"We still have a crack in the rail but they are going to try to get us across"

Not what you want to hear when you're on a train, but that's exactly what was conveyed by the Metro train operator as I was heading into work yesterday. This was after we had already been stopped for about 20 minutes and the operator had walked all they way from the front to the back of the near-empty train thinking that we would have to go backwards because of the cracked rail. But I guess she soon realized that there were only a few of us left on the train heading into Maryland after everyone else had gotten off in DC, so it wouldn't be that bad even if we didn't make it.

Once she made it back to the front of the train came the "we still have a crack in the rail but they are going to try to get us across" over the speaker system. Question: Who is "they"? And how are "they" going to get us across? I was strangely relieved when a few minutes later she announced "We will be moving momentarily; we are trying to get the train directly ahead of us over the cracked rail at this time." At least we're not the guinea pigs.

After another 5 minutes passed, we finally started moving again...very...very...slow...ly. Out of curiosity, I stood up to try to see what was going on as we passed over the cracked portion of the rail. I saw two Metro employees laughing and not paying attention to anything as we passed over the problem area. Yes, we made it...glad "they" were able to help.

Bluetooth

Is it just my imagination, or are people actually wearing Bluetooth headsets as a fashion accessory?? Every day I see a handful of people walking around wearing Bluethooth headsets, but probably only half of those people on a given day are actaully talking on the phone. Do people somehow forget that they have that thing around their ear, or are they just expecting an important phone call any minute? Sadly, I think the real answer is that those who wear those Bluetooth headsets around when they're not even using it somehow think it looks cool. Not only does it look cool with that little flashing blue light, but it's also a sign of power. Yes, you heard me...power. These foolish people, just like those who insist on the white headphones to ensure everyone knows they have an iPod, think that they are better than anyone else who isn't wearing a Bluetooth headset...

Parking Ticket Part 2

It's a sad time for those of us who hate to do certain things out of principle. If you recall, I got a received a notice in the mail that I owed the District of Columbia $60 for a parking ticket that I never received including a $30 late fee penalty for not paying for the ticket I didn't receive within 30 days (see Parking Ticket Part 1).

After sending a letter notifying them that I had never received the initial ticket and that I would be contesting the ticket because there were not proper signs posted, I finally received a response after 2 months indicating that I did not owe the $30 late fee but that they ruled that I would need to pay the $30 ticket unless I choose to appeal. I knew I hadn't parked illegally, so I even went back to the place where I supposedly got the ticket to take pictures. Not only did the signs not make sense, but the location I supposedly got the ticket was one block away from where I was actually parked! After spending close to 30 minutes trying to figure out which of the conflicting signs I should have paid attention to, I had no idea where and when I was allowed to park.

Despite all of this, I realized that I didn't have the time or energy to follow the tedious steps to dispute this. Not only would I need to pay an additional $10 if I lost the appeal, but I would also have to take time off of work to go downtown and wait in line to go through the appeals process. 4+ hours of my time is worth much more than $30, so I went online to pay the $30 and called it a day....GRRRRRR

Hail to the Redskins...

...but beratement to ESPN's Sunday Night Football crew. Theisman, Patrick, and Maguire are like a trio of teenagers having a childish conversation with only a handful (and I'm being generous here) of insightful statements throughout each 3-hour broadcast they cover. In today's Wild Card game, they spent what seemed like 5 minutes questioning referee Mike Carey's decision to call an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Sean Taylor although they had no idea what was really said or done to cause the penalty. They began their useless banter even before the referee was finished making the call, so all three of them missed the clear announcement by Carey that Taylor was also ejected from the game; so they wasted an additional 2-3 minutes discussing why Taylor was out of the game after the play and later why he might be leaving the field.

This is of course just one example of the useless conversations from this group. I really like Sports Illustrated's Paul Zimmerman analogy that listening to them is "like sitting in a sports bar and trying to watch a game, and right near you are a bunch of noisy drunks. Hey, will you guys pipe down? I'm trying to watch a game."