That's some skirt.

So this morning I got on pretty early on a Penn Line train in Odenton. I believe it was the 5:51am. I needed to get in early for a meeting. It got pretty cold overnight and it was 30 degrees on the platform waiting for the train. The train ride in was uneventful but as I was walking with the crowd from the train to the escalators there was a guy in front of me wearing a kilt. Seriously, a kilt. I was thinking "Where did this guy get on the train and how long did he have to stand out in the cold?". Brrrrrrhhh..

gettin' the business!

So yesterday afternoon I get off the train in Laurel and start walking to my car. Its not uncommon for people trying to sell their product to put brochures or printed cards on everybody's windshield. Yesterday afternoon was subject to some heavy storms that went through the area and then the sun came out by the time the train was unloading. There was a 4"X6" advertising card on my windshield under the wiper. The card had a coating on the printed side, but not the back. The rain and the sun physically "glued" these cards to everybody's windshield. I ripped mine off and waited until I got home to scrape most of it off with a razor blade. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I could see a numerous people picking at their windshields with disgust.

The part I pulled off left the printing intact along with the companie's phone number. I bet they "got the business" yesterday!

roller bags

One of the things that I see on an almost daily basis are "roller bags". I'm not sure of the technical term, but these are the cary bags and small suitcases that have rollers built in and a handle that telescopes out to let the owner pull the bag behind them on the ground. In a crowded commuter setting these things are like landmines.

This morning getting off the train it was relatively crowded, but not so much that I couldn't see the spacing between individual people. Some mornings it gets so crowded that you can't see the roller bag people. I've have numerous occasions to kick or trip on these death traps. Every time I think "I hate those f*&king bags".

At least most times I just think it. I believe that once I even said it out loud and got a look that told me I was a crazy person. So be it. One of the worst features of these bags is that people don't know how to "drive" them. They are kind-of liking towing a trailer. You have to swing your turns wide so that you don't catch doors or other people. Most people with these bags are already physically "infirm", so you can be sure they aren't paying attention to how they swing those things around.

Maybe a mandatory saftey course for roller bags? Or at least a flag that sticks up in the air as a warning..

hippocratic oath

This morning coming into the building from the train I passed through security slightly behind a younger lady. She got her stuff and stepped to the back of an open elevator and watched me as the doors began to close. I waved my hand through the opening to set off the electric eye and reverse the doors. I got on and rode with her and she got off on the 5th floor. It was then that I noticed she was wearing scrubs and going into our medical section to start her work day. I sure hope I don't get her for a nurse the next time I get sick here!

those are some ugly feet!

This morning walking from union station to my office my eyes were drawn to this young lady, attired professionally wearing a business-style dress and carrying a purse of some kind. She seemed perfectly normal except that she was wearing some of those new sneakers with the molded toes. Besides that they were green. So it looked like she had these big hideous green feet walking down the street. Very funny.

we win, we lose

This morning's ride into DC was nice and relaxing. I got onto the "quiet" car so I could read some of my book. The quiet car is the car at the furthest from the forward motion of the train and is a car in which people can zonk out or read and must stay off of their cell phones and if talking must have quiet conversation. I describe the quiet car as being "furthest from forward motion" because the engine isn't allways on the front of the train. Sometimes the cars are pushed and sometimes they are pulled.

This morning heading southbound I was on the East side of the train. I know this because I was able to enjoy the sun coming up. It was slightly above the horizon all the way in. As we passed Greenbelt a metro subway train had pulled out and was beside us (within one hundred feet anyway) and we were riding side-by-side for awhile. It looked to me like the train engineer sped up the locamotive a bit before the tracks diverged onto their separate routes. We pulled ahead as the I lost sight of the metro. I thought "we win".

Pulling into union station the train slows down gradually before it stops. The platform we were pulling up to was a low platform and one of the amtrak workers was out on the end with one of their glorified golf carts. He sped up onto our platform from the far side and gassed it to get ahead of us to the station before we stopped and unloaded our crowd of riders into his way. I thought to myself as he zipped by us: "we lose".

on time departure

Yesterday afternoon on the Camden line the train left at 4:13pm as it is supposed to, pulled ahead about 20 feet and stopped. This happens quite a lot. I believe they can report the departure train statistics as on-time if they close the doors and pull ahead a little bit at the appropriate time. Seems a shady way to make their performance look better than it actually is.