An online journal is an opportunity to see what someone is thinking about at a given point in time. As such, welcome to my mind. This is my life - the world as seen through my eyes, and interpreted with my mind. There's always something going on in my life. It doesn't matter where I am - at home, in Washington DC, otherwise out and about, or at work. Something's happening. And I can share my thoughts and feelings about it with you. After all, what's the point of life if you can't share it with someone?
I saw this picture, and...
I saw this picture on the front page of the Express on my way to work this morning, and it scared the heck out of me at first:
Photo: Kichiro Sato/AP
After all, here was this child on what appeared to be an open ledge, high over a city. It even gave me that funny feeling I get in my stomach whenever I see a long drop down. Then I saw the caption:
Anna Kane, 5, of Alton, Ill. looks down from "The Ledge," the new glass balconies suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the Sears Tower's 103rd floor Skydeck. A sneak preview gave visitors the breathtaking impression that they were floating over the city Wednesday, a day before the balconies open to the public.
And after reading that, I looked at the photo again, and got that weird feeling again. The way that photo looks, it still looked wide open. I think it's because the way the photo is cropped, it was hard to tell that there was a front on the balconies. The way it looks, one would think that if Ms. Kane got too close to the edge, she would have a 103-story fall to the street below. Not fun. On the Metro this morning, I was trying to convince myself that there had to be some sort of safety mechanism to keep people from making that big fall to the street below, but didn't see one.
Then after work, I went digging around online, and found this:
Photo: Scott Olson-Getty Images
And then it all made sense. This was a little glassed-in room on the Sears Tower's Skydeck. Aha...
I guarantee you, though, even if I go up the Sears Tower again the next time I'm in Chicago, there is no way in hell that I'm standing on the glass. I'll peer down over the glass from the real floor, but I'm not standing on it. According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, the weight tolerance is five tons, as they figured out how much weight you could get on there, and then doubled it. So this could technically support an elephant, weighing in at 7,700 pounds. And I'm still not getting on there. I don't care how thick the glass is, or how much weight it can support. No.
That brings me back to about 1999. That's when I got to go to Toronto, and went up the CN Tower. There, they had a big glass floor where you could see down:
That's a long way down. And even though, according to the woman from the BBC who was filming a documentary that day, it "could support the weight of fourteen hippopotamuses," I still wasn't getting on there. I was even nervous walking on the section of non-glass floor in between the sections of glass floor. Something about being able to see where you'll end up if that floor gives out just gives me the jibblies.
Meanwhile, Metro is now sandwiching Rohrs between cars of other classes. However, as I mentioned earlier, they might want to consider doing the same for the 4000's as well, since I believe that those might also be prone to telescoping in a collision, considering that the 3000's did. On my ride to work today, it was 4000-4000-Rohr-Rohr-4000-4000. So if, heaven forbid, that set got into an accident, I believe you might have telescoping again. Metro General Manager John Catoe had the opportunity to prove me wrong when I asked him directly about the crashworthiness of the 4000-Series during a Lunchtalk chat, but he didn't answer my question.
Meanwhile, I wonder what the logistics are of creating sets with Rohrs specifically placed in the middle. Previously, I believe Metro just took the sets out as they were ordered. If the six cars on the end were two Breda rehabs, two 5000's, and two Rohrs, that's how they went out. Now with their specifically placing Rohrs between allegedly stronger cars, one has to wonder how they arrange it. I suppose one could simply keep the Rohrs off on separate storage tracks, and then when it's time to make a train, bring out a non-Rohr pair, then couple a Rohr pair to it, and then pull out another non-Rohr pair to make the train, and send that out for revenue service. I suppose they could just make neat little Breda-Breda-Rohr-Rohr-Breda-Breda sets and stack them up (so to speak) on the storage tracks, but then eight-car trains could get a little problematic. In my experience, Metro likes to run eight-car trains during rush periods, and then at the end of rush, break off the last pair and send that back to the yard for off-peak. And I've already seen some eight-car trains where the middle four cars are all Rohrs. Thus you can't just break off a pair and keep running it if the goal is to put Rohrs in the middle. Who knows.
And then meanwhile, Metro has disappointed me for July 4. They're running their usual service pattern on Saturday, meaning no special rail map this year. In past years, when they've run their special service pattern, the map looks like this:
Image: WMATA
Basically, all westbound Orange Line service runs to Vienna, and eastbound service runs from Vienna and alternates between New Carrollton and Largo Town Center. Blue Line service runs between Huntington and Rosslyn (upper level) via Arlington Cemetery, essentially running as a shuttle. Yellow Line service runs between Franconia-Springfield and Mt. Vernon Square. And then every other Red Line train turns back at Silver Spring, and every other Green Line train turns back at Fort Totten. And Smithsonian station is closed all day due to its entrances being within the secured area on the Mall. The idea is to send the most service to the largest parking facilities, and get the people into downtown. Thus the line to Vienna gets double service due to Vienna and West Falls Church having giant parking garages. Doing this means there's no room for Blue Line trains downtown, thus why they cut the Blue Line at Rosslyn - just far enough onto the Orange Line's route to make a connection, and then getting the Blue Line trains off the line as quickly as possible. This, by the way, requires Blue Line trains to single-track between Arlington Cemetery and Rosslyn. Then due to the larger parking facility and greater highway accessibility at Franconia-Springfield compared to Huntington, Franconia-Springfield gets Yellow Line service, going over the bridge directly into downtown, and putting Huntington on the Blue Line shuttle service. Then on the Red Line, Shady Grove has more parking than Glenmont, thus the turnback at Silver Spring (I'm not as concerned about this for the special service pattern, but I wish they would discontinue this practice for regular service). And on the Green Line, Branch Avenue generally gets higher ridership than Greenbelt, thus the turnback at Fort Totten.
The whole pattern seems to work, so why abandon it? I wonder if it's not at least in part because Metro is still doing inspections related to the June 22 accident and still running slowly and in manual mode as a result, and with the system hobbled, running a special service pattern would complicate things too much. It certainly saves Metro money in not having to print the special maps and put them up all over the system (and then take them all down the next night). Of course, one also has to wonder why July 4 gets a special service pattern, when July 4 is not in the top 20 for highest-ridership days. Every one of the days shown in the press release had the regular service pattern. They run no special service pattern for Inauguration Day, though that's another case where the July 4 service pattern might work well.
Most disappointing for me, though, is that I was planning to railfan the system with Matthew Tilley on July 4, and so that plan went out the window, since we can railfan the regular service pattern any day, and avoid the crowds. So we're going bowling in Reston instead. That ought to be fun.
Song: Music from Yoshi's Island. I've been playing Super Nintendo this evening...
Quote: By the way, did you know that the Sears Tower will be renamed soon? It's going to become the "Willis Tower". I can't say I blame Chicagoans for getting their panties in a wad about it. Even though Sears has been out of the building for more than a decade, the name is part of the city's identity. It kind of reminds me of when Staunton Mall near where I used to live became "Colonial Mall Staunton". Everyone hated that name, and no one called it that. Then when Colonial sold the mall, the new owners gave the mall back its old name, much to the delight of many.
Well, it's been a week since Metro had its big collision, and this was my first day back on Metro since my four-hour commute, and after driving to work for the remainder of the week due to my not wanting to deal with the shuttle bus service. Monday was the first workday that the Red Line was running on both tracks, much to my delight. Metro may have its hiccups, but at least I can sleep on the way home from work when I'm taking Metro. Can't do that in the car. Have to stay alert for driving.
And today was one of those days where I slept well on the way home. In fact, I don't think I've slept this well on Metro in a long time. I had my iPod going, and I kind of leaned my head along the edge of one of the windows. And the reduced speeds (as a post-accident safety precaution) made for a smoother ride. I vaguely remember New York Avenue station, and then the next thing I knew, we were outside Silver Spring, where we were waiting for what felt like eternity due to single-tracking caused by a track jumper at Forest Glen. That single-tracking made me miss my bus, causing me to have to wait ages for a Y bus at Glenmont. Not fun.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Metro General Manager John B. Catoe held an online chat to discuss the accident. The Lunchtalk chats that Metro does were something that Catoe inherited from his predecessors, Dick White and Dan Tangherlini. However, I got the distinct feeling that Catoe really didn't want to do this chat, and that his hand might have been forced in doing it. Usually, you can submit your questions in advance. Not this time. For this chat, questions could only be submitted during the chat. And then for a chat that was advertised as an hour long, Catoe bolted after 45 minutes, saying, "Unfortunately I have to move on to my next appointment," as he signed off early. And he didn't answer my question:
Much attention has been given to the fact that the 1000-Series car telescoped during the recent accident, and this has led to the announcement that 1000-Series cars will be run in the middle of consists from now on. I read in the NTSB report about the 1996 collision at Shady Grove that the 3000-Series cars involved in that accident also telescoped. While the 3000-Series cars have since been rehabilitated and presumably are now more crashworthy, the 4000-Series cars are of similar age and appear to be of similar design as the 3000-Series cars prior to their rehab. Are the 4000-Series cars also subject to telescoping in a collision? If so, what has or will be done prior to these cars' rehabilitation in a few years to prevent these cars from telescoping in a collision?
Yeah, I asked a hard question, and one that calls another 100 rail cars' safety into question as well. After all, the first telescoping incident was a 3000-Series car, manufactured by Breda. See?
Photo: NTSB
So if the 3000-Series prior to rehab could telescope, as Breda 3252 did here, it is quite possible that the 4000-Series would also telescope, since the cars were of very similar design prior to the 3000s' rehab, and all were manufactured prior to Metro's having any major collisions (the only major incident prior to these cars' manufacture was the 1982 Federal Triangle derailment). This also indicates that the design flaw is not unique to the 1000-Series. Now, though, the telescoping flaw on Metro's older cars has been proven through three separate collisions. The first cars manufactured following a telescoping incident was the 5000-Series, and the 2000 and 3000-Series cars have been rehabbed, which I believe includes improving their crashworthiness. But the 4000's are still original.
Therefore I think I had a valid point. And Catoe weaseled out of it. I don't think he was prepared for the fact that as soon as I learned of the chat the night before, I prepared my question, and then submitted it on my lunch hour at work as soon as the lines opened for the chat. Of course, Metro already has egg on its face about the safety of its older cars since they did nothing regarding the crashworthiness of 1000-Series cars following the Woodley Park-Zoo collision in 2004. Of course, to admit that the 4000-Series is also prone to telescoping in a collision would certainly make Metro's job harder, even though the 4000's will be rehabbed in a few years. But it is a valid question, and as a daily rider, I believe I have a right to know.
Now, though, I'm waiting to see what the NTSB concludes regarding this most recent accident.
Quote: "Well, Catoe held a lunch chat today, and he answered a few easy questions and bolted, not even staying for the full hour. Chicken. I'm surprised he didn't answer my question, which calls into question the crashworthiness of the 4000's." - Me on railroad.net regarding the Lunchtalk chat.
Today was one of those days where I was glad to be home again after work. Metro had its deadliest accident in its history today, with six confirmed dead as of this writing, as two inbound Red Line trains collided between Takoma and Fort Totten stations:
Photo: Carole Watson (WRC)
According to news reports, around 5:00 PM, the train in the lead was stopped (a not-unheard-of occurrence), and the train behind it crashed into it, causing the lead car of the moving train to telescope, killing the female train operator, among others.
Meanwhile, the Red Line was completely disrupted for the evening commute, and if I had known this going in, I would have avoided Metro entirely and taken the S9 to Silver Spring and caught a Y bus from there. I was still at work when the accident happened, so fortunately, I was never in any physical danger. I entered Metro at Dupont Circle, and quickly caught a Red Line train signed for Silver Spring. As we went through the main transfer stations, we were informed that the train would be going out of service at Rhode Island Avenue, with shuttle bus service being provided from there to Silver Spring. The PIDS screens were indicating a "police situation" at Fort Totten, and Metro's e-alerts were indicating mechanical problems at Fort Totten. However, the line being closed for that much distance was highly unusual, because normally when stations are closed due to police situations, trains either pass through without stopping or they single-track, depending on the nature of the incident. But all in all, three stations were closed.
At Rhode Island Avenue, we were offloaded as promised, and so everyone headed to the exit to catch the shuttle bus. Already I knew I wasn't going to get my 51 bus from Glenmont this evening. Here, as I was heading towards the escalator, my father called to see if I was all right and let me know what was going on. Turned out that Metro had an accident. Now all of a sudden it all made sense, as Dad relayed what the news was saying.
Reaching the bus loop, I was amazed to see the large mass of people at Rhode Island Avenue, as Metro attempted to service the crowd with shuttle buses, along with the regular bus service. Take a look:
Metro did a somewhat poor job in managing this crowd, and in communicating with the crowd, and as such, it did not lead itself to orderliness. No one knew what buses were going to be shuttles. No one knew exactly where the shuttle buses were going to load. Shuttle buses were loading kind of willy-nilly all over the place. And the supervisors on scene made no effort to communicate with the crowd, only speaking to the bus drivers. A lot of the confusion and annoyance could have been prevented had these people just spoken to the passengers. But no, and as a result, I missed seven or eight shuttle buses because no one communicated where anything was going to board, putting me in the wrong place.
Eventually, an H8 bus was turned into a shuttle, and I somehow managed to get on that bus, pushing on there along with all the other cranky commuters... who were also pushing their way onto the bus. The rear doors also opened, and people were boarding that way as well, until a Metro employee physically prevented people from continuing. In the case of a revenue run, I can understand barring people from using the rear door, because they can't pay their fare. But for a non-revenue shuttle, who cares? It allows for faster boarding.
Perhaps the hero of the evening as far as I was concerned presented himself here: the bus driver. This gentleman made sure to tell everyone exactly what was going on. He was instructed to take his bus to Fort Totten, where we could then transfer to another bus to continue to Silver Spring. A number of us, myself included, thanked this gentleman for his providing this information, since this was the first information of any kind we'd received at all.
So we were off, roughly following the route of the Red Line. As we approached Brookland-CUA, the bus driver asked if anyone needed off at Brookland. A resounding "NO!" came from the crowd, and so we passed through without stopping. At Fort Totten, the driver got instructions to continue to Takoma. Welcome news! On the way to Takoma, I pulled up a news report about the accident from WRC's site. The article had a photo of the accident, and I passed the phone around for all to see. Then I read the article out loud in order to explain what happened.
And then a bit of good news: At Takoma, the bus driver was instructed to go to Silver Spring. The rationale was, "If you've gone this far, you might as well just go to Silver Spring." When the bus driver announced this to the riders of his bus, cheers and applause erupted from end to end. Wonderful! We might just get home tonight!
Silver Spring was a bit of a zoo, as a bunch of riders unfamiliar with downtown Silver Spring's bus traffic patterns were dumped into the temporary bus facilities there. Some headed to the station (the line was open from Silver Spring to Glenmont), and others headed for the buses. I caught a Y9 from there, and in taking my seat, a tremendous feeling of relief came over me - I was going to get home, and what felt like the longest commute in history was going to come to an end. And before you knew it, the bus dropped me off at my street. We're home!
While I was in "Metro hell", as I described it, I kept people posted on what was going on via Facebook from my cell phone. Turned out that a lot of people appreciated it, as I was greeted when I got home by a lot of I-was-worried-about-you messages and messages expressing relief that I was safe. Thanks, everyone - it's very comforting to know that you all care about me.
Meanwhile, the line is going to continue to be seriously messed up well into tomorrow, as is the case with major accidents (my photos of the Woodley Park-Zoo accident in 2004 were next-day photos). So I'm driving in tomorrow, since doing the bustitution thing tomorrow morning is just a little bit more than I can stand.
Quote: Meanwhile, what's kind of scary is that I was on this section of railroad just that morning, and it was uneventful as always. It's hard to suppress those it-could-have-been-my-train thoughts sometimes, but I'm fortunate that my commute ended at home, and not in a hospital emergency room or worse.
She just had to go there, and didn't like what she heard...
So I was talking to my mother on the phone today after work, as I do most days. At some point, our discussion had moved toward discussion of Anonymous and its protests against the Church of Scientology. My mother supports Anonymous' work, and often tries to learn more about it, while explaining to her friends about Scientology's being a dangerous cult (go Mom!).
But then Mom went a step further. She asked what I thought about atheists. I responded that I thought atheists had their head on straighter than most people, and in the interest of full disclosure, indicated that I considered myself amongst their numbers. I don't think Mom was expecting that response. I also don't think that she really wanted to hear that, based on her noticeably more down-sounding tone after that disclosure.
See, here's my take on religion. If you look at various religions objectively, they all make some very interesting points. However, most if not all believe that their religion is the way to whatever happens after death, whether its a cloudy or warm place after shuffling off the mortal coil, whether you or whether you are going to be reincarnated over and over again until you defeat the load-bearing boss at the end of World 8. And if all of them are proclaiming to be the right way, then I consider it more probable that none of them are right.
Additionally, if one looks at history, one finds that one era's religion is another era's mythology. As a child, I learned about Greek mythology, and many of the various fanciful stories therein, presented in such a way to indicate that they were fictional. However, for the ancient Greeks, that was their religion. Many believed that these legends were true, and that the various gods and goddesses actually did exist. However, as much of Europe converted to Christianity in the later stages of the Roman Empire, these became regarded as mythology - fiction. Who's to say that the ancient religions are any less valid than modern religions? It kind of proves my point, that the truth lies outside of all of these faiths.
Growing up, I didn't attend church until I was eight years old. While I was given some vague notion of something called "God", I didn't really get too deeply into it, other than the going-to-bed ritual that involved saying a prayer. Then at eight, we started attending a Presbyterian church, and I did the whole Christianity thing. I went to Sunday school and church. I attended the mid-week after-school program from third through eighth grade. I went to vacation bible school in elementary and middle school. I sang in the church choir in high school, and was a participant in various Presbyterian and Lutheran campus ministry programs throughout college. However, by the time I was a senior in college, I was starting to not buy the whole Christianity thing. I think it really came out when I went on a service trip in 2003. The service work we did was really rewarding, but for the first time in a while, I really saw the religious aspect of it as a drag on the whole thing.
Then when I started working for Wal-Mart, my schedule precluded my going to church. Having some time away from church gave me an opportunity to objectively question my faith. I'd previously learned about "borrowed faith" and "owned faith" in college. Basically, borrowed faith consists of those religious tenets that are taught to you by others, while owned faith consists of religious tenets that you have come to believe in by your own searching. And what I came to realize that my entire belief in the Christian faith was still borrowed faith, and that it was being propped up primarily by having it continuously drilled into me for fourteen years. I couldn't accept things just on faith alone. For me to truly believe something, it had to be tested and proven, or otherwise demonstrated to be true. "It is because it is" was not acceptable, and "it is because God said it is" was even less acceptable. As a point of reference, this is also about the same time that my politics shifted towards more radical left-wing views.
In realizing that Christianity was no longer for me, I also did some research on other religions, to see if any of them were a better match for me. And despite my best efforts to find the right faith, I found that none of them were something that I could really wrap my mind around and believe in. All the years in church had drilled Christianity into me enough to where I viewed the other faiths as contrary to what I had always known, and couldn't quite break that hold. But then I had the realization that if the other faiths were not "it", then Christianity probably wasn't "it", either, and so of course none of them would fit me, because I wasn't buying any of them.
Then I learned of the Black Sea deluge theory, which explains how rising sea levels caused by retreating glaciers caused a massive flooding of previously dry land, considerably expanding the size of the Black Sea. I also soon learned that many cultures had flood stories in their oral traditions, and all of a sudden, the Noah's Ark story made sense. Of course! It was not the case that some mythical cloud being got upset with how humanity was behaving and decided to destroy civilization, save for two of everything crammed into a ship built and commanded by a man 600 years old. It was a natural disaster. Now mind you, it was a really big natural disaster, but a natural disaster nonetheless. Melting ice sheets caused sea levels to rise, and with all this extra liquid water needing a place to go, it found the lowest route to get somewhere, and this happened to be the Black Sea. If there were settlements along the Black Sea's ancient coastline, then certainly they were flooded, and people who couldn't get out of the way fast enough died. With science not yet advanced enough to wrap itself around a natural disaster of monumental proportions, the people presumably tried to explain it as well as they could, assuming that since man certainly couldn't cause such a phenomenon, a supernatural being must have. Thus the Noah myth, and through centuries of being passed down, has the myth has taken its various modern forms.
But unlike the Noah myth, the Black Sea deluge theory is one I can wrap my mind around, because it makes sense, and is evidence-based. Believing that some deity got upset and threw a temper tantrum up in the clouds is merely conjecture, with no hard facts to base it on.
That was basically it for me. The Black Sea deluge theory blew one of the big stories that every child learns in church right out of the water, and reveals it to be a complete fabrication. And if the Noah story is a fabrication, who is to say that all the other stories are factual as well, including the whole Jesus bit?
And what about "God", the omniscient, omnipresent being that lives up in "heaven"? Let us also not forget that a lot of the attributes that people place on "God" are also placed on Santa Claus. "God" allegedly can always see what you are doing. Santa Claus allegedly watches you, too. "God" determines whether your behavior has earned you the reward of eternal life in heaven, or eternal punishment in hell. Santa Claus also is the sole arbiter of whether your behavior is "good" or "bad", which determines whether you will get a sleigh full of presents on December 25, or a stocking full of coal. But once your parents consider you to be "old enough", they let you in on the fact that Santa Claus is not real, but indeed a myth. But wait - this cloud being shares many of the same attributes as Santa Claus, which you have told me to be a fabrication. Is "God" also a myth? Oh, no - he's real. But what makes one being real while another being with many of the same attributes is not? Ummm... Thought so.
So there you have it. I don't take a dim view of just Scientology. I also take a dim view of theism in general. Honestly, secular humanism is probably the world view that most closely matches up with what I actually believe.
And for all you religious fundamentalists who want to condemn me to hell for my explanations here, I don't want to hear it.
Web site:Journal entry #558, when a religious wacko tried to get religious with me at work. In that entry, recall that I said at that time that I didn't think that most people wanted to hear my thoughts on their religion, or religion in general. If you've gotten this far, you've likely read the main body of the entry, so you decide about if you really wanted to know all this or not.
Quote: Of course, this also explains more fully why I view same-sex marriage as I do. Take the religion out of it, and marriage is simply a legal contract between two individuals that has nothing to do with love, though if these two individuals do love each other, it makes these people more likely to not want to get out of that contract down the road. Houses of worship don't have to have anything to do with these marriages if they don't want to. It's all a legal construct that has nothing to do with love or any religious beings...
"Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate!"
This past Saturday, Anonymous DC held its June raid, protesting the Church of Scientology. This time, we took the always-popular pirate theme for our raids, which means that we dressed in stereotypical pirate garb. As was the case last year, the pirate-themed raid was a LOT of fun. And like last year, our raid was the same weekend as the Capital Pride festival, which ties in nicely with Scientology protests. After all, Scientology an arguably be labeled as homophobic.
Early on, we got visited by two people in bikinis. One of them went into the Org wearing just the bikini. Not all that surprisingly, she got kicked out, with the Scientologists citing that she wasn't wearing enough clothes.
Exiting the Org after being kicked out, and making a sad face for the camera due to her getting kicked out of the Org.
She also posed with our Anons for a photo...
Another one of the themes this time around focused on the fact that participants in Anonymous DC raids have allegedly been physically assaulted by Scientologists. The first was the assault on Ron Jeremy at the April raid, and more recently, an assault on HT that happened during a flyering session for this raid. There, three Scientologists allegedly came out of the Org. One grabbed HT's Guy Fawkes mask with enough force to crack it and yanked it off, throwing it with enough force to land it at the top of the steps in front of the Org. Another began punching HT in the stomach. A third took photos of it all. And because of these incidents, we made this part of our message. After all, what kind of church physically assaults its critics? A dangerous cult might do this (any dangerous cults come to mind, wink wink?), but I wouldn't think that a true place of religion would do that...
Beret demonstrates this point with her "Join Scientology, beat up girls" sign.
John McNonymous also demonstrated this point with an add-on to an existing sign.
Meanwhile, Enturb held up a homemade wanted poster for Reinhard Koenig, the alleged kicker in the Ron Jeremy incident, who, at the time this photo was taken, was still at large.
I still find it amazing how Scientology finds it useful to engage in illegal activities to try to scare us off. After all, most groups, when targeted by demonstrators in Washington, don't even bother getting involved, leaving the cops to handle the demonstrators. Not Scientology. They used to just try and screw with us, but now they've graduated to assault and battery. All in all, it's not very becoming for a supposed religious group.
This raid also marked the first time in about a year that we had a large banner. While our last banner in 2008 read "BOOOO SCIENTOLOGY", this one read, "Scientology is a dangerous alien CULT".
We also got good activist press coverage at this raid! Luke, whom many of you have seen in photos from other demonstrations, swung by our raid while covering the Capital Pride events for DC Indymedia.
Luke takes a few photos of our raid, and interviews an Anon.
Luke's work ultimately led to this article on DC Indymedia about our raid.
This raid also had a feel similar to some of our earlier raids. Some Anons came back to raid with us again, plus we had the big sound system like we did for early raids.
The sound system returns!
Heidi also made it to her first raid after way too many months' absence.
One person who was noticeably absent was WalkingStickMan, whose trademark phrase is "Why so ironic?" He was out graduating from high school on this particular occasion. He may not have been there, but his sign was, and we made sure to put it to good use.
Heidi and I each ask, "Why so ironic?"
And then of course, we just generally had fun...
HT and Purple Hair Anon dance to pirate-themed music.
Meme sings a sea shanty written specifically for this raid. "Sylvia" refers to Scientology spokesmodel Sylvia Stanard, who never did make her token appearance this time around.
As you can see, the atmosphere was light, as word came out that the police had caught alleged attacker Reinhard Koenig.
And then as the raid neared its close, guess who showed up! It was none other than WalkingStickMan, who, after going to graduation and post-graduation activities, came to our raid.
Beret gives WalkingStickMan a congratulatory hug for a job well done.
And that was basically it! After the raid, a bunch of us went to Bailey's for our usual after-raid dinner and lulz, and all in all, a fun time was had by all.
Quote: So all in all, not a bad day. And hopefully, we showed the Scientologists that despite their change from "Ignore Tech" (our term) to "Assault Tech" (my term), we will not be swayed. And they're still practicing "Curtain Tech", where they hang a maroon curtain over the window on the Org's front door and draw all the shades on the west side of the Org. I guess they figure that if they can't see us, we aren't really there. Kind of silly, if you ask me.
Yes, this is me at 5:00 today, at the end of the work week. A few minutes after I shot this image with Photo Booth, I headed for the exit for two days of not-work. Do I look tired, dazed, or confused? My glasses are a shade off-kilter. That must mean I've been working hard.
Meanwhile, it's funny how life is sometimes. You mention someone in a Journal entry, and then they show up in real life. Mom was shopping at Peebles in Waynesboro today, and who did she run into, but Mr. Schindler, formerly of Stuarts Draft High School, and his wife. Recall that I wrote a little about Schindler about three entries ago. Turns out that Schindler looks back on me favorably, and that I'm one of the few students who made a lasting impression on him. I'm glad that he remembers our experience together fondly, because I come out better than I probably ought to in the end. After all, high school was not exactly the greatest time in my life, mainly because Stuarts Draft High School and I were not the greatest match, though I did have my shining moments.
Meanwhile, this weekend is a raid weekend, as Anonymous DC raids the Founding Church of Scientology on Saturday with pirate-themed lulz. See you there?
Song:Comedy sketch parodying Super Sentai/Power Rangers. Favorite (translated) line: "Red is the leader. That's the rule for this kind of show."
Quote: So it seems that even if I didn't get along with Schindler in his role as a principal a decade ago, it looks like he might just be all right in the end...
Now those are some serious-looking storm clouds...
So this is what my commute looked like from the moment we emerged from the tunnel north of Union Station:
Those are some serious-looking storm clouds if I do say so myself, seen here from Breda 4003 at Rhode Island Avenue. A fellow rider who was also taking pictures said that it kind of looked like a wall cloud out there.
Thankfully, though, my commute was fairly uneventful other than fascinating storm clouds. The rain and the light show waited until I got home, and now there's a thunderstorm going on outside. It's kind of fun to watch... from inside, that is.
Song: "Just give a snap, a clap, and a chuckle (ha ha!) any time you feel a bit dismayed. Give a snap, a clap, and a chuckle (ha ha!), and then you won't feel afraid!" (See?)
Quote: Meanwhile, at the rate this week has gone, we might be in for a stormy summer in Washington...
Why can't DC set all the traffic signals in Dupont Circle to flashing red more often?
Let me tell you... Dupont Circle was definitely different this morning coming out of the Metro. DDOT had milled the pavement overnight in preparation for resurfacing, and all of the traffic signals were set to flashing red in all directions. This traffic light configuration lasted through rush hour, which is when I saw it.
And let me tell you... I haven't felt this safe crossing the street at Dupont Circle in a long time. Nine times out of ten, when I'm navigating Dupont Circle, I'm doing so as a pedestrian, and am pretty much at the mercy of the cars. I've heard people describe the signals in Dupont Circle as "suggestions", and people really do drive like maniacs through Dupont Circle, going too fast through the intersections, honking at pedestrians, and cutting pedestrians off. I've told people numerous times that the most dangerous part of my commute is right near work - specifically, crossing Massachusetts Avenue NW in the southeastern part of Dupont Circle.
At that location, you have several movements going on. You have people turning from Dupont Circle onto Massachusetts Avenue. You have Massachusetts Avenue through traffic in Dupont Circle (separated from local traffic) going back onto Massachusetts Avenue. Then you have traffic from Massachusetts Avenue going into either the through lanes in Dupont Circle or the local lanes. Now the traffic entering the circle from Massachusetts Avenue is okay. That tends to go in pulses, and there are long breaks where the roadway is clear. But the traffic going past that intersection that's already in Dupont Circle is no-holds-barred. People go too fast. People cut other people off while making illegal turns. And the pedestrians are like little targets, or at least that's what it feels like sometimes.
However you want to slice it, you see, I figure that if I'm going to get injured on my commute, that's where it's going to happen. It's that whole where-angels-fear-to-tread thing.
So today, with all the lights on flashing red in all directions, it was very tranquil. People were actually driving courteously. People were driving far more slowly. People were not honking at each other. I was amazed. I was able to cross the street quickly and safely, and didn't feel like I was taking my life in my hands when crossing the street.
Of course, the reason that people drove slowly and courteously is because this was something new, and people were likely on edge because things were different. Once people figured out the new lay of the land, everyone would start driving like maniacs again, and the benefit would be lost. And I figure that Dupont Circle will be back to its normal traffic pattern for the evening commute. I wouldn't be so lucky as to have Dupont Circle on all red lights in the evening, too, you see.
Still, for one shining but fleeting moment, the most dangerous part of my commute got a lot safer...
Song: Another sound of Dupont Circle... sirens, and the ambulance drivers shouting, "MOVE TO THE RIGHT!" on their loudspeakers to get cars to clear the way.
Quote: And for the record, I do love the Dupont Circle neighborhood. I just hate the rush hour traffic.
Today marks ten years since I graduated high school...
I can't believe that today marks ten years since I graduated high school. June 4, 1999, at Expoland in Fishersville, I received my high school diploma, officially ending my days as a student at Stuarts Draft High School. That was an interesting day. Rather than go to school, the seniors traveled to Expoland for graduation rehearsal, where we walked through the whole procedure. We lined up. We sat down. We had to sit through every single bloody name getting called. And then I think we were done by noon.
Then that evening, we went through the ceremony for real, with all of our friends/family/etc. watching. And we got our diplomas. And each student got their photo taken as they received their diploma, in the cover that we were required to buy (I did not appreciate that). And then after that, we were done! No more Stuarts Draft High School for me. No more block scheduling. No more AP classes. No more nonsense from Mr. Schindler (principal), whom I didn't really get along with all that well.
Of course, for me, this graduation was simply a formality, because for all intents and purposes, I had already accomplished what I came to accomplish. I got accepted at James Madison University for the fall 1999 semester, and so from the beginning of April onwards, I basically enjoyed myself. Or at least tried to. Less than two weeks after I got my college acceptance, I fell at home and dislocated my right shoulder, which caused me to miss my first day of school since fifth grade, and put me in a sling for a month while it healed. Then Columbine happened a week and some change after my injury, which put everyone a little bit on edge. And I managed to get myself suspended for two days for making some remark about it (yes, I got suspended - get over it). I don't even remember what the remark was, but obviously, Schindler thought it was important enough to warrant kicking me out for two days. Not like I particularly cared, though. I had already sent in the deposit for JMU. And I enjoyed my two days off. My mother was not so laid back about it, though, as she came into school and handed Bill Schindler his behind on a platter for the whole incident. Let's just say that my mother is awesome for that.
But outside of those things, I did indeed enjoy myself, though I certainly was an insufferable little b---- at times. My first-block class was a complete waste of time, and the teacher treated it as such, teaching us more about her parents than she did about math. Then my fourth block class was a computer class, and I spent most of the time surfing the Internet. This is when I also found out how Orwellian the people running the Internet filtering software were. Big Brother was indeed watching. I'd go to a game show-related site, mainly trolling for ideas for my then-upcoming school production of The Price is Right. Then the next day, when I would attempt to go there again, they'd have it blocked, with "home directory" as the given reason. With "home directory" as a reason, it stands to reason that there was no real reason to block it other than we-don't-have-a-reason-to-not-want-you-to-go-there-but-we-don't-think-you-should-be-looking-at-this. I still remember "making up" the work I missed for the injury and the suspension. That took two minutes. I was just like, "I'm not doing that, I'm not doing that, I'm not doing that, and I'm not doing that. That was easy!" I suppose that if the teachers really wanted to press the point, they could have made me do the work, perhaps only on principle, but they knew better than to press the point. After all, just assigning zeroes to those assignments didn't hurt me, it didn't hurt them, and it saved them the trouble of having to deal with more paperwork. I still remember a Web assignment we had to do for the aforementioned computer class. The assignment was to design your own Web site. After all, it was the late 90's, and making students design rather pointless personal Web sites was the fad back then. I'd been doing the Web site thing for three years by then. I knew the drill. So when it was time, I stood up and presented Schumin Web. Why not? Unlike most of those people, I already had an established site, and a small following. Of course, the site was rather primitive by today's standards, but for the time, it did the job.
Still, I just can't believe that today marks ten years since the end of high school. And it's been years since I've even seen my high school diploma. I do know exactly where it is, though. It's in a somewhat obscure location in my parents' house in Stuarts Draft, next to my sister's diploma. And there it will stay, because that's more for them. My college degree means much more to me, and that's hanging on the wall in my bedroom here in Maryland. My sister's college degree from Virginia Tech, meanwhile, is hanging on my parents' dining room wall, and I don't know why she hasn't taken that out to Chicago yet.
Now, ten years down the road, would I want to repeat my high school experience, even knowing then what I know now? No way. College maybe, but not high school. Stuarts Draft High School and I tolerated each other, but we never really were best buds. And then once the tables turned when I got accepted to JMU, and the playing field changed, they became the main impediment to my getting lulz, often at their expense.
Well, it certainly was an exciting day at work today. We had not one, but two fire alarms today. The first was just before 1:00. I was walking down the hall in our suite, and then the fire alarm started sounding. Thus we got to hear those new fire alarms that we had put in a few months ago come to life. Needless to say, we heard these Wheelock NS horns loud and clear, which is more than could be said for the old Wheelock 34 horns that they replaced.
So I immediately got into my floor-monitor mode, getting my safety vest and hard hat out of my man-sized safe and doing a sweep of the floor, along with the other floor monitor. Then we did the same for the other suite on our floor before heading down to the street.
Down on the street, the fire trucks arrived, and checked things out. Amusing: The man in the rear steering position of one of the fire trucks was in there smoking a cigar! Kind of odd for the firefighter to be smoking on their way to a potential fire, where there's the potential for lots of smoke.
I believe from start to finish, we were in and out in 20 minutes. Just about everyone who didn't think it was a planned fire drill chalked it up to burned food, since after all, it was right about lunchtime for most people. Thus an accidental alarm.
So then fast forward an hour or so. I was asking some people in an area of the suite where we had previously had problems hearing the alarm about how well they could hear the new alarms. I was asking whether it was loud, really loud, or world-coming-to-an-end loud. As I'm asking this, the fire alarm goes off again. Well, that answered my question. Speak of the devil and he will come, I suppose.
And the second verse was the same as the first, as I once again had to chase these people out of the office and down the stairs. Fire trucks showed up again, too. They couldn't have been happy about having to show up to the same building twice within an hour's time. This is also when I learned that it wasn't an accidental alarm for either one. It was a malfunction, as a part of the system had gone bad and needed to be replaced.
With that in mind, I figured that the system could very well go off again, sending everyone outside for a third time in one day. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Trust me, twice is more than enough as it is. Now while clearing everyone out on my floor in the event of an emergency is part of my job, there are other parts of my job that also need to get done, and I'd rather be doing them than constantly having to evacuate. Plus the fire department would really be pissed if they had to show up once an hour on the hour for a malfunctioning alarm system. But I did keep my vest and hard hat out and handy, just in case I had to don it a third time.
And of course, my speak-of-the-devil story was amusing for all who heard it. I mean, after all, you're talking about how well you could hear the fire alarm, and then all of a sudden, you get a second live demonstration.
Song: Meanwhile, it still annoys me when people refer to nuisance alarms as "fire drills", because they're very much not planned drills. Seeing fire trucks showing up is a good indication that this isn't planned. After all, the fire department does not usually show up for drills, because they're told in advance that a fire drill will be conducted and to disregard the fire alarm. And then system testing is done outside of normal business hours. Thus unless otherwise told, any unannounced fire alarm is potentially the real thing, and therefore NOT a drill. Thus why I can't stand it when people refer to these things as such.
Quote: From The Simpsons:
"This orange drink is the only way to recoup our terrible losses from 'Fire Drill Follies'. I just don't know what went wrong."
"You opened the show with a fire drill, and everyone cleared out!"
"Mm. So Mother was right. It was my fault. Go ahead. Water it down some more."
"My God, man. I've watered her down as far as she'll go. I cannot water no more!"
Once again, this place is clean. And it looks quite nice, if I do say so myself. After all, Mom's coming tomorrow morning, and so this place has to look its Sunday best. And when it comes to Mom, you see, I must pay extra attention to cleaning, because Mom just can't help herself. If it doesn't look spotless, she'll clean. I still remember the time she "accidentally" swept the kitchen floor.
Still, though, having visitors over on a somewhat regular basis is one way I keep the place all neat and tidy. After all, I don't want people to see the place the way I see it when I'm just kind of doing whatever. I want to put its best face forward.
Of course, if I really want to make the place look sharp, I need to get serious about decorating. I've had a whole bunch of picture frames from IKEA, still in their original shrinkwrap, in a corner in the blue IKEA bags for nearly a year and a half. The idea is that I'm going to take a bunch of my pictures to somewhere to have them printed on nice paper, and then frame them. After all, what better way to decorate than to have selections from your own body of work on the walls, right? And I have plenty of photos that would look very nice on the walls here. It's just a matter of actually doing it already...
Quote: Meanwhile, I found it amusing that Mom said she didn't want to go to a formal restaurant for my birthday. After all, Mom knows me well enough to know that I don't like dressing up. I've told her that I will be wearing flip flops tomorrow. And I also made it clear going into this that there shall be no mention of the word "birthday" to any restaurant employees, regardless of where we go, because I don't do the whole bring-all-the-help-around-the-table thing.
What an odd coincidence that all these new anti-war photo sets end up hitting the site on Memorial Day weekend of all times. That's just slightly awkward, but it's right in line with my policy on photo sets. They are published as soon as they are finished. I do not hold sets for a certain pre-designated "street date".
Still, this brings a few things together. For one, it explains why there have been few Journal entries this month, as I took production of these sets into high gear. It also explains how MPDC Captain Jeff Herold knows me, plus lends context to a Journal entry I wrote from home between the two G20 events. Then I also kind of went silent about Funk the War 7 and ANSWER's alleged march on the Pentagon, which I referred to as the March on Crystal City. I did that partly because we spent more energy in Crystal City than at the Pentagon, and partly because I just don't like ANSWER all that much, and calling it what it was drew attention to ANSWER's off-the-wall march plan.
Still, I believe I've outdone myself with this. 218 photos and seven pages in the Crystal City set still just amazes me. This is why record-breaking photo sets are few and far between, with a few years between record-breakers. After all, from mid-2003 to February 2007, An Urban Comparison was the largest set, a distinction it held for nearly four years. Then on Valentine's Day 2007, J27 became the largest by a small margin. Now today, March on Crystal City blew that distinction clear out of the water, as I broke that record by 77 photos (J27 has 141, and Crystal City has 218).
Of course, just because this project is finished doesn't mean my work is done. I still have lots more waiting to be posted in photo set form...
Nothing like a mid-spring day to hawk some stuff for the rush-hour crowd. Today, there were two groups out doing advertisements.
First, the sign-spinners, on the west side of 19th Street:
It appears that they're out promoting Dance Flick, which is slated for release tomorrow. Apparently, they're dressed like characters from the movie.
And then another group, near the large grate at the south entrance to Dupont Circle station:
As you can see, it was set to look like a beach scene, complete with sand on their giant blanket, tarp, or whatever it was underneath, and these two college-aged girls were out sunning themselves while telling passers-by of the latest promotion by Zipcar, a car sharing service in the Washington area.
Dupont Circle is certainly a happening place in DC, that's for sure. That's why I love it that my office is in Dupont Circle - because I'm where a lot of the fun is! Seriously, I've loved the Dupont Circle area for a long time, well before I moved up here. And some of the advertising can be amusing. Anyone remember the man in the chicken suit?
Meanwhile, the area is also ripe to be raided by Anonymous, because I've seen Scientologists on multiple occasions handing out their literature as well. I think I need to keep a few You Found The Card cards on me for just that purpose...
Quote: Oh, and in case you're wondering about why there have been so few Journal entries as of late, it's because I'm working on a massive Life and Times photo set project. I'm doing another three-set project, where I complete three photo sets as a single project, and one is going to be a recordbreaker for size, with more than 200 photos...
I've been known to comment about Metro's YouTube videos as being beyond corny, but this one was actually pretty good. This time, Metro did a spoof of the in-flight safety videos that the airlines do. Take a look:
Ask our IT manager at work - I was laughing out loud watching this video during my lunch hour. My favorite spot was when the lady said, "Smoking, eating, or drinking is not allowed," and waggled her finger at the camera, making fun of a Delta Airlines safety video where the woman said, "Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight." That Metro actually spoofed that was hilarious, and it shows that Metro has certainly graduated from last year's controversial Pope bobblehead ad. Plus they showed a little attitude, saying, "We really don't care what you're having for dinner, or who needs to pick up the kids." Now if they would also mention those whack jobs who sing so loudly from their seat that I can't even drown them out with my big headphones (it really happened - thankfully, he got off at Forest Glen, still singing), sing songs from the 1960s badly off-key, and people who carry religious signs while railing against George W. Bush (even if I do agree with them). Additionally, kudos to Metro for showing the computer-animated customers getting mad when discussing door problems. After all, it only takes one jackass to cause a door problem, and when that happens, we all get offloaded.
Meanwhile, Metro apparently mix-and-matched their rail cars in the video, showing Alstoms, CAFs, and Breda rehabs, and as a result, made some mistakes. Most prominent was when they referenced the glow-in-the-dark exit signs on all emergency exits. The way Metro was talking about it, you'd think that these existed on all 1,140 rail cars in their fleet. In truth, these signs exist on only 364 rail cars - the Breda rehabs. These signs are not present on the Rohrs, the Breda 4000's, the CAFs, or the Alstoms. Thus while Metro is leading passengers to rely on these glowing signs in an emergency, these signs do not exist on a majority of the cars. Another oopsie, though less serious, is that some rail cars (Alstoms) also have intercoms at the center of the car, beneath the emergency door release handle.
As a side note, I've used the emergency intercoms twice, both for situations that were important, but not really emergencies. Once was on November 28, 2006 on CAF 5191, when I alerted the operator that they had never turned the interior lights on. A second time was on July 25, 2007, when, on Rohr 1064, I used the intercom to alert the operator that I was sending people through the bulkhead door when the doors failed to open at a station stop.
So all in all, it was an amusing and well-produced video, though Metro made a mistake in leading people to believe that some safety features exist on all cars, when they actually don't.
Song: Oh, and you'd better believe I snagged the clean recording of the door chimes off of this video. That might come in handy, and it certainly beats the pants off my previous chime recordings, which I took with Big Mavica, held right up to the door speaker on Breda 2007.
Quote: Meanwhile, I still say Metro needs to shoot at other stations besides Huntington, especially since Huntington has a very non-standard station design...
No more beautiful a day to get kicked out of the WMATA Rail Rodeo...
So Saturday was fun. I got together with Matthew Tilley, and we went to the WMATA Rail Rodeo at Branch Avenue Yard, went up to Dupont Circle (I had to stop by my office), and then checked out Amtrak's National Train Day events at Union Station. The day didn't go quite as expected, but we still had a lot of fun.
Starting out, of course, I picked Matthew up at his house. This would put my new GPS device, an early birthday present from my parents (thanks, Mom!), to the test. It did very well, and sent me on a very quick and easy route there, and one I would not have thought of - essentially the back way into Matthew's neighborhood.
After I picked Matthew up, we got back on the Beltway, and rode over to Branch Avenue Yard to watch the rail rodeo in action. The WMATA Rail Rodeo, for those not familiar, is an annual event where Metro's rail employees get to show off their skills in various competitions. The event is usually open to the public. I'd been wanting to go to the Rail Rodeo for some time, and this year, I finally did my homework ahead of time, writing Metro's customer service department back in late February to find out the tentative date, and following up in late April to confirm that date.
Arriving at Branch Avenue Yard, we stopped at the security checkpoint at the gate, and indicated that we were here to see the rail rodeo. The security guard asked if we worked for Metro (we didn't), checked my driver's license, and waved us in. We parked, and asked a few Metro employees we found where the activity was. They weren't too sure themselves. Okay, fine. We're resourceful. So we went about finding out for ourselves. Matthew and I soon found ourselves in the shop building, where WMATA mechanics perform routine maintenance on the trains.
Wooden cowboy cutouts outside the shops building, welcoming people to the Rail Rodeo.
Train service bays. I was surprised to see this room empty, as others' photos from past Rail Rodeos indicated that Metro usually puts a train up on a lift for people to see.
Mockup of train doors, presumably part of the competition. In the extreme left of the photo, if you look carefully, you can see two mockup rail cars stacked at left. These are presumably also part of the competition, and they had car numbers: 5000 and 5001. In other words, CAFs. However, the illustration of a car end on these cars looked very Rohr-like. Details, details...
More service bays. The far end of this room was cordoned off for a meal that Metro was serving participants.
And then we at last found some people who knew what they were doing. Turned out that we found the judges' table for the mechanics' competition. Unfortunately, we were unable to stay for very long, owing to OSHA requirements - we didn't have the correct footwear (I was wearing my Crocs, and Matthew was wearing sneakers). However, the gentleman that escorted us out of the shops was incredibly friendly, and described all of the various competitions that the mechanics would be engaging in. Most intriguing to me was the "mystery box" competition, where mechanics were presented with a closed box, and using their tools, had to determine not only what the components of the box were, but what the problem was with those components. He also explained that the main benefit of eight-car trains, mechanically, was that they could be used as their own recovery vehicle. Thus if an eight-car train goes down and has to be recovered, they can use the remaining good cars to remove the train from the line. I remembered back to about a year ago, when I was on Breda 4051 when it broke down, and how they had to use a second train to remove our train from the line. He also explained how sometimes a train must be operated from the third car rather than the first during a recovery. In that case, the motorman is in the third car's cab (the next facing-forward cab after the lead car), while another employee is in the lead car giving stop and proceed instructions to the motorman via radio.
All in all, we learned a lot. He also kind of indicated where the rail car events would be held, but questioned how much success we would have in watching.
After we parted company, Matthew and I continued figuring out where things were. Matthew was understandably a little nervous now about continuing to find out what was going on, but I reassured him by saying that the worst that they could do was to ask us to leave. After all, we weren't trespassing - the security guard allowed us entry, and we were quite upfront about who we were - we were members of the public, and rail enthusiasts. Additionally, we were under the impression that this event was indeed open to the public, and thus that we were supposed to be there.
We ended up at the far end of the yard, near the lead tracks to the mainline. There, we observed a six-car train consisting of, front to back, Alstom 6094, 6095, 6088, 6089, 6141, and 6140, leave the yard signed as a Green Line train to Greenbelt, to enter revenue service. Once the train had passed, we walked near the set of tracks that the train had just passed on. From the road, I called to the gentlemen in the yellow safety vests. One approached us, and we asked where the rail car events were being held. He indicated that those events were being held at the other end of the yard. So we went down that way.
Along the way, we saw trains in storage, as well as all sorts of work equipment:
TC-02, a Bridge Crane vehicle.
PM41 (right), and F-507 (flat car, left).
We eventually ended up at the Yard Operations building, where we posed with the cowboy cutouts:
We went into the Yard Operations building, and eventually found the events. There was an obstacle course at the far end, as well as an announcement competition. They weren't running the obstacle course when we were there, but they were indeed doing announcements. There, the operators sat in the cab and made announcements while a judge made notes on their performance. The strangest announcement I heard was for a Red Line train to Shady Grove. This is a part of Metro I'm quite familiar with, as Red Line to Shady Grove is my morning commute. The announcement went like this:
Attention, customers. The Farragut North and Dupont Circle stations are closed. The next station will be McPherson Square. The next station is McPherson Square.
I heard that, and I was like, whaaaaaaaaa? After all, I've been on the Red Line on more than one occasion where stations were closed and rendered impassable for whatever reason, and in those cases, the trains generally serviced the last station that they could, terminated, and then entered service in the other direction (i.e. a Glenmont train would become a Shady Grove train and be on its way). I can't imagine what sort of catastrophe might occur that would require a Red Line train to use the A&C Connection (running between Farragut North and McPherson Square on Track 2) with passengers. Normally, that connection is only used for trains on non-revenue runs, such as the Money Train, or swapping trains between lines. Seriously, to have to leave the Red Line (A Route) entirely and go to a Blue/Orange Line station (C Route) would have to be something pretty serious.
We also got to get some fun yard photos...
Rohr 1165 in the yard.
Breda 3217. The train operator is competing in the announcements competition. The judge is visible in the right-side window.
CAF 5139. Again, announcement competition is underway, with the judge seated at the opposite side of the cab from the operator.
Yard signal at the end of the storage track. This signal is always red.
We also got into a great conversation with a train operator about various odds and ends. Much to their credit, and contrary to Metro's normally well-earned reputation for crabby customer service, everyone at the rodeo was incredibly friendly. Not one rude individual in the lot of them.
Eventually, one of the supervisors, wearing the special 2009 WMATA Rail Rodeo shirts (what I would do to get one of those shirts!), asked us why we were there. Again, I explained that we were members of the public there to watch the rail rodeo. Now is where we were finally set straight. This also explained why we were the only non-employees to be at the Rail Rodeo, for an event that we were led to believe was open to the public. I had thought it was simply poor turnout by the public because Metro had not promoted the event this year. Turned out that this year, they weren't running the rodeo as a family event, but rather just as an employee event. And thus they asked us to leave, and they got a retired train operator to escort us back to the car. Fair enough.
Obviously there had been a breakdown in communications somewhere along Metro's chain of command, and thus why we were led to believe by customer service that the event was open to the public and allowed entry by the security guard, but that the event was actually not public. Unfortunately, such seems to be typical of Metro, and so while we were disappointed, we were also not all that surprised. However, we did have a great conversation with the gentleman who escorted us back to our car.
However, that wasn't the end of our day. Not by a longshot. Leaving Branch Avenue Yard, we drove over to Branch Avenue station, and caught the train. There, we got Alstom 6104, part of the original carpetless Metro pair. How cool was that! We then rode over to Dupont Circle, since I had to check on something at work. After swinging by work, we got back on the train, and rode over to Union Station, where the National Train Day event was in full swing. Amtrak was showing off some trains, and so we got to see a number of trains on display.
On the way, we saw someone make a stickered statement on CAF 5031 about Metro's policy of turning back trains at Grosvenor during rush hour:
That sticker read:
This is an asinine policy.
The trains that go to Shady Grove are packed, and the trains that go to Grosvenor are half empty. This policy only serves the purpose of creating a comfortable ride for the wealthy residents of Northwest DC and Bethesda. Please change this.
All I have to say is, that takes guts to do - not only to write it up, but to sticker it on, though unfortunately, I doubt anyone in a position to change it will see it (though perhaps I'm helping with this Journal entry). And I for one agree that turning back Red Line trains like that is a poor idea, though I'm a victim of the other side, as Metro also turns trains back at Silver Spring, which leaves me with reduced service to my home station of Glenmont. I've been put in the situation of explaining to friends that not every Red Line train goes to my house. I'm like, "Not that Red Line train!" regarding Silver Spring trains. But anyway...
Arriving at Union Station, we had to wait in line:
And then we got to tour the Acela Express.
Business class coach.
Snack car service counter.
Restroom facilities.
Leaving the Acela, we got to see Superliner and Amfleet cars. I was quite familiar with the Superliner cars, since that's what the Capitol Limited uses, and that's what Mom and I took when we went to Chicago in 2007. Interestingly enough, Matthew and I ran into same room attendant that Mom and I had on the westbound trip. We didn't, however, run into Lou, our room attendant from the eastbound trip. Turns out Lou was at a conference in Los Angeles...
Superliner I cars.
Matthew is all smiles in a Superliner Roomette seat.
Meanwhile, much to my surprise, the Superliner dining cars had been renovated since Mom and I took our 2007 trip. Take a look...
Fancy! And then finally, we got to see the Amfleet cars.
Amfleet dining car. This is more like how the Superliner dining cars looked when Mom and I traveled.
Amfleet passenger coach.
And lastly, we got a peek at the rail car used in the Obamas' inauguration train ride:
And that was it! From there, Matthew and I rode back to Branch Avenue, and then I took him back home. All in all, I'd say we had a fun time, and my GPS has proven itself to be a worthy tool in navigating unfamiliar areas in my local area.
Song: "Pain" by Stereomud - after all, Randi Rhodes returned to the air today! Hooray!
Quote: It's funny... I'm sure most people probably think about their GPS devices as tools for helping them when they go traveling out of their local area. I've found it most helpful in navigating unfamiliar sections of my own local area. I've come to realize pretty quickly that printed Google directions are not exactly safe to use when driving in the city. And I've figured out how to report errors and inaccuracies in the maps when I find them. Thus I reported that Tiny Road in Stuarts Draft is still on the maps (the road was removed in 2005), and also reported a wrong position for the Food Lion in Stuarts Draft.
