ok so yesterday has got to have been one of the worst commutes ever. The afternoon began around 5 when i decided to leave because i had dinner plans at 7. I figured a little bit early on leaving and i'd have time to change sit and relax for a bit. So I board the train and notice its a bit warm but pay it no heed just figure that the AC isnt working well. Train begins to pull out of the station (3-4 feet) and then stops and then the conductor says the train has no power. He says nothing more. 10 minutes pass and we try moving again, another 5 feet then nothing. 10 more minutes and we manage to leave the station. We get halfway up to the next city stop (30th street) and the train dies completely and they announce that we are blocking trains and need to be pushed back to our original station.

Its quarter of six at this point (the usual time this train arrives at my station) and im still downtown. They manage to push us back and tell us that we can board the train behind us that they are holding for us. Im thinking well thats the train i originally would be riding so i'll at least have 20 minutes before 7 to myself but i'll have to rush.

Dead wrong. Basically three trains worth of people packed into one train...oh yeah the ac is broken... and oh yeah this is the hottest day this summer (98 degrees heat index near 115). So everyone on the train including myself is sweating and miserable and packed against eachother like sardines. And since we are so late the train has to wait for every switch on the tracks. 6:25 we finally leave philadelphia heading for the suburbs. First time im standing near the front of the train in my commutting so i can see everything...including the train that is headed straight for us on our track. We stop and miraculously they switch the tracks and we can see the other train driver vehemently flipping off our train driver. I was figuring if we crashed at least im at the front and this commute from hell can be over relatively quickly.

The skies darken as we approach my station. Its now 6:45 and im beginning to resign myself to being late. I step off the train and kaboom the clouds open up something fierce and now im soaked which sucks but at least im not sweaty. This means my original plan of just going to dinner wasn't gonna work, i had to go home and change. Of course two minutes after i get in my truck the rain stops. I get home at 5 of 7 quickly change and head off to dinner and magically only get there at 7:05.

Bah i hate when everything that can go wrong does lol

Sound like my commute every day. Except with 1 less train and 1 less bus. And sorta shorter.

That does suck balls. At least you were only 5 minutes late.

That does suck balls. At least you were only 5 minutes late.
yeah after the commute it was a splendid evening

Karma.

i don't think i can commute to work via public transportation

not from where i live, and where i work anyway :o

that said, there are days on my commute where i sit in my 8 for over 2 hours for 35 miles of commute, i can sort of hear my 8 crying as it sits in bumper to bumper traffic... on the interstate!!! :(

Come to NYC. :D

I don't ride trains...I drive everywhere. :)

we can see the other train driver vehemently flipping off our train driver. I was figuring if we crashed at least im at the front and this commute from hell can be over relatively quickly.
Once I was taking the train(s) when my car was in the shop (fucking Volkswagen dealers!). I was on the PATCO train from Collingswood --> Philly, just crossed the Ben Franklin bridge and started to descend below street level when the train completely shut down (no lights/fans/anything) and jerked to a halt. There were only three of us in the otherwise empty train car. I was sitting at the back of the car, right by the door between the cars. After about 5 minutes, I saw this kid hop up from the tracks between the train cars and start to open the door into this car. I thought "WTF are you doing?", and stood up. I was wearing my heavy black leather jacket and black Oakleys - he must have thought I was a cop because as soon as he saw me he let go of the door and jumped down on the tracks. (I thought he was just some POS trying to get a free ride on a stopped train, and was going to kick the door shut on him.)

Seconds later I hear "FREEZE!!!" "STOP RIGHT THERE, NOW G*))@^^!%!!!" etc, and about 5 cops appeared from above (over half of the train was descended below street level when we stopped) and held the kid at gunpoint. His arms were up, so one came down and cuffed him then they lifted him by the cuffs to the top of the train then over the retaining wall. After they swept through all the train cars, the train powered up again and continued on into 8th & Market, nearly 45minutes late.

It turns out the little gangsta was armed, running from the cops on foot, and had jumped from the street onto the top of the moving freaking train as it slowed and headed underground. How they got the train stopped that fast I don't know, but the stop had thrown him off the train to the railbed, where he had tried to 'blend in' and get away.

But that's not all.... once the train got in I sprinted from 8th & Market to Market East underground to get to the SEPTA station, and made it to the platform just in time to see the last train to Newark, DE pulling out of the station. :mad: The next train (about 30 min. later) only went as far as Marcus Hook, PA, so I got on that one and had my g/f come pick me up.

But she was late.

And she got lost.

And it was cold.

And there's no station building at Marcus Hook.

Somehow, I got the idea that young white guys don't commonly hang out on a decrepit iron bridge by the roadway in Marcus Hook.

That commute pretty much sucked.

When taking public transportation always take an extra shirt.
Sit across from someone, cross your eyes but seem like your looking right at them very intently, and start drooling and moaning oh so softly. Then start rubbing your chest diagonally across the drool. Each time they look at you just smile one side of your lips at them. Time really flies when you do that.

Or one of my other favorites is get a huge bag of paperback books, pull one out and run your thumb across the pages making them flip quickly, while you do it make a suppressed rising scream or a long grunt. After a few books if someone asks you if everything is alright, you just say "Yes. but it sure hurts to take in so much information so quickly."

Or while flipping start mumbling in a high pitched voice sounding like a tape recorder on fast forward, then stop abruptly and flip the other way and make your best fast rewind imitation, then stop say "aaaah. yes I see" then flip forward once more making the fast forward noises. (I can do these very well, made my aunt spit out her food with laughter when I was describing it)

try this one, i live in newark, de, and work in kop, pa. yesterday, i convinced the boss to let me close the store an hour early so i could make it to the dealer to pick up my 8(was in the shop for 3 days getting a bunch of stuff sorted out) by 8 o'clock, as we had a managers meeting the next morning (when i had originally planned to picked up my 8) and wouldnt be able to get my car and make the meeting.

so anyway, i left kop at 6:50 (i had been driving my friends beater since monday) and it starts raining, and i thought, well its not too bad (the car really is a beater, oldsmobile something or another that has traded hands at least 3 times in the last 5 years for 100 bucks, and one of the windshield wipers is bout ready to fall off) but then it starts pouring and im like, (*&UY^T(, im not gonna make it, well i finally make it to new castle, with 15 minutes to spare no less, and im like YEAH, i get to within a minute driving of the dealership, and traffic STOPS, on both sides of the highway. im really pissed not. traffic is inching along, SLOWLY, so i call the dealership and make sure they have everything ready, they couldnt even find my paperwork. (i do have a difficult last name as i am polish, and they were looking in the r's instead of the w's) well they finally found the paper work, and i finally (just barely) make it into the dealership and get my car. (i was really suffering withdrawl, and the beater didnt have a/c). and on top of that, my service writer told the cashier no charge on the one item i would have been paying for, which was my oil change.

though i do need to talk to him as one of my door sills has a nasty new scratch and i think they overfilled my oil, but other than that i am happy. :)

When taking public transportation always take an extra shirt.
Sit across from someone, cross your eyes but seem like your looking right at them very intently, and start drooling and moaning oh so softly. Then start rubbing your chest diagonally across the drool. Each time they look at you just smile one side of your lips at them. Time really flies when you do that.

Or one of my other favorites is get a huge bag of paperback books, pull one out and run your thumb across the pages making them flip quickly, while you do it make a suppressed rising scream or a long grunt. After a few books if someone asks you if everything is alright, you just say "Yes. but it sure hurts to take in so much information so quickly."

Or while flipping start mumbling in a high pitched voice sounding like a tape recorder on fast forward, then stop abruptly and flip the other way and make your best fast rewind imitation, then stop say "aaaah. yes I see" then flip forward once more making the fast forward noises. (I can do these very well, made my aunt spit out her food with laughter when I was describing it)

OMG! This is too funny! I almost spit out my lunch!!! :D:D