Local commuter train. When checking tickets, conductors take your ticket and instead pin a slip of paper with your exit station marked on it.

One or two stops before your exit, they'll take that slip back. Which means they won't come back before your stop.

If you didn't manage to buy a ticket at the station, you can pay the conductor. +5$ for the conductor's service. You only don't need to pay this extra fee if it was impossible to buy a ticket at the boarding station.

You can buy a bag of ice at the store (!)

Here's what the sandwich looks like.

I stumbled upon a really unusual eatery by chance.

When you walk in, you grab a ticket—make sure not to lose it. Then you head to the counter to order food. There are specially trained people there who prepare everything right away. The menu has all kinds of sandwiches, so you don't have to wait long. Once everything's ready, they write the cost on a piece of paper and you can go eat.

The sandwiches here are absolutely massive. The amount of meat is insane. I couldn't finish my portion. But it tastes great. And the prices are reasonable. Plus it's got tons of atmosphere. That's honestly a pretty rare combination.

Then you need the ticket when you leave. That's how they charge you.

The place basically operates like fast food, but tips are still expected. Standard 18-20%. I'll write about tipping separately sometime.

It's turning out pretty well, don't you think? A bit unrealistic (I figured it's because the work is still in progress), but it looks great.

Going to the nearest local movie theater wasn't appealing. So I headed to Brooklyn instead. Got a quick glimpse of the place while I was at it. The theater building itself is awesome. Been standing since 1908.

A movie ticket costs $15 (give or take the standard price). But that's just to get in. After that, it's first come, first served seating. If the showing's popular, there definitely won't be enough good seats for everyone.

I watched Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." My impressions kept shifting while watching—from "what am I even doing here" to "actually, this is really well done." But it didn't quite hit that "amazing, absolutely amazing" level. The soundtrack though? Perfectly curated, as always.

And before you watch, you really should read up on what actually happened back then (check out here). Without that background, you'll be completely lost watching the screen. But here in the States, this story is pretty well-known—people don't have questions about it. And it's not a spoiler at all, just getting some context.

At busy intersections in the city center (typically where traffic flows both ways on both roads), traffic lights can't handle the flow during rush hour. That's why we absolutely need to station a live traffic controller. They'll sort everything out. All they do is stop the traffic flow a bit before the traffic light.

In my opinion, drivers could probably handle it just fine on their own (:

AMC series ad looks funny. City of angry buses :)

Last night there was a light drizzle. As soon as it started raining, umbrella sellers instantly appeared out of nowhere. There was no sign of rain at all. But then boom, and suddenly you could buy a brand new umbrella on every corner.

These guys were actively promoting them. But the rain was pretty weak and nobody wanted to part with their money.

People here are so laid-back about lunch that they often just grab street food and eat right there on the nearest ledge by the stall. It's smaller scale in winter, but in summer it's like this all the time. You can see the same kind of hangouts in the evening too, but during lunch hour it's just something else.

Fun fact: the capital of New York State has never actually been New York, but rather... the glorious city of Albany :)

Along the same lines, I think of my colleagues' nicknames (I changed the names a bit, but you get the idea): everyone calls Muhammad Ahsan by the name Samir (don't ask why), and Ken Li is actually named Li Xu (at least there's some overlap there).

Stumbled upon a nuclear war fallout shelter! During the Cold War, the US took things seriously and actively built shelters in the 1960s to prepare for a Soviet attack. In New York alone, they planned to build enough shelters to accommodate over 11 million people (!). Looks like they didn't manage to build them all, but there are still thousands scattered throughout the city. And get this—until the mid-1970s, they actually maintained fresh food supplies in the already-built shelters. Then times changed, but the bunkers stayed put.

Can't say I spot them everywhere. I mean, I've only come across a couple. But apparently, nowadays a lot of them have just had their markings removed.

About 20 years ago, practically every hotel in the USA had a Bible in the room. Somewhere in the nightstand next to the bed. The Gideons Christian association has been distributing books since 1899. For free. But lately, hotels have been starting to refuse this practice. Already more than 20% of US hotels check guests into rooms without Bibles.

This time I was especially lucky though: as a bonus to the Bible, they put the Book of Mormon (:‌

The metro trains are playing text announcements saying that begging is illegal (!) and if you really want to donate money, it's better to give it to a charity fund—that way you won't break the law and the money will be spent more wisely.

Plus, it's absolutely freezing in the metro cars. The air conditioning is working overtime. Except they only have it on the trains. At the stations, it's the opposite: unbearably hot and stuffy. You'd think you need fans just to survive. Even at night. And there are always plenty of homeless people around.

New York is behind us in time, sure, but only by like 7 hours (8 in winter). But this ad went stale like 3 weeks ago. Or maybe I'm missing something (:

ta-da :)

p.s. something lately they're turning on the "boarding ending" status right at the very beginning of boarding. why do that?

TIL: Back in the 1900s, the U.S. federal government banned growing black currants (!), because they believed that as a carrier of rust fungi, it could potentially cause serious damage to forestry (aka logging).

In 1966, the ban stopped being federal, and each state got the ability to decide the ban question independently. But nobody even thought to lift it.

For example, in New York, after years of effort by farmers, the ban was only lifted in 2003. However, in many states, growing black currants is still prohibited.