It is ironic that in my last week as a regular metro rider, I had the single worst delay I’ve experienced since I began riding Metro almost 6 years ago. I left the office just after 5 PM yesterday (I had a training session I had to attend all afternoon) and headed down to the metro station. I called Dad–who is in town visiting, and who was going to pick me up at PG Plaza–to let him know I was on my way and would be there in 30 minutes. When I got to the platform, I saw that there were delays on the Orange and Red lines. It was odd, too, that the next Yellow line train was listed as 10 minutes. During rush hour?
Long story short, the entire metro system seemed to melt down. Delays on the Orange line was due to a power problem. Delays on the Yellow and Red lines were due to problems with trains. As time passed the platform at Pentagon City filled like I’ve never seen it before. There was no chance of cramming into the first Yellow line that came through. When I finally could get on a Yellow line train, 40 minutes had passed.
Crossing the bridge over the Potomac, I texted Dad to let him know of the delay. At Mt. Vernon Square, where I switch to the Green line, things melted down further. By the time I got there, there were system-wide delays due to a computer malfunction. Eventually, a Green line train arrived. I texted Dad one more time at Fort Totten. I finally got to PG Plaza at around 6:40 PM! If I were superstitious, I’d suspect that the metro was being petulant at my giving it up after all of these years. What a baby!
Lots of mail today, including the latest issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, AOPA PILOT, and ANALOG. In the latter, it was announced that the first part of Rob Sawyer’s new novel, Wake is appearing in the next issue. I can’t wait!
Dad and I headed up to Hard Times for dinner. I had a real craving for chili and I cleaned my plate! Then back to the house where I got a little packing done. And then I was in bed by 9 PM.
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