Updates galore!

My apologies for not writing ANYTHING for almost a year. A lot has happened in that year, but one thing is still the same...I'm still commuting. On a train. So, I will continue this blog as long as I feel motivated and inspired by my 2.5 hour commute each day. Woo!

Some updates since the last post regarding the state of the Washington transit systems that I wanted to be sure was brought up since, you know, posts haven't happened in 8 months.

Two of these are my favorite that WMATA announced since the new General Manager started at the end of 2015:

1) A GRACE PERIOD WILL START IN JULY! Yes, you heard me. All my complaints about paying Metro fare only to have to turn around and walk back out, $2.15 poorer when there are issues and delays have paid off. This might be one of the smartest moves the new GM has made since starting and if nothing else, will pay off in good PR for the ever failing system.

Yes, this news makes me wanna dance! Go Jimmy, Go Elmo!

2) PLATFORM SIGNS WILL ENCOURAGE PEOPLE NOT TO RUN LIKE IDIOTS. Well, no, they will still run like idiots most likely, but at least they will know how far they need to run to catch a 6-car train at the busiest stations. I've seen one at Union Station and I'm sure they are at others, but even still, why they didn't think to do this earlier, I'll never know. Now, why they still choose to even run the 6-car trains, that I'd like to know. ALL the trains should have 8-cars. Period. (Especially during rush hour.) 

Run, Batman, Run. Don't leave Robin behind at Ballston.

Now, for the not-so good updates. WMATA has had all sorts of issues since last year and it's only gotten worse. This article in itself is a good summary to show the sort of boondoggle WMATA had years ago and did nothing about, hence the issues we are dealing with in 2016. You know when they threaten to shut down entire lines in the system, and actually do shut down the entire system for a day for safety checks, ish has gotten real bad. So, on that note, happy 40th birthday WMATA, may you hopefully begin to age just as gracefully as some of your transit siblings to the north and the west. 

Oh, I didn't even mention the MARC train. Thankfully things have been going alright on the good 'ol commuter rail, so ::knock on wood:: hopefully it continues into the summer and makes my life easier as things in it start to get more exciting and complicated. (I'll mention that in a future post, I'm sure).

Also, I did travel a bit since my last post and have experienced some more transit systems across the country, including New Orleans and Las Vegas. We also went to Chicago, so my husband got to experience the "L" Train for the first time. This summer we plan to visit Nantucket, and so, there will be ferry rides! (Aside from a very good friend having family up there and inviting us, I'm so excited to visit the location of one of my favorite TV shows ever. Yes, I'm a loser, but I don't care.) So, yay for experiencing transit in all sorts of different places!

For now, I bid you adieu and leave you with this. Just because, well if you aren't aware of American politics at this juncture, well, these* can catch you up:

Always with the side eye, Bern.

"I dunno where Bill is."

Neither do we, Hill. Neither do we.

This. This might have made me blind.

*By posting these GIFS, the writer is not endorsing any specific candidate, just making fun of them all. 

The writer has also intentionally forgotten about the other two candidates still in the race. Whoops.

A travelin' (wo)man...

I was thinking this morning that I've traveled a lot in my life and in recent years have found myself wanting to take public or mass transit when visiting other cities and countries, if nothing else, to see how their systems compare to my beloved DC. 

So I cataloged all the US cities and international cities where I've utilized their public or mass transit systems. First note to mention: I say 'mass transit' in addition to 'public' because a lot of time overseas their transit is actually privatized, at least in Europe, and that's a whole 'nother discussion for a different post (andwhyIthinktheUSisbehindontransit, coughcough).

I also would like to define what I consider to be "mass or public transit". This is city/county buses, commuter/regional rail, subways, trolleys and light rails. This does NOT include passenger rail (i.e. Amtrak), planes, ferries, or taxicabs. 

So without any further ado, here is my ever-growing list that I would like to continue to enhance! (ordered by proximity to where I call "home")

Washington, DC (obvi) and surrounding jurisdictions (MoCo, NoVa, etc.)
Baltimore, Maryland
New York, New York
Columbus, Ohio
Boston, Massachusetts 
Chicago, Illinois
San Francisco, California 
Seattle, Washington

London, England
Paris, France (twice!)
Pisa, Italy
Rome, Italy
Athens, Greece

Sadly, I've been to plenty more cities than this, but either due to circumstance, stupidity or age, we didn't utilize the public transit systems in those places, walked, drove, or cabbed A LOT, or I just don't remember it. Here's to hoping that changes and I can teach my future children about the importance of it someday and cities continue to improve their transit so that tourists feel compelled to use it! 

Brr, Brr, Brring it on, Spring!

So, unless you've been living in a ice-encrusted igloo somewhere on one of the Poles and have no access to electricity, you may not be aware that the entire continental US has entered into the end of days with the polar vortex of 2015. 

My thoughts on this today, the coldest day I've experienced by far in my 30+ years of life (and was record breaking in DC), when my car read 1 degree this morning when I got in at 6:15am and didn't rise much above that after the sun came up:

-It's really cold and yes we're going to complain about it until the cows come home. I live in the mid-Atlantic, not Canada, not Boston, not Chiberia, so when I complain, it's because WE ARE NOT LIVING IN THOSE CITIES, therefore SHOULDN'T HAVE my eyes water and immediately freeze when stepping outside. Ok, end rant. (PS - I have to admit that I do like to give our family in Florida a hard time when they complain it's cold outside when it's 40 or 50 degrees. You wish.)

Never moving to Chicago -- sorry, Grandipants.

-Despite my complaining, I'm very thankful for a warm home, car, and workplace to relish in 23.5 hours of the day during these crazy-town temperatures.

Smart little creature.

Wish I had one of these, but the vents in my ceiling work just as well.

-There are some nutbags (and by nutbags, I mean LADIES) walking around with skirts, AND NO TIGHTS ON in this weather (I've blogged about this before). Now, I saw one woman with knee socks on, but still, that's a lot of thin layering going on between the knee and the waist...more than I can handle on a 50 degree day, honestly. Brave women. Stupid women, but brave. 

There's no shame in that, Joey.

-Commuting sucks in this weather. This might be the only time of year I wish I drove to work and only had to be outside for about 10 minutes of my day, versus waiting for a bus or a train for 5-10 minutes each time. On that same regard, waiting in The Line also blows in a climate like this. I really wanted to yell at some people when they cut in line today, but my lungs hurt too much from the cold to attempt to. 

I do feel for our furry friends during this cold. Their poor wittle feet. :(

-Finally, I'm going to have to invest in a few massages come spring because I find myself lifting my shoulders in a shrug-like position and HOLDING them there when it's this cold. Almost like I'm trying to keep my ears and neck warm with my bony shoulders. I'm a weirdo. 

I'm permanently stuck like this, December thru March.

Alright, enough complaining, but good news is, only 1 month until Spring officially comes back to taunt us, sticking around for maybe 45 days before it's seeping hot in DC once more. Yay. 

Sweet home Chicago

So I traveled to the windy city over the weekend to visit some fabulous friends and one who celebrated a big birthday. It was my second time there and I took lots of public transit: the "L" train from Midway to downtown, a few city buses, and even experienced my first ever Uber rides. 

I'm trying to think if I had any particular funny or special public transit stories. CTA truly seems to have their act together for the most part (or at least compared to what I'm familiar with).

The one thing I will complain about in Chicago and their more-than-a-century-old-train-system is the fact that they do not believe in escalators to get to the train platforms. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but does allow for some heart-racing and stress-inducing times when carting around a suitcase, since one has to leave straight from downtown to head to Midway on their last day in the city. (Well, it also didn't help the fact that that same person might have misread their boarding time and their flight actually left 45 minutes earlier than they originally thought -- stupid Central Time!) So, yeah, you definitely get your cardio in if you take the L at any point during your day in Chicago -- add in the suitcase full of dirty clothes, there's your strength training too!

If I think of any other good stories, I'll post some, but for now, I'll leave you with some photos straight from the iPhone.

Auditorium Theatre

Art Institute of Chicago

Ran along Lake Michigan

Views from downtown

Musician at Clark/Lake station, downtown

Chicago Theater

Took an architecture boat tour!

And, ate my Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in an actual scoop shop in Southport!