Bad Start

I got up and was ready in time to catch the 7:10 bus to Belvedere station, except that a pedestrian had the nerve to get the light to change just in time for the bus, which meant that the bus was exactly on time rather than giving me the usual thirty second window while it waited for the light to change. I ended up on the 7:23 bus.

I got to Belvedere and had just missed the southbound train (train #1). I know from experience that the very next southbound train (train #2) is always ridiculously crowded, which means I usually wait for the one after that (train #3). Instead of waiting at the platform for train #3 to go to Clareview and then head south, I got on train #3 while it was still northbound to Clareview with plenty of seats available. Had I waited at the platform I would have been standing for the entire trip.

The ride was uneventful until just after pulling out of Coliseum station. The train stopped, half in and half out of the platform area. The operator came on the PA system and let us know that the train in front of us (train #2, which I could have taken but didn't) was stopped for a medical emergency and awaiting emergency response teams, so we would be stuck there until that could be taken care of and train #2 could proceed. We were stuck there for ten minutes. Ten minutes isn't usually a very long time, but when trapped on an immobile train with a crowd of people who are annoyed and anxious, I find that ten minutes lasts approximately an hour and a half. I was very happy that I was able to read my book while sitting during all of this.

The train was even more crowded after Stadium since the trains were all running ten minutes late now. However, in my cleverness over getting a seat, I also had the foresight to pick a seat right next to the door so I could exit relatively easily at Churchill. Phew. Finally made it to work.

I went through the pedways to the building's basement elevator, which has to be used when coming in before 9:00. The security guard told me I had to take the freight elevator because the main elevators were down. Stairs aren't an option because the stairwells only exit on the main and basement levels (so you can take the stairs down to main from any floor, but you can't take them up). The freight elevator is slow, and pretty small for a freight elevator, so people had to wait for the car to come back several times.

The universe thinks I should have stayed home. I wish I'd listened.