Watching The Price is Right. The guy flipped a card which shows they can win $5000 if they stop and walk away. They can keep flipping cards for the chance to win a car but they also might lose everything. I would obviously walk away with the $5k. 😁

A great thing about living in a place with good transit is everyone in the household can commute independently. My family can leave the house together but split up because my wife wants to go to J Crew, my kids want to go to Chinatown, and I want to get coffee. And we all get home on our own.

We should more deeply scrutinize “data” and associated commentary, especially when there’s no support for it with links to raw and intermediary data sources, sql queries and code, etc. Even without ill intent, there’s way too much room for misinterpretation, mistakes, etc.

BBC knows I’m shopping around for news subscriptions. $90/yr regular price for BBC News. 🤔🤔🤔 Won’t have much Philly news of course but it’s not a terrible idea to get your world news from a non-American perspective.

I've given $500/year to @whyy.org for the past 6 years because I value their radio and tv programming along with @billy-penn.bsky.social. I just signed up for their daily newsletter. I guess I'll try to rely on them for local news.

I just cancelled my subscription to the @inquirer.com. I spoke to a customer service rep last month who insisted my $14/mo rate would never change. But I just noticed my subscription was changed to the normal rate. I called and they offered me a variety of time-limited promos, but I said no.

Just watched the latest episode of Drops of God tonight and I had to get some Georgian wine. Fortunately the local liquor store had a couple of bottles so I got one. The wife wants to go to Jet Wine Bar this weekend to try some more. 😁

I really liked the special exhibitions at the art museum under Suda's leadership, which are mentioned in the article. We'll see how this year goes and I might not renew my membership. If you're looking for an alternative art museum to support, I've always been a huge fan of PAFA.

former poet laureate of Northfield, MN

I have a coworker who said he’s moving from Idaho to “East Philadelphia / West Jersey”. There are lots of ways you can describe Camden County but somehow he picked the two that no local would ever use and would get a lot of WTF reactions. 😁

There are very few shows I’ve come across that people have a deep emotional response to the way that Station Eleven does. And even though it’s not a popular show, you can find others who feel the same way about it on the Station Eleven subreddit. www.reddit.com/r/StationEle...

Just finished reading Fledgling by Octavia Butler. It’s one of her lesser known books but it’s one of my favorites now. She’s such an amazing story teller—all of her books should be turned into a series or movie. And this one will be. Looking forward to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fledgli...

It’s easy to complain about the city’s response to the snowstorm and sure, they could’ve done things better. But I heard workers out late last night (~11pm!) and this morning, I noticed the snow piles at the intersection were no longer there. 🙌🏼

I don't know how parents start to think about the college process. Especially if your kid doesn't need to stay close to home. I have 50 schools on the list so far. And that's excluding schools that cost $50k+/yr. Need to whittle that down in the next year.

I usually use Google Maps but I noticed that Apple Maps shows high frequency bus lines! Pretty cool. 🚍 Google Maps only shows rail, subway, and trolley lines.

A lot of public school “advocacy” groups are opposing the new facilities plan. Anyone know of common-sense public schools advocacy groups coming out in support of the plan?

It’s annoying waking up to people arguing in the street and honking because someone’s unhappy that the driver in front of them temporarily parked their car on a one way street to get their kids. Especially with this snow, have some patience for one another.

Seems like Broad Street Line ridership is higher than normal this week. Maybe people are realizing they don’t need their cars after all. 😁

“If you are closing schools during a literacy crisis, then you should be held directly accountable to the people you serve,” [Councilmember Jeffrey] Young said last week. 🤡

I know Philly Streets Department has been going viral for the wrong reasons since the snow. But they plowed my narrow South Philly street at 1:30am while temps were in single digits. I really appreciate the workers out there in these brutal conditions.

City workers are out clearing snow for the pedestrian curb cuts! 🙌🏼 Perhaps taking longer than ideal but I’m honestly impressed it’s being done! I had low expectations…

My garbage got picked up only one day late which is what the city communicated earlier this week. Setting clear expectations, meeting expectations. I consider that a win! I was bracing for not having my trash picked up until next week!

There’s a misconception that you can’t rely on public systems and people when there are events like snowstorms. People fall into an individualist survival mindset and think they need to stockpile resources, have their own car, etc. But communities are more resilient than we give them credit for.

Both my kids are off to school and their commute is mostly fine thanks to @septaphilly.bsky.social! 🙌🏼 Much better than having to dig a car out of the snow and worry about finding parking! #carfree

I guess I was wrong. Apparently the kids are going back to school tomorrow.

Just went out with my wired earbuds instead of my dying Airpods. The wires are kinda annoying, but they sound great and if you have tips with the right seal, the noise isolation is almost as good as having active noise cancellation.

They should just declare virtual schooling for the whole week to help parents plan. The road conditions are not going to get any better in the next few days.

This is one of the first snowstorms where I’ve felt safer as a pedestrian than a driver. Usually roads are in better shape than sidewalks because the city handles that. But my neighbors in Passyunk Square have been on top of shoveling their sidewalks! 🙌🏼

Apparently another virtual school day in Philly tomorrow. 😢

It’s funny/sad seeing people trying to get their car in and out of parking spots in the snow. A great reason to not be car-dependent!

Love to see WNR featured in Dan Powers' roundup of his epic bike goals for 2025. Dan's ride was a highlight of the year. LOL at "WNR is managed extremely professionally," tho 😂 Shout out to our 100% volunteer crew who makes these rides happen! www.thetrellisphilly.com/2025-ride-go...

It's sad that we generate so much e-waste from products that have a non-replaceable battery. The battery life on my 1st gen AirPods Pros is noticeably deteriorating after 4.5 years, which is not bad, but I also have wired headphones that are 10 years old and I expect to use for another 10 years.

It’s great not owning a car when there are snowstorms. No need to shovel out your car, wonder how you’re getting to work, etc.

Philly school selection website

Today is school selection results day in Philly. May the odds be ever in your favor.

This looks like a solid plan. The status quo isn’t viable. Glad to see the relatively new superintendent set ambitious goals for Philly public schools.

The job market in Philly sucks but fortunately it’s just a 1.5 hour Amtrak ride to jobs in NYC. Perfect if you rarely need to go to the office. I don’t think I can do a Philly to NYC commute multiple times a week but 1-2x/month is not bad.

As soon as I turned 45, I started having trouble seeing things at close distance. This really sucks if you’re already near-sighted because you have to now correct for multiple distances. Just had an eye exam and got trials for multi-focal contact lenses. It’s really cool how they work!

Inquirer pricing is confusing. I was on the 6 months for $1 promo for a while. 2 weeks before that was supposed to go to the regular rate of $22/mo, I called to cancel. They offered $14/mo to stay; I asked if that was another time-bound promo rate and they said it was "permanent" so I said sure...

No ride on tomorrow, Wednesday Jan. 21. Due to icy conditions, our ride this week is canceled. It will be rescheduled for another future Wednesday (on our regular schedule, exact date TBD). Our next ride will be Wed Feb 4, if the weather gods oblige! Stay warm, friends!

Not being my kids’ chauffeur is one of the best parts of raising kids in a city with decent public transit! My 13 and 15 year olds go to+from school, meet up with friends on the weekend, etc. on their own thanks to @septaphilly.bsky.social.

My church hosted this meetup. I’ve said before that I think my church has the most urbanist cred in Philly. Come worship at the church of urbanism where we believe in a God who loves cities. 😁

Should I buy Super Duolingo? I took a French class in person last year and I was so impressed with one of my classmates who learned a lot just through Duolingo.

I don't know why anyone in Philly bothers with Comcast. Verizon FIOS is pretty amazing.

It's scary how many people have an unhealthy relationship with ChatGPT. I know people who literally talk about their conversations with ChatGPT as if it was a real person. What we need are real friends. Sadly, people would rather talk with ChatGPT bc it won't ever offend us.

My church’s Sunday service has a time for “Prayers of the People” where anyone can pray out loud. We have liberals and conservatives attend our church but on average, it’s pretty centrist, so people generally know not to get political during that time. But today’s PotP was pretty spicy.

Reminder that Jacksonville is not a real city. Go into Apple Maps, turn on 3D view, and take a look at Jacksonville, especially “downtown”. Makes you wonder how they have an NFL team.

Karen took this nice photo of the group gathering at the start (a.k.a. Wawa #1). I found it pretty inspiring that about 100 people showed up to ride bikes past Wawas and remember Andrea

Just added the Build More Housing! sticker to my laptop. Thanks @5thsqadvocacy.org! You can get one by becoming a member! www.5thsqadvocacy.org/membership

This is Avis’ version of Spotify Wrapped. 😁 My family of 4 is car-free but we occasionally rent a car to run errands, go on road trips, etc. My *annual* car expense of $1,425 (includes insurance) is less than what some households pay per month for automobile usage.