An experiment...

So, today I decided randomly to see how long I was on the train, while in transit. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and started the stop watch feature as soon as the P876 on the Brunswick line (my usual train that leaves at 7:11 am) started leaving the Germantown station. 

As we pulled into Union Station, I checked the stopwatch and it was at 41 or so minutes. We waited for probably 5-7 minutes and I finally clicked stopped as the train came to a stop at the platform. 

51 minutes and 45 seconds. This felt like a typical commute for the most part -- sometimes it's longer, sometimes it's shorter. For reference, MARC train schedules estimate that this trip should take 1 hour and 4 minutes, on this particular train. The time on my phone says "8:08" and the MARC schedule says this train is estimated to arrive into Union Station at 8:15, so an early train - woo!

Note that I started the timer when the train started moving, NOT when the train pulled into the Germantown station -- that's probably another good 3-4 minutes of people getting on the train at Germantown before it pulls out of the station. Remember, The Line?! That's how MARC determine trip lengths by when a train arrives at a station.

Also for reference there are trains that don't stop at all the stops so can significantly cut back on the travel time. The P878 -- 7:34 am departure from Germantown -- is what I like to call an "express train", or one that doesn't stop at all the little villages and towns along the way. 

Now, I did some more fun math this morning. I've been a full-time commuter on the MARC train since October 2012, meaning I use the MARC train daily more than 4 times a week. As I've noted before, because of my job and schedule, I often times have to take Metro to and from work to account for late hours, etc. So, I tried my best to estimate, based of previous spreadsheets I kept to track my finances with and just relied on general knowledge of holidays, vacations, days off, etc. to see how many trips I've taken on the MARC train in the last 2.5 years.

Drum roll please...approximately 43,964 minutes of my life have been spent on a commuter train so far (I'm not counting METRO at all). That's 732 hours and almost 45 minutes worth of sitting, and riding, and waiting. That's almost a full month -- 30.5 days -- - of commuting via MARC. 

That equals a nice, LONG vacation. Two paychecks worth of time. A full cycle of bills to be paid. That's 8% of a year of life. That's 6.3 years of the average American's life expectancy! That means that, at this rate, I'd have to ride the train daily as a commuter, for another almost 30 years (29.92 exactly) to have ridden the train non-stop for a full year of my life. Make sense? Holy bananas. Sad part is, that's not unrealistic to accomplish and I'm sure others have been doing it for 30+years already. And, since the Brunswick line goes all the way out to Martinsburg, West Virginia, some people are getting to that mark even quicker.

Anyway, a fun thing the mind does when sitting on the train -- it thinks of blog topics that either fascinate you or make you really, really sad for me. Hopefully it's the former.

Things I've learned this week...

This week has been eventful to say the least. Monday started the week with jury duty so no train for me. I originally was going to do public transit, but my husband convinced me to drive just because they "might" dismiss us early...they did, at 2pm, so I was glad I could drive home right away, rather than wait until 4pm for a train at Rockville. Either way, here are the lessons I've learned this week, despite being down 1 day for train riding:

-Jury duty sucks, but it is a fascinating process to watch as prosecutors and defense teams select their jurors for a criminal trial -- yup. I almost had to sit on that, but thankfully the defense didn't want me. WAHOO!

Love me some Tina Fey.

-I really wish Metro would have screens before you get to the turn-stalls with delays posted prominently. I paid for my ride on Tuesday morning, only to be greeted with a super crowded platform at Union Station. Waited 10 minutes for a train coming from Glenmont/Silver Spring due to a cracked rail at Dupont. Oy. I only had to go one stop, so could have walked in almost the same amount of time. 

-Apparently, it is socially acceptable, to some, to utilize the word "Tits" loudly and repeatedly on a train, when referring to a woman's upper body parts. Seriously?! Did I just hear that? I mean, "boobs" or "boobies" is somewhat better (yet childish), but if I'm correct, I think "breasts" might be the most scientifically accurate way of describing these entities. If I had been sitting closer to the culprit, I would have said something. Don't worry...more about him later in my Cast of Characters that I'm working on.

My face when I heard this terrible-ness. Blech.

Then I did this. 

And pretended I was not even on the same train as this guy.

-My fellow commuters watch crappy television. I am no saint -- I have my guilty pleasures (hello, Housewives haters!), but seriously, NCIS: New Orleans?! No judgement, but when a show is in its third spin-off (in a different city of course), and sounds like and IS very similar to another overly re-done show, that could be loosely compared to another long-running show, with varying degrees of spin-offs on a different network, I feel like you should watch some Homeland, Luther, House of Cards, or something relatively different. Anything else. I did hear talk of The Walking Dead, so that's a good sign I guess...

Just because.

-New iPhone 6's make me nervous as a commuter. They make me especially nervous when they are still naked and afraid, with no cover. Therefore, one must resort to whatever works to protect their newest family member: keep all the plastic on it and tote it around in a (clean) sock. Props goes to my BFFL (that's Best Friend For Life, y'all) for doing this herself with her new iPhone 5s this summer. 

Winner.

-Finally, people: walking is not that hard. I realize you are unable to put down that little device I mention above, so you're not paying attention to where you are going. I also get that you want to be different and march (ha!) to the beat of a different drummer. But just so we're all clear: just as in driving in probably 90% of the world's countries, WALK ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SIDEWALK. 

-One more tip for all the walkers out there: it is NOT advisable that you STOP immediately AND move to your left after getting to the top or bottom of an escalator when you've been standing on the right side the entire time on the escalator and ALL the people on the left side have been hauling tail to walk the machine. You are just asking for trouble. 

Ok, enough ranting from this girl. Happy weekend everyone. Time for a break from the grind. I'm sure there will be more interesting stories to tell soon!