Diary April-May 2007 ... Main Index

  1. 070410 My wife hassles me about flossing my teeth more often, afterall she is a dental hygienist. So, a new trip commitment, flossing after every meal. No good deed goes unpunished, for upon opening my dental floss plucked from the bathroom vanity I found the floss had vanished. More bucks for
  2. 070411 Wesley, jerk cafe car attendant:
    1. Shows up at 7:10
    2. Opens Doors, counts money
    3. Starts reading book even though
      1. Tables and floors are dirty, grimy and littered.
  3. 070412 Cavanaugh,  .... lost lounge car ...
  4. 070413 working ... discovered unisex mini-lounge for working
  5. 070414 Like ban on stinking smoking, should ban changing baby diapers in coaches when changing tables are in bathrooms. Throw off train any mother who puts stinking diapers in trash bin of coach compartment. Parents who think their kids doodoo don't (stink/do??) are clearly parents who are live a lifestyle comfortable with open-air baby fecal boli.
    1. Need kids car where parents can enjoy kids feeding on each others' hyperactivity.
  6. 070415 Canadian border: Guards must be rejects from Amtrak.
  7. 070417 Service Manager on Winnipeg-Toronto told me that I could not discuss Global Warming after showing resume and Threads of time.
  8. 070418 Old man left at Capreol.
  9. 070420 Young girl in train station when asked about watching computer while I went to restroom, "I don't want that responsibility." How much responsibility is there in watching a computer? I didn't know that watching a computer was so much responsibility. Follow up question was, "Are you a visitor from or were you born in the states?" (Did not want to ask if she was a spoiled, irresponsible brat.)
  10. 070422 Lake Shore Limited, Robert Taylor, car attendant, wasn't helping load passengers. Other attendant was asking during boarding where he was. I found him sitting talking with a girl in a coach car. In the middle of the night, I woke up to noice in the coach car whereupon I found him talking to several girls. They could have moved to the lounge car to talk which he said was not necessary after which he continued to "talk" to the girls. A tall man with deep lungs, his talk was not soft and low.
  11. 070423-4 Woman talking at 1am on phone about people keeping her awake at home by talking in the next room. At 9:30am the next morning, this midnight talker was still sleeping.
  12. 070424 Late to DC by 4 hours on Capital Unlimited, missed connection to Richmond, VA.
  13. 070526: Train late in leaving, 9:15 instead of 7:15 ... changed to 10:15 ... changed to another train.
  14. 070526: Magician on train entertained passerbys with tricks, some of which were making things disappear. Sadly, when she finished her exposition, she left, leaving her undisappeared trash on the table.
  15. 070527: Train on time into Alexandria: 11:09 ... Cardinal #51 comes in on time at 11:29 ... #98, my original train was supposed to come in after the #51 departed--what a good guess. If I had taken the #98 I would have missed the Cardinal. Originally was going to pick up in Philly ... lost mileage.
  16. 070527: Clifton forge, stepped off train, realized not a stop ... conductor, heavy-set man with grisly beard gave me grief. If he had done his job, I would not have stepped off the train. When I told him I had not known, he basically called me liar.
  17. 070528:
    1. "I just want to make money." says a lady. "Amy just wants to argue." ... "I don't have time to do that." ... "You know what I mean?"
    2. California Zephyr: Cafe car opened an hour after left station. Person had trash box in landing. Visited at 7:30, person was playing on computer. Bathrooms blocked by trash boxes--picture. ... bathroom used as storage area. Attendant sitting playing computer games
  18. 070501:
    1. See Ms. 6oh1.
    2. Klamuth Close Call: Looking out of the cafe window, I see the Amish walk by. Deja Vu. A Saskatoon Swirling Dervish moment. I am supposed to be with them! Off to the conductor who tells me that I should be with them. With an exceptional assist by two car attendants I am able to gather my bags from two cars four cars apart and get off. It was a rare good moment. If I had missed the Klamuth connection, I would have not made my 25,000 miles. It was closer than the Alexander close call of 07April27.