Today’s #Talesfromtherail

On the commuter rail on the way home and I sit at one of the seats with a table to finish up some emails. A lady sits across from me, who looks like she is a nurse as she has scrubs on (kudos bc I could never do that job) and is probably one of the nicest kindest people ever...but...isn’t a great table / seat mate.

Note she has both earbuds in during this whole time.

1. As train is pulling out of North Station next to another train (and they are really close) she squeals like a kid and says (yells really) “oooh! We are so close! Look at how close the other train is! Oh my goodness!” I nod- smile even- and put my head down.

2. Is now proceeding to make 27827372 phone calls to everyone she knows wanting to know if they want her “to pick up some tabouleh on the way home” and now she’s gabbing about her favorite shows and the latest gossip.

Remember she has both headphones in so she is actually YELLING all of this and everyone is looking. But she continues to chat (yell) completely oblivious.

I’m literally giggling on the outside yet crying on the inside. I really did want to focus. Instead I’m blasting out my eardrums with my own earbuds avoiding eye contact.

Cannot make this stuff up.

Beautiful Day Today!?!

After a long hiatus, I'm going to resurrect this blog. It's been a while, but, I find myself back on the rails again. So, I'm back to document my experiences because - per usual - theres never a dull moment. 

I woke up this morning after the blizzard, figuring that it was only a matter of time until the commuter rail would be a mess, I decided to take the Blue Line from Revere. Of course, as I arrived there, I suddenly got many alerts that the Newburyport/Rockport line had a plethora of delays. Finally, a win.

After a quick change to the Orange Line, I ended up in Chinatown. As I tried to get my bearings, a very friendly gentleman, we'll call him Oscar, came up and heavily tapped my arm to get my attention. As you can imagine, I jumped and didn't know what to think. I looked up and he was walking across the street in front of me. He simply turned around and looked at me with a big smile and said "Hey! It's a beautiful morning out here isn't it? .... Sure is ma'am! Have a good day!" Maybe he thought I was someone else (that he knew) or he was just a friendly guy. Either way, while Oscar certainly startled me, I couldn't help but laugh. Oscar - it was a beautiful morning so thank you for the friendly greeting... but, maybe keep your hands to yourself, I nearly had a heart attack. #Orangeline #BlueLine #BostonCommute #talesfromtherails

What a way to end a Friday...

Today was one of those crazy days where I felt like I was in the twilight zone all. day. long.  It was full of situations that made me say "What?!"  "Seriously?  Is this really happening" and even bang my head a few times just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Let's just say it hurt and I wasn't dreaming.

While I will spare you the details of my day, this same thing continued to happen on my commute home... it started on the Orange Line where I was lucky enough to get on the same car with a loud man pushing his religion on everyone on the train.  Now, first of all, I'm Catholic (and not a very good one if you look at my 2011 contribution statement, but I digress).. I have no problem with Jesus, believing in him or praying to him.  In fact despite me being Catholic, I am actually very interested in other religions... I say rock on to whoever or whatever you believe in, I just really don't like religion of any kind forced upon me, or other people for that matter.  Believe what you believe and let others believe the way they want to believe, after all that IS what America was founded for.

Now getting past all the religious stuff, my goodness, this is NO way to end a Friday, especially a rough one at that.  Please, sir, shhhhhh!  I get it (It was loud and clear after the 3rd run through, which from my understanding was probably closer to your 15th run through), you're passionate, you love Jesus and we are sinners and should repent.  But for the love of pete, please stop.  I need to decompress.  I need to hear nothing but background noise of the hustle and bustle of the evening commute.

He finally got off 3 stops later, and it was the longest 3 stops of my life, but after he left, the people left on the car did a collective sigh of relief... one even said "Thank God!" Evidence that there are higher powers in existence after all!

An open letter to my fellow Commuter Rail passengers and the MBTA

So, I am what you might call a loyal T rider.  I take it each and every day I am not traveling or otherwise not working in the office.  While at first it was frustrating to be beholden to someone else's schedule (especially one that I can in no way control how early or late they arrive), I learned to like it - well at least the Commuter Rail side of it.  I still don't love the true T (unpredictable and just ick), but it's a necessary evil.  Why do I say evil?  Well, because you never know whether there is going to be a breakdown - heck you don't know if there has already been a breakdown that is limiting your service until well after it was supposed to have arrived, and it's dirty.  But, I digress.

Starting this week the MBTA will have forums to hear us out on our thoughts on the increase in fares.  I'm not sure where this will get us.  They have a huge deficit, and aging equipment, making for a dire situation.  We all sit and look for a place to throw blame - after all who wants to pay more in this economy let alone for a lower grade of service?  Not me... but let's think about this...

• They haven't increased fares in many years... it seems great in the interim, but in reality, we're only hurting ourselves later, especially when costs are increasing
• It is one of the lowest cost systems in the country.  I remember taking the Metro in DC back in 2003 and thinking the 1.10 was ludicrous to pay for a bus one way, let alone the .10 increase they asked for during that summer driving fares up to 1.20 each way.  (At the time I believe the T was under $1).  And for what it's worth - NY has a great transit system, but I still think their costs for round trip on Metro North are insane regardless of better service.
• People are going to be driven to drive in, causing more delays and making driving in Boston even worse (do we really need anything more to do that?)  Anyone who has ever traveled north on route 1 during rush hour knows what I am saying.  And getting home at a reasonable hour (and fairly predictable) wins in my book, and is worth a few less DD's coffees during the month.  
• In my opinion, anyone who chooses to drive in "because there it's not worth it" to take the T, I really do wish you luck.  But, my prediction is that within 60 days, it will be like the gym around New Years... packed at first, but better after everyone decides that it was better just sucking it up and taking public transit (not that I am saying working out is not worth it, I'm just referencing the many that stop going after strong new years resolutions making packed gyms overly crowded and unbearable for those who go all the time - been there and done that).

In short, I'm not happy about the increases because I don't want to pay more, but my time at home with my family is still important.  Lack of weekend service on the Train won't bother me, though I know that this will hurt those who are dependent on it to travel to their jobs on these days.  I don't think this should be allowed as this is going to cause serious issues for people to get to their jobs, ones that they may have worked hard to get in this economic climate.

So what do I ask?  Sure, I'm willing to pay more, but don't completely eliminate service on any line.  Reduce it, maybe, but not entirely.  And please plan better for the future next time... don't keep fare's steady just to give us a ridiculous and outlandish increase all at once.  Just as much as you can't afford it, neither can we and we're going to need to cut back to afford it to.  Get your stuff together and be smarter about it next time.

Thank you much in advance,

A loyal MBTA/MBCR rider

It's been a while...

And it's not for lack of things to write about, it's been more about lack of time and too much to report on.  I have been getting requests from friends to post more funny pictures from my trips on the MBTA, and I have not done that.  Must start up again because I really can't make the stuff I see and hear on my commute up.

But today, I have a sad story - well, sad is relative - it's more the feel bad kind of sad rather than the boo hoo type of sad.  Tonight, I miraculously made a train that left North Station earlier than 6 PM.  That, in and of itself, is a miracle, let alone the fact that it wasn't delayed.  This type of occurrence is rare these days as the good old Commuter Rail and MBCR are clearly having some 'tardiness issues' recently.  But I digress... anyways back to my feeling bad sad story...

There was a gentleman that had clearly never been on the commuter rail (or any train) and wasn't from here (dressed in shorts and a tshirt) that was supposed to get off in Chelsea... but he took forever to get his stuff that was stowed on the shelf and went to the wrong door, but by that time, the train had started to go already.  He looked confused.  Really, really confused.  I felt bad.  Someone told him the other door will open ... well, the next stop we get to, he does virtually the same thing... and STILL almost misses the stop. I guess this is where I begin to feel less badly since, well, you were told?

But, I do STILL feel bad about the fact that he was dressed for a Florida vacation and it's now hovering around 30 degrees in Boston and he's sitting on the platform waiting for the next train back to his original destination.

Word to the wise, don't think they'll wait for you at your destination.  You must hustle to get off the train, especially at those stops that don't have too many people getting on or off.  And... also, another word to the wise, be sure to listen to your fellow passengers when they try to help.  Chances are, they've done this before.

Now... back to listen to the snore-er who is 5 rows back.  Sigh...

Today, was a good day!

So... a couple of weeks ago (August 10th to be exact) I left my monthly pass on the commuter rail.  Why I ever took it out to put on the little seat 'thingy' I will never know, but I did.  I mean, I even BOUGHT a handy little Vera Bradley wristlet (exact one seen here) to help - it has a window on the other side, so I don't even NEED to take it out except when going on the subway.  But.. I did take it out and left it there, almost two weeks ago.  But, today was a good day.

The past two weeks have been an expensive pain in the rear end, to say the least.  I have driven into the city ($22 / day = yikes), paid for at least 4 rides on the commuter rail, and used about $15 on my charlie card to ride Boston's fantastic public transportation system.

But today - although dark, dreary, cold and rainy Monday, turned out to be a great day.  I went to work figuring that it was going to be a crappy day.  But.. it was NOT!  Why is it?  Let's review...

• Filene's basement allowed me to return merchandise even though it was 3 days past the "30 Day" clause ($81 back in my pocket)
• I got off the Green Line at 5:37 ... and I made the 5:40 Train to Salem
• As I got on the train, I stopped and asked the conductor if I could get on with my receipt as I left my pass on there...he asked what zone - I told him and he quickly said - here you go...and gave me my pass back! ($10 - $60 back in my pocket)
• When I got home, I noticed that the hamburger meat I bought had gone bad, despite the date being current.  I returned it, and not only got my $ back, they doubled it!  ($8 in my pocket)

So... despite being a crappy day out, all was not lost and it turned out to be a great day!

Continental airlines, shaky in-flight discussion, and an overly comfortable seat companion

So, I don't think it's just me, but I am never, ever excited to fly Continental airlines on the Boston (BOS) to Newark (EWR) route.  There is always perpetual delays, no information given and getting stuck on runways with little to no air conditioning.  Admittedly, I haven't ever flown Continental any other routes, but the BOS to EWR seems to always be particularly painful.  The flight attendants usually act like you just insulted their kid and kicked them in the stomach, the planes are small and uncomfortable, and this gets worse if you're on one of the turbo prop planes.  Ugh...

So after I got over (sort of) the situation that I was in, I settled in to some work on the laptop and some reading. I was lucky enough to not have anyone seated next to me, until a crew member they needed to move to EWR.  He was sitting across from me in the waiting area, and something about him just felt 'off'.  Couldn't pin point it, but there was something about him.  Now, none of my feelings were 'founded' at least on this flight, but he still bugged me.

Why you might ask?  Because he was all but cuddled into me (think fetal position), mouth wide open snoring, legs crossing the plane of my seat, just relaxing.  You'd think that as a crew member, he'd have some more 'etiquette'.  Gah. It's worse and more annoying since, well, like the Commuter Rail and T, you can get up and move.  On a plane you're STUCK in one seat.

Then, upon final approach, the gentlemen in front of me, decided that it was an appropriate time to talk about 9/11.  I'm not a nervous flier, but, it just seems to me like one of those topics that you don't speak about on a plane?  I'm open to discussion on this topic, but it just is in bad taste to me - we're flying over NYC after all.

We'll see how the flight home goes.