To rehash what happened yesterday in Washington, DC is painful, especially for those who either lost people they loved in the accident or were on the trains that collided and injured. So my intent is not to do that but rather recap my afternoon/evening. The following is just my happenings and in no way meant to make light of the day’s tragic events. The staff here at Nobody Likes a Jerk sends our deepest sympathies and condolences to all effected by this tragic accident.
Leave the Office
After putting in a full day I headed from my office in Foggy Bottom up to the Dupont Circle station on the Red Line. I had received an e-mail alert earlier in the afternoon about some single tracking of trains between Friendship Heights and Van Ness that I knew would slow my commute down a bit but I wasn’t too worried. When I got down to Dupont Circle and saw how crowded the platform was I became a little concerned. The first train into the station was already jammed with the standard mix of early commuters and tourists and I couldn’t manage to get to the doors. As the next train pulled in I was happy I got the last spot (just inside the doors). However that’s when the fun started. Instead of the doors closing and us pulling out of the station on the way to Shady Grove, the train operator told us they were offloading the train. Now if the platform is over full and you take a 6-car train full of people and jam them on to the already crowded platform you get a bad situation. The way I saw it was that if I could walk north for a stop or two I could get on in Woodley Park or Cleveland Park where there are less commuters and the platforms have more room.
The Walk North
I headed out of the station and started my trek up Connecticut Avenue. I stress the word UP because there are quite a few hills which are very comfortable to take in dress shoes, khakis, and a full briefcase. As I started walking I pulled out my trusty MP3 player (surprise I don’t own an iPod and I’m OK), flipped to the radio only to hear about the horrible accident that had just occurred on the other end of the red line outside of Ft. Totten. As I walked the news kept getting worse and worse so I skipped by Woodley Park and headed north to the Zoo. Across from the Zoo (2.5 miles from my office) I sought temporary refuge at the local Starbucks (and the Starbucks, and the Starbucks, and the Star...SEE ARLINGTON RAP) specifically the mens room. Came out, called the wife, and we started coming up with auxiliary plans to get home. A quick stop into 7-11 for a Slurpie and I was off to the next stop, Cleveland Park. I called the wife again from Cleveland Park (3 miles from my office) and we agreed to meet with J &J &L over at Comet Pizza and Ping Pong.
Drinks and Dinner
I hoofed it up there (4.5 miles from my office) in a little over an hour and settled in for a PBR and continued to catch up on the news which was getting more dire as the minutes past. Eventually everybody made it up there including J who had to hike just as far as I did but whose black backpack left some nice stains on the back of his shirt. We had a good meal of some of James’ pizza creations complete with a side of anchovies for yours truly. Nothing better then cheep beer and overly salted fish.
On the Way Home
The 5 of us drove back to MD to get the Wife’s car and then we headed home to greet the Mooks who had plenty of licks for Daddy although I can tell she was a bit peeved at the fact that I was walking in the door so late (9pm). I tried to explain but I don’t think she was buying it. We completed the check of all our friends and coworkers who had all made it home ok and settled in for the last few nerve wracking innings of the Mets game.
Just another day in the life.
No comments:
Post a Comment