Friday, 7/31/09

Metro decided to close out July on a high note.

i heard yesterday there was a fire on the orange line and metro center was filled with smoke?!

and today - Waited 7 minutes for orange line train today - train is packed when it arrives. We get stuck outside Clarendon for about 20 minutes b/c a train that is offloading there and needs to turn around. We get to Clarendon and there's a mass of people waiting there, who all try to board our already packed train. Train proceeds to move verrrry slowly for the duration of the trip to Metro Center.

I get on red line, and sit across from a crazy guy without knowing it.
Crazy guy, slurring: "hey... hey, i was on that red line train that crashed on june 27, no 22, no...whatever. it was wild man. i can't believe i'm back on here. i'm stupid. no, metro is stupid...whatever. hey have you seen that billboard? i think its FUNNY, hahahaha"
me: "wow, yeah", nod, smile politely
crazy guy, slurring: "oh, i can see that i'm BOTHERING you. well excuuuse me. i mean, we might as well talk before we die right?" -- turns to some ghetto fabuluos girls sitting behind me w/ a baby: "hey. hey i was on that red line train that crashed on june 20....something. it was crazy. red line is terrible. hey you got a baby."
-- girls nod at him then go back to conversation.
crazy guy: "it's like i'm talking to a BRICK WALL here!"
--metro operator: "excuse me folks, we're going to be holding here an additional 2 minutes for schedule adjustment"
--crazy guy: "AHHHH, NOOOO, dammit!!!!" stands up and starts kicking the wall. "man, i hate the metro, just one more stop, that's all that I needs." --leans out of the door and starts banging on the side of the train "COME ON.. LET'S GO!"
--train starts moving, guy puts a cigarette in his mouth and lights it the second the doors open at the next stop..which was also luckily the same stop i got off at... yay.

a very interesting morning, overall. And sorry, crazy guy. I know it was probably a little rude of me to not engage in lenghty conversation with you, but frankly, I don't feel I'm obliged to talk to crazy guys on the metro when I'm traveling as a female by myself.

Tuesday, 7/28/09

Waited 9 minutes for an orange line train this morning before 9am. Train arrived packed to the gills as expected. Would have waited for the next one except.... another train wasn't coming for ELEVEN MINUTES. ugh. So I spent an uncomfortable ride squished up against strangers all bitching about the metro.
One girl to her friend: "Was there a back up or something?"
Her friend: "haha probably not - welcome to the orange line!"

On a side note, I experienced one of my biggest metro pet peeves today - when people lean up against the poles everyone else is supposed to hang onto. This fat guy was leaning against the main pole right in the middle with his fat girlfriend leaning up against him, and they were spooning (in line at theme parks style). how sweet. barf. Especially because their fatness was pressed up against my hand trying to hold onto the pole. icky. my usual strategy against this is to grip the pole and have my knuckles stick out a little extra - right into their backs. they usually get the picture. this guy didn't - probably couldn't feel it through his fat.

one time i found myself with my hand tangled up in this girl's long, curly hair (note, my hand was there first and she leaned against the pole with her head right where my hand was and spilled her hair all over me - gross). i just made sure to grab on extra tight and she didn't look very happy when the train came to a sudden screeching halt and she fell forward (b/c she wasn't holding on...) with her hair still tangled up in my hand...oops.

Monday, 7/27/09

Everything fine time wise, but on the way home my car didn't have AC (that makes like the 6th time in the past couple weeks with no AC), and there was water (or some kind of liquid...? icky) all over about 10 of the seats scattered around that car. weird. gross.

Thursday, 7/23/09

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!

apparrently for my birthday, WMATA gave me a gift of a SMOOTH, normal morning commute! hooray!

Wednesday, 7/22/09

Metro moved relatively OK this morning, although waited 6 minutes for an orange line which makes for a crowded, hot train with standing room only. Also, it was one of those "new cars" which have a lot of room in the middle to make more standing room. Which is a great idea, except they forgot to put handles or railings to hold onto. D'oh! >>MetroFAIL<<
Note: this usually works fine for people like Sam, who is a gigantor and holds onto the ceiling...but for the rest of us normal humans - we become dominoes.


We'll have to see how this afternoon's commute goes. I'm metroing straight to a playoff softball team which I need to be at on time, so I'm sure that's only setting me and everybody else on my train up for disaster. (Metro fail combined with the Ewell black cloud is a powerful force!)

Metro Fail Diary

Dear Diary,
Metro sucks (specifically, DC's WMATA metrorail system) - here's why: a daily account of metro fails:

6/23/09 - horrible train collision on the red line - 9 people die. :( "worst metro accident in DC metro history" - old cars still in use in front/rear of trains after recommendations that they be moved to the middle.
whole week after - service is incredibly slow - understandable on the red line, but also on other lines like orange.

Tues, 7/14/09 - stuck on orange line in morning rush hour for 30 minutes
Thurs, 7/16/09 - sick passenger during morning rush hour - stuck on orange line for 30 minutes
Friday, 7/17/09 - leaving from Nationals game w/ huge crowd - metro runs green line trains every 10 minutes through navy yard - not nearly fast enough; then runs blue/orange line trains through le'efant (where everyone connects) every 15 minutes - creates huge backups

new week - I'm optimistic metro will be better this week! ....

Mon, 7/20/09 - wait 8 minutes for orange line train during "peak" hours
- get to metro center at 7:50pm - down train at courthouse - we wait at metro center for 45 minutes! by the time i get home my stomach is gnawing through my ribs and my bladder is about to burst
Tues, 7/21/09 - wait 8 minutes for orange line train during "peak" hours - BEFORE 9am - train arrives and it's PACKED - normally i'd wait for the next train, but the next train isn't scheduled to arrive until 10 minutes later. everyone is cramped and miserable and yelling at each other (families with kids on train going for an exciting day at the museums! bet they'll never come back - bye-bye economic stimulus boosted by tourism dollars!); then get on red line - wait approximately 15 minutes extra between stops