Beta Railfan

Yes, by all standards, it’s safe to say that this may be of the greatest Stadtbahn/light rail systems of the world, and potentially the largest. With nearly 11 lines and 222 stations and nearly 507K riders per day, it has nearly twice the ridership of Boston’s Green Line and nearly the same ridership as the entire MBTA network, and it also delivers relatively penetrative levels of coverage to the city of Cologne. One could argue that it’s a 1960s advancement of an idea that we in the United States pioneered at the turn of the 20th century, but allowed to languish until MUNI’s decision to run their streetcars into the Market Street Tunnel in the 1970s.

The network itself is a mix of pure street running to segregated street ROW to private ROW that can pass into some rather lightly populated areas with trackage that is shared with local freight lines. The lines themselves are divided into a low floor and high floor network that is a legacy of the old streetcar oriented focus of the lines in which some lines were upgraded with high floors and other lines simply weren’t. The high floor network sees Stadtbahnwagen B and K5000 stock while the low floor network sees K4000 and K4500 stock, and both types of stock tend to run in two car formations. Maximum speed, IIRC, is 80 km/h (50 mph) which is typical of many European systems, but the rolling stock has great acceleration.

From a railfan perspective, Koeln can end up poisoning an American railfan. While we have numerous light rail systems in the United States, none can truly compare with the experience of the Cologne network. High frequency service on certain trunk lines approaching 30 tph, numerous lines with high urban densities, and a mix of ROW styles creates a very interesting and fun to ride network, along with a usable product for the people of the Rhine-Sieg region. Even Portland, the poster child for American light rail systems falls a little flat in comparison. Mind you, I’d argue that Frankfurt’s approach to the Stadtbahn concept is probably what influenced American design more so that Cologne.

As for the city itself, it’s a nice, relatively compact and tourist friendly city. It’s larger and a lot livelier than Frankfurt, but I’d imagine that New Yorks may find the city to be relatively “cute” and small. It’s definitely worth spending a few nights here not just for the sake of riding the Stadtbahn, but for exposure to one of German’s regional and Europe’s media and trading hubs.

There’s a part of me after reading that comment that makes me feel very depressed. Somebody who was just a mere race racist will soon descend into the depths of real racism, and soon develop hate and contempt for black people. Some will say that those people are beyond the pale, and that there isn’t much that we can do with somebody with those viewpoints to begin with, but there’s a part of me that feels that it’s possible to stop people from back sliding into what some would call racist viewpoints. Yet, my job is admittedly made difficult by the presence of those people who decide that a life of crime is the best way to live, and their crypto-allies who back their causes implicitly or under the weird prism of some radical social construction fueled by the mental equivalent of lard.

After some time at the HBD community, I had dropped my premise that the best way to save black people was for all of us to act white. It made little sense after realizing that it didn’t magically make blacks smarter, so it was effectively useless in building the community. In retrospect, I was wrong, and given the slow spread of these stories and YouTube videos, the best solution that we’re going to have as a community is to shame those who misbehave, save those who can be saved, and maybe admit that long stays in prison may be best for those of us who do drag us down and prevent the greater black population from being isolated from the rest of the nation. Of course, I’d imagine that there are some who’d argue that I’m just tool, and admittedly, I’m a bit of a rent seeking whore that wants my white friends, white wife, mixed race children, and home in a white neighbourhood, so one can forgive me for my pro-white bias. Regardless, the pro-black, half-assed escape from responsibility message hasn’t worked for nearly two generations, and quite frankly we can’t excuse the behaviour of our worst members of the community for the sake of racial pride or togetherness. Given that we can’t exactly take the law into our own hands, I suspect the best most of us can do is to raise our children, shame the younger kids before the go play with guns, drugs, and other bad influences, and try and guide our young men and women into something better. Otherwise, we may find ourselves without the sympathies of our liberal white population, and back to square one facing the metaphorical bad end of a bayonet.

Over at Alte’s place, I made the following comment in regards to what I’ve learned from her site:

As I’ve noted before, while it’s a positive to see that these religious women enjoy sex and have avoided some of the questionable tendencies of other women, the disillusionment comes when one discovers that they too need alpha males in order to induce their sexual activity. There are no real beta loving women out there and that being religious doesn’t magically make a woman love betas. For all intents and purposes, they’re just less sexually active versions of the other women out there.

Coincidentally, later on today, I stumbled upon Dalrock’s entry about how the concept of marrying a friend doesn’t work. He also notes the problem of women marrying for status, then dumping the men once they become repulsed by them. As once can hint from the comments above, I was one of those guys that was labouring under the idea that a relationship based on friendship would work. The idea was buffeted by what some would call media indoctrination, but from a romantic perspective, who couldn’t be against the idea of marrying your best friend and raising children together? To somebody that doesn’t know any better, it certainly sounds like a recipe to fight against divorce, but in retrospect, a lot of failed marriages seem to have operated under this theory. The ultimate problem is that eventually she may find somebody that’s she’s really attracted to later on, and that’s when she’ll begin to cheat on you.

As some have noted, due to “laws of hypergamy”, women are only attracted to men that are above them, and that for a good marriage to work, the woman has to be head over heels in love with the male. Of course, we’re left with a quirk where most women are incapable of ever really being that attracted to males. My overall problem with the PUA/MRA sphere is that it exposed me to the idea that women are only attracted to alpha males, but the downside is that traditionalist women like Alte and other religious women like Haley seem to be on the alpha bandwagon as well. But in conclusion with Dalrock’s entry, you’re left wondering about where a beta male can go if he’s incapable of making a woman fall head over heels in love him. Game can only do so much, and eventually, it’s not sustainable as even Alte had to redirect her marriage to keep it from dying, so one seems to be left with the conclusion that a lot of people are simply going to be lonely. Too many men are unattractive for most women to have anything resembling a satisfying marriage with little chance for divorce. Even if we go back to shaming women that divorce men or implicitly forcing women to marry by restricting their options, we’re still stuck with the depressing fact about women which just makes any entanglement with women to be a highly questionable affair for most men. Either be an alpha with all the women, or be a beta that lucks out with female company in the form of some platonic friends, otherwise, hope that she doesn’t act like a total bitch during the divorce.

For my few readers, I’d note that I’m alive and well, but I’m admittedly suffering from a creativity drought, and I can’t really think of anything that’s remotely interesting to discuss. I just can’t think of anything right now worth posting, and I’m a bit too tired to force myself to write something.

1) If your girlfriend or wife is fawning over the “royal wedding”, unless you’re an alpha, there’s a 200% chance that she will cheat on you with an alpha. There’s nothing like watching a late twenty-something woman in a somewhat “timeless” wedding dress marry somebody who may end up being one of the most known members of royalty in the world. Quite frankly, there’s no way that any beta can compete with that, and the jealously that will ensue will certainly force unrealistic desires for a man that’s better than you and capable of paying for a wedding that’s closer in scope to a royal wedding.

2) If your girlfriend or wife watches the Bold and Beautiful, there’s a 1000% chance that she on you rampantly with an alpha. The main female character on that show, Brooke Logan, reeks of all the values that feed the hamster. A woman that has slept with nearly three generations of men playing the foil to a father, three half-brothers, and now younger male, she fuels the fantasy of easy divorces with love floating away from one partner to the next along with half-assed platitudes about soul mates while she cheats on her husband du jour. Most of the other female characters don’t have any other real redeeming qualities, but quite frankly, she’s the worst and she sums up the carousel riding eventual cougar woman that the PUAsphere cringes about. I’m admittedly wondering how many silly women have decided to copy her quest for tingles in their own respective marriages, but without the benefit of writers to keep her comfortable in the arms of a new lover.

Judging by the “thanks ignorant sluts” reference* in the bumper during tonight’s re-run of Family Guy, one may argue that MRAism is slowly creeping into the mainstream media. It’s one thing to see such a reference on a blog or forum dealing with MRA/PUA types, but on an established network like Cartoon Network? Given that time slot (11 PM ET) and the content featured on Adult Swim which caters to teen and young adult males, some of which may fit the “Guyland” profile, it may make some sense to pander to something that’s relatively common in their world, dating difficulties. If you’re watching Family Guy re-runs or Robot Chicken, it’s likely that you’re watching said sluts on campus or at work go crazy for alpha males while you sit dateless or stuck with the attention of the ugly fat girl or her ugly and skinny cousin if you’re lucky.

Admittedly, it remains to be seen if the rest of the media picks up on it or if the feminist blogs will notice it, but it’s certainly a sign of something brewing in the culture. Some of the MRA goons were right, and there are some unhappy men who feel that they’ve lost out on something. It remains to be seen if we can establish a system where everybody is content, or if we’re forced to keep things biased toward one sex for some degree of stability.

*For those who are wondering, Snooki of Jersey Shore fame was given nearly $32,000 to appear at Rutgers University in New Jersey for what amounted to be a two hour long question and answer session. The comparison that Adult Swim made was to accomplished author, Toni Morrison, who will merely collect $30000 for a commencement address. I suspect that a number of New Jersey taxpayers and Rutgers students will want to know why so much money was spent for either woman. In this case though, Adult Swim’s writers were poking fun at the situation and noting that the reality TV star is earning more than the accomplished author.

I’ll make this into a short, quick passing post.

Admittedly, it’s hard to see people that one was close to, but not be able to speak to them on a daily basis. It also eats away when one’s pariah status is self-induced by questionable actions, and the pain is exacerbated by a lack of alternatives. They may not have been sexual partners or even romantic interests, but there was a certain degree of emotional intimacy that was present, and I miss that. Admittedly, that is one of the issues of dealing with female friends. With men, the friendships are superficial, but female friendships tend to be deeper in terms of emotions. We share everything about our lives, and one can end up learning details which is very appealing in terms of friendship, although some PUAs will disagree with me. Yet, once you’re pulled out of that world, one can become very disoriented. The isolation at first hurts and if one avoids bitterness, depression will eventually set in. Not only has one lost a good friend, one will never know if one will find another.

No more jokes, no more stories, no more attention. Just weird looks and awkwardness. Sadly, while spring is slowly beginning to blossom, a perpetually long winter is slowly setting in.

This batch of photos is from Düsseldorf, a city roughly 35 kilometers north of Cologne, and roughly 20 minutes away by train. Unlike Berlin’s grand modern main station or Cologne’s Belle Epoque era station, Düsseldorf in contrast has what amounts to being an unremarkable 1930s early Modernist design which admittedly reflects the quiet, and subdued nature of the city. If you’re a fan of large classic train stations, you’ll hate it, but as a station, it’s simple, has a decent layout and works.

As for the trains, one will note the appearance of the Stadler FLIRT* (Class 428/429) in some of the photos above. While there’s a contingent of railfans in the United States who would dismiss such a train, I’d argue that it was probably one of the best rides on a train ever for me. Near rapid transit acceleration rates, 100 mph maximum speed operation, smooth and noise free ride, and relatively comfortable seats. If one was inclined, one could make the argument that it’s probably the best regional railway trainset in the world and blows away the POS that runs here. Also, I hope you’ll note two other special pieces of equipment, the Class 101 which is predecessor of the Bombardier TRAXX locomotives running across Europe and it’s American derivative, the ALP-46/A, and the Siemens Eurosprinter “Taurus” locomotive which is theoretically going to be the ancestor of Amtrak’s upcoming electric locomotive.

*Yes, the same firm that made the GTW 2/6 units in use on the RiverLINE.

I figured out what I did wrong.
I called her friend a whore.

“Yeah, it’s a white people thing.”

Those five words to describe the act of a young, married Irish-German girl eating a sandwich with chips in it have caused what was once a budding friendship with a great co-worker to implode on itself. Coincidentally, at the same time, I’ve Athena go from supportive friend who laughed at all of my silly remarks into a de facto bitch that becomes upset with anything that I say. I’m still wondering about how quickly I ended up sliding down into the abyss, but it certainly reflects the notion that once a woman loses respect for you, everything is out the door. Eventually, you do become the enemy of the state, and it does seem that nothing can work at rehabilitating your image. No begging, pleading, or explaining can remove the stench that comes with a fall from grace. Once you do realize what’s happened and one can figure out what induced the failure, the best thing to do is to move on, not be bitter, and find new women who hopefully won’t be contaminated.

Mind you, in my case, it’s devastating emotionally to lose two friends so quickly, one that made work tolerable, and another that was close to me emotionally. A lot of people may say that men and women cannot be friends, but I’ve found talking to these women to be satisfying to me. I never had much to really talk to them about as trains and roads tend to bore women, but I used to perform rather decently giving feedback from when they talked about their lives. It’s a dynamic that doesn’t exist in my male friendships, and to a certain extent, it allows for a deeper and more emotional bond as one slowly becomes involved with the details of their lives. So eventually you learn her dark secrets, her first love, and the hidden emotional and physical scar, and eventually, you feel safe enough to reveal your dark areas. In some cases, it’s superficial, but other times, you’re sitting in a hospital room holding hands comforting her, or she’s calling you to make sure that you made it safely in a strange and foreign land.

Ultimately, I do know that everything can never last forever, but I presumed that I had a little bit more time, especially with Athena to do more things with her. Sadly, I don’t think those trips to the museum or outlet center will ever materialize, but instead just more feelings of solitude and loneliness. It was nice to have her around to break the inertia of my life and drag me out of my comfort zone every so often. Admittedly, some of the initial despair that set in once I realized what was happening hasn’t left, but who isn’t going to be depressed when they’re finding out that they’re going to be lonely for what may be the rest of his or her life. Betting on having some women around to keep me entertained without commitment and sex may sadly become as foolish as the concept that housing prices can only go up.

FWIW, from a racial perspective, I can see why the first girl became upset. Admittedly, while the joke seems innocent at first, in the reverse situation, I could see why somebody could easily claim racism if somebody said “it’s a black thing”, especially if taken out of context with other people who aren’t familiar with each other. So what was a poor choice of words has easily blown up a friendship, and left severe emotional repercussions. Sadly, I don’t think things may become better in this aspect of my life as it does become increasingly hard to find and maintain friends as one ages and others pair off for the long-term. Of course, I could be wrong as four years ago, my Wellesley Queen had labeled me as a loser that she couldn’t be bothered to deal with, and nearly a year later, Athena had walked into my life…