A Stitch in Haste

As you may recall, I'm leaving for my Prague vacation Friday evening, and it's time for me to start preparing. So there will be little or no blogging until Saturday at the earliest.

I will be fully connected once I'm there, however, so lots of real-time photo-blogging. In fact, I've created a new "Vacations & Photos" category to accommodate all the posts.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful tourist suggestions.

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Meanwhile, in mid-November I will staying at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for a few days to celebrate my 40th birthday with a friend or two. If anyone would like to swing by, you are of course invited.

To be sung to the melody of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change"...

Gonna take a week's vacation.
Off to Prague I am bound.
Can't help but get excited.
The beer capital I have found!

Got my passport and my ticket.
First Penn Station then AirTrain.
Short line at the ticket counter.
So I really can't complain.

Now I'm waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

Yes I'm waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

Yet again I'm gonna travel,
Maybe even bump into Vaclav Havel.

But now I'm waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

My suitcase now I have checked,
Though Baggage Claim I dread.
Can't bring liquids or my Blistex,
Have to use Chapstick instead.

Security's a bummer.
Everybody's taking off their shoes.
Chertoff says we really need to
So that the terrorists will lose.

Now I keep waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

And I keep waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

Diamond surely will go mental
Staying so long in the kennel.

But now I'm waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

All the people here would like ta
Shoot all the members of al Qaeda.

Because we keep waiting...
(...waiting...)
Waiting for the plane to board.

"If you like huddling with guys, then it's the sport for you."

--A fellow Prague tourist, from Leeds, U.K., trying (unsuccessfully) to explain to me the difference between "Rugby Union" and "Rugby League." Still, I enjoyed the effort.

Anyone care to enlighten us in the comments?

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Much to my surprise*, I am not as connected as I thought I would be. Still, I will try to post what I can, when I can.

(*In Leedspeak, I am "pissed off" — which, as we world travelers know, is not the same as being "pissed." I am also a little pissed, but in Leedspeak that's a good thing. Go figure.)

"The ticket is valid on trams and buses within the territory of the capital city of Prague for 20 min from validation with no transfer options. On the Metro system it is valid for max 5 follow-up stations from validation (not including the station of validation) with an option to change metro lines but not more than 30 min. In outer PID zones or for a combination of zones 0 and 1 it is valid for 60 min from validation with transfer options only in outer zones. This type of ticket is not valid on night services and funicular railway. On trains of the Czech Railways it is valid only for fully integrated lines exclusively in zone 0 and outer zones."
--Tram ticket from Josefov to Prague Castle (three stops)

Did you get all that? Think a tourist -- even one with two post-secondary degrees -- can figure that out?

Now here's the New York City version:

"Pay $2.00 and go wherever you want, whenever you want."

The heuristic that "those who use more should pay more" is not a moral principle, but an economic one. And it's actually only an abbreviation of the true economic principle, which is that those who cost more should pay more. If the marginal cost to the public transit system of a passenger riding more than "20 min from validation" or "5 follow-up stations from validation" is zero, then why charge him more? "Those who use more should pay more" is not an acceptable answer.

Instead, the proper pricing scheme for a large-capacity good should be, not marginal cost, but average cost: how much does the total system cost, what is the total ridership*, and presto: a single, easy to administer (and easy to remember) price.

Economically efficient and morally neutral -- and New York figured it out first. Go figure -- but only for 5 follow-up stations from validation.

(*This assumes a relatively inelastic demand curve -- not an unrealistic assumption for basic mass transit.)

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For Discussion #1: The other operational innovation of the New York City subway system was the express train -- a thoroughly un-European concept. What might the economic impact of express trains be in a large city? (Hint: Money isn't the only cost of riding a train.)

For Discussion #2: Some transit systems, especially commuter trains, base their fares not only on distance but also on time of day (i.e., peak versus off-peak fares). Why might time-based differentials be more economically logical than distance-based differentials? (Hint: See this post.)

Why so little blogging?



(P.S. For those not familiar with "Kansas City Dave," he's actually much better at this than I am — an example here.)

(Note: Video will not pass through to RSS feeds.)

Some background:

--The skeleton represents Death. Note that he is nodding, as in "Yes, it is time to die!" The merchant, meanwhile, is shaking his head insisting, "No, it is not!"

--The rotating figures at the top are the twelve Apostles.

--The clock has three separate faces, in Gothic, Latin and Arabic numerals. Beneath the time clock is a calendar clock (i.e., 365 spaces), but it has not worked since the Nineteenth Century.

More on the Prague Astronomical Clock here.

(Note: Video will not pass through to RSS feeds.)

Okay, I've capitulated. My constrained Internet access has left me no choice but to upload my photos to Flickr.

You can access them via the flash graphic in the right sidebar or at this link.

Sorry that they are not yet organized or labeled or polished. I'll get around to that later.

Enjoy!

An alternative translation, or for those on RSS:

Whoever be a member of the council, coming here to perform your office, lay aside your passions in front of this door: Anger, violence, envy, friendships, flattery. Subdue your troubles for the good of the community. For whatever justice or wrong you deal to others, so shall be dealt to you at the Day of the Judgment.

More on Kutna Hora, including the Councilor's Plate, here.

(Note: Video will not flow through to RSS feeds.)

The intended pinnacle of my trip to Prague was the Pilsner Urquell Brewery is Plzen, west of Prague.

I was not disappointed.

I created a Flickr set here with 20 photos. Here are some highlights:


--You can keep your stupid chocolate factory, Charlie! "If you want to view Paradise..."


--Old-style beer barrels. Now the brewing process (not including the bottling process) requires only 10 -- yes 10 -- employees, and lots of computers.


--Special barrel-pour for visitors. This is the hand-pasteurized (not unpasteurized as someone had commented previously) cloudy version that exists nowhere else in the world.


--Your humble bloghost enjoying himself.

More photos later.

No matter how stinky-smelly Diamond ever gets, she's no match for these guys. P-U!







Still, they were sweet and tame and a welcome greeting party after we emerged from the Koněprusy Caves outside of Pilsen. Sorry, no picture-taking was allowed, but see here.

"There is no advertising. Everyone already knows which they prefer -- except perhaps for the young, and they just drink whatever their parents buy."

--Prague tour guide, answering my question of whether the competition between the two dominant beer brands, Pilsner Urquell and Budwar, is fierce.

Sorta kinda puts the whole "Coke/Pepsi" and "Bud/Miller" wars into perspective.

On the other hand, there is the subtle advertising of bench umbrellas, pub signs, etc. So that counts for something.

The video problems should be fixed, so go back and try all the previous posts.

Here's a short video of the Pilsner Brewery, starring my not-unattractive tour guide, Jan:

"I think that's right..."

--Me, hoping that, even after a liter of Pilsner Urquell:

(2 x 10) + (2 x 5) + (5 x 2)
does indeed equal 40.

It does. As Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the bar tab."

For perspective, I was dealing with roughly a 21.5 CZK/USD exchange rate. Forty koruny for 0.5-liter draft was typical; the cheapest I found was CZK26. The lobby bar of my hotel wanted CZK90.

Oh, and 0.5 liters = 16.9 ounces = 1.41 12-ounce bottles. So it works out to about $1.32 for a bottle of premium beer. In a bar.

Now that's a "go figure" I actually enjoy.

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But wait a minute: if the demand for beer is so high in the Czech Republic, then how can the price be so low? High demand drives prices up, doesn't it? Like for oil, right?

Resolve that paradox, and you've frustrated every introductory economics professor's favorite trick question on a final exam. (Hint here.)

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I used to say that Amsterdam was the only place where I could buy a beer with a single coin. Not so — Czech has a 50-koruny coin that could buy you a 40-koruny beer. Anyone know of any other countries where a single coin buys a beer?

I've uploaded a new photo set from Prague -- the spooky ossuary at Sedlec, near Kutna Hora, containing the bones of about 40,000 people.

A sample:



Check them out!