They should AirBnB these units out. this guy creates a whole new revenue stream for Caltrain. This story is pretty crazy, this guy built not one but two secret livable apartments with bathrooms and kitchens inside daily, actively used train stations?
Many of the CALTRAIN stations have a historic Southern Pacific station building that's not used much. They're from the days of ticket windows and luggage service. Palo Alto has a cafe in theirs, and used to have a bike shop. San Carlos has a cafe. But Burlingame wasn't in use.
If he'd built the thing with his own money, it wouldn't be so bad. But he stole the money for the job.
If you were wondering like me how this dude was making so much working for a public railroad, this was (maybe) his job: (1). Chief Engineering and Project Delivery, making $209,903.00 - $314,855.00. I'm just basing this on the fact that it's an open position in the right salary range.
This would have been excellent had he not misappropriated public funds, IMO.
Also, maybe it’s just perspective, but those photos don’t depict what I would call a “snug” apartment? I mean, there are more windows than most places I’ve lived! Looks like a pretty substantial amount of space.
One of the things I really couldn't stand about living in Germany. The Ruhezeit (quiet hours) are one thing, but literally every building I lived in in Berlin had whacko neighbours that would immediately complain and threaten to call the police if I had two or three friends over, early evening any day of the week. Just talking, without music playing etc. I don't know how people can live that way long term. Or more significantly why. On the other end of the scale it's perfectly normal for multiple competing trash companies to begin collecting bottles and bins daily from a given housing block - starting as early as seven AM. So you get both no rest and no relaxation.
germans don't go out for breakfast. even tourists are expected to have breakfast in the hotel. the only places open in the morning are bakeries where you get bread and other things to take home. trainstations sometimes have food for people on the go.
Sure, and what I meant was .. calling 7am “late” is a bit of an overstatement.. people start working at 8/9 am. Where I come, by 6am you’re already in your car on your way to work/school. And THERE.. 7am is late. But Germany… no.
My neighbors are already hustling at 6:30, consistently. By 7:15am there's already a steady stream of students going to a nearby school three blocks from my place.
I once had to leave super early in winter and saw several office buildings with lights on at 6:45 with people working inside (no, not janitorial staff).
Germans get started quite early compared to every country I've ever worked/lived.
Look, what I can tell you is this: …. 7am is the starting time of school classes in Guatemala City. It’s 7am so it doesn’t clashes with office hours.. which start at 8am.. most of the time. But if you’re lucky you can choose to start at 7am. So you can avoid a bit of the traffic.
The only parts of the world were I have lived were people mostly work 9-to-5 are what you would call “the developed world”. And that includes Germany.
I personally don’t consider Germany an early rising country and it took me quite some time to adjust myself to not having “normal” stores open before like 10. And then.. they are all closed by 6pm.. like.. cool that the developed world has work regulations but it’s hardly the norm.
I appreciate that it hasn't been an issue for you, but that doesn't really change how isolating it feels for me. I'm not saying everyone needs to host people, just that I do. My social wellbeing depends on it in a way going out doesn't quite replace.
He had four chairs at his table. Maybe three were decoration but that's a space-expensive way to decorate a small apartment that is otherwise rather devoid of decorations. Also, he was apparently discovered by some other employees two years before an anonymous tip turned him in. I have a feeling more people knew and the only reason the scheme crashes is because he crashed out with somebody.
Am I lacking some common knowledge here? I expected some plans and explanations of the circumstances that lead to this specific piece of property staying hidden for so long. Was it an abandoned wing? Where's the entry? Was the door hidden or disguised in some way? TFA has only photos of the inside and lots of $ numbers. Pretty disappointing.
reminds me of an office i put together about 10 years ago. On the 3rd floor we put in a full bedroom, shower, closet ... we didn't actually use it much - turns out people just wanted to go home. Making the office more comfortable doesn't change that.
That’s super surprising to me. I have a of a hectic energy, and I love chaos, so maybe it’s just differences in personality, but I already sleep in the office on occasion. Having a bedroom and shower would make it very nice
the problem is that it is not your personal space. you may be alone many times but you don't have guaranteed privacy. and it's not personalized. it's like staying in a hotel, without the service and less privacy.
to wind off after work i want my own space, not just some place where i can sleep.
This guy should definitely be punished. But when you see the level of money embezzlement top officials can get away with, whereas this guys gets prison time, you can only feel a bit sad.
“First, you must remember to reuse the existing infrastructure as much as possible, it brings the cost of connecting the utilities way down. Disused train stations are a great example; you can also try town halls and museums; and you may experiment with unused mall sections, but from my experience, it's better to use a public space than a private one.”
“Why?”
“The mall owners can get really twitchy if they can't profit off those square feet.”
“I see. So, public underused spaces with intact utilities, you say?”
“That's right. Oh, and remember to keep all your invoices under $3,000.”
“Why that?”
“Funny you should ask, I clearly remember it being really important back in my time, but now that I think more of it, I guess it's just a habit I picked up.”
The code probably says this room can't be in that building, so you'd probably need to level the entire train station building and start over. $10M?
Something like that, in an existing backyard shed with pre-run plumbing + electricty with no permits? That'd cost roughly what he paid. I didn't see any obvious code violations in the picture, except probably ADA stuff due to it being too small for wheelchairs.
"Stealing" is a big stretch here. He should have lawyered this into oblivion. Nonetheless, the benefit is non-returnable and the prison sentence is basically nil so he made out.
