Name Dropping

I had a young woman who sat next to me and she turned her body to face the aisle so she could continue talking with the young gentleman with whom she entered the train. He sat in the seat behind us. They talked and talked about inane things. The woman can eat at Redbones for free because her family knows the owner's family. Her father is good friends with the guy who created and owns Redbones. The young gentleman was talking about one of Meryl Streep's daughters who went to Vassar with him. I started to stop listening to him but the story had something to do with her trying to quit smoking. I know. I shouldn't have been listening. It was difficult to stop. You can't close your ears. It was annoying conversation of who could one up the other...who could name drop more. I would rather know the owner of Redbones.

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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: Partly sunny
Shady Gas Price: $3.49
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: No

Drove All The Way To Work Today

I got up early in the morning to get to the office around 5:30. Let me tell you - there is no one walking around Boston at 5:15 on a Monday morning. Outside of some seagulls squawking and flapping their wings, there is no noise. It is quite still. With the sun just peaking over the ocean, there is a soft glow on all the buildings and on the streets. You don't see any people until somewhere around Post Office Square where they sit and wait for the bus to come. I am feeling ok now but I probably will want to go to sleep at some point in the afternoon.

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Departure Time From Home: N/A
Departure Time From Train Station: N/A
Arrival Time at North Station: N/A
Weather as I call it: Sunny, cool
Shady Gas Price: $3.49
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: Nope

Sun In Your Eyes

There were a few mornings this week where I think people were driven mad by the sun shining in their eyes. They were making rash lane changes. Driving slow then fast after I passed them. It was a wild ride....but now for me the week is over. I am taking off Friday. I will see you on the roads on Monday. Please wear your shades.

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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: Sunny-ish, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.49
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: Ish

Creeping Gas Price

I woke up to rain this morning. It seems like it has been weeks since it has rained last. It stopped before I got out of the house. No need for an umbrella, I was able to stand on the platform without dodging raindrops. Everything about this commute was good except for the creeping gas price. It always goes up faster than it comes down.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:37
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Mostly cloudy, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.51
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

Tangled Up

I took last Friday off so I didn't realize how lightly attended these mornings have been. It's summer time so people can do the old WFH thang...ya know...Work From Home. Or they get the summer Friday thang...you know...extra days off. Sweet. But me I'm still on the road...I'm heading for another joint. We always did feel the same, we only saw it from a different point of view. A bit chilly this morning...can I type that? With the overcast sky and the sea breeze, my short sleeved shirt appeared to be a bad choice for a few moments while the wind was blowing. All right. Happy Friday. Let's do this all again on Monday, mmmkay?

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Departure Time From Home: 6:33
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:58
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:40
Weather as I call it: Cloudy, breezy, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.49
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: No

Delay At North Station

There must have been a signalling delay at North Station this morning. Our train was stopped right before the Charles River bridge. There was another train that was waiting there before us. When our train stopped, my window was right across the way from the other train's engineer. He had no emotion about the situation. He didn't seem frustrated or bored, just seemed to stare out waiting for the signal to start up again. The issue delayed us a few minutes. No matter really - the heat wave has been broken and everyone seemed as calm as the other train engineer this morning.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:35
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:43
Weather as I call it: Cloudy, cooler, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.47
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

The Hottest Morning

...and I mean in temperature. Maybe because I ran before I went to work, but man it was hot out there today. It didn't help that our train pulled into North Station at the same time as another train did and we ended up side by side on the same platform. As we exited the train, the crowd was so large everyone came to a complete stop. Too many people were trying to get through the sliding doors and the delay sent a ripple back down the platform. A guy behind me vented some frustration using a few choice words. The heat from the sun and all those people made it very uncomfortable on the platform. Then, it seemed I had to wait at every intersection to cross. Each pause got hotter and hotter. Once I finally got to my building, I was blasted with cold air as I opened the door. The lobby never looked so wonderful before.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:36
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Hot, Hazy, Humid
Shady Gas Price: $3.45
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 4
Feared for my life: No

They Must Be In Town

Yeah, it's hot but it is summer and it's supposed to be hot. It was 72°F when I left the house today but no big deal. NBD. Drive/train was fine. The walk was filled with interesting character. Most notably, I saw three separate guys wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts. Yeah, weird. When I saw the first one, I thought it was sort of interesting. Then when I saw the second and third one, I raise one eyebrow. The guys wearing the shirts seemed younger than me. What was going on? Had I gone back in time to a bad place in the 1980s? I thought to myself, "They must be in town." Well, they weren't. They played in Mansfield back in June and they are playing somewhere in NY tonight. Did someone say roadtrip?

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Departure Time From Home: 6:30
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:40
Weather as I call it: Hazy sun, 70s
Shady Gas Price: $3.45
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nope.

Perfect Stretch of Weather

I have heard of outsiders complain about Boston weather. You know, it rains too much or it's too cold or whatever. But then, you get what we have had for the last few days. Great weather. Sunny, 80s, low humidity. Happy faces. And we get a whole bunch of days right in a row. That can't be beat. When we are on a streak like this one, you can't complain. You probably won't remember that we have stretches of weather like this in probably a few days, but that's not my fault. That's your TVs fault.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:37
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Sunny and as beautiful as you are
Shady Gas Price: $3.35
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: Nope - I am busy livin' it.

Friendly Service

I used a different toothpaste this morning. Did anyone notice a sparkle in my smile? No? Day 2 of my 4 day work week and it's been a good week so far. No weirdness on the roads. When the train stopped, the open door was right in front of where I was standing so I climbed right in. The walk to work was good. I got a coffee from the Friend Street Hostel's cafe. It was wonderful and the service was pretty friendly. Good times - celebrate them.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:34
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Sunny and not humid
Shady Gas Price: $3.35
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: No

Doll On The Side Of The Tracks

I saw a doll on the site of the tracks. You know, a kid's toy? Anyway, it made me sad that someone is missing their toy. It also made me sad that somebody threw a doll on the side of the tracks. It was weird place to discard of a toy and it made me think of a hobo living on the side of the tracks. Nice weather this morning. The traffic was tolerable, the train was quick, and the walk was pleasant. Good commute, everybody.

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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: Sunny, not humid, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.35
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: No

Quiet Friday

Although the highway was a little crowded, everything else was quiet in terms of the number of people around to make the commute rough. There are plenty of people who have summer Fridays or WFH (that's work from home, peeps) on Fridays...so add that to the 4th of July and we're talking quiet times. All right. See you on Monday.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:36
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Hazy sun, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.35
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 1
Feared for my life: Nope

Beep Boop

Well, the train didn't have many people on it today. I think that is to be expected after a major summer holiday. Either people were smart enough to take the rest of the week off or they were taking later trains since they were out having a good time yesterday. I had a great time with my family. My kids spent much of the day in the lake near our house. We swam and splashed and took in the sun. The clouds stayed away for most of the day. Heck, I wanted to sleep a little more this morning but I was back at it on the ol' normal time train. I guess I am a robot. Beep boop.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:34
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Sunnyish
Shady Gas Price: $3.29
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life:Nah

I Thought You Would Take The Week Off

Maybe people are taking the last two days of the week off. The train was full of passengers and I had to take a seat near the middle. Maybe there were a lot of tourists on the train? Man, I would take a later train. It's too early for fun. Drive was good. Walk was good. Happy Fourth.

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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: Sunny, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.29
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Noooooooooooooooooo!

Weird Week

So it's on two, off one, on two. It's weird. The parking lot at the train station was filled with big pickup trucks and other large vehicles. It was tough to find a parking space where I normally park - my car would have been tightly squeezed between cars that were parked over the line. Nearby, there were some spaces that had plenty of space. It's the same price no matter where you park. I fell asleep on the train for maybe 30 seconds and jolted awake because my arms went numb. People must have been wondering what was wrong with me. The walk to work was ok. There some guy yelling at a guy who asks for change to get a job...but other than that, it was a pleasant morning walk.

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Departure Time From Home: 6:35
Departure Time From Train Station: 6:59
Arrival Time at North Station: 7:40
Weather as I call it: Partly sunny, 60s
Shady Gas Price: $3.29
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: NO!