The No-Go Train Strikes Again
0 Comments Published by Alexandria on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at 8:57 p.m..
This evening I had the most horrible commute. The train system never fails to surprise me about how inefficient it can be. No wonder a friend at work calls it the No-GO train. It really shouldn't call itself the "GO Train" since it rarely goes properly.
First the train was late 10 minutes and as today was the coldest day this winter, it was not too much fun. But thankfully the train doors were right in front of me so I was one of the first on the train and I got a seat. I vowed not to be grumpy for this small bit of luck.
But just before the first stop, Kipling Station, which is 15 minutes from Union Station in Toronto, the train got stuck because of a mechanical problem. I was napping on the train so I didn't notice how long we were stuck on the tracks. When I woke however and had sat long enough to get bored and crack back open my book ("The Constant Gardener"), I did look at my watch to see that it was nearly 6 p.m., so we were nearly already 15 minutes late. Then I realized that the heat wasn't working at least on my train so my feet were getting cold, which made me lose concentration in my book. I sat and listened to my iPod for a while when it was announced that the mechanical problems on our train could not be fixed and that everyone would have to deboard the train and wait on the platform for the next one. Grrrrrrr!
Time: 6:10 p.m.
So back on the platform with all the other grumbling passengers tired from yet another day at the office. There were two annoying and immature girls standing next to me on the train who were yelling into their respective cell phones to their family or friends about the train problems. My feet were starting to get cold again. I wondered how long it might take for my feet to totally freeze and have to be sawed off in order to save the rest of my leg ... Did I mention that it had started to snow as I was leaving the office and by now it was coming down heavily? Enough snow to cover and stick to my coat so that I had to brush off the snow with my mittens.
The next train came ten minutes later. Someone behind me pushed me into the side of the train in their rush to try to get on the train.
On the already full train it got more packed. To say that it was standing room only would be an understatement. Everybody was standing shoulder to shoulder on both levels. Nobody was happy. It took about ten minutes to board everybody and even still people were left behind at Kipling Station. And because of the volume of people, it was taking longer for people to get off the train at their stations.
When we pulled into my station it was 7:20. Normally when I leave my office at 5 p.m. to catch my 5:30 p.m. train I get home at 6:20 p.m. I was an entire hour late. And because it was snowing so heavily, I had to crank the heat to get my car warmed up and defrosted. I also had to brush the three inches of snow off my car, which meant standing in the cold with my still frozen feet and more snow falling down. When I got in the car, I turned the heat to just my feet, which were shaking so much I was worried they might slip off the gas or break pedals. (There were also two car accidents on my short drive home. In one case I could see that a car had driven off the road and head on into the sign post. A police officer and a tow truck were on the scene.)
Driving home (very, very slowly), I realized how hungry and grumpy I was. I was not in the mood to come home and cook nor did I want a salad. So I did the only thing any reasonable person in my position would do: I drove to a McDonald's and did a drive-thru run for a McChicken meal.
The first thing I did when I got home and hung up my wet jacket, hat, scarf and mittens to dry was to stand on top of one of the heating vents in my home warm my feet. So there I stood on top of the heating venting in my living room warming my feet and with my McDonald's fries. When I felt that my feet had sufficiently thawed, I sat on the couch with a hot water bottle on my feet and my fleece blanket wrapped around me eating my burger. And if that weren't all gluttonous enough, to cap off my meal, I ate the last cupcake leftover from Kimberly's birthday cupcakes. So all in all, a winner of an evening.
But before my entire evening was ruined, a nice surprise did happen today. This morning after my boss had come in I could hear her laughing at her desk (we sit in cubicles so her desk is only a cubicle and a half away from mine since I share a cubicle), then she came over laughing. But as she was walking over she was already apologizing to me. In her hand she held a Christmas gift bag. She said that at Christmas our company had given everybody a gift bag but because I had left for the holidays already and the stuff inside the bag was rather expensive and she didn't want it to sit out in the open for two weeks, she locked the bag in her bottom desk drawer for safe keeping. But apparently she doesn't open the drawer very often because she had forgotten it until now, a month later. But at least it was January 24, so it was a post-Christmas Eve gift! Inside was a big box of Laura Secord chocolates (yummy!), a bottle of Chanel No. 5, some Vanilla Smirnoff Ice, chapstick, a card for free music downloads and a sample of Vera Wang's Princess perfume. (What a shocker that the gift was so good this year. Last year it was cheap contra: tapenade that is still sitting in everyone's cupboards untouched, condoms and lube (really!), face wash and gum.) So Christmas in January it was for me today.
First the train was late 10 minutes and as today was the coldest day this winter, it was not too much fun. But thankfully the train doors were right in front of me so I was one of the first on the train and I got a seat. I vowed not to be grumpy for this small bit of luck.
But just before the first stop, Kipling Station, which is 15 minutes from Union Station in Toronto, the train got stuck because of a mechanical problem. I was napping on the train so I didn't notice how long we were stuck on the tracks. When I woke however and had sat long enough to get bored and crack back open my book ("The Constant Gardener"), I did look at my watch to see that it was nearly 6 p.m., so we were nearly already 15 minutes late. Then I realized that the heat wasn't working at least on my train so my feet were getting cold, which made me lose concentration in my book. I sat and listened to my iPod for a while when it was announced that the mechanical problems on our train could not be fixed and that everyone would have to deboard the train and wait on the platform for the next one. Grrrrrrr!
Time: 6:10 p.m.
So back on the platform with all the other grumbling passengers tired from yet another day at the office. There were two annoying and immature girls standing next to me on the train who were yelling into their respective cell phones to their family or friends about the train problems. My feet were starting to get cold again. I wondered how long it might take for my feet to totally freeze and have to be sawed off in order to save the rest of my leg ... Did I mention that it had started to snow as I was leaving the office and by now it was coming down heavily? Enough snow to cover and stick to my coat so that I had to brush off the snow with my mittens.
The next train came ten minutes later. Someone behind me pushed me into the side of the train in their rush to try to get on the train.
On the already full train it got more packed. To say that it was standing room only would be an understatement. Everybody was standing shoulder to shoulder on both levels. Nobody was happy. It took about ten minutes to board everybody and even still people were left behind at Kipling Station. And because of the volume of people, it was taking longer for people to get off the train at their stations.
When we pulled into my station it was 7:20. Normally when I leave my office at 5 p.m. to catch my 5:30 p.m. train I get home at 6:20 p.m. I was an entire hour late. And because it was snowing so heavily, I had to crank the heat to get my car warmed up and defrosted. I also had to brush the three inches of snow off my car, which meant standing in the cold with my still frozen feet and more snow falling down. When I got in the car, I turned the heat to just my feet, which were shaking so much I was worried they might slip off the gas or break pedals. (There were also two car accidents on my short drive home. In one case I could see that a car had driven off the road and head on into the sign post. A police officer and a tow truck were on the scene.)
Driving home (very, very slowly), I realized how hungry and grumpy I was. I was not in the mood to come home and cook nor did I want a salad. So I did the only thing any reasonable person in my position would do: I drove to a McDonald's and did a drive-thru run for a McChicken meal.
The first thing I did when I got home and hung up my wet jacket, hat, scarf and mittens to dry was to stand on top of one of the heating vents in my home warm my feet. So there I stood on top of the heating venting in my living room warming my feet and with my McDonald's fries. When I felt that my feet had sufficiently thawed, I sat on the couch with a hot water bottle on my feet and my fleece blanket wrapped around me eating my burger. And if that weren't all gluttonous enough, to cap off my meal, I ate the last cupcake leftover from Kimberly's birthday cupcakes. So all in all, a winner of an evening.
But before my entire evening was ruined, a nice surprise did happen today. This morning after my boss had come in I could hear her laughing at her desk (we sit in cubicles so her desk is only a cubicle and a half away from mine since I share a cubicle), then she came over laughing. But as she was walking over she was already apologizing to me. In her hand she held a Christmas gift bag. She said that at Christmas our company had given everybody a gift bag but because I had left for the holidays already and the stuff inside the bag was rather expensive and she didn't want it to sit out in the open for two weeks, she locked the bag in her bottom desk drawer for safe keeping. But apparently she doesn't open the drawer very often because she had forgotten it until now, a month later. But at least it was January 24, so it was a post-Christmas Eve gift! Inside was a big box of Laura Secord chocolates (yummy!), a bottle of Chanel No. 5, some Vanilla Smirnoff Ice, chapstick, a card for free music downloads and a sample of Vera Wang's Princess perfume. (What a shocker that the gift was so good this year. Last year it was cheap contra: tapenade that is still sitting in everyone's cupboards untouched, condoms and lube (really!), face wash and gum.) So Christmas in January it was for me today.
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