railroad maintenance

An interesting current example of railroad maintenance costs and tradeoffs. UP decided to put GPS (well, they kinda got leaned on. Hard, after a bad accident) in their locomotives, so they would actually know where they were and wouldn't, say, ram into commuter trains unexpectedly. Very expensive, but would also save them on fuel -- which at the time was expensive. But now is not.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/11/union-pacific-railroad-business-logistics-union-pacific.html

I'm currently trying to get a handle on what has happened to railroads (freight) in the US post-Main Lines. UP eating SP did not digest well (that was clear in the book, altho it wasn't clear just how long it would take for the pain to fully transit). The signalling/train control problem has not been fully addressed yet. And rail continues to pull business from trucks.

My strategy right now is to try to find financial analysts who specialize in rail. They do exist. They are not flashy. And, unfortunately, I'm not having great luck getting access to the for-pay ones through my brokers.

coverage of car sharing

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/26/news/companies/zipcar_car_rentals.fortune/

Mostly focused on Zipcar and Zipcar's current CEO, it includes a little about others including Hertz and nonprofits.

A little weird to see money/finance/investment journalism (albeit for the masses) treating this as the Wave of the Future. Good weird, but weird.

expensive bike ride

I _thought_ I might have to write a check to the tree guys today, because R. told me I would need to and then did not tell me they weren't going to be done until next Wednesday and that's when I'd need to write the check. In any event, I did not go to pick T. up at school on the bike today or yesterday (B. picked him up in the car), partly because I've been feeling so sick. By 5ish, T. was soooo sad, that I took pity on him and we went out on the bike around the neighborhood. Ouch. We came back, and I rustled up an extra layer just about everywhere, and added gloves and a scarf, and took him out again to the playfield, where he went down the slide a couple times and decided that was enough for him (he has a down jacket).

We returned home, where my new goal was to buy more appropriate outerwear for wearing on the bike when it is really fucking cold (since I am still too fat to fit into my previous versions of outerwear and in any event, it is far from clear whether that stuff was even windproof enough for this). Cycling specific gear was right out, because it's all intended for people who are actually generating some heat, and I don't usually bother to go very fast.

I decided on the under-helmet beanie, instead of the over-the-helmet shower cap. We'll see how that works out. I probably should get some more gloves, too, since once again, after a few winters, all my spare gloves have mysteriously disappeared.

ETA: Ordered 2 pair from Nordstroms, my usual source (altho my current pair of gloves apparently came from Wilson's. I miss Wilson's.). One pair black (because how can I not) and one pair purple. I'm excited about the purple pair.