Boston "rapid transit" - is there a solution?

Most everyone I know loves to complain about Boston's subway (or metro) system, known simply as "the T". I stopped counting how many times I heard people say "I would gladly use public transportation if it was functional".

There is a lot to be unhappy about - compared to all major world metropolitan cities, this is by far the slowest. If you've ever been or lived in say, London, Moscow, Mexico-city, Buenos Aires, Barcelona and even New York, you know what I am talking about. Reliability, speed and usability. The three things that every transportation system needs to be successful. In my opinion, Boston "T" lacks all three of these.

For comparison, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to get from the heart of Brookline to say, Kendall Square in Cambridge by bike or by car, whereas riding the T, it takes close to an hour. That's because there is no direct line connecting these two metropolitan areas. Instead, we are forced to ride to downtown Boston to change from Green Line to Red or Orange or Blue.

Let's take a closer look at the Green Line. Did you know that it is classified as "light rail" and not "subway"? No wonder - it runs above ground and must stop at every red light. If you have ever ridden it, you know that all four B, C, D and E trains halt at practically every block. Once you factor in all the lights, the schedule for the trains becomes unpredictable.

Worse yet, three Green Line trains merge at Kenmore. Which means that the green line branches must run in sequence, not in parallel. Not too efficient, is it?

So, what can be done about this? Of course, the best solution would be to put all the trains under ground or elevate the tracks. No waiting on lights, ever. Moreover, separating the various branches of Green Line would help tremendously. However, MBTA is in severe debt and the costs of doing so would be unbelievably high.

Believe it or not, I actually have a solution for the Green line sluggishness. A partial solution, but it would the job. How about breaking the Green Lines (B, C and D) into three separate branches which originate at Kenmore? A separate line would run back and force from Lechmere to Kenmore. Sure, it would require all riders to transfer to the appropriate branch of B, C or D green line trains at Kenmore, but it is much better than the system in place now.

No thanks required. It is my gift to the city of Boston and its residents, absolutely free of charge.

Phone calls from Random Numbers

Something strange has been happening ever since I got back from Tanzania. Every so often I get a phone call from a random number in Tanzania (country code 255). The caller ID is always different and annoyingly enough, the calls always come in the middle of the night, anywhere from 1:30am to 7 am. Which would be day time if you were in Tanzania. Sometimes the phone rings every night, other times, my phone is quiet for a week or so. I called my service provider and they told me I can only block specific numbers, not a whole range. Apart from changing my number, they could not recommend other solutions. Sure, I can also turn off my phone at night, but I like to keep it on in case there is an emergency. Is this some kind of elaborate scam? Anyone had this problem before? Any tips on how to deal with it?

Talking to Dell - lollipops, lollipops

I recently purchased a new flat screen monitor from Dell. It came in packaged together with a drivers and documentation CD. Except that the CD was cracked.

So, I called Dell. One would think that this issue would be resolved in about 5 mins. Send me a new CD and I would be a happy customer again. Not so. First off, ALL of Dell's operations are outsourced. And I mean all of them - sales, customer service, technical support along with software and hardware support. It is all in India, Philippines, Bangladesh, you name it. Anywhere, but the United States. Don't get me wrong. It is not that I have a problem with outsourcing. It is the lack of training and hence, the level of incompetence that comes with it (at least when it comes to Dell). It is also the horrible phone connection - I felt like I was back in the 1970s, calling long distance. It must be that Dell customer support reps use skype, because it is cheaper.

To make the long story short, Dell's way of dealing with a simple matter of sending me a replacement CD was to alternate between transferring me from person to person to putting me on hold. I would talk to customer service, then get to technical support and back to customer service again. An infinite loop. Sometimes the transfers wouldn't work and the "caring" Dell representative would end my call. Worst yet, the elevator music I heard every time I redialed Dell's number was "lollipops, lollipops". As if I didn't feel bad enough already. After talking to about 30 people and spending close to 3 hours of my time, I decided to give up. Yes, I know I can download the drivers online, but I wanted a replacement CD. Is it so unreasonable?

My resolution: I will never, ever buy from Dell again. Not because I don't like the quality of the products. It is that I can't stand wasting my time talking to incompetent "customer don't care" department.