Most of the days in the remains of December were spend not being at work. One Monday morning, our Director declared the office closed due to the winter storm that laid down upwards of two feet of snow during the weekend. The remainder of the week was business as usual including all the commuting troubles that are a daily affair.
The office is always closed between Christmas and New Years anyway, so many days were not commute days. One day there just before Christmas Eve, we arrived on the 15 Track and I waited for the conductor to drag the lift along the icy platform that had not been adequately prepared for the morning commuters. Several people slipped getting of the train but no one seemed to have gotten hurt. Even thought I suggested to one of the supervisors that they were risking medical liability with poor station maintenance, the same platform was still snow burdened as we were departing our 5:20 train from there too.
I met with several of the Car 5 Gang while waiting on the boarding lift to arrive. They climbed the steps to our usual car while I waited. When the conductor arrived from the head end of the train, there was too much snow and ice by the door so we used the next car forward. "This is only an 8 car train tonight, so it won't matter," Tom said. I boarded further forward and wrangled a fold up seat by getting a passenger to switch sides.
Princess Carly arrived and stood by the back of the seat next to me and closed her eyes. "I am sooo tired and I have sooo much to do," she said. "I could sleep standing up right here." I told her that the rest of the Gang was back one car, but she said, "I can stand here or stand there." She stayed.
The next day we were again on the low platform. This time there was no snow to impede boarding. Carly arrived, early as did George. Both were able to sit. The day was light and few people were standing at all. George shared around a bottle of Vodka in small plastic cups. Coast Guard Bicycle Girl came in minus the bicycle (normal for this time of year) and she too had a seat. No Vodka.
We pondered the schedules of the rest of the Gang and considered a possible social event on the train. Ultimately, Trish used the email list to organize Wednesday, Dec 30 as the date. I was going to be off and away so I was not part of the plan. Too bad, I hear it was a good time.
So to all of the Gang I say, "Have a happy holiday of your choice. And you don't have to pick just one."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Commuter Holiday
The holiday season from Thanksgiving through the end of the year always unhinges the work schedules of the hardcore commuters into DC. This is especially noticeable with members of the Car 5 Gang. The normally stable clan, if you can really call them stable, just is not a cohesive group during this time of the year.
For some people, like Trish, the work schedule changes for an indefinite period of time and are on an earlier or later train. Patrick, moved on to a different job and is essentially gone for good. Extended vacation/holiday work schedules has left Car 5 without Larry and Loud Bob. Jerry is away on some secret mission that we cannot talk about. As for myself, I am there to see the absence of the others. There, that is, until Christmas Eve when I start my own extended absence until the first week of January.
People come and people go, but The Gang abides. At this time of the year we even have a difficult time coordinating pizza and beer days. Someone is in the other is out. Another cannot say and the rest are not in one place in order to firm up the plan. Princess Carly has been there quite regularly and plans to be for most of the remains of the year except for those actual holiday days and maybe a half day before. Loud Bob is off then he is not, so no coordination is happening there. Billy hasn't been seen or heard from for more than a week. We all suppose he is off somewhere with his kids.
George and Mike have been around but not typically on the same days. One day last week, strangers populated our Notorious car leaving only a few available seats. Turns out we only needed three with the Princess and George and myself being the only official members present. With no quorum for member business we adjourned and turned to a bottle of Vodka.
January will bring about a more stable attendance in daily meetings and we will be able to get down to debating once again about the pros and cons of health care reform, global climate change, what that Obama-guy is doing to (or for as the case may be) this great nation, and who had a good performance on those 'talent' shows. The state of commuter rail service performance, infrastructure improvements and stimulus spending will fire up the ire of well seasoned commuters and resurrect desires to write our complaint letters to redress our grievances. But in the end, we board our daily trains and make the commute while leaving our automobiles safely in Garage 1 or 2. Don't get me started about the convergence of egress traffic between the two garages. THAT will be another post altogether.
Just a note. The new north end platform is not far from completion and will be in service soon. There is no telling exactly when they will put up the railing, but inspection and that railing is all that remains to be done before it opens. If the weather moderates, it could be in January. We will have to decide on which "alternate Car 5" we will occupy so as to be close to the walkway to the garages. Car 8 might give us a challenge.
So to the Car 5 Gang, I wish you a happy holiday of your choice – and you are not limited to just one.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Commuting is Not Supposed to be an Adventure
Commuting to DC from Baltimore using the trains is not supposed to be an adventure. Ironically, it is. One day the train is just late departing Union Station in the evening or it is late arriving at BWI Station in the morning. The next day the locomotive shuts down 100 yards out of the station in the track yard and we all have to wait for the word about whether we will proceed soon or be pushed back into the station to await another locomotive. It is a great thing we are not flying. There is no such thing as stopping after departure and living to tell about it.
In the years that I have commuted, many people have come and gone from the place where I sit. Some of them reappear as though by some twist of the space-time continuum and there they are again after four or five years. Mostly, when we meet, there is no recognition that years have passed and not merely weeks or a few months. But there the person is. Sometimes there is the opportunity to catch up on what has transpired but mostly it is a "Hi, haven't seen you in a long time." and then they are gone. Once I met a man with whom I worked 19 year earlier at an Engineering firm before I began the daily trek into DC. He stopped long enough to ask if I was Bob and had worked at the RBA Group. He was Tom any we were there together until the day the US Air Force began bombing Iraq the first time. We were the last hired in Traffic Engineering and Drafting departments. We got the same layoff speech from the VP. That was a one time crossing on the train that one day.
People notwithstanding, the larger portion of the adventures come when an Amtrak locomotive catches fire ant halt all three track north of New Carrollton or the two tracks south of New Carrollton station. There are 1000 ways to be delayed when using the MARC commuters trains and the WMATA Metro Rail systems. Just let me clarify: The worst day on the trains is better than the best days on the Capital Beltway, BW Parkway and I-95 north to Baltimore. More accidents and deaths are recorded on those roads each year than in the 33 year history of Metro and similar history of MARC. The difference is when there are 600 to a thousand other people to share the experience, the legends grow.
We've hit deer on the tracks. We've hit trespassers on the tracks. Brake lines have blow out bringing the train to a rapid halt. Irate or otherwise ignorant passengers have pulled the emergency brake handle. One day in the middle of a particularly hot summer week, the northbound MARC stalled out on the tracks between stations and eight cars of passengers were made to sweat it out until a mob mentality arose and people began removing the emergency exit windows to get air circulation. It was not long before the more bold amongst then dropped themselved out the window and walked to the station to catch cabs and call for friends to pick them up.
Union Station is the transfer point between the MARC and the Metro Red Line. Union station has seen its share of police and security actions when "suspicious packages" have been spotted and we are all corralled away from the alleged danger. The corraling itself poses a greater threat in that upwards of 1000 anxious commuters are halted at the exit doors only to stagnate the flow creating bigger threats to safety. I usually head to the Center Cafe to wait out the delays with other people who use the same opportunity for a relaxing interval. There is a stable group that congregates there during delays.
The best part of the commute comes in the evening when the Car 5 Gang assembles and kicks of 40 to 60 minutes of social time where political ideologies and economic policies are debated with more enthusiasm than in the Congress where Representatives and Senators rely on their staffs to tell then what is in the Bill. We hear the family matters, pet health stories, tales about trying to get rid of groundhogs, and of dissing the ignorant parker who unloads his bags behind the car of a Member who is in a hurry to get home. There are the stories of glory days of military service, police department service and of all the current idiots with whom everyone seems to work. Closer to home, so to speak, there are the occasional fringe commuters who stop in the membership area for a day or two and not recognize the disruption and inconvenience they present. Waldo is a huge man who had a propensity for standing by the door to the vestibule. His mass along with his over stuffed shoulder strap bag would sway side to side brushing up against the people who had seats by the door. On a particularly wobbly day on the tracks his intrusion into their intimate space was more pronounced. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact of his incursions until Inspector Gadget asked him if he was going to keep bumping into him today. He said nothing but was a bit more conscious of his bag.
Mornings are different. Most of the Gang are one various morning trains ranging from 5:30 to 8:00. The evening is where everyone comes together.
In the years that I have commuted, many people have come and gone from the place where I sit. Some of them reappear as though by some twist of the space-time continuum and there they are again after four or five years. Mostly, when we meet, there is no recognition that years have passed and not merely weeks or a few months. But there the person is. Sometimes there is the opportunity to catch up on what has transpired but mostly it is a "Hi, haven't seen you in a long time." and then they are gone. Once I met a man with whom I worked 19 year earlier at an Engineering firm before I began the daily trek into DC. He stopped long enough to ask if I was Bob and had worked at the RBA Group. He was Tom any we were there together until the day the US Air Force began bombing Iraq the first time. We were the last hired in Traffic Engineering and Drafting departments. We got the same layoff speech from the VP. That was a one time crossing on the train that one day.
People notwithstanding, the larger portion of the adventures come when an Amtrak locomotive catches fire ant halt all three track north of New Carrollton or the two tracks south of New Carrollton station. There are 1000 ways to be delayed when using the MARC commuters trains and the WMATA Metro Rail systems. Just let me clarify: The worst day on the trains is better than the best days on the Capital Beltway, BW Parkway and I-95 north to Baltimore. More accidents and deaths are recorded on those roads each year than in the 33 year history of Metro and similar history of MARC. The difference is when there are 600 to a thousand other people to share the experience, the legends grow.
We've hit deer on the tracks. We've hit trespassers on the tracks. Brake lines have blow out bringing the train to a rapid halt. Irate or otherwise ignorant passengers have pulled the emergency brake handle. One day in the middle of a particularly hot summer week, the northbound MARC stalled out on the tracks between stations and eight cars of passengers were made to sweat it out until a mob mentality arose and people began removing the emergency exit windows to get air circulation. It was not long before the more bold amongst then dropped themselved out the window and walked to the station to catch cabs and call for friends to pick them up.
Union Station is the transfer point between the MARC and the Metro Red Line. Union station has seen its share of police and security actions when "suspicious packages" have been spotted and we are all corralled away from the alleged danger. The corraling itself poses a greater threat in that upwards of 1000 anxious commuters are halted at the exit doors only to stagnate the flow creating bigger threats to safety. I usually head to the Center Cafe to wait out the delays with other people who use the same opportunity for a relaxing interval. There is a stable group that congregates there during delays.
The best part of the commute comes in the evening when the Car 5 Gang assembles and kicks of 40 to 60 minutes of social time where political ideologies and economic policies are debated with more enthusiasm than in the Congress where Representatives and Senators rely on their staffs to tell then what is in the Bill. We hear the family matters, pet health stories, tales about trying to get rid of groundhogs, and of dissing the ignorant parker who unloads his bags behind the car of a Member who is in a hurry to get home. There are the stories of glory days of military service, police department service and of all the current idiots with whom everyone seems to work. Closer to home, so to speak, there are the occasional fringe commuters who stop in the membership area for a day or two and not recognize the disruption and inconvenience they present. Waldo is a huge man who had a propensity for standing by the door to the vestibule. His mass along with his over stuffed shoulder strap bag would sway side to side brushing up against the people who had seats by the door. On a particularly wobbly day on the tracks his intrusion into their intimate space was more pronounced. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact of his incursions until Inspector Gadget asked him if he was going to keep bumping into him today. He said nothing but was a bit more conscious of his bag.
Mornings are different. Most of the Gang are one various morning trains ranging from 5:30 to 8:00. The evening is where everyone comes together.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Where did the year go?
The season has had the Gang all disbursed on varying train schedules, annual leaves, medical leaves to recuperate from a myriad of elective procedures. Just as we are wondering about the extended absence of a valued member, he or she suddenly shows up again.
Raven had been on the train but earlier or later according to his commuting needs, not our cohesive social ones. He did say that the other trains were "more relaxing" even if not less occupied. So Raven is stressed by a ride with the Gang, I guess. Actually, that would not be so surprising, nor are we incensed by the possibilities.
Princess Carly breezed in to the membership area with the announcement that she and 22 friends will be heading to Deep Creek with 5 caigs. This of course, raised the question of what a caig was. Raven stepped in with a linguistic analysis of the varying pronunciations of the "e" in egg as being either a "eh" or an "A". This consumed about 10 minuted of our daily commute interval. That digressed into how many glasses of beer or gallons were in a caig or half-keg. No matter how one looks at it, 5 of them is a huge amount of beer for 23 people on one weekend.
Trish continues to collect the email and phone numbers of the Gang so at to be up to date on party time when Friday pizza calls our name.
The renovated platform at BWI is nearly complete. Actually it is only the Phase 2 portion at the north end that is nearing completion. The south end segment was completed earlier this year leaving only a small middle section to do. It won't be long now before they switch us to that north end and our "official car" will nave to be switched again.
Some neophyte posed the question as to why we were the Car 5 Gang when we were actually in car 4. I said that that was a long story and it would be changed again soon. Once Car 5, always Car 5. Semper Five!
Raven had been on the train but earlier or later according to his commuting needs, not our cohesive social ones. He did say that the other trains were "more relaxing" even if not less occupied. So Raven is stressed by a ride with the Gang, I guess. Actually, that would not be so surprising, nor are we incensed by the possibilities.
Princess Carly breezed in to the membership area with the announcement that she and 22 friends will be heading to Deep Creek with 5 caigs. This of course, raised the question of what a caig was. Raven stepped in with a linguistic analysis of the varying pronunciations of the "e" in egg as being either a "eh" or an "A". This consumed about 10 minuted of our daily commute interval. That digressed into how many glasses of beer or gallons were in a caig or half-keg. No matter how one looks at it, 5 of them is a huge amount of beer for 23 people on one weekend.
Trish continues to collect the email and phone numbers of the Gang so at to be up to date on party time when Friday pizza calls our name.
The renovated platform at BWI is nearly complete. Actually it is only the Phase 2 portion at the north end that is nearing completion. The south end segment was completed earlier this year leaving only a small middle section to do. It won't be long now before they switch us to that north end and our "official car" will nave to be switched again.
Some neophyte posed the question as to why we were the Car 5 Gang when we were actually in car 4. I said that that was a long story and it would be changed again soon. Once Car 5, always Car 5. Semper Five!
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