An Adventure!
It's a 5 o'clock world when the whistle blows, no one owns a piece of my time . . .
So I was headed for the 5:17 train - really ready for the weekend. (Why is it that short work weeks are harder to deal with than regular ones?) I got downstairs at the station, and there were a LOT of people. It's a busy station during most rush hours, but we're talking a really lot of people crammed in there . . . and I hear the announcement: "Attention all customers, please do NOT go down into the terminal, there are already people waiting there from earlier trains - service will resume shortly. Please wait in the station." No more info - just repeated more of the same. I pulled out my book and prepared to wait.
Finally - an announcement that told all of us waiting to start our weekends what was happening. The train I take every day is an electric line, and the power lines fell between Randolph Street and Van Buren and a train got tangled up in them. This is bad. Really bad. The next thing we all heard was that it would be a half an hour to an hour before service would start up again. The entire station heaved a collective sigh and many people started bolting for the doors. Alright for them, but there's no functional bus that goes all the way out to where I live, so I hunkered down to wait.
Then - another announcement - this time that trains were running from Van Buren, which is six blocks South. Mass exodus. Mass. I came up onto Michigan Avenue with thousands of riders wanting to get home, and I headed South with the tide. I crossed the street over to Grant Park at Washington because there were just too many people, and as I crossed, I heard my cell phone - I didn't catch it in time, but it was Knifty Red and I realized she must be in the same predicament that I was. I rang her back:
Red: Where are you?
Me: I'm at Michigan and Washington on the East side of the street, where are you?
Red: I'm at Michigan and Randolph - you're on the EAST side of the street?
Me: Yes, too many people on the West side. I'll wait right here for you.
I spotted her Central Park Hoodie in the swarm as she got to Washington and I started waving my hands -she actually saw me right away (I had a hideously loud top on today :-D) and once she got across the street, we headed South with the rest of the herd. Oh, but Knifty Red is a clever girl. I was thinking that even if the trains were running, they were going to hit every stop and poke along all the way home when Red whips out the Rock Island schedule and says, "Wanna go catch the Rock Island to Tinley and my husband will pick us up?" I was all for it, and we crossed back over Michigan and headed West out of the crush of people.
It was a nice walk - took us about 20 minutes or so, and I didn't feel so bad about not getting my full treadmill time in this morning! We caught the 6:15 and Red and her man dropped me off at home by 7. Only an hour later than normal, and I got to ride in the back seat with Red's daughter, Miss Mac, and hear about how huge Thomas the Tank Engine is! I'm so serious when I tell you that Miss Mac just could not be any cuter - and when I got out of the car she said, "don't forget to come back." :-)
Some dinner. A trip to the grocery store. I made the Jarlady's Calico Bean Dip for tomorrow. I sure hope mine turns out as well as hers does because hers is the best stuff I've ever eaten and it's totally CORE on the Weight Watchers program. Geez, you could eat the whole tub, and I do mean tub - it makes a LOT of the stuff - and not have to count any points (except for the Tostito chips ;-)).
And now, the dishwasher is running and I'm blogging, and I'm really sleepy - I thought about a load of laundry, but it's nearly 11 - way past my bedtime. So good night and sweet dreams. :-)
So I was headed for the 5:17 train - really ready for the weekend. (Why is it that short work weeks are harder to deal with than regular ones?) I got downstairs at the station, and there were a LOT of people. It's a busy station during most rush hours, but we're talking a really lot of people crammed in there . . . and I hear the announcement: "Attention all customers, please do NOT go down into the terminal, there are already people waiting there from earlier trains - service will resume shortly. Please wait in the station." No more info - just repeated more of the same. I pulled out my book and prepared to wait.
Finally - an announcement that told all of us waiting to start our weekends what was happening. The train I take every day is an electric line, and the power lines fell between Randolph Street and Van Buren and a train got tangled up in them. This is bad. Really bad. The next thing we all heard was that it would be a half an hour to an hour before service would start up again. The entire station heaved a collective sigh and many people started bolting for the doors. Alright for them, but there's no functional bus that goes all the way out to where I live, so I hunkered down to wait.
Then - another announcement - this time that trains were running from Van Buren, which is six blocks South. Mass exodus. Mass. I came up onto Michigan Avenue with thousands of riders wanting to get home, and I headed South with the tide. I crossed the street over to Grant Park at Washington because there were just too many people, and as I crossed, I heard my cell phone - I didn't catch it in time, but it was Knifty Red and I realized she must be in the same predicament that I was. I rang her back:
Red: Where are you?
Me: I'm at Michigan and Washington on the East side of the street, where are you?
Red: I'm at Michigan and Randolph - you're on the EAST side of the street?
Me: Yes, too many people on the West side. I'll wait right here for you.
I spotted her Central Park Hoodie in the swarm as she got to Washington and I started waving my hands -she actually saw me right away (I had a hideously loud top on today :-D) and once she got across the street, we headed South with the rest of the herd. Oh, but Knifty Red is a clever girl. I was thinking that even if the trains were running, they were going to hit every stop and poke along all the way home when Red whips out the Rock Island schedule and says, "Wanna go catch the Rock Island to Tinley and my husband will pick us up?" I was all for it, and we crossed back over Michigan and headed West out of the crush of people.
It was a nice walk - took us about 20 minutes or so, and I didn't feel so bad about not getting my full treadmill time in this morning! We caught the 6:15 and Red and her man dropped me off at home by 7. Only an hour later than normal, and I got to ride in the back seat with Red's daughter, Miss Mac, and hear about how huge Thomas the Tank Engine is! I'm so serious when I tell you that Miss Mac just could not be any cuter - and when I got out of the car she said, "don't forget to come back." :-)
Some dinner. A trip to the grocery store. I made the Jarlady's Calico Bean Dip for tomorrow. I sure hope mine turns out as well as hers does because hers is the best stuff I've ever eaten and it's totally CORE on the Weight Watchers program. Geez, you could eat the whole tub, and I do mean tub - it makes a LOT of the stuff - and not have to count any points (except for the Tostito chips ;-)).
And now, the dishwasher is running and I'm blogging, and I'm really sleepy - I thought about a load of laundry, but it's nearly 11 - way past my bedtime. So good night and sweet dreams. :-)
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