It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and most folk have already left town because nobody really lives here or has family in this hellhole of a city town.

Those of us that haven’t left yet are going to work and carrying on with the rest of our daily routine. For me, that consists of a bus, a train, another train and then another bus. It’s a fragile time-sensitive schedule that has to work together in order to get me where I need to be in a timely manner.

This morning I’m at the bus stop on time and make it to Union Station in pretty good time; there aren’t a lot of stops as there aren’t a lot of passengers to pick up or drop off along the way.

Then, at U-Stat where I’m waiting for my first train transfer, is where The Delay happens. A train is held up somewhere on the Red Line. Because the entire Metro system is run from a computer program from 1976 that uses punch cards, this means all red trains going in my direction are delayed. But the red trains running in the opposite direction are free to keep running, of course. Eight of them went by as I waited.

Almost 30 minutes later a train is coming down my track but it’s one of those hilarious pranks that Metro likes to play on passengers: it’s an empty car. Looks like it’s running fine to me, so why not make all the stops along the way? Haha, that’s a good one, Metro, happy fucksgiving to you too!

A few minutes later a train doing its actual job comes through and picks up us unfortunate work-up-until-the-holiday folk. You would think the tunnel ahead would be empty since a train hasn’t come through in half a hour save the one that was barreling through without stopping at the stations. And yet the train I’m on crawls through to the next two stops where I can transfer to my next train. Fun and not stressful at all! Thanks for the headache this morning!

Note to those attending Inauguration Day: if you can walk to The Mall in under 120 minutes, do it. You’ll get there quicker than if you took Metro. If the system’s having 30+ minutes delays on one of their lightest passenger days of the year, I fear to think what is going to happen when you add an estimated five million more people to the mix.

This has not been a good evening for public transportation in the District. First I was dissed by the D6 driver downtown as I was hurried to catch the bus. I had crossed the street and waved at the driver, who was starting to accelerate from the stop. He saw me and pointed forward as if to indicate he would continue through the intersection and pick me up on the other side. So I’m running back across the skreet obli to see the bus not even slow down, buy continue full throttle on its route. Asshole.

This makes me about an hour later from when I wanted to get home so that I could pack for tonight’s trip. Buy it turns out I had plenty of time, even to shower up after the humidity of today’s persistant drizzle.

Then it’s back outside to wait for the 7:59 to take me to Union Station to catch my train. Oh, I’m going up for the weekend to visit with Franklin. I’m outside ten minutes early and Shreve(port) from upstairs comes outside too; he’s going out to party in Georgetown and is waiting for the D6 as well. The bus is more than 15 minutes late and I resort to desperate measures: call Goldy to see if she can give me (us) a ride to the station. Luckily she’s home and comes and picks us up. (She did, however, look as if she were planning to spend a night with a pirate.)

At the station I find that the line for the 198 Northeast Regional is redonk but getting on the train it isn’t that bad. Right now I’ve passed BWI and everyone still has a seat open to their side. The Conductor has told us this is a 7-car train. Amtrak has finally upgraded their notification system in the terminal from circa-1986 Zeniths with IBM-multicolor (cyan, magenta, that green- you know) to a refined monochromatic look that is actually easier to read.

The blond cutie across the aisle from me has popped open his Macbook and a scientific calculator. And of course an iPhone.

My car’s number is 44234. Nice.

Dude directly across the aisle from me gets on at Balmer, hon, and has an iPhone. That’s three within eyeshot.

I’m having a rum & diet Coke. J’adore le train travel.

Wow, iPods really are everywhere.

Franklin is driving me back on Sunday, and bringing down his old home theatre system which he’s giving to me. Ain’t that sweet? I’ve already warned Shreve(port) to tell the J/Ts if they hear lasers or explosions coming from the basement, not to worry.

Coming up on Aberdeen, MD, only about 30 mins to Wilmington! I better rush up on this cocktail.

How many times have I visited Franklin while he’s lived here? Hmmmm… Maybe six or seven? His place now is so much nicer and bigger than the studio he was in originally. Although it was cramped, he fixed it up nicely and we still had a great time.

Soundtrack for the train: Yaz. But now a text from Goldy makes me want to hear Ebn-Ozn.

Nice touch: 120v outlets at every seat to keep all batteries at their maximum.

Uhoh. Train stop 10 minutes south of Wilmington. Smell of burnt disc brakes. Okay, we’re moving. Keep chugging along 198. I think you can I think you can!

Wilmington!

Ernold Same awoke from the same dream
In the same bed
At the same time
Looked in the same mirror
Made the same frown
And felt the same way as he did every day
Then Ernold Same caught the same train
At the same station
Sat in the same seat
With the same nasty stain
Next to same old whats-his-name
On his way to the same place
With the same name
To do the same thing
Again and again and again
Poor old Ernold Same
His world stays the same
Today will always be tomorrow
He’s getting that feeling once again
Nothing will change tomorrow

In California and New York protests are spilling into the streets for the cause of human rights, protesting the removal of existing civil rights of the residents of California and those that choose to perform a marriage there. Do you know why or even care?

There’s only two weeks to go in this seemingly endless campaign that has been going on. Regardless of the outcome we will be able to wipe the slate clean, and start rebuilding our divisive animosity and disdain for one another anew.

If the Democrats win, the Republicans will continue to mask their bigotry and lies behind Fear Of A Black Planet, while Democrats, and probably the rest of global civilization, will go down in a fiery demise after McCain dies in office and Sarah Palin starts shooking nukes out of helicopters across her backyard toward Russia. Live out your own apocalypse.

It’s a lose/lose situation.

I wish my family shared the same political and social beliefs I have. I’m the one that defected from them though, so they aren’t really the ones to blame. I’m the traitor in this situation.

It would be easier, however, if we saw eye-to-eye on any one thing. The fact that we don’t puts up communication barriers to most things with the exception of light banter. I always know it’s time to end the phone conversation with the weather is brought up. In a familial gathering, I usually sit quietly, waiting for their bigotry talk to end or the departure time for my train, whichever comes first. I’ll let you speculate as to the outcome of who wins that grudge match.

We don’t discuss politics in my family, or at least we never used to. Maybe I wasn’t around during campaigns for those college + years while I lived in Texas and therefore didn’t hear them. But then Fox News didn’t exist then either, drilling it into their thinking during every waking moment.

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• Eating and drinking are not permitted anywhere within the transit system. This includes sneaking a french fry from your Johnny Rocket’s bag or swigging on your tourist water.
• When using cellphones, please do so respectfully. If you are having to hold your finger in your other ear in a screeching railcar, this usually means you are yelling into your phone, disturbing other passengers.
• When standing in a crowded railcar please remove your backpack or shoulder bag and hold it at your side. You may not realize the extra two feet of depth on your back is crowding other passengers.
• When sitting, please place your backpack or shoulder bag on your lap. Continuing to wear your bag may impede other passenger’s personal space.
• Please fill up empty rows of seats first before doubling up by taking a seat directly next to another passenger. This simply ensures everyone’s comfort when a railcar or bus is not filled to capacity.
• If you are seated directly next to another passenger in an emptying railcar with newly available empty rows of seats, please move to one of these empty rows. This allows all passengers more personal space with less crowding.
• Your luggage does not need (nor warrant) its own seat.

Remembering back to the mid/late 80s, 15th St SE on Cap Hill was the cutoff line, the red line if you will, for a “good” neighborhood. I know this because I had friends that lived on the 1400 block. I even stayed with them one summer while I worked in town.

The local Metro stop was & is Potomac Avenue Station. I would use this stop 20 years ago, and even though the stop is only two or three blocks away from my friends’ house it was a still a little leery at night and you had to watch yourself. This was when violent crime in DC (and America for that matter) was starting to get a little out of control. I remember lots of carjackings happening that summer, which was a new phenomenon at least in DC.

Come to think of it, I had my car stolen around the corner from Po-Ave Station that summer too. It was found and returned, busted steering column and all. At least they didn’t wreck the thing or drive it into the river.

Fast forward to today, and my favorite Mexican restaurant is a block away from the Station, there’s a fun local bar where you can play dominoes a block away and for Christ’s sake there’s a new Harris Teeter right across Pennsylvania Ave.

Neighborhood on the upswing, right? Maybe not so much.

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I hate washingtonpost.com. If I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I hate washingtonpost.com. It never gives me news that I’m interested in. It never gives local news. Its articles are always focused on national politics (or worse yet, the suburbs), regardless of what else is going on in the world and never what is happening within the city from where it gets its name. For example, a tsunami may be killing a quarter of a million people halfway around the globe but some Senator getting an expensive haircut or a soccer hockey sockey mom in the H8ST8 stretching her grocery dollar is the top story. In short, a waste of time. Sadly, I can track local news better elsewhere.

Unfortunately I’ve spent lots of time this week on WaPo’s site waiting for Todges’ obituary to be posted. I haven’t seen it yet—have I missed it? If you’ve seen it, please let me know. But I did notice the amount of space they dedicate to actual stories they’re reporting. It’s minimal. For instance let’s examine a typical obit page on the Post and see how much pixel area is actually devoted to delivering content.

This page’s pixel area is 1039 x 1903 (that’s some fun numbering, I must admit). This gives 1,977,217 square pixels, if you will. The article space numbers 249,737 pixels. Advertising occupies a whopping 1,045,508 pixels and the remaining 681,972 pixels are devoted to mastheads, navigation and direct links to other articles.

Breakdown
Content: 12.6%
Navigation: 34.5%
Advertising: 52.9%

Almost seven years to the day of the 9/11 attacks, Metro has evaluated, designed and implemented Emergency Evacuation Maps for their 117 stations. You know, in case there’s an explosion or a dirty bomb (remember those?!) or someone throws up on a train and everyone has to evacuate. Way to be on top on things!

Here is the pdf map for L’Enfant Plaza, the only station that carries four of the five train lines. This would be terrorist target number one, since it would effectively cripple the entire underground system. Plus the fact that it runs under so many government buildings would be extra incentive. The maps show that instead of organizing the available bus lines by bus stop location, they’ve grouped them by their baffling nomenclature (5A, 13G, V7, 905, etc.) so as you’re getting stampeded by people behind you trying to get out, you still can’t find your bus escape route. As if you’re gonna be waiting around for a bus while fire rains down from the sky.