穿梭时空

Taking transit is part of the survival skills for a (childhood) resident in a metropolitan area.

The surface buses had a major improvement in stop drive-in. In Toronto usually one street is served by only one route and it’s totally rare to see two buses docking in the same stop at the same time. But here it is just so common to see at least 2 to 3 buses approaching the same stop in the slightest busy streets. Herds of people taking off, getting on and transferring used to be completely chaotic. Somewhere in my absence apparently a new mark up system was introduced for drivers to park at positions assigned for the specific route (some ahead, some back) at each stop, so the stop can instantaneously accommodate more vehicles. Designated waiting areas were also painted on the street and the passengers were required to board from only one door (the front or the middle) and leave from the other (or the other two), depending on the type of the vehicle. Automated fare collection is available and actually >90% of the passengers would used the transit IC card. Currently a $1 cash fare would actually cost only 40 cents if an IC card were used instead, although it’s unclear if this is a short-term promotion for the new IC card system or a long-term policy to encourage use of public transit. Bus attendants are still available in most heavy routes. Vehicles in service vary greatly in design. There was an insane amount of effort and public discomfort when the new systems in boarding order and fare collection were first introduced, but now apparently it’s starting to pay off.

The subway lines are now completely color and number coded. Stations are incredibly bilingual despite general problems in style (mostly Chinese-British, but comprehensible). The newest trains are air-conditioned, fully equipped with electronic stop announcement system, on board TV, with fully joined compartments (accessible from front to rear). Old trains with married cars and fan ventilation were also in sight. After the train parks it takes a few seconds before the door opens and I’d imagine more efficiency by getting rid of this wait. The trains are all domestic manufacture and maybe we should steal some technology from Bombardier later.

Instead of the just-climb-upstairs-transfer, in most transfer stations a detour in the length of 3 times of the Spadina passage way would be mandatory. In the newest transfer stations an automated walkway (those in the airport) was introduced to partly alleviate this inconvenience. No escalator was seen in station entrances, which precludes the station from being accessible, and we could certainly be reminded/suggested/blamed/attacked on this issue in the upcoming paralympics. The station closest to my home is air conditioned at the ground level. But the upper train level then receives all the hot air and direct sunlight during daytime, and is thus still baking hot as it was a few years ago. I always regard this as a design flaw and it doesn’t seem be possibly addressed soon.

The sentiment can be no better felt if you have been part of what it was 10 years ago.

再怎么挥手也终要有分别的一刻，微笑着闪开视线让彼此交错。

走在每天下班的那条路上，雪仍然是堆得一人半高，滤过云层的太阳留下恰好下午5点的那份明亮，空气湿润而清新，伴着摘掉帽子围巾之后的凉爽，过夜冻上的冰面化得只剩下薄薄一层，蜿蜒而有致得汩汩流下，虽然到了最低处又是一脚踩进一片汪洋的小湖泊，但前面就是平整的大道，麻雀们列在树枝上齐唱着，这一刻最美好的景色。

We had a great time, but move on, we're done now.

总结一下，公司做事技术角度上的几个发现：

1) Totally no quality control. 完全没有质量控制。例：拿酰氯和胺做个酰胺化反应，二氯甲烷直接从瓶里倒，完全不干燥，过了夜板子上从上到下六个点，莫名其妙析出来的固体一抽就是产物，奇迹发生，50%产率完事。

2) Procedure is the god. 在经理的脑子里面，纸上怎么写的，就怎么一定原模原样的能给做出来，100%产率的一定就是100%产率（再参见第一条…文献的QC和公司的QC不一样的哎好不好），1%的产率就一定能每次都抠哧出来那1%。照着文献步骤把料一混，坐等奇迹发生，每次还都得一定会这样。

3) Attitudes. 把1和2加在一起，不经常出问题才怪。然后每个人看问题角度眼光重点都不一样，于是各种馊主意轮番上阵，其中能pinpoint problem的百年一遇，试验顺序不按照合理性/可能性/分析效率进行，而是根据出主意的人的地位等级高低来排。

How do you make a disaster? Just add them together.

然后做不来谁的问题? 当然不能怪经理吧。然后谁能保证自己操作/记录各种方面全都无懈可击呢，挑出一个小破刺儿（老狼：让你丫不戴帽子）来这就变成是你自己的问题了呗。于是Everything I do eventually will go wrong.

最后PhD们好像还有跟经理去讨论问题的地位…虽然本钱我未必没有。然后就变成要听先辈的做东撞西。另外，经理一人管40多号人，哪儿来的时间精力脑子仔细琢磨什么细节问题?

还有么? 好像暂时先这些。

公司里有些人做的顺风顺水，或者就算不顺也能事儿做的稳稳当当，不过这事儿好像我干不了哎。I don't seem to have the magic.
所以么，咱不耗了，撤。