random thoughts, tramspotting part 2

first off, the superbowl is going to be boring.

i hope the giants can pull something out. if they don't, it'll be the most boring superbowl and the most boring NFL season in recent history. also, i really intensely dislike the patriots (if you haven't picked up on that yet).

enough.

i don't know how, but the arrival times of trams are scheduled in just such a way so as to encourage excessive eating. espcially sunday nights. you get there, you've got about 13-16 minutes because you just missed the last 24. so you're standing around, and it's kinda cold, and the natural thought process is... there's a perfectly good KFC down the block, i've got all this time... it'd be a shame not to take advantage, right? then you end up with a bag full of greasy chicken and fries and sub-par coleslaw* that you weren't even hungry for in the first place. but it wastes the time.

they also conveniently placed a sausage stand right near the main night tram stop in wenceslas square. cunning business sense.

also, i've been considering when it is appropriate to run for the tram/metro.
(it's always okay to run for a bus. they are unpredictable.)

i'd say the following:
ALWAYS run for the 24. it's like the haley's comet of trams.
NEVER run for the metro on the red line. especially in the morning. seriously, if you can't be 45 seconds later than you already are... you either work for a despot or you're life is in shambles.
IF you can hear the metro coming, it's okay to run for it.

at the Urxova stop near my house, i consider it worth running if i'm about a block back from the main street. based on my calculations involving speed and wind resistance, and amount of time it takes the tram to approach the stop and for all passengers to board and deboard, i can usually make it from there. any farther back is just heartbreaking... you want to run, but you know you won't make it.

as you can see, i'm rather giddy with the situation of having a stellar public transport system.

*oddly, all the McDonald's in Prague are far superior in quality to those in the States, but the KFC's are dismal. the food is terrible. it was some of the worst coleslaw i've had too, by the way. my little personal plastic bowl serving had to have contained an entire clove of garlic.