Notes from the commute - now with 95% more content

Nick's Roast Beef, which has never been a big fan of opening and closing when they say they're supposed to, is closed. A hand-written sign on the door says it's "for vacation." Most places don't newspaper up their windows when they're on vacation, though. Maybe it's a renovation vacation, but I dunno.

They've begun the demolition of One Davis Square, so if you're a fan of brick arches filled in with painted bricks, you might want to stop by and pay your last respects.

Our Red Line train this morning had something crazy going on with its air compressor. It was loud, loud, loud. We made every station stop sound like it was under construction. Here comes the noisy train! GNRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNGGGGGGGGG.

The giant inflatable Arthur the Aardvark, who sits atop the Children's Museum, was partially deflated this morning. His legs and feet were still inflated and buoyant, but his torso and head had gone flat and were sprawled out behind him. It looked like puir wee Arthur had gone and passed out after a weekend bender.

The construction worker ahead of me in the coffee bar line answered his ringing cellphone while stirring his sugar. "Hello? Oh, good morning! Everything OK? Great. Yeah, I hadda leave early today, at 5. Well, just leave the keys on the table when you go. The door will lock behind you -- yeah, that's my version of Express Check-Out, you know? Yeah, Express Check-Out. Well, thank you very much. That's very kind of you. It was very nice to have you. And if you've got any friends coming to visit, let me know, we'll take care of them too. All right, take care now." He hung up and looked over at the woman next to him. "And that's how I run a hotel!"

I for one had no arguments.

my internet cup is runnething over

Oh looky! A message in my email inbox concering that MySpace account I seem to have but rarely use. It doesn't appear to "let's be friends" with a person using an Elsa Benitez picture to invite me to "her private site." We get so many of those, it's kuh-razy! Instead, it seems to be an invitation to join a group! Wowee kazowee! Wonder what group would love to claim me as a potential member? Wonder where I would fit in with this great Web2.0 community of communitizers? Let's find out:

Hi R,

You have been invited to join the sex on live webcams group on MySpace.

"I don't see why you're so damn surprised," says M. "I mean, you've been around the Internet long enough. After a certain point, nothing should surprise or shock you anymore. You're inured to it all. It's kind of like living in New York City. Or Baghdad."

"I'm not surprised," says I. "Just eye-rollingly annoyed."

"That's the spirit," says M.