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Whoever triggered this gets shot.
Oct. 13th, 2008 08:35 pmTo get to work (since I'm still unfortunately living with my parents, furry as they may be), I ride with Dad to the south-most point of Baltimore's Light Rail system: Cromwell. He works at the LRV shop there on day-shift. We try to get there on time, because if I miss a train, it's a 30 minute wait for the next one.
(30 minutes? Well, there's a problem. They found many wheels cracking in the early summer, and one broke on the way back up to the other shop, North Avenue. The cause of it is flat-spotting of the wheels, which on a train are solid metal. Flat spotted wheels cause vibrations, which over time cause cracking. How do you get flat spots? Brake to hard. Who's breaking too hard? While part of the blame is on the operators, the other part is the Automatic Train Protection system that's an electronic speed limit. Go over it, and it shuts the train down HARD -- enough to toss some folks off their seats. Especially going Southbound from Nursery Road, where the signal fades in and out, but I'll get into that later).
Anyway, things were going well, but then the organization of Light Rail got changed, supposedly for the better. Unfortunately, it got worse, as Dad's been ordered to cover overnight shift up at North Avenue... with doubles transit time, and screws with my schedule because when he's coming back home, I should be getting on a train to work!
Add a mother who's getting off the narcotics and is in an unknown state to drive, and me without a drivers license to that mix.
Then to compound things, I'm in an area not covered by Maryland's MTA. It's covered by a contract from the county to Corridor Transit, called Connect-A-Ride. The route I have, the K, connects from a hub at Arundel Mills Mall to a MTA MARC train station in Odenton. Unforunately, it doesn't run often enough -- every hour, and they pushed back the first run to nearly 7am.
I usually arrive early to work, due in at 7:30 am.
I can get a K a few blocks away, go to Odention, catch the MARC to Baltimore Penn Station, and take one of three bus lines to stop outside of work, and be there early for 8:30am. That's good, but that makes me joke compliant too.
The reverse, I have two options: Get on a BWI train, take the 17 to Arundel Mills, take the K to home... and get home between 7pm ane 8:30pm; Get the MARC back to Odenton, and take the K back home... And get home between 7pm and 8pm.
If I had a ride from Cromwell, I can take that train, be there at 5:50 at the most, and miss only 5 minutes of the news.
It's time this 31 year old took classes. There's a local school that has weekend classes for $300 over five weeks. I'll need to get a learners permit before hand, but that's good for two years. I'll also have to practice for six months before I can get a provisional, and be clean for another six until I get the full license. *ARGH* Why didn't I get this done before?!?!?
(30 minutes? Well, there's a problem. They found many wheels cracking in the early summer, and one broke on the way back up to the other shop, North Avenue. The cause of it is flat-spotting of the wheels, which on a train are solid metal. Flat spotted wheels cause vibrations, which over time cause cracking. How do you get flat spots? Brake to hard. Who's breaking too hard? While part of the blame is on the operators, the other part is the Automatic Train Protection system that's an electronic speed limit. Go over it, and it shuts the train down HARD -- enough to toss some folks off their seats. Especially going Southbound from Nursery Road, where the signal fades in and out, but I'll get into that later).
Anyway, things were going well, but then the organization of Light Rail got changed, supposedly for the better. Unfortunately, it got worse, as Dad's been ordered to cover overnight shift up at North Avenue... with doubles transit time, and screws with my schedule because when he's coming back home, I should be getting on a train to work!
Add a mother who's getting off the narcotics and is in an unknown state to drive, and me without a drivers license to that mix.
Then to compound things, I'm in an area not covered by Maryland's MTA. It's covered by a contract from the county to Corridor Transit, called Connect-A-Ride. The route I have, the K, connects from a hub at Arundel Mills Mall to a MTA MARC train station in Odenton. Unforunately, it doesn't run often enough -- every hour, and they pushed back the first run to nearly 7am.
I usually arrive early to work, due in at 7:30 am.
I can get a K a few blocks away, go to Odention, catch the MARC to Baltimore Penn Station, and take one of three bus lines to stop outside of work, and be there early for 8:30am. That's good, but that makes me joke compliant too.
The reverse, I have two options: Get on a BWI train, take the 17 to Arundel Mills, take the K to home... and get home between 7pm ane 8:30pm; Get the MARC back to Odenton, and take the K back home... And get home between 7pm and 8pm.
If I had a ride from Cromwell, I can take that train, be there at 5:50 at the most, and miss only 5 minutes of the news.
It's time this 31 year old took classes. There's a local school that has weekend classes for $300 over five weeks. I'll need to get a learners permit before hand, but that's good for two years. I'll also have to practice for six months before I can get a provisional, and be clean for another six until I get the full license. *ARGH* Why didn't I get this done before?!?!?
