This morning I was reading in the Metro that Commuter Rail and T commuters should expect to tack 30-40 minutes on to their end of day ride home. Apparently when tempertures get as high as they are predicting (FREAKING 100 degrees today), the rails can expand or get wavy so there is a mandatory reduction of train speeds from 60 mph to 40 mph. Grr. Ugh. Fine. I figured I’d deal with that later in the day.
Except as soon as I finished that article, they announced that there was a disabled train at the stop ahead of me.
So we sat and waited. For 40 minutes.
Eventually they announced they were going to take my train out of service so that they could use it to push the other train out of the station.
We waited for another 20 minutes for that to actually happen.
And then as we waited for another train to come pick us up we all realized there were 2 train-fulls worth of people on the platform (hundreds upon hundreds of people). None of us were getting on the next train.
Or the train after that.
Or the train after THAT.
Finally, I managed to squeeze my way onto the fourth train coming into the station. We went two stops before we heard:
Of course by “a few minutes” that announcer man meant “another 30 minutes”.
Typically I get to work at 8:30 on the dot. Today, I didn’t get in until 10:15.
It’s going to be a long, hot day. Commuters, BEWARE.
WARNING: not for those with weak stomachs (really this is gross):
A picture of my burn. Somehow it looks better in this photograph than in real life. I have photogenic wounds, what can I say?!
(The center of the burn where it’s darker? Missing two layers of skin. You can actually see the line where the top layer of skin ends if you are brave enough to look close.)
Up until today I’ve had it bandaged* and everyone thought I got a tattoo. Um, no. Everyone knows that motorcycle burns are way tougher than tattoos.
*The skin is starting to heal itself so I can’t wear a bandage over it unless I want it to become permanently attached to the wound.
So the moral of the story: never get on a motorcycle in anything other than pants, you idiot.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
yuck… that sucks!
yes, yes it does. Im in HATE.
OH MY GAWD – that looks terrible, jen. ouch! it hurts just looking at it and my stomach did jump a little… i hope it’ll get better soon and not leave a scar or anything…
jenny. go to your cabinet.
I am your Robositter. You will be in bed by 9.
holy commuting nightmare. i don’t want to jinx myself, but the El has actually been pretty reliable during these days of doom and apocolyptic heat! the train-cars are A/C’ed, but it’s so ridiculously hot out that after the six blocks i walk to get there and the 10 to 15 minutes on the platform, i just sweat for the whole ride anyway.
this heat is seriously making me crazy. i actually don’t think i can talk or think about anything BUT the heat. i’m hardly blogging, because if i were, all i’d be writing would be “hot! argggh! ow! ick! hoooooot, waaaaah grrrrr.”
or something like that.
damn – on top of everything else, a 2-hour commute is never a happy occasion. BOO for the mbta.
1. The T blows. My commute was slow this morning but not THAT slow.. we were told there was a disabled train behind us though so I was probably 2 before you, and barely missed that whole nightmare!
2. I hope your burn heals quickly. :-(
the T rules.
Your wound really IS photogenic. I wasn’t grossed out at all, and I consider myself to have a relatively weak stomach. Phew. : ) Here’s to hoping it bypasses that whole Itching Stage.
MR. T. Now that’s a T I can get behind. Or you know, whose bling I can be blinded by.
I bet that train ride/wait sucked in the heat, but try working in a kitchen where it was 120 all day with no A/C. Now that shit was fun.
The T blows lately! My train was over an hour late last night out of Back Bay and no ac. I read in the paper this am that things went smoothly yesterday for the MBTA. “Capt. Douchebag of the MBTA says all trains were on time and equipped with AC”. I felt like I was on a train in a third world country last night with people sweating all over each other! I can’t look at your wound b/c I am at work and will vomit directly onto my moniter and my boss will hate me!
Hahaa don’t worry about it Joy, I pretty much vomit on a daily basis having to clean it and rebandage it. GA-ROSS.
Yesterday’s commute did suck.
I thought I was going to pass out during my (barely) 10 minute walk from Ruggles to Simmons.
Then, I waited an hour and 15 minutes for my ride home – it was supposed to arrive at 7:43 and didn’t get into Ruggles until 8:15.
That would’ve been all well and good had I not been waiting at the station since 6:56 p.m.
Ugh! Damn MBTA anyway.