A Thread About Absolutely Nothing! Part III

Reba said:
How many people at AD are in Chicago using Amtrak and Metra?
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As far as I know, only me. I haven't met any others who used Metra, with the exception of Angel1989's trip on the Northwest line last October. Other than that, nothing.... yet.
 
It is not just what Chicago posts but, like the post I quoted from another forum, it is ALL OVER with people assuming that their shorthand way of saying things is understood by all.
 
LoveBlue said:
Same here, though I've been there a lot more recently than you.

It doesn't bother me because I don't usually need to know the details and if I did, I would just look up the info online. If not found, then I'd ask the poster (perhaps even by PM).
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Mostly I just ignore all those posts that reference places or transportation modes that I have no connection to.
 
I am siding with those who hate abbreviations which CAN cause confusion.

I know for the fact that CUS as Chicago Union Station as it is fairly easy for me to figure out because it is Amtrak's home hub, in other word it is like Amtrak's headquarter.

When I used to work for calling center as Technical support, it CAN be confusing when one uses abbreviations because often I see one abbreviations can mean several things, depending on location. I had to work harder to figure out, why can't they just spell it out so I don't have to take another aspirin? Often it is perfect recipe for misunderstanding. That is, after that point I quit using abbreviations with VRS operators, and terps as well.. as I realize not all locations are on same page with abbreviations..

So be careful with abbreviations, don't overuse them.
 
ChicagoBlue2 said:
As far as I know, only me. I haven't met any others who used Metra, with the exception of Angel1989's trip on the Northwest line last October. Other than that, nothing.... yet.
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That was Jane's point. Don't abbreviate if nobody else here knows what it is.
 
Jane B. said:
It is not just what Chicago posts but, like the post I quoted from another forum, it is ALL OVER with people assuming that their shorthand way of saying things is understood by all.
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Some acronyms are well-known by the general public, such as FBI, IRS, ASAP, BTW. Some are obvious by context, such as cars: GM, BMW, states: SC, CT; historical figures: JFK, FDR; technology: HP, PC, OS, CGI. If it's an uncommon acronym or very specific jargon, then it should be spelled out in the first reference. Otherwise, if someone doesn't know what something means, we can either ask or look it up. That way, we learn more acronyms for future use.

I'm not going to spell out the United States of America every time I can use USA. :giggle:
 
Jane B. said:
It is not just what Chicago posts but, like the post I quoted from another forum, it is ALL OVER with people assuming that their shorthand way of saying things is understood by all.
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That's true. I get upset when I can't understand them in a conversation too.

For Mark's , they are usually about trains and represent routes, so it doesn't bother me. Even if I demanded exact details, I still wouldn't know where or what it was doing.

It would be possible to study Chicago transportation, and then right away you would know what they meant.
 
Bottesini said:
That's true. I get upset when I can't understand them in a conversation too.

For Mark's , they are usually about trains and represent routes, so it doesn't bother me. Even if I demanded exact details, I still wouldn't know where or what it was doing.

It would be possible to study Chicago transportation, and then right away you would know what they meant.
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Ditto. If i care, then i ll google it up or ask OP.
 
diehardbiker said:
I know for the fact that CUS as Chicago Union Station as it is fairly easy for me to figure out because it is Amtrak's home hub, in other word it is like Amtrak's headquarter.
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Actually, Amtrak's headquarters is at WUS





Washington Union Station, Wash D.C.
 
diehardbiker said:
I am siding with those who hate abbreviations which CAN cause confusion.

I know for the fact that CUS as Chicago Union Station as it is fairly easy for me to figure out because it is Amtrak's home hub, in other word it is like Amtrak's headquarter.

When I used to work for calling center as Technical support, it CAN be confusing when one uses abbreviations because often I see one abbreviations can mean several things, depending on location. I had to work harder to figure out, why can't they just spell it out so I don't have to take another aspirin? Often it is perfect recipe for misunderstanding. That is, after that point I quit using abbreviations with VRS operators, and terps as well.. as I realize not all locations are on same page with abbreviations..

So be careful with abbreviations, don't overuse them.
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Acronyms and abbreviations that are geographically specific should be avoided, yes. Same with sign names for locations and local people, unless everyone is at the same location. I pity the VRS terp who's supposed to know who 'R-on-the-heart" is and that "R-on-the-heart" is supposed to meet "T+KING" at "Z+STORE" in "shake-C", and make that meaningful to the hearing person on the other end who doesn't have a clue what any of that means. If the terp asks the deaf caller for clarification, the deaf person impatiently tells the terp, "You know! Z+STORE on AP+STREET!"
 
AlleyCat said:
That was Jane's point. Don't abbreviate if nobody else here knows what it is.
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Usually I don't. However, I AM surprised that the abbreviation for Union Station isn't as well known as I thought it was. I will make a note of that, and be more careful from now on. Like Botts says, I sometimes use it in reference to trains, and not much else.
 
ChicagoBlue2 said:
Usually I don't. However, I AM surprised that the abbreviation for Union Station isn't as well known as I thought it was. I will make a note of that, and be more careful from now on. Like Botts says, I sometimes use it in reference to trains, and not much else.
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This may come as a shock to you but Chicago is not the center of the universe.
 
Reba said:
This may come as a shock to you but Chicago is not the center of the universe.
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I know that. I unintentionally started a discussion about abbreviation, and I'm kinda wishing I'd thought that through a little better. Oh well. Next time.
 
ChicagoBlue2 said:
I know that. I unintentionally started a discussion about abbreviation, and I'm kinda wishing I'd thought that through a little better. Oh well. Next time.
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Don't worry about it. You just happened to use the abbreviation for something at a time when I was already thinking about how confusing they can be when the person using it and then person trying to understand it aren't both familiar with it.
 
LoveBlue said:
A house plant is not the same as a cut tree. Plus, some people like lights, especially white ones, all year. Did your neighbor say they were Christmas lights?
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Yeah but I have no idea if the guy is using a safe cord or not ! And plants can burn. Are you joking?? The guy put the lights up at Christmas time and had not taken them down yet. We had a damn tenant here that kept her Xmas tree until it was 'brown ' and we had mother move in with her drunken 30 yo son who sat on the deck all day getting drunk and throwing life butts on my deck and the mulch . Our landscaper reported this to the manger b/c he was concerned a fire would start. I am talking about tenants and we had some pretty bad ones. Do you know that some condos and apartment do not allowed people to have real Xmas trees ??

http://www.healthyhouseplants.com/i...t-potting-soil-fires-in-your-houseplants.html
 
Jane B. said:
Don't worry about it. You just happened to use the abbreviation for something at a time when I was already thinking about how confusing they can be when the person using it and then person trying to understand it aren't both familiar with it.
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All right. However, on my way there, though, I saw quite a few interesting places I'd like to get pictures of, but it's too cold now. Maybe when it reaches 35 or better I can do that (wishing I did that yesterday as it WAS 35 yesterday)

And there's this new place that has something related with Route 66, and I think it's called Roadside 66, and just recently opened for business a few weeks ago.
 
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