See Stew. See Stew link. Link, Stew, link!
Really, Amtrak? How did you decide to pick the trip that requires a transfer, takes significantly longer, ultimately transfers to the train I wanted anyway, and is the same price as the default option? And don't even get me started on your session handling.
Having happily ignored my car for the better part of the last two months, this morning's $45 tank of gas was a bit of a shock. And though I was already thinking about selling my car, it's not so much the price of gas that I feel pushing me over the edge, as it is the laserlike focus from both sides of the aisle on "gas relief." I'm pretty happy with my train and my bus, and I think other people would be too.
Caltrain's Baby Bullet Wins Tranny Award
From the "Headlines I wasn't expecting to see" department.
Me, balanced on the edge of the north-bound San Antonio CalTrain platform, squinting across the tracks at the newspaper machines on the other side, trying to read the Chronicle headline of "Campaigns in turmoil -- immediate appeals vowed."
On the train on Friday, I happened to shuffle through the pocket on the seat in front of me that contains the safety cards and whatever other trash might have ended up there, and I came across three lost and forgotten CDs. I tossed them in my backpack and forgot about them until I found them just now, figuring "Hey, finders keepers" and "Hey, how can I go wrong with free music?"
Well, I'll tell you how I can go wrong with free music: One of them is Ricky Martin. D'oh. The other two are "WoW Gold" disc 1 and 2, whatever that is. I'll listen to it later, I guess.
Every other year, I've taken Amtrak home for break on the Wednesday evening right before Thanksgiving. But every other year, I've also returned to Berkeley on Monday, missing a class or two in the process (depending on the year).
You probably think that given my goal of perfect attendance this semester, I'm torn about missing those classes on Monday. However, Monday's classes aren't the ones I'm actually worried about missing, because I have to be back before Monday anyway. I'll probably have to return to Berkeley on Saturday, because I've got a project due on Monday.
No, the classes I'm worried about missing are the classes on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. You see, since I'm going to have to return to Berkeley on Saturday, I'd only really get two days at home if I left on Wednesday evening. But if I go home on Tuesday, I'd get an extra day, putting my vacation closer to its normal length. Of course, if I do that, then I also miss 3 classes and break my perfect attendance record.
I'm pretty sure I'll just go home Wednesday, preserving my perfect attendance. I think I've been holding off on buying my tickets in case I accidentally sleep in and miss a class or something, but the longer I wait, the more expensive the tickets will get.
Whew, I guess it's a good thing I wasn't taking the train home to Bakersfield Yesterday. Thankfully, the train didn't derail, because that's when things tend to get really messy.
I was a little disoriented when I got on the train tonight, because the blue plastic floor and yellow striped stairs and white plastic walls were all a lot brighter than I remembered.
And then I scuttled up the stairs and I saw that not only was this a new train car, but that they'd also changed the layout of the seats. I didn't actually sit in the new car, as my quest for a single seat took on to the next car, but I went back later and checked things out to see what I might have to look forward to on my next train trip.
The most important change was that the moved the upstairs luggage racks from being across from the stairwell to flanking the door to the next car. However, to do this, they had to replace the pair of single seats that I so love.
Now, for Amtrak, this is a very intelligent move. First of all, it gives them 4-8 extra seats per car (an estimate). Second, There's now more than twice as much large luggage storage on the upper level. Third, people putting away their luggage are no longer sandwiched next to the stairwell, so there's a lot more room to move around in case someone putting away luggage needs to let another passenger pass. And finally, no passenger will be sitting right next to the door. The new distance between the door and the nearest seat (about two seats) will go a long way towards making passengers sitting near a door happy, I expect.
But as intelligent as this new layout is for Amtrak, it really irritates me, because I really like these single seats. =/
All the other changes on the new cars were very minor. The ceiling lights are much brighter, and they were moved closer to the center of the ceiling so that less of the light gets blocked by the overhead luggage racks. The overhead luggage racks themselves were changed from having doors to being merely shelves. And the whole thing smelled like new car smell.
Oh, and ironically, the new car featured the first stopped up toilet that I've ever seen on an Amtrak train.
I was quite happy that I was lucky enough to get one of the single seats on the train tonight. It's never a guarantee that I'll be able to get one of the single seats, but being the night before Thanksgiving the train tends to be even busier than usual.
So I got on the train and headed towards the front of the train where no doors had opened. And as I made my way through the second car of the train, I spotted an empty single seat, and there was one guy between that seat and me. And he was blocking the whole isle while he put his luggage into the rack, so I couldn't sneak past him and nab the single seat. If he wanted it, there was nothing I could have done to stop him (Besides him being between the seat and I, he was bigger than I was.). But he put his luggage away and then walked back the other direction into the middle of the car. I jogged forward and with a smug grin happily claimed my seat.
Of course, that smug grin quickly disappeared when I realized where the seat was: Right next to the dining car.
A quick lesson on the layout of the Amtrak train car I typically ride in: The cars are two floors, with the lower floor being reserved for the disabled and elderly who have difficulty climbing the stairs. There are two stairwells on each car, with one about a third of the car from each end. Across from the stairwell is a luggage rack. Each car is composed mostly of two person seats. There are 8 seats in each car that feature four seats facing each other across a table, and there are 2 more seats that feature four facing seats without a table. At each end of each car on the upper level is a door to the next car, and because there isn't enough room for a two person seat, there is a single seat on each side of that door, for a total of 4 single seats per car.
So, I'm on a very busy train, sitting right next to the door to the dining car. The snack bar line is so long that it has stretched out of the dining car the whole ride, so the line blocks me into my seat. And the bored people standing in the line idly watch me typing, and I get self conscious and turn my screen away from them only to realize that I just gave them a better view in the reflection in the window.
And the worst part is the people standing in line just hold the door open, so all the noise from the train echoes up and right into my ears, and boy is it a good thing that I have aspirin with me.
I asked the first few people to shut the door and to just wait on the other side. "Besides, standing between the cars isn't safe," I'd remind them. But I quickly gave up on that tactic when I realized that I'd have to remind every 4th person, because people are dumb.
But I've got a single seat, and that's all that counts.
While I was standing in line for the snack bar on the train tonight, we pulled into Martinez. And at one point while we were stopped, an Amtrak Superliner passed us, and I observed all the nicely labeled cars, such as "Sleeping Car," and "Sightseer Lounge", and "Coach".
And one of the cars of that Amtrak Superliner was labeled "Smoking Coach" (Well, more accurately, the bottom half of a car was labeled Smoking Coach, while the top half was labeled "Coach")
Now, Amtrak California has a pretty serious No Smoking policy. When the train stops at a some of the longer stops (such as Stockton or Fresno), they'll allow people to get off and have a quick smoke, but that's it.
Based on the Superliner's "Smoking Coach", it seems that this no smoking policy has something to do with California's no smoking laws rather than being an Amtrak policy. And that's fine by me.
But it does kind of make me wonder what happens to a Superliner's Smoking Coach when that Superliner enters California? Does that Smoking Coach suddenly become "Smells of Stale Smoke Coach"? I wonder how train passengers who had been enjoying a Smoking Coach feel when the Superliner enters California? And there are other questions I could spell out for you, but I'm sure you get the idea.