I found this today on the daily news website:
Frozen woman on J line
In case the link stops working at some point the basics of the story seem to be that the woman was already dead and mostly frozen (eww) between the tracks and that the train it self did not hit her. They also said that they didn’t have an ID yet but that she had a hospital bracelet on and no obvious signs of trauma. Just goes to show that just when yah think its a simple case of person gets hit by train, NYC always can find a way to make it just that much stranger.
Day Off »« The J-train of death
So this morning while I was trying to get to work my train hit someone. Being that I was on the train at the time I didn’t exactly get many details but given that there was a big group of firefighters standing round someone and no paramedics working on them I can only guess that they probably didn’t make it. We were just getting to the 104th street station when the train stopped really fast and then the train lady came on over the intercom and was yelling that they needed to call control and the conductor. You could tell by how she sounded that it was something bad. We had to wait on the train for like 30 min, first being told someone pulled the emergency stop, and then that there was an injured customer, which I guess is one way of describing someone hit by a train. Then, because the first two cars had made it into the station we had to all walk to the front of the train and go down and wait for busses. Well when I got down there, there were a good 200 people waiting for the bus already, plus you figure all the people at all the stations before us would be getting on the bus too. So I made a really stupid decision and opted to walk the rest of the way to work. Now remember this was at the 104th street station and my work is up around 150 street so it was quite a walk. And it was a cold walk, but I figured I would be colder just standing around for an hour trying to cram my self into a bus. But I made it to work, 30 min late for my overtime hour but it was slow today so it really didn’t matter too much. I will have to try and see if there is anything on the news tonight about it.
J train update »« I work for the MTA now
As if working on Saturday wasn’t bad enough it’s snowing. Whee! So I figure the train would be faster then the bus. And it was….until I got to the M train. I waited 20 min for it to show up, then sat on it for 20 minutes with the doors open, then surprise surprise they couldn’t close the doors because the were frozen so we had to get off the train and wait for the next train. So I get on the next train and the doors don’t want to close right either! But this time they asked all of us on the train to push the doors closed so the train could move. Blessedly it worked and I finally made it home. It took two hours but I now am warm and toasty in my little appt. The plan for the rest of the weekend is to hide in my apartment until the snow stops.
Yes, it’s good times in old NYC.
The J-train of death »« Santa Came Late…
Yes, I got some belated Christmas gifts today from Santa-Meg 
They had not yet arrived at her house when she came to visit in December so I told her to wait till after all the Christmas craziness was over before sending them and then today I had a package waiting for me at work. Woot!
Quite a geeky set of presents if I do say so my self. What we have here is a travel coffee mug with a caffeine molecule on the front (which is good timing seeing as its supposed to be about 5 degrees tomorrow morning), a
fuzzy plush microbe (this one is Rhinovirus aka the common cold) isn’t he/she/it cute? it was a big hit with the people at work too, and finally a “Schrodinger’s Cat is Dead” T-shirt (appropriately enough the back reads “Schrodinger’s Cat is not Dead”) nothing better then quantum mechanics humor if I do say so my self!
So thanks Meg!
I work for the MTA now »« My new find…
The city never fails to amaze me. Just today I was thinking that I need to get a bean bag, or something like that for my apartment so I would have more places to sit (and in case I ever have visitors). Well I go to take out the trash and what do I see out on the curb but this:
So to date the city has provided me an end table, bookcase, coffee table, picture for the kitchen, and now a white leather couch.
Santa Came Late… »« Shameless Rip Off…
So I was bored and ordered Office Space on my digital cable. I’ve seen it a bunch of times on Comedy Central and stuff but I don’t think I ever saw it from start to finish, and you know how they cut and edit stuff on TV. So for 1.99 I figured I would go for it as some mindless entertainment. That in it self is not the point of the story though. The point is that while the movie takes place at a software company, it could of just as easily taken place in a crime lab. Forget CSI, Office Space is a more realistic depiction of what working in a crime lab is like. We have everyone there from the overly cheery co-workers “Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays”, to the just odd ones like Milton: “I, I don’t care if they, if they lay me off either, because I, I told Bill that if he moves my desk one more time, then, then I’m quitting. I’m going to quit. And I told Dom too because they’ve moved my desk four times. I used to be by the window, where I could see the squirrels and they were merry.” (And no I am not naming names at this point because some of them read this and it’s really not that hard to find on google). Anyway I was struck with a brief creative/rip off idea and started taking scenes from the script and re-doing them for the lab. Click on the “More” if you really want to read the little part I did so far but unless you really know the movie and the crime lab it really wont be too funny. But that’s more your problem then mine I guess anyway enjoy.
(more…)
My new find… »« No court for me again…
Just a quick update for tonight. As you can see from the title there was no court for me today. Oh well. Still ended up going in for 2 hours of OT which is always good, I guess. Was a busy day but I got a lot done that I have sort of been slacking on for a while (packing up a big case for one, always a pain in the ass).
Well that’s about it really. Just a little tired tonight so probably heading to bed soon and the am going to be a lazy slug this weekend. Volunteered to come in Monday and work (We normally have MLK day off), but the drugs don’t stop and I get 7 hours of time plus time and a half so it’s definitely worth it to work.
Shameless Rip Off… »« boring week…
So no updates this week because nothing post-worthy has occurred really. Just been working a lot, though not on anything too interesting. I finally got caught up today with everything for the most part so thats a plus I guess. We also got to watch a CNN documentary on problems with forensic labs and the reliability of evidence. I was interesting but also enlightening in a way. Seeing as I am a Forensic Scientist I guess I saw it in a different light then just your average CSI watching person on the street. While all the stories they covered were semi-well known, in the field at least, there was a decidedly negative spin put on the whole story. Now I know they are going for ratings and everything but the focused on a few isolated cases and individuals where mistakes were made or sloppy science was being used. As opposed to the countless number of cases and labs that are doing things right. But then that doesn’t make good TV now does it?
On a crime lab related note so far I still am on alert for court tomorrow. They called the ADA today and they said that they still didn’t know when/if they would need me tomorrow. Whee! So I may or may not get to testify tomorrow. Will keep you posted.
No court for me again… »« I got books
First a “You know your a geek when….” from Friday. While walking home from work I saw half a coconut laying on the sidewalk. My first thought was I wonder if it was carried here by swallows and had this play out in my mind:
Guard: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut’s tropical!
Arthur: What do you mean?
Guard: This is a temperate zone!
Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house marten or the plummer may seek warmer climes in winter, but these are not strangers to our land!
Guard: Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?
Arthur: Not at all! They could be carried.
Guard: (incredulous) What, a swallow, carrying a coconut?
Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
Guard: It’s not a question of where ‘e grips it! It’s a simple question of
weight ratios! A five-ounce bird could *not* carry a one-pound
coconut!
Yes, it’s a lost cause I am a geek and there really is no hope. Run now….run quickly away and save your selves while there still is time.
On a totally un-related note today I made a trip to the book store in the city to use my Christmas gift cards….plus I really had nothing else to do today. The trip was a productive one though, I got a half priced calendar (its Dilbert but they didn’t have many desk calendar choices left by this point, so it was Dilbert or Quilting. So I stand by my choice. I also found two books to buy. The first is “Strange Wine” by Harlan Ellison. A collection of some of his shorter works that I’ve never read. His introductions to the stories are almost as good as the stories them selves some times, he is his typical snarky self so its good times. The other one I picked up was “This is the way the world ends” by James Morrow. Its described on the back of the book as “James Morrow’s mordantly comic vision of the apocalypse is the Alice in Wonderland of the arms race.” Sounds like good times eh? So the book store trip was a success, plus I got my self a peanut butter chocolate layer cake brownie thing from the cafe for lunch which made it all the better.
boring week… »« Slow…
Yah I know my posting has slowed a bit. It’s just a slow time of year I guess. This past week at work was slow, only got a few small cases each day, except for today that is. Got a few pain in the neck ones, and a good sized one to top it off. What was really annoying is I have a good deal of work left on the big one and for one the person who goes around to do case assignment didn’t talk to me and I guess probably just assumed I would be good for five Monday. His mistake. So it could be interesting when I tell them that no I can’t take five cases. Hehe. The other annoying thing is that the 7 and 8 am people got overtime offered to them, they could stay to 6. That leaves us 6pm people kinda screwed out of OT and we were told that there was nothing for us Monday so we can’t even come in early then to do pre-OT. Bah! Just as long as no one pesters us about why stuff isn’t done Monday
We will all have good reasons I guess.
I got books »« I have no words
I just don’t know what to say about this…
Britney Spears is reportedly set to quit pop music – to become a forensic scientist.
The sexy star has allegedly told friends she is considering swapping her singing career for student life and enrolling at university to study for a degree after being motivated by a TV series.
Now I know that neither the site I found this on, FemaleFirst.co.uk, nor the alleged source “Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper” are exactly the most reputable of sources. But either way its a horrorifying/disturbing story.
First lets say its a outright made up, Akin to Lock Ness Monster and Bigfoot To Wed. sort of thing. If that’s the case, Forensic Science has so entered the pop culture (thanks to CSI mostly), that it’s now fodder for celebrity gossip involving none other then Britney Spears of all people. I mean 10 years ago no one knew what Forensic Science was, and now its Britney Spears: Crime Scene Investigator? WTF?!?
The second option, that some how it is a true story and Britney Spears really wants to be a CSI…..well its way too far fetched to even be remotely true, and any attempt at serious thought on the matter makes my brain hurt.
On a more serious forensic science note it was back to work Monday after a nice three day weekend. It’s been quiet so far this week. I’ve had light case load, which is to be expected for this time of year, or so I am told. I did get two more court notifications today for later this month. They are the same case so it’s a matter of not knowing which day (if any) they will need me. This is also the case that has been re-scheduled twice (and the one that almost messed up my vacation). At this point I am more eager to get it over with and testify then I am nervous about actually testifying. Speaking of vacation apparently when I was out for those 4 days I missed a meeting about us new people going on once a month rotations to get extra training in GC/MS. Would of been nice to find out about it when I got back from vacation, instead of a day before but in the end it doesn’t really change anything and tomorrow I get to learn all about the wonderfully world of instrument tunes and check mixes and all sorts of other fun stuff. Whee!
Slow… »« New Years Day…or something like that.
Well it’s 2005. Whee! or something like that I guess. I didn’t do much of anything for New Years this year but I don’t really care either. Me and my Family Guy DVD’s had a perfectly good evening thank you very much. Today I really didn’t do much either. Got most of my laundry and shopping stuff done Thursday and Friday (No work Friday, woo hoo!) so I got to be a slug today. My parents did stop by on their way home, were at some hippie concert in NY for NYE, and came by to take me out to brunch at the little Glendale diner around the corner. So that was cool. I am also glad I don’t have to go in tomorrow to work. The one “perk” I guess of working Christmas eve is that I don’t have to work this Sunday.
W00T! Another day of laziness. I am starting this new year right!
I have no words »« New Years Superstitions
