Commute From Hell

I arrived at the metro station shortly after 5:30. Signs had been posted to inform everyone that there were severe delays on the metro and alternate routes were suggested. I didn't have another option, so I walked through the turnstile and down to the crowded platform.

While I was waiting for the train, a recorded announcement on a loop informed me that a passenger had been struck by a train, and the metro was not running between Rosslyn and Ballston (that's five stops). Shuttle service was being provided for passengers between the two stations (if you lived somewhere between them, I imagine you were on your own).

The train arrived and, miraculously, I managed to squeeze onto it. Fifteen minutes later we had traveled the two stops to Rosslyn. Since the track was closed beyond Rosslyn, we had to wait for the train ahead of us to unload, then back up to the track switch before we could pull in.

The platform was beyond crowded. There almost wasn't enough room to unload the train. And once we did all squeeze onto the platform, no one was moving. Every now and then the people on the escalator would ascend a few steps and everyone would shuffle forward. It took me twenty minutes to get upstairs.

I was waiting in the crowd on the upper platform when there was an announcement that the station was closed and everyone needed to exit. That sent a wave of laughter through the crowd. What else had we been trying to do for the last half hour? But closing the station did help, and we began to move a little faster.

Eventually I made it to the foot of the escalators where I discovered the bottleneck problem: none of the escalators were running. Everyone had to climb up the stairs. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except that Rosslyn has incredibly long escalators. Every so often someone would faint or find themselves unable to move on. Then we would need to wait for the escalator to clear out so paramedics could descend and offer water and oxygen to that person before helping him or her to the top.

I finally made it to the street around 6:30. The line for the shuttle to Ballston was too long to comprehend, and traffic was barely moving at this point anyway. So I started walking, following the mob of people who had the same idea. During this walk I heard snippets of gossip. The man who had been struck by a train had apparently jumped in front of it. He was alive and conscious. Trains still weren't running.

Half an hour later I got Boyfriend on the phone and asked him to meet me in Clarendon for dinner. Stopping for a glass of wine and some food seemed a much better option than walking the remaining mile to the Ballston station where the trains would hopefully be running. So he came to meet me and we had a lovely dinner and drinks and didn't go home until traffic had cleared up. At least I got my silver lining. And between the huge staircase at Rosslyn and the hike to Clarendon, I didn't even feel guilty about not making it to the gym.

I also manged to read about 10% of A Feast For Crows since I didn't really have anything else to do. I might actually finish it by the weekend.

Parched at the Birchmere

Last night we went to The Birchmere in Arlington to see an acapella group competition.  Boyfriend's sister was in one of the competing groups.  All in all the night was a lot of fun.  All of the groups were good (except one that basically sounded like N*SYNC), and I got to see a barbershop quartet perform.  They were definitely the highlight of the evening, winning both the competition and audience favorite.  Boyfriend's sister was really good, too.  They won a prize for best original arrangement.

The venue seemed great.  It was general admission seating, but there wasn't really a bad seat in the house.  We got there at 5 (for a 7:30 show) and had a pitcher of beer while we waited for the doors to open.  We ate dinner during the show ($15 for chicken tenders) and shared several more pitchers of beer.

After the show, I went in search of water.  Six hours and all that beer had left me rather dehydrated and I was starting to get a headache.  I made my way to the bathrooms, because that's where the drinking fountains live.  Except there wasn't one.  So I asked an usher to point me to the drinking fountain.  She told me there wasn't one on the premises.

Confused, parched, and with a sinking feeling, I made my way to the bar.  "Can I have a glass of water?" I asked the bartender.

"We only have bottled"

"I just want some tap water."

"Sorry, I can't give you any."

Does this seem strange to anyone else?  Like possibly bordering on illegal?  Between my ticket, food, and beer I had spent nearly $100 at this place and they were refusing to give me a glass of water.

I ended up in the bathroom drinking from the tap.

And so, despite a great show at a mostly awesome venue, I really don't think I'll be going back to the Birchmere.  The lack of water completely ruined it.

PS They won't let you bring your own water, either.

Of Bikes and Horribleness

Today's bike ride went much better than the last attempt.  By which I mean I actually made it all the way around the block.  Go me!  I went in the other direction this time, so the uphill part was both shorter and steeper.  I think that makes it easier.  I may have to work harder, but I don't have to work for as long.  Way better.  So I'll definitely try again tomorrow, and may even attempt to go slightly further.  We'll see.  Getting in shape is hard, but it'll definitely be nice to go on hikes and bike rides with Boyfriend once the weather really starts warming up.

For Christmas, Boyfriend got me tickets to a live production of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.  The show was last night, so we made an evening out of it with dinner and everything.  It was tons of fun.  The cast and crew incorporated a bunch of the commentary songs into the musical.  Between each of the three acts, they sang a few songs from Commentary! The Musical.  Even with the added songs, the entire show was barely longer than an hour.

They followed the official version pretty much line for line.  Only the choreography changed, as they had to adapt to being on stage.  And they added a song called "Nobody Wants to Be Moist".  That may have been in the commentary, I'll have to double-check, but I think it was original.  Also, the actor who played Captain Hammer looked a lot like a guy we went to college with, which made some scenes even funnier.

And now it's time to go clean the apartment, because we have a friend coming to stay with us on Tuesday and more showing up next weekend.  It's going to be all sorts of fun.