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Does anyone every take the Amtrak train from Bakersfield? If so, where to?

Amtrak says ridership on its San Joaquin route (which runs from Bakersfield to Stockton, then onto either Oakland or Sacramento) is up 32 percent this July over the previous year.

But from what I can tell, the options for Amtrak travel out of Bakersfield are pretty limited. You can basically go up the valley on the San Joaquin route. But if you want to get anywhere else, you're looking at spending some time on a bus. There's no train service from Bakersfield to Los Angeles or Las Vegas; it's bus only.

Taking Amtrak to Monterey means four hours on the train then another four hours on two separate buses. San Luis Obispo and Yosemite aren't much better.

To get to San Francisco, you take the train to Emeryville (6 hours), and then catch a bus into San Francisco (40 minutes).

Total travel time: 6 hours 40 minutes

Roundtrip ticket cost: about $120

Clearly this is better than the $383 being charged for United Airline flights from Meadows Field to San Francisco. But driving seems to be the best option for many of these destinations.

I just drove to San Francisco in my Ford Focus a couple weeks ago. It took about  4.5 hours each way and cost me about $85 in gas.

Maybe commuters use Amtrak to go to Fresno? Anyone know who these elusive train riders are and where they're going?

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What happens to Olympic venues like the stunning Bird's Nest and sleek Water Cube when the Olympics end?

There's a couple interesting articles surfacing on this issue that highlight the disrepair, neglect and sad ending that's come to some of the buildings from previous Olympics, and how that's not expected to happen in China.

Slate reports that some of the buildings from the 2004 Athens Games are now occupied by squatters while others a sucking up millions in public funds for costly maintenance. It lists the conversion of a building built for the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid to a prison as one of the worst examples of reuse.

China, however, is being hailed for its plans to continue using most of the 33 newly constructed or renovated venues around Beijing, according to this AFP report. The story goes on to note that usability and sustainability of buildings are now key requirements in the Olympic host city bidding process.

Then there's this Yahoo! Sports article that elaborates more on the situation in Athens, where reporter Martin Rogers explains that "The Olympics are now almost a dirty word in Athens, most regularly used by politicians who use the issue of decay as a powerful campaigning point."

As for Beijing, he says, "there is a legacy of pride, and a spectacular standard of responsible spending for future hosts to uphold."

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Think you could go a month without out buying anything new -- no new clothes, shoes, books, etc.?

How about a year? How about forever?

I've been reading recently about several movements out there aimed at reducing personal consumption as a way to lessen one's environmental footprint, save money and simplify life.

• By now, you've likely heard of the The Compact, an idea that took root in San Francisco about two years ago in which participants vow to buy nothing new for a year. The rules advocate buying used and borrowing needed items and using locally-owned businesses for services such as plumbing, car repairs and house cleaning.
• "Nothing but necessities" was a challenge posed to MSN Money readers in February to stop spending for a month. "The point wasn't just to save money. It was also a way of examining our relationship with money," wrote MSN columnist and personal finance author Liz Pulliam Weston, who came up with the challenge. The experiment had no rules on what was considered essential and not, but most readers found their biggest non-essential spending areas were eating out and new clothes.
• Voluntary Simplicity, also called Simple Living, is a more longterm approach that advocates a "less is more" lifestyle. The basic idea is to determine "what is important, or 'enough,' for you, and discarding the rest," according to the SimpleLivingNetwork. A main tenant is to break the cycle of needing money to buy more things that bring little personal satisfaction or enrichment.

I have not given any of these a shot myself but I did have an experience recently that left me pondering my consumption habits. While browsing through a local consignment shop, I came across stunning dress that fit perfectly and cost just $30. Just months before I went through a frustrating process while shopping for a dress for an event I had to attend. Everything was either way over-priced or so cheaply made it didn't even seem worth buying. As I left the consignment shop that day, I felt great. I hadn't overspent, I was able to "reuse" something and I had a great new dress. 

I'm curious to know if there's any local Compactors out there or people who have also been wrestling with their own consumption habits? Any tips, ideas, thoughts?