again. Only this time by car.
I must say, the car commute can be a bit of a drag, unlike travelling by train I can’t read a book, catch up on my blogging, or even drink a cup of coffee properly. I have thankfully discovered I am quite tolerant in traffic and don’t have an anger management problem (the train was worse) unlike other road users.
I am open to suggestion for audiobooks, podcasts etc to amuse myself.
I am currently listening to the radio while travelling to work… the station of choice: heart. I wanted to share the question on heart today as I thought it was quite a good one.
you are falling, do you drop what you are holding onto to break your fall, or do you save what you are holding onto and injure yourself?
When it is a laptop (or equivalent) I can understand the need to save it over yourself. Particularly if there is a risk that you will completely break your laptop compared to you only ending up with a scratch, bump, or bruise. I get that. But if I knew I would break a bone/ribs/neck I’d would be more inclined to save myself… after all I have multiple computers and I am usually fully backed up. Why cause myself that much pain over something that can be replaced.
What about you?
Daily Commute: Using Snaptu May 2, 2010
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Like I said in my previous post – it has been a busy past couple of weeks – and I’ve not participated on the blawgs/twitter much. On my not-so smart phone I just use twitter’s own mobile site – which is fine for having a quick glance at what is going on, and maybe updating your status or shooting out a quick reply. It is not so great when it comes to viewing links, retweeting and managing your followers or managing multiple accounts. Which is fine if I know I’m going to go on Twitter properly in the evening – not so if I’m not going to be able to catch up on content, when I already know it is there (different from just missing it altogether).
So this week I finally decided to try Snaptu (a non-smart phone’s answer to not being a smart phone). I’m sure a lot of people already use it, but I do little tweeting on my commute, and concentrate on other things, but since my commute has descended into a farce of playing solitaire on the ipod touch, I’ve though best to leave it at home and be productive in other ways. Also recently, with getting more “regular timed” train I do less writing of blog posts. In part because I am usually sat beside a fellow colleague from my firm, my old firm or lawyers/trainees from neighbouring firms. I don’t want them reading over my shoulder and then finding out I’m being interviewed by them or something – that really would be murphy’s law (so engaging in light chit chat has been much more beneficial). Not that I think they are reading over my shoulder, but it does make me more self-conscious.
so enter snaptu:
- Snaptu is easy to download – you just go to m.snaptu.com on your phone and hit download.
- When you load it, it will have the permissions regarding going online (ie you may be charged) and allowing a particular website.
- The first page is an image of all the apps you can swap and change these as they suit your needs (they include: facebook, twitter, rss feed, linkedin, google, flickr etc) So far I’ve only used the twitter aspect of it though and for my reader/mail/facebook just use the sites own mobile site, but I may investigate later.
- snaptu gives you an awful lot at your fingertips such as retweeting, looking at links and feeds, easy replies and dms, ability to manages groups and accounts etc etc. downside, if you have a touchscreen phone you will need skinny little fingers and even with skinny little fingers you will probably hit the incorrect button. quite a bit.
- Loading pages, if your internet connection is dodgy can be quite slow at times. But this is reflective generally of your handsets internet. (and in my case the number of tunnels the train goes through).
All in all a great product, but if are trying to cut down on your twitter usage – maybe avoid this one. :)
How to get kicked off a train… Write a List March 19, 2010
Posted by travisthetrout in Daily Commute, In the News.1 comment so far
While sitting on the train during my commute yesterday, I was shocked to read in the paper that a man was kicked off a train for writing a list including the band the Killers.
The Press Association (18/03/2010):
A musician has spoken of his shock at being removed from a train for “behaving suspiciously” by writing a list of songs which included the band name The Killers.
Tom Shaw was travelling on South West Trains when he began writing a list of song titles which his band The Magic Mushrooms would play at a forthcoming gig.
But the 25-year-old was approached by two security staff employed by the train company and asked to leave the train at Fareham railway station.
The world has gone mad.
It is one thing to employ “a team of highly professional rail community officers” completely another to have a bunch of idiots who fail to use their common sense. The fact that the poor guy had to explain the list is also slightly worrying – as it should have been obvious on closer inspection.
Also worrying that these so-called rail community officers can read my writing material – I manage my to-do list for the day on my morning commute and work on my blog postings in the afternoon (or sleep). Plenty of commuters (many of which are lawyers) work on the train – amending contracts, reading updates etc. Many other commuters work on computers – replying to emails, working with spreadsheets and reading reports. And those that are students frequently study. Does this mean that everyone’s material can be read if they are acting suspiciously? (whatever “suspiciously” might be). What about all the blackberry and iphone users… surely common sense should prevail and we should be able to read and write what we like on a train – otherwise how else will one pass the time. Sure we all casually glance around to see what others are doing, but I’ve never seen anyone writing or reading anything to cause concern.
Snow Day January 7, 2010
Posted by travisthetrout in Daily Commute.7 comments
Today has ended up being a snow day, well actually I spend 5 hours of it trying to get to work and getting back home – so no lie in, which honestly is the best part of any snow day.
Set out at half 5, National rail enquiries said my train was still running – when I got there, 10 minutes later, it was cancelled. So tried to do what I did yesterday, get the cardiff train and catch the taunton train, then 1 minute before it was due it changed to a 15 minute delay which meant I would have missed my connection. Freezing cold by this point I walked home, had a cup of tea in bed for half an hour and put on more socks.
Back at the station the next train was going. But just before Bristol we were delayed, numerous excuses and an hour and a half of waiting (as you will have noticed if you follow me on twitter). They had no heating so we were all moved into one carriage to make it warmer. Cosy, not!! 5 layers is not enough, and I was ever so hungry (I normally have breakfast when I get in).
The train then decided to go backwards and forwards going on before deciding to go back a few stops and it was now 10am. At that point I decided to tell my boss I wasn’t going to make it in.
Once the train kicked us all off we had to wait around to find another train to take us home. We got on one train coming back from London, waited 10 minutes at the station, then were told to get off and get on another train, but finally we got back home and warm.
Daily Commute: Haruki Murakami August 24, 2009
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Over the past week on the train I’ve indulged in two Haruki Murakami books:
A thin, slender book, which seemed somehow the right kind of book to take on my 6am train – however, in hindsight a collection of short stories was probably not the best Murakami novel to start with.
After the Quake is a collection of short stories showcasing different people’s experiences after the earthquake and focusing on the individuals friendships and relationships. Painting a picture. Elegantly written and incredibly imaginative. I love his style. That said, I felt like some of the stories were cut too short and the many isolated incidents left me feeling empty.
Having read After the Quake I was inspired to try out another of Haruki Murakami’s books – a more well known one this time – Norwegian wood.
Norwegian Wood
My boyfriend bought this book a while back, attracted simply by the Beatles reference. I was uncertain whether I would like it as we don’t really share the same tastes when it comes to reading material.
The story has a sort of sweet sadness to it – a tender love story told from the perspective of a man remembering his university days. The scenes and emotions are captured perfectly and I came away feeling a strong connection with the characters. A truely captivating book – I almost forgot to get off the train.
Worth a read.
Daily Commute: End of the Orange Week July 24, 2009
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So far this week the theme book wise has been orange. with another two orange covered books to add to the pile:
Yesterday’s Book: Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You (Marcus Chown).
Concise book on quantum theory, supposedly for the ordinary person – but I still found it a bit heavy first thing in the morning and only made it to chapter 4. That said I would definitely like to have a second stab at it another time. Excellent review here for those considering having a read.
Today’s book is still on the go, I’m reading Survivor (Chuck Palahniuk) another one of my bf’s holiday reads. My bf was like don‘t read it as he hated it. But personally I’ve found it really good so far, even though it’s a bit bizarre and the chapters are numbered backwards. But more on this when I finish – today was too much daydreaming and less reading.
update:
Finally finished the book. and seriously the only word to describe the plot is bizarre. Good, but not worth rushing out to buy.
Daily Commute: Facing my fears July 22, 2009
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Book Review: The Tiger that Isn’t: seeing through a world of Numbers (Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot).
Another day, another book. I have just noticed that orange definitely seems to be the theme so far this week (must try making one of those rainbow bookshelves which I am ever so jealous of).
The book itself is a GREAT read. Described as a “popular mathematics” book and more specifically a statistics book I was initially put off. Despite having studied Additional maths at school, like most law students, maths has never been my forte (and I’m terribly out of practice for that matter). However, this book actually makes numbers less scary. It makes sense and provides you with interesting facts, putting a new spin on what you read in the papers.
To give you an idea of the topics discussed, I will give you an example:
In 1997 the labour government said that it would spend an extra £300m over five years to create a million new childcare places….
So is £300m to provide a million places a big number? Share it out and it equals £300 per place. Divide it by five to find its worth in any one year (remember it was spread over 5 years), and you are left with £60 per year. Spread that across 52 weeks of the year and it leaves £1.15 a week. Could you find childcare for £1.15 a week? In parts of rural china, maybe.
The book hits a number of topical issues, from knife crime, the impact speed cameras, the discovery of new genes, taxes and cancer. The results are surprising, and never once is the book boring (and I usually find numbers boring) it is entertaining, well written and intriguing. Very readable. Makes me wish someone would put the swine flu figures into context.
On a side note, the authors do a programme on Radio 4, More or Less. Shall have to have a dig around that later.
Daily Commute: The comfort of a legal thriller July 21, 2009
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Book Review: Judge and Jury (James Patterson)
Today’s reading choice was my usual easy-to-read-lose-my-head-in-the-clouds type book. A donation from my mother (who usually only reads magazines but has recently discovered that books make good holiday reading).
Judge and Jury as anyone can guess from the title is a legal thriller. Good read, good pace, but predictable. Maybe I just read too many of these things (and watch too many crime dramas), but I pretty much second-guessed it all.
That said, I’d read it again and I’d recommend it purely for the entertainment quality.
Suggestions for crime / legal thriller books anyone? (I love Kellerman and John Grisham books so there is no need to suggest any of them, lol).
Daily Commute: learning about Germans. July 21, 2009
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Book Review: A Year in the Scheisse getting to know the Germans. (Roger Boyes)
My bf bought this book when we were travelling in Europe last year (although I believe he actually bought it in Italy rather than Germany for some bizarre reason). Asked his opinion on it “okay”. So never bothered to read it then I had legal reading and Oscar Wilde to get on with at the time. Digging around our book shelves (which are now 3 books deep thanks to my LPC material and cookery books) I came across the book and though I may as well give it a go.
Branded as a travel book, this book is anything but. It is apparently a best seller in Germany – maybe they ALL just wanted to see what an British Journalist living in Germany was writing about because it is not that good (maybe it is better in German?). That said it is a easy read, and I finished it before the daily train journey was over (and I was on a fast train today), so if you are looking for something to pass the time, it probably is good. It is funny (probably more so if you are a guy actually) and details the mishaps of a guy trying to find a girl to marry so he can cut his taxes, but it is neither laugh out loud funny, or I must share this funny, which is kind of disappointing. They could have achieved a lot more with this book and for those reasons I couldn’t really say I would recommend it.
How to: survive the rush hour crunch March 25, 2009
Posted by travisthetrout in Daily Commute, How to, Organisation.1 comment so far
During what I call the rush hour crunch – when travelling by train you are subjected to an hour (in my case) of cramped conditions. There a varying degree of crunch ranging from the “busy, but I still find a seat…just about” if you are an early bird to “peas in a pod” if you end up travelling mid rush hour (for me this is the half 5 train).
People do very little with their time and simply listen to their ipods, talk loudly and rudely on their phone (“Hi, Just letting you know I’m on the train”) or on the rare occasion reading books. Whether we are trying to be green (or just can’t afford the parking in the city centre) the train is a good method of transport, anytime outside of rush hour, and the journey can be quite productive, but how can we extend this productivity into the rush hour?
Given that time is precious for law students, here is a list of suggestions based on what I do:
1. Getting to the station: for me this is usually a brisk walk, sometimes jog, if I’m close to getting an earlier, less crowded train. Nice spot of exercise for those days you can’t fit in a session to the gym. (less great on rainy days but hopefully we’ll have less of those as summer approaches).
2. Listen to Podcasts: I normally combine this with getting to the station, and waiting on the platform (as well as catching my breath of course). Podcasts, which I would like to hope everyone uses these days are great for catching up on news updates, topics of interest, learning a new language, learning your “nugget” for the day, or simply injecting a bit of humour into the day.
3. On the train studying: I always think that the train is a great place to study (given that I don’t get motion sickness on the train unlike a car). Nevertheless a file, manual, statute book, notepaper, pens, and highlighters do not fit comfortably on an overcrowded train. The obvious solution is use a laptop; many people do given its slim-line nature. But given I don’t use it during my day, and my bag is never enough as it is, bringing my laptop along for the ride is not usually an option. My solution, is a simple study book.
The Study Book
Internet: this is similar to the points of interest in the mind dump, only more general. Everyone gets flashes of inspiration, anytime, anywhere – usually when you haven’t got a computer handy. I note anything in this section (not necessarily work related), such as things I want to google/wiki; an email I want to send; a blog entry; cases and points of interest mentioned in class; research; and social networking issues. anything really – simply because, by the time I get home, all will be forgotten.
This is a small a5 notebook (can go smaller if you wish) – usually best to have one with identifiable sections, whether it is different coloured edged pages or subject notebooks then you can assign a section to different things. Please note this is in addition to my moleskine diary (see 4. below). I’ve split up the study book into 4 sections: To-dos, Mind dump/reviews, tasks, and internet.
To dos: These are specifically work to-dos, and will also contain a print list, as I don’t have a printer at home and we frequently have to print out things before and after a class.
MindDump/Review: Usually when I am heading home I have just finished a class. I find this a perfect time to do some notes. I basically will write a summary of what was covered in the class, what I specifically remember (usually these are the key points), any points of interest mentioned in class and draw up some diagrams about what I’ve learnt – this may be how this topic fits in with others or a flow chart showing the structure of a particular claim (i.e. what needs to be proved first?). As I am a visual learner I find it beneficial to learn like this, I can then fill out the notes later if I need to double check anything and add it to my file.
Tasks: This is usually for the morning journey. Generally when I am studying, if I find a task that I know I can do on the train / would be easy on the train – I set it aside to do on the train later and carrying on with the other stuff. Then later when I am on the train I do this task, it may not involve an entry in the notebook (e.g. when reading a lease), but the tasks section is there for the things I need to note when doing the task. The great thing about this is, I have something I can do on a train, and I free up time to do other things during my study time.
4. The daily-life catch up: Studying issues aside the train is always the perfect time to catch up on some tweaking of the diary (what I am doing and when), my general to-dos such as what to cook for dinner, grocery shopping list etc. Also get to do some vigorous ticking of what I’ve done during the day, as I’m usually productive this gives me a great sense of satisfaction.
Given the absence of a phone during the day I also listen to my messages and catch up on texts, phone calls I leave for the 10 minute walk from the station to my house.
5. If you are prone to snacking on the train, make sure you are armed with some snacks, cereal bar normally does it for me. Be healthy and get one of your five-a-day. It beats spending time waiting in the queue for some over priced chocolate bar, simply because everyone around you is snacking and it makes you feel hungry too.
6. Boredom and still got free time? make conversation. I love having a good old fashioned chat on the train, you can meet many interesting people (as well as strange people with obsessions with boats). Obviously be safe and don’t give your address etc, but a nice relaxing chit chat about the weather might be just what you need after a stressful day, and who knows you might learn something new. Also if you regularly travel on the same train, other people will to, its nice just to be able to give a friendly nod to someone else at a later date.
By doing these few simple things I’ve ended up having a more productive train journey, they can be done whether you find a seat, are sitting in the corridor or standing.
