Thoughts on a Friday Train

I meant to post this last Friday, but never got around to it. So, here I am on a Monday night, posting thoughts written on the train last week. Enjoy!

I think I've mentioned this before and you can call me silly, but I love it when the conductor yells, "All aboard!" It happens so rarely these days. Hearing him call it out from the platform, in the typical drawn out fashion, gives the whole train experience a nostalgic feel. Realize, of course, that any nostalgia I feel isn't based on firsthand experience, but on the way movies and books portray train conductors (think The Polar Express).

Earlier today, I came across a group blog called Municide, which rants about San Francisco's MUNI. It's hilarious because the things they rant about are the things I experience on the VTA, namely strange people, late, slow or overcrowded buses and rude operators. Ah, the joys of mass transit. Yet, I'd still take it any day over driving.

On another transit-related thought, did you know there are eight bus or shuttle lines from where I work to the train station? It's a bus rider's dream. There's the:

1. 22
2. 64
3. 65
4. 68
5. 180
6. 522
7. DASH
8. Light Rail (Vasona Line)

You would think with so many options that I would never actually need to walk (or run) from the office to catch the train. How I wish you were right, but thanks to my amazing sense of timing and lack of patience, I can easily miss all eight and here's a fresh, ten-minute-old example.

I left the office five minutes early, allowing myself twenty-five minutes to return an audiobook to the library and catch the train. For trivia's sake, the audiobook was Fair Ball by Bob Costas, but that's not important, what's important is that by dropping it off, I eliminated two alternatives, the 22 and 522, simply by wandering away from Santa Clara Street.

Once I left the library, I waited a minute at the bus stop on San Fernando and Fourth Streets for the 65. Since I didn't see even a hint of a bus in the distance, I hustled over to Second Street to catch the light rail, which was scheduled to arrive at Paseo de San Antonio two minutes later. From the platform, I saw no sign of a light rail train at either Santa Clara or St. James, which meant it would arrive too late to make the connection at Diridon, the Caltrain station.

With my options narrowing, I raced to San Fernando and First Streets to catch either the 64 or 68, but neither bus was even on the horizon, so I made an attempt for the 180, which had a stop only two blocks past Market Street. Just as I crossed Market, the 180 blew by, so I kept charging down San Fernando, until I reached Almaden Boulevard, where I could pick up the DASH. I had only arrived at the corner when I saw the DASH make the turn from Almaden and continue towards the station. By the time I had the green man/woman/humanoid to go, the shuttle was gone.

That only left the light rail again, which I could catch if - while I was failing to catch everything else - it had miraculously made up time. I galloped to the San Fernando Station with about eight minutes left before the Caltrain arrived. I stood on the platform knowing I could wait two minutes and still make it to Diridon. It would require running, but I could do it.

Two minutes later, the light rail still hadn't arrived, so I started for Diridon. I was well across Autumn Street when I heard the light rail's horn and turned to see it leaving the station. All I could do was continue to run. So I ran, making it to the train platform with a minute to spare before boarding the train and writing this entry.

Next time, I'm not even going to worry about catching mass transit. I think I'm walking straight to the train station. Now, on to a few non-transit-related thoughts that I wrote on a scrap of paper so I wouldn't forget.

CLIF Bars. I can't get enough of the seasonal flavors. They have Spiced Pumpkin Pie and Iced Gingerbread, both of which are delicious. I need a stockpile for the winter. It would be great to snowshoe and chew on one while hiking on a snowy trail - in theory. It would probably be better to be munching on a bar in front of an open fire in a nice lodge.

Elevator-Free Day. Today was an elevator-free day, which means that the only way I was allowed to get to my cubicle was by stairs. Today, I ascended and descended the stairs four times. Since it's 129 steps to my floor, that is a total of 1,032 steps. That, along with the fifteen-blocks of rapid walking/running was enough to make my legs a bit sore.

Gifts. I haven't bought Christmas gifts for anybody yet, which is good news for the people on my list. It means they still have a chance to receive an awesome gift. As long as I don't buy anything, hope lives. Sadly, once I actually buy something, reality will set in and the reality is gift cards.