BF and I have been together for 4 years now. BM has never had a full on relationship with anyone since BF and her split (only afew blow ins) until now.
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In the last 4yrs sd has been sent home from school with ( brace yourselves) head lice. Once though it was really dandruff that was so bad you couldn't see her scalp.
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CSA agency ....
Centrelink ( where we are entitled to money from our govt for our children or aren't working and pensioners etc)
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H just announced that he is going to take a job driving over the road. He would only be home one weekend a month. I told him there was no way I would stay in a house alone for that long with sd.
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I'm a BM and a SM. I get C/S and pay it! So I think I can talk about this reasonably and understand what it is there for.
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Just curious about all of those who have already established what happens Christmas when you have both bio and stepkids.
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It is tomorrow (monday). DH did try to call him a few days ago , as planned on SS cell phone, but nothing came of it, DH just left him a message.
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Boo to the people sitting in the seats for the disabled. The older gentleman stared at you for quite a bit, but everyone ignored him. I was sitting too far up and against a window, unfortunately.
And personal space much? Some girl's bag kept knocking into my shoulder as she used the entire aisle as her personal space. I ignored it for most of the way (good book) but I soon realized after the physics of stopping and going caused the bag to knock repeatedly into my shoulder. I saw another person sitting ahead of me deal with the same thing a few days later (different offender though.) The sitter unfortunately could not ignore it as well and the leaner was just being stupid in not paying attention to where her huge honking bag was swinging.
Dear PBP-SFO 1:57 p.m. Concord T.O.,
I don't know your name but you are one of my favorite T.O.s and one of BART's VERY, VERY BEST train operators. I have ridden your train for quite a few years whenever my path happens to cross with your shift.
I REALLY appreciated that you opened the doors back up for me today. I sprinted all the way from my truck and was doing great until I was blocked going up the escalator by some clueless kid that I didn't want to trample, which cost me that few extra seconds i needed, so thanks. I particularly needed to be exactly on time today.
I also love that you can always fix the dam doors or whatever mechanical issue the train is having and get us home late at night! I always feel safe on your train.
happy holidays to you and yours.
If you have an iPhone, Blackberry or similar device, please take this 2 minute survey to help design an application for BART users. Thanks!
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB228GVYH2RWR
Couldn't help but snap a pic of the nice lady using the BART garbage can as her table to eat her Salad. I bet the old gum and various unidentified substances just add "flavor" to the boring ole salad.
well here in oz we fill out all these forms saying why should have an reducement in cs.... i did that and the time for them to respond was 28 days ...
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Last night I got home from work and BF decided that he would like to take SS13 and I out to dinner.
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I'm exhausted, worked two jobs tonight, but OH BOY, do I need
to SHARE!!
Just last week, H was calling me a "dictator"...I won't let him DO what he wants to DO...boo hoo!
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I have 2 SD's and I treat them as if they were my own only because I would want the same for my children if I had any. Seems like my SD's BM would rather me be an awful person.
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Ok, so I was just in line for a train at montgomery and this african american tranny (I think it was a tranny, but a very convincing one) goes down the line asking people if they have a dollar for four quarters. Everyone ignores him/her. I did happen to have a dollar, so I say yes. I give her the dollar and she holds out her hand, which has about $1.50 in various coins. So I take four quarters. She says thanks, then makes some comment like "you got a very nice hard body" which is the reason I think she was a tranny and the reason I feel like this might be some kinda scam. The quarters look real, I still have my wallet, backpack, underwear, etc. Why do I feel so used??? Does anyone know this person?
I have to say that I am becoming really annoyed with SS9?s BM trying to pretend H isn?t around and that he is a bad father and doesn?t do anything.
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I too have been reading posts and find them very helpful. It's so nice to know that other people have the same issues with skids.
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So we have to go pick up SD today afterschool. Why does my stomach hurt everytime I know shes gonna be around? Am I the only one this happens to? I feel like the biggest Beotch feeling this way.
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BM of my step children refused to let them attend my wedding reception. Their father and I really wanted them to be a part of the celebration.
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Hold the phone! Run out and see if the sun is still in the sky! H actually apologized-even made a special call to apologize!
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And I still have not met DH's mother. BM is constantly over his mothers house but this should not be a reason for me to not have met his mother yet.
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DH and I are just never really going to be on the same page. We are desperately trying to at least be in the same chapter I think.
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What do you guys all have to deal with in regards to pictures of the BM?
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Ok FH moved into my home this June, his 18 BS lived with him. well when they moved in with me FSS for the most part did not.
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I get on bart to go to school and I'm coming into the car. This guy with his gygantor bike, says, "let me get off before you get in the train!" It was the way he said it. I'm all for a curt and vain tone, but this guy definitely took the cake with his "AWPMB [Angry While Pushing My Bike] Syndrome." I really wasn't in the mood for that. Especially since I was having a rather great morning to start. The bikers are really uptight about their entrance and exiting strategy...
-Chrystal Flanders
http://www.damnyouchrystal.com
When to Dublin/Pleasanton and I felt so clostrophobic. It seems that the North lot is getting smaller. The asiles seem so narrow an the cars are all squished together. I had my dad's car that day and it barely fit in the parking space. I walk towards the station and am shocked at what I see. They are doing a ton of construction to the lot. A good chunk of it is all torn up with bulldozers driving around. What are they doing? I didn't have time or I would have moved my car to the parking garrage. But I am afraid that with the cars that close like that, there are going to be more fenderbenders and dinged cars.
I just feel like opening the window sometimes and running away. I love my family but I just can't take another minute of BM getting into my life. I didn't marry her. Heck, I don't even like her.
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Today was pretty productive, inspite of yet another migraine.
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My story is complicated, crazy BM with personality disorder who engaged in PAS to turn SD16 and SD14 against us. SD16 beat me up one year ago, never felt remorse.
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Question for those EOW-ers out there. Do you find that you and your significant other end up having arguments in the 24-48 hrs. after the SK's go back home?
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I've been following the "guilt parenting" threads for a while now, and it sure seems that the behavior is getting ramped up for the Happy Holiday Season!
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Ok so im going to put the response from him regarding the Guilt parenting that he is doing that I mentioned to him and you guys tell me what you think!
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With Christmas coming up and SD15 deciding to start visiting DH again (she will be here this weekend), I anticipate she'll be making her list of Christmas wishes.
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ok I need some advice in this My SD comes over every other weekend and every other day. SD and I do not speak at all to each other (she is 9). Its like she chooses to just not see me there.
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the 3rd party who claimed for cs for the sd now 16yrs old. Sent a letter in response to our wanting the assessment reduced , sent it after her 28 days to argue.
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My husband has two teenage daughters. We have been married for 4 years and one of them seems to always have issues with me. I believe it's because her mother doesn't like me.
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There's a car that consistently drives unsafely in the BART parking lot where I get dropped off. (and when driving there...) I have observed this car cut in front of my ride as well as repeatedly change lanes to get ahead.
Yesterday I observed this car streak across the lot instead of obeying the lanes as well as exiting clearly against the direction of the lanes. Today my ride and his car were directly in front of each other, with me trying to get dropped off and him leaving. He did not back up or acknowledge he was in the wrong, instead he drove around my ride and sped off.
Although this station has been under construction, the lot and the lanes are relatively new and the paint is certainly not faded at all.
I know this car drops someone off. (although I'm not sure who she is, I suspect she gets on the train right before mine.) This might explain why he drives so insanely.
Today, particularly with the fog, I was really concerned this car may hit someone in the parking lot or cause some other accident, especially since there are enough cars to show the flow (and correct direction...) of traffic.
If I report this to BART police will they have a car come by? It seems to me this guy could care less if a BART police car was clearly in the lot, he seems to be one of those jerks who thinks he owns the road, the parking lot and everything else...
So I was ahead of two passengers waiting to do the "sneak back to an earlier station to grab a seat" deal when apparently some guy cut in front of them. At first I had no idea what one guy was saying about a line which quickly turned into multiple profanities. I thought at first he was talking to me since I had shifted my feet (although I hadn't moved, so it wasn't making sense) only to realize the a-holes and f bombs were not directed at me. Wonderful to watch male egos go at it and have staredowns, but fortunately his friend was sane enough to pull the cusser down the train to calm him down.
Which is certainly not to say women are better. At Civic Center I'd watch a woman very sneakily scoot up the middle while the two lines would part to allow people to exit. She once called me out for cutting, although really, if you're not going to step up and be in the line, don't complain because sometimes it's really hard to tell if someone's waiting for the very next train or not.
I also had a woman cuss me out at CC station because she was walking like a freakin' turtle and I had to scoot back over because I realized the fare gate was signaled for entrance, not exit. It was unfortunate my card didn't work for the first try, so I got to be the the target of some very choice language.
My favorites are the people who REACH over and insert their ticket or slap on their card even though they are not physically in front of the gate. But because they have gotten to the ticket part first, they act like nothing's wrong and they didn't just block you or possibly a whole group of people and scoot right through.
I saw this on the "breakfast car" on a Fremont bound train Friday morning. Tis a shame that I couldn't juxtapose the shot with a nice no food sign :(
After slurping down the bowl of cereal with milk!, she started drinking from the bottled beverage in her bag.
When I exited the building today there were four helecopters circling over my head. Turns out it was massive bring your own sign to city hall day. Apparently this also involves clogging up the fare gates and escalators and cheering in the station she when you see someone else with a sign. I didn't see anyone jumping faregates, that's good.
Once I was on the train the guy next to me playing breakout on his blackberry felt the need to complain about riding back to get a seat, and also about the proposed extra charges for the downtown SF stations. I was less than sympathetic. He seemed a little annoyed I didn't commiserate with his plight. Shit, I'm annoyed that he was clogging my station.
I got frustrated and turned off wifi rail yet again today. It's supposed to remember my MAC address so I don't have to log in all the time but it doesn't. By the time I log in I'm out of range so forget it. I get 3g all the way to the tunnel anyway as opposed to wifi only in the station.
Here's a hint. Pay attention and you won't get stuck in a car with doors that don't open. Some dude with a giant rolly bag almost clocked my boss in the head with it. Not cool dude.
I have one of those awesome button machines and I have started making BART buttons. Yeah, buttons out of old BART tickets. Usually they are ones tossed aside by fare evaders of people who can't be arsed to collect enough 5¢ cards to make enough for one ride. It's a rather slow process, collecting all those worthless tickets, but the buttons are pretty rad. Usually I will hand them out to friends and BART employees.
I'm thinking of contacting BART to see if I can get a hold of a bulk of old tickets. Since they are plasticine, they are not recyclable therefore I can make art out of what would otherwise be trash.
Does anyone have an idea on whom I should contact? Or, do you know if they are required to keep them for audit or destroy them for kicks and giggles?
The other day I caught sight of these two riders and fortunately I had my camera with me. Oh, so classic!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/06/BAEN13VRK8.DTL&tsp=1
Usually, I get infuriated after paying ~$7/day to commute on Bart and see others jump the gates or use the emergency swing gate. Even when the swing gate is right next to the station agent, people still walk right on past because the agents I see are either entirely absent, usually engrossed in a novel, doing a crossword puzzle, or doing their nails.
Now, when Bart actually took action against the fare evaders going to the protest several days ago by closing down the Richmond, Coliseum, and Richmond stations, Bart is being criticized, especially because the closed stations were in areas with large minority populations. What a joke.
EZ Rider Parking Program
Information regarding the EZ Rider Parking Program can be found at the BART EZ Rider website, https://ezrider.bart.gov and passengers can register for the parking program beginning November 3. Once registered for the program, a passenger will receive a parking hangtag and/or an EZ Rider card (if you are not already an EZ Rider customer). This system enables the BART rider to park in any daily fee parking space, go to an EZ Rider PVM, touch the EZ Rider card to the PVM reader and then proceed to the platform. ?With a touch of your card, your hangtag number is activated for the day,? Murray added. ?The technology generates a daily list of all hangtag numbers that are validated. BART Police staff will print out this list before they start their enforcement activities.?
Signing up for the EZ Rider Parking Program will be free through January 31, 2009. Beginning February 1, people registering for the program will be assessed a $5.00 fee for the EZ Rider card and $2.00 fee for the hangtag. The same fees will apply for lost or damaged cards or hangtags.
The first station to impelement the program is Orinda, with a scheduled start date of November 10. Over the next two months, parking validation machines will be phased in at 14 other stations. Below is a list of stations that will accept the EZ Rider card for parking payments and the dates scheduled for when you will be able to start using the card. We recommend that you check back at this site to confirm the start dates for your station in case of any unforeseen delays to the schedule.
November 10: Orinda
November 17: Lafayette and Walnut Creek
November 24: Lake Merritt, Fruitvale and West Oakland
December 1: North Berkeley, Ashby and El Cerrito Plaza
December 8: Rockridge, MacArthur and Fremont
December 15: Daly City, Colma and Dublin/Pleasanton
Ugh. It wasn't even necessarily body odor, but rather that "Oops, I got up too late and can't shower" smell. Thankfully I could bury my nose in the newspaper. Ah, the smell of newsprint. :)
And those of you who get rides/drive to BART, please use your turn signals. I realize it's a scramble in the morning (or at night!), but just flip on your signal, even if you're in a huge rush. With the bad weather and earlier sunsets, it's dangerous conditions for those driving (and walking!) around BART or anywhere else.
I've been riding Bart for about a year now, prior to Bart I rode Muni (a joke). What a big difference in commute time!!! What bugs me though is within the last month or two riding from Colma to Montgomery station it has gotten to be a drag with delays because of equipment issues, police activity or track problems???? Bart is not cheap, I think they should add more cars during heavy commute hours in the morning (7am-10am) and evening (5pm-7pm)!!! Also, the BART wi Fi internet service should be available on each train, so if you are stuck in a delay you have something to DO!!!
LOL
Happy Riding!
I posted about a month ago about how one train going to Dublin Pleasanton in the morning was reduced down to 7 cars. Now for the whole week during my commute I've noticed that all of the cars during the morning rush around 6-6:30 and coming back around 4:30-5:30 have been 7 car trains. I can understand that there's one or two trains that have been reduced due to "malfunctioning cars" but I think BART management made the choice to strip down this line to make it even more crowded. Now that gas has gotten cheaper, I'm seriously considering driving rather than feeling like cattle every day during the commute.
POAG
Hope I got the number right.
This car has the original new blue floor like BART started to refurbish this lead car a couple of years ago and NEVER EVER finished the job, kind of like everything they tell us. You will see BART start an improvement such as cleaner trains and then they quickly fizzle.
The seats in car 2619 are so gross and soiled with sweat and dirt, they will ruin your good clothes if you sit on them. Absolutely disgusting. That car should be deemed a health hazard. It has been like this for WELL OVER A YEAR that I can remember. You can't mistake this car because of the floor and because of these old gross seats. They are so bad, they are unforgettable. BART recovered a single seat here and there (not the seat back just the seat) but all the backs need to be done and the seats that were recovered also need to be redone. I had to ride home in this car Monday evening and it smelled so bad of urine, b.o. and gross food, it made me ill.
I think if BART wants its patrons to spare the air by not driving, BART should consider giving us decent air to breath while we commute. I just love seeing my taxpayer dollars hard at work when I see BART cars like that and I see a lot of them.
I think get rid of Linton Johnson and fix car 2619.
...who got to deal with the crush of people who got dumped at Lake Merritt. She thanked us for our patience and said while arriving at West Oakland that people would "...*try* to get on. I will *try* to persuade them for the next train," as well as closing the doors and telling people to clear the doorway. I think she handled it as well as she could and was definitely professional about it.
Certainly a lot better than my original TO who stopped before Lake Merritt and sounded like a complete idiot with his "uhs" and "ums". Maybe it was his first time dealing with a mechanical problem and taking a train out of service, but it was still ridiculous.
And although not related, yet another moron stood in the doorway again. I thought she might move aside, but no, just hugged her purse closer to her body, sigh.
I got an email from BART on Saturday ( as I am sure many other people here have ) containing info about the EZRider card and the Parking
Since nobody has commented about it yet I figured I would post it here:
----
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:04:13 PDT
From: EZ Rider Administration Center
Subject: No Subject
Now paying for parking at BART is easier and faster. Use your EZ a
Rider Card to pay for parking at BART stations with fee lots. We'll
be rolling this feature out over the next two months. See below
for a list of stations and the dates you can start using your card
to pay for parking.
Hurry, when you sign up before January 31, 2009, the one-time fees
of $5.00 for an EZ Rider card and $2.00 for a parking hangtag will
be waived. Beginning on Monday, November 3, 2008 t 9:00 AM, go to
https://ezrider.bart.gov to add the parking payment feature to your
EZ Rider account.
You will be asked for your credit card number to use to pay for
your parking. You may use the same credit you use for your fare
payment account, or a different card. As with a fare payment account,
your parking account will Autoload value from the card as needed
Once you've signed up for a parking payment using your EZ Rider
card, you will be sent a plastic hang tag with a unique serial
number. The hang tag and your EZ Rider card are the keys to
trouble-free parking at BART. For a more detailed explanation, go
to the website.
DATE STATION
November 10 Orinda
November 17 Lafayette, Walnut Creek
November 24 Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, West Oakland,
December 1 North Berkeley, Ashby, El Cerrito Plaza
December 8 Rockridge, MacArthur, Fremont
December 15 Daly City, Colma, Dublin/Pleasanton
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)
EZ Rider Administration Center
Phone: (510) 464-6474
Email: ezrider@bart.gov
I'm a mom returning to work part time, commuting from PH BART to Oakland (yes, taking BART, not using the lot for any other reason). My time is pretty inflexible b/c I can take only 1-2 trains to get to work on time after dropping the kids off in the morning & 1 -- maybe 2 -- train to make it back in time to pick the kids up.
Days 1 and 2 I found parking in the garage (parking gods must have smiled on me my first day b/c I found a spot on the 3rd floor at 8am). Day 3 I was not so lucky; after driving around the neighborhood for 20-30 mins, I decided working from home could be an option since today was a bunch of conference calls anyway. But what about Thursday and all the days after that?
Anyone have any insight on how to score parking around PH BART station after 8am? I can try to get there by 7:50am, but can't really get there any earlier. B/c of kids, biking, mass transit, carpooling, and other forms of alternate transportation to BART are not an option.
... Or, should I just start buying the daily reserved parking? If so, do you suggest daily or on certain days of the week? I am hoping that once work is routine I can try to telecommute more frequently.
I appreciate your help with this issue.
So, I boarded a Richmond-bound train this morning at Hayward and sat at my favorite quad in the front car of the consist, and had a clear view of the TO as he was not blocking the window with any sort of covering. Immediately after departing Hayward, I noticed the TO begin to bob his head back and forth as if he was gearing up to pass out. His chin hits his chest and stays there for a good 30 seconds (I can see his eyelids closed in the mirror) until we hit the L-line merge and then he wakes up. Similarly, at San Leandro and Coliseum, he wakes up just in time to bring the train into the station and release the train and passes out again.
I know the train is in ATO, but I am still worried enough to call BART police while at Bay Fair and ask them for advice. They had two A-line supervisors board the train at Fruitvale, walk into the cab until Lake Merritt where they exited the cab and train leaving the TO at the helm. Surprised that they didn't switch out the TO, I off-boarded and decided to wait for the next train.
Comments??? Suggestions???
...please move or stand aside or make room for the people who are exiting so they don't have to exit single file. Yes, it's towards the end of the line, but come on now.
Are there any rules or laws that dictate if those people supporting/opposing fill in the blank Prop. or candidate can be inside BART stations? I was surprised to see them inside BART (although not inside the paid areas) at Montgomery these past few days. And quite frankly, I wonder if people began complaining because it was obnoxious to be asked if I've voted and to see the waste created by those little flyers.
I'm also annoyed by TOs who stop at different places at the stations. I ride the same trains every day. Unless there are delays (which doesn't really happen going to SF), I don't see how I could be riding with a different TO. I see the signs dictating the 9/8/7 cars, etc. so why do TOs stop at different points in the stations?
A few more details might be nice since BART is closing at midnight? Will we get home, what is going on? I received the below message at 10:50 p.m.:
"There is a major delay on the SFO Line in both directions due to police activity."
You don't even know if it is safe to go to your station and wait or even where on the line the activity is with this one sentence email.
According the the online schedule, there should be a Pittsburg/Bay Point or Concord train at the Civic Center station every day at 5:33 p.m. Most of the times I've been on the platform at this time, that train never comes.
What's up with that?
I've been a BART rider for nearly 15 years, and I've seen my fair share of jerk passengers and BART employees. I used to drive transit buses, and I sympathize with BART employees who have to deal with angry and rude passengers day in and day out.
However, today I think I saw a TO step over the line.
The first incident was at 19th Street Oakland. A man boarded the SFO Airport train that began at Pittsburg-Bay Point at 06:17, which naturally is a "no bikes" train. The TO first reminded him of the policy, however the passenger did not immediately debark. The TO continued to address the passenger on the PA, describing him by his race rather than his clothing. I don't think that the TO needed to describe the passenger by his race, especially not by calling him "That Black guy who just got on the train with his bike..." There was definitely some venom in his voice associated with the word "Black", which I don't really find appropriate. Eventually the TO took off, after waiting for five or so minutes.
The train was at this point a few minutes late, and I assume the TO wanted to catch up. At the following stops, the TO continually closed the doors very quickly. I was riding in the front car, and witnessed several times where passengers were left behind at the platform because they couldn't board in time. At Montgomery, it was most noticeable. The last passenger in a 5-deep line of people was attempting to board at the door closest to the operator. The operator closed the door on the passenger's arm and leg as he took his first step onto the train. The passenger recovered his arm and leg, and asked the operator why he closed the door on him. The operator shrugged, then slammed his window shut so he wouldn't have to continue conversing with the passenger.
Maybe the TO was having a bad morning, but really, did he need to take it out on his passengers? And if he wasn't having a bad morning, but this is his normal MO, I'm pretty sure he's not necessarily an asset to the system...
Hey guys, attached are pictures of my costume this year.
I have never gotten so much attention! I have gotten so many looks and laughs I couldn't keep a straight face!
First one to guess where this photo was taken, gets a kudo!
That was my first ride at Dublin/Pleasant station. I was confused where to pay the parking at first sight!!!
And I was told to pay on the other side of the station which confused me the second time. Finally , I found the machines and I went back for the stall number where my car parked. I paid the parking at last!!!!
Then, I found a ticket lying on my windshield after I returned from SF and I was outraged!!! I copied the receipt and mailed to citation center right after. The day before yesterday, I received the denied letter and requested me to pay the ticket in full first if I want to appeal!!! This time I got even more confused.
Where and whom were our tax payments gone? Now I got it: in the drain of waste!!! Please, hire the decent qualified people who can and want to do the job and pay them well and keep them!!! Don't outsource all the work if you cannot manage and guarantee the quality. We paid every penny already, BART!
By the way, my citation number is 30299049. I'd be appreciated if someone can help.
Red Bull Overdose Dude
-Chrystal Flanders
http://www.damnyouchrystal.com