Anotha Choo Choo Train

The kid who rides the train with us in the morning was very vocal for 7:30 in the morning. As we approached North Station, he pointed out all the trains that were parked on the sidelines.

But he was screaming!

CHOO CHOO TRAIN!

NOTHAH CHOO CHOO TRAIN!!

Wake up people, there are trains!

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Departure Time From Home: 6:33
Departure Time From Train Station 6:58
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Cooler, sunny, 50s
Shady Gas Price: $2.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nope

Swampy Air

When air outside is so humid that it makes it hard to walk out of the door, you know that it is going to be a swampy ride.

One bright spot in my commute is that I believe the exit on 495 that was closed for so long has now reopened...at least it appeared that way last night while I was driving home.

I believe this development will save 5 to 10 minutes on my commute time from my home to the station. I'll try it out tomorrow.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:32
Departure Time From Train Station 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Swampy but a little better than yesterday.
Shady Gas Price: $2.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

Making The Baby Cry

There are a few moms that bring their toddlers into Boston on the train. I am pretty sure they dump them off at daycare and then they go off to work. That part has got to be tough. These kids are pretty well behaved for the most part. Sometimes they start crying on the train and it's not pleasant for anybody.

What I love is when the old ladies come over to make googly eyes at the kids and the little guys start crying. That's the best! It's a real scene. There's one lady in particular that doesn't take the hint. She keeps coming back for more. I don't think she understands that the kids don't like it.

Do us a favor and stop tormenting the kids!!

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Departure Time From Home: 6:31
Departure Time From Train Station 6:58
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Sunny, hot, muggy
Shady Gas Price: $2.71
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah

Bringing in the Son

There's this guy who takes the same train as me. His son has been coming in the past two days. Looks just like him but just 25-30 years younger. Doesn't wear a suit, so I'm not sure if the son is going into work with him or not.

Maybe the kid is interning for the summer.



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Departure Time From Home: 6:32
Departure Time From Train Station 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:39
Weather as I call it: Cloudy, 60s, humid
Shady Gas Price: $2.71
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nope

Got a Coupon For Viga

Some guy was handing out coupons for Viga and I felt bad that no one was taking them from him. So, I grabbed one.

It gives you a one dollar discount on any order but only during certain times and it expires on 7/15/10.

Looks like they're trying to get people in the door.

As for me, I don't know. Maybe I will take them up on it.



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Departure Time From Home: 6:32
Departure Time From Train Station 7:00
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:42
Weather as I call it: Sunny, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $2.71
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

He Lost Power

Somewhere between Wilmington and Anderson RTC, the train lost power. The engineer had to get out of the train and walk back to the motor to fix something.

He walked along the tracks to get back to the engine in back.

Then, an outbound train came clacking by. A few moments later, the engineer walked back along the train to get back to the front of the train. I guess he didn't get run over.

All in all, it was about a 5 minute delay. It could have been worse.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:30
Departure Time From Train Station 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:45
Weather as I call it: Sunny, warm, 70s
Shady Gas Price: $2.71
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: No

In The Dust

While the train was coming into the station, North Station that is, I looked over to see another train coming in along side ours.

There was a patch of greasy dust on the side of that car. In the dust, there was a tic tac toe setup with one of the squares filled in. Beside the grid, someone had written, "Next Move".

I can't wait to see the outcome of this game. Maybe someone will win this anonymous, long distance game.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:30
Departure Time From Train Station 6:58
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:39
Weather as I call it: Sunny, getting warmer. 60s
Shady Gas Price: $2.71
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

Everything Went As Expected

I think the best part of the morning commute today was that everything went as expected. There were no problems getting to the highway...there was a traffic build-up once I got on the highway...and no issue getting to the parking lot.

Once I got on the train, the small children got on to make noise. Everything went as expected.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:30
Departure Time From Train Station 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Cloudy. 50s
Shady Gas Price: $2.73
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

Well That Was A Long Time Away

I can't believe that six weeks went by without me posting a report about my commute. Man, I got lazy...or I got busy at work. Hey, that happens.

So, I got behind some dude in a Volvo who liked to come to a dead stop on the highway. We would be in stop and go traffic...he liked to hold on to the stop portion of the traffic as long as he could. He probably was having some manual transmission issues, but it just wasn't the time to have them.

Ok, I will try to keep the content flowing now.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:33
Departure Time From Train Station 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:40
Weather as I call it: Mostly sunny, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $2.79
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: No