The northernmost end of the train* tells cyclists how many bike cars are available. While I stood taking this picture, a guy with a bike stopped and asked me if I knew how many bike cars were on the train. I said “Two” and gestured toward the sign.
His eyes lit briefly, then he shook his head and said “I’ve never noticed those.”
*On newer trains only. The 1986 fleet does not have this indicator.
I bought a new deodorant this week: Dove Ultimate Go Fresh Energizing with Grapefruit and Lemongrass.
I know, it sounds like an energy drink.
It is also the most easily advanced deodorant in the world. Take a look at Secret Kuku Cocoa Butter (yes, I choose deodorants with the weirdest names) on the left. See that tiny dial? Do you understand how slippery that thing can be if I forget to put deodorant on until after I’ve moisturized?
On the Dove deodorant, the entire bottom turns. Yeah, it is basically a huge handle. Brilliant for those of us with and without excellent manual dexterity.
Mumm Napa uses a descriptive coaster for each champagne in a flight, that way you don’t have to share a wine-stained sheet of paper with 3 other people.
This involves a lot more glassware than most wineries like, but I never wondered what I was tasting. Plus, when I went to buy my own bottles, I already had pictures of the Cuvee M and Brut Prestige labels in hand.
Meat, it's what's for breakfast
Joanie’s Cafe on Palo Alto’s California Avenue is my go-to breakfast joint. At most restaurants I prefer to sit at the counter for the best service. At Joanie’s you’ll always have a full cup of coffee no matter where you sit.
The 2-egg breakfast specials include the following choices:
- Egg Style
- Fruit, Hash Browns, or Home Fries
- Bread Type
- No Meat or Meat Style
The meat option is the only one that costs more, so when my husband orders the two egg, scrambled, fruit, sausage and muffin and I order the two egg, scrambled, wheat toast, the server turns to me and, raises his eyebrows and asks “No meat?” and I respond “No meat,” delighting in his verbal economy.
When I eat at new restaurants (and by new I mean recently opened) I almost never see or hear the sorts of systems that make Joanie’s so well run. I’d love to spend a year immersing myself in a variety of restaurants, seeing how they work, learning their systems, and then become a new sort of usability expert, one that can make restaurants’ websites and systems better.
This is the registry tool for Macy’s. It uses a stylus. Before we were allowed to get this awful machine, my husband and I had to tell Macy’s a ton of details about our wedding. At one point, this exact dialogue occured:
Macy’s Lady: How many guests are you inviting?
Me: Next question please.
Macy’s Lady: It won’t let me make an account unless you answer that.
My then-fiancee: 500
Macy’s Lady: ……
The pre-registry Q&A session was so strenuous that we should have left at that point. But then we finally got the scanner. Woo!
Too bad it was so difficult to use that my husband and I tried entering three items, then went back to the wedding office and handed in the machine.
At Crate and Barrel you give the desk an ID, scan bar codes, and then go to a kiosk to enter your account information, which doesn’t include the question “How many guests?”
You’re supposed to pull up for a liquid waste-friendly flush and push down for a solid waste flush. Except that pushing down is easier than pulling up when you’re using your foot. I wonder if these would have to be redesigned or if they could just install the handle backwards to fix that.
[Seen at the bathroom in PDX]
![You’re supposed to pull up for a liquid waste-friendly flush and push down for a solid waste flush. Except that pushing down is easier than pulling up when you’re using your foot. I wonder if these would have to be redesigned or if they could just install the handle backwards to fix that.
[Seen at the bathroom in PDX]](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tyA2fFq2Vm2dyu161Demdn1Uo1_500.jpg)
