Today I took a nap. That was not in the day’s plan. The day’s plan included going to work. Unfortunately, the weather and MTA Maryland had different ideas in mind. In the mornings, when I drive to work, I reach an intersection where I have a choice to make. Go left, and I get onContinue reading “On Heavy Rain and Transit Nightmares”
Tag Archives: Light Rail
On Long and Fruitless Commutes
Yesterday I felt like Odysseus. In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek hero Odysseus attempts to return home to Greece after the conclusion of the Trojan War. But his journey home is fraught with adventures and detours, and it takes him a decade to reach his home. Yesterday’s commute was like that. A southbound train brokeContinue reading “On Long and Fruitless Commutes”
On Flattening Pennies on Train Tracks
I flattened a penny on the train track. Today was grey and gloomy. The alarm, when it trilled, ripped me from a dream about Taco Bell and the fall of governments to the pattering sound of rainfall on the roof and outside the window. I thought briefly of driving to work. The rainy dampness wasContinue reading “On Flattening Pennies on Train Tracks”
On Conversations on the Train
On the train tonight, I talked to a homeless man. To my luck, I caught the slightly earlier train, despite leaving the office at my usual time. (In a span of about fifteen minutes, there are southbound trains terminating at Cromwell, BWI, and North Avenue, in that order. I normally catch the BWI train atContinue reading “On Conversations on the Train”
On Light Rail Congestion and Construction
Attention: If you’re attending Shore Leave this weekend and were planning upon using local transit in and around Baltimore, this blog post may be important to you. Baltimore’s Light Rail system is under construction this week. The Howard Street corridor through downtown is having work done — an old switch removed, overhead wiring replaced, aContinue reading “On Light Rail Congestion and Construction”
On Strange Encounters
In general, on my commute, I try to keep to myself. My commute is in two legs — a subway trip into the heart of Baltimore, and then a light rail trip out to Timonium. The subway trip is generally quiet; in the morning it’s professionals on their way into the city, and in theContinue reading “On Strange Encounters”
On Watching Rainfall
For reasons unknown, the train stopped. It was evening, and I was heading home. The day had been dreary — dark clouds, winds, periods of heavy rain followed by mist. Were it not for the overcast skies and the rainfall, the day might’ve been brilliant; temperatures hovered near seventy, even this morning. When the trainContinue reading “On Watching Rainfall”
On Maryland Transit Suckitude
The four feet of snow that fell during Blizzardammerung and its kissing cousin Blizzardammerung II linger on the Maryland landscape like a festering malignancy. I look out at the frozen wastes from my sixth floor office, and I think I should elk and moose wandering the glacier that now lays across the hills and dalesContinue reading “On Maryland Transit Suckitude”
On a Malarkey of Luggage
She was surrounded by luggage. I boarded the Light Rail train at Cultural Center, after running hard for half a block in sub-freezing cold, just to be sure that I would not have to wait fifteen minutes for the next Hunt Valley train. As I surmounted the stairs into the railcar I saw a womanContinue reading “On a Malarkey of Luggage”
On Life Lessons
Last night, on the train home, I saw someone who had not learned one of life’s most valuable lessons. When you’re breaking the law, don’t argue with the cop. Riding Baltimore’s Light Rail is, for the most part, a honor system sort of affair. There are ticket machines where you buy your pass, and thenContinue reading “On Life Lessons”