Is it just me, or do Muni drivers today seem to accelerate faster, brake harder, and run more red lights than usual? Looks like two more people just got toasted by Muni in separate incidents:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/31/MN5IU7IP2.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/28/MN04U618B.DTL
Muni needs to understand that killing potential customers is not in their best interest. Unless, of course, fewer passengers really is their goal. Hmmmm.
Let me prefeace this by saying it is a very dangerous endeavour trying to manuever 7(?) lanes of San Pablo/Cutting Ave traffic by jaywalking just to get to Walgreen's or a to get a Yumbo Yack from Yack in the box... but has there ever been a solution explored to getting across San Pablo in an efficient manner ? To cross SP legally (to get to where the businesses are), one must make (3) crossings where one should suffice.I understand why. Traffic coming off the freeway needs two lanes to turn on to San Pablo in order to keep all the traffic moving off the freeway and from Cutting and that an additional crosswalk (where it is missing)with a light would be both unsafe (as it is now) and clog traffic up.
While jaywalking is jaywalking no way around it and is ticketable, it seems that someone would come up with a solution wheter than parking in the BART parking lot and nabbing folks as they come across the street.
It seems that a crosswalk with a "NO TURN ON RED" sign may work (but will it back up traffic ?), or an over pass over San Pablo to the other side ? Can't a project as such be paid for with the jaywalking tickets ? Again while jaywalking is not only dangerous and illegal it just burns me up sometimes that folks get ticketed just for trying to cross in the most direct way WITH no solution in sight.
Thank you to all who responded the other day. I realize now how silly it was that I even asked what we should do. I really appreciate all of you on this site and how you can make things so much clearer by giving the outside view. Here's how it played out...
For giving me such great advice on this site. There is definitely a great group of folks here that support one another and tell it like it is. I've read blog after blog after blog and if there is one thing that I've realized it's that while all of your experiences are different, there are many parallel themes that run throughout the a successful "step" experience. One being respect, the marriage coming first (which, by the way, can happen at the same time as putting the children first). The two are NOT mutually exclusive.
There was a point when I wanted to adopt the boys and that was when their mother became more involved in their lives and wanted to make up for her mistakes. I suppose she felt threatened and it was one of those "wake up" moments. She really does suffer from the "I don't want it but I don't want anyone else to have it either" mentality.
last night, H came to bed with his nightly fruit and nuts, eating in bed and watching tv. he usually does thing downstairs, but SS has totally taken over the family room, has put his game system there, and keeps moving a mattress in there on the floor, even though we moved it out of the room because it doesn't belong there.
before starting work-
the weekend went fine, considering SD is still not back.
H is now in the process of looking for a car for her, and he's looking at the same kinds of cars that I wanted from the beginning. I wanted a really nice used car, so I wouldn't have to make big payments, and I wanted white body, leather seats(so they wouldn't get stained)- now it just so happens that he's looking at the same kinds of cars for her.
But I have reached the boiling point again and I really don't want to start a fight with my husband right now. You see, he and I are the babysitters for our grandson when SD works on the weekend or if she works in the evenings when daycare is closed. The problem is, she has been working mostly evenings, so we have been babysitting a lot. Tomorrow, she is working 12-5, but she doesn't know if daycare is open. (I would have asked long ago about that, but that is another story.) Now, DH has invited her and her boyfriend, and 2 other couples over for New Year's Eve. He plans to go over to his buddy's store for 4 hours tomorrow to help him with something, but should be back by 2. What is the problem? Well, I had a few plans of my own based on my NOT babysitting tomorrow, but guess what? And before you say, "Well just tell DH to stay home," he is already being pissy about it and I am very tired of being the bad guy. I am also tired of babysitting. DH watches him a lot, but I am tired of having him at our house all the time. Yes, I know how selfish I sound, but I chose not to have kids of my own for a reason. I like having free time to take care of stuff around my house. I like not having to make sure that no one is spilling things or breaking things. I like not watching cartoons and I like not changing diapers.
I watched the Jenny Craig commercial with Valerie Bertanelli and she only had 3 more pounds to lose. Now, this is probably my hormones talking but I started to cry for her. I mean I am not a woman who needs to lose weight or anything. It was the fact that she had worked hard to achieve her goal and felt so good she didn't have to make a New Year's Resolution for once.
My husband and I are newlyweds. I don't know how to deal with his X. She is very manipulative it extemely uncomfortable when we have to deal with her. I have gotten to the point where I can't stand to even look at her.
Has anyone else seen this movie? It's great. I watched it last night and there was a part where the main charachter, Mumford (a pyschologist) is talking about that every animal known to man finds a way to self inebriate itself, you know a way to just "get away"....even if just hitting it's head against a rock till it's unconscious. His point being that we all, animals alike, have that basic instict to escape from the madness of our own lives.
So my bf's ex told him yesterday that she was going to move and take their 2 year old daughter with her, saying that she needs to be by her family meaning her mom. However, they have never gone to court to determine who has custodial custody.
So dh just called me from work. SS7 had called him crying. he said he doesn't want to come here anymore. that he's unhappy and all dh does is lay on the couch. and that he never wants to come back. this is totally untrue. he is always happy here. we had a great christmas. we even had a big christmas party on saturday with my family, where he got a bunch of gifts. my family treats him just like one of there own grandkids. BM said she not going to spend him if he's unhappy. but i'm like what? BM's mom is in town, and shes a complete bi***. so we are thinking this is a big show for her. but this is just horible to do to a little boy.
I?ve had some challenges the past few months that upset me, but what surprised me most was my ability to rebound from them. No matter how down & depressed I feel, I can still find humor in the world & myself. I can still poke fun at my challenges, which makes them seem less? well? challenging. And the reason I noticed this is because when I was feeling my lowest I was still able to laugh at silly things. I was able to feel joy, even in the midst of my sadness.
So she has tried to screw us over again. DH has always carried the kids on his insurance. His insurance costs have gone up considerably & he had said that to her previously while trying to get xtra $$ for other things out of us. BM didn't like the idea of having to use network facilities so when she offered to put the kids on her insurance this year DH let her. First mistake was assuming she had decent insurance. It is awful, but I remembered her saying her company helped out with it.
Wow I gotta tell someone. So took 2 pregnancy tests and those d*mn pink lines are brighter than the sun! Dont get me wrong I wanted children but we've only been married for a little over a month! Just getting SD to trust me and now she's gonna be mad again.
My DH & I moved away from FL. to Mass, with our baby....his EX lives in Fl. with his 2 teen kids, for the sake of our sanity & safety we had to move, we had exausted all other avenues, and my family, and some of DH's family live up here, this was our hometown.
man it was gross. I'm sorry I couldn't take a picture of it. It was streaked about 4 feet long, with some footprints. I almost stepped right on it. This thing was partly on the top portion of the escalator and the rest on the brick sidewalk. Who's responsibility is this?
Is this what's going to happen when they build those new coffee shops at some of the stations? It seems that someone spilled coffee and rather than throw the cup away - they just stood it back up on top of the spill. WTF?
I've waited at the Glen Park station before and remembered how windy the platform was when a train approached. I recorded it this time. Yes, I was bored.
Here's the video
o, we have had the girls since Dec. 16th. We see them during summer and vacations since they live out of state (their mom moved not DH) THey are 7 and 2 1/2. They haven't asked to call mom but she spoke to them on the 23rd and I had them call her Christmas. So, two issues here, she posts a blog that her 7 yo comes home in tears because we won't let her call when she wants to. LIE (Did I mention BM is bipolar?) Well, part of me wants to call her out, the other part tells me to leave it alone because she will just lie and then she will know that I am on her profiles under fake names, getting all this info. Should I confront or continue to copy her soft porn posts and lies?
First of all, I'm not diminishing the impact of this weekend. I was in foster care as a child & just found out. I can now recognize when my mother is doing unhealthy things & I have to learn how to deal with it without it controlling my life. But I found out some news last night that really puts things in perspective.
So dh was talking to SD9 on the phone over the weekend. She told him she was playing on her Step dads ATV that is in the backyard parked. Their backyard also has a pool. Just out of natural instinct dh told her "be careful near the pool" Well, I guess she was walking inside her moms house just as she responded to dh that she would be careful.
Really, who are they?
With the new fares and adjusted schedule soon to be in effect, BART has provided an army of people to hand out informational flyers. There must of been 6 or 7 BART peeps at del Norte, in addition to the regular Station Agent's, just handing out flyers.
Wazzup wit dat?
Are they regular BART employees on O/T?
Are they part-timers supplementing their income?
Are they JW's who have run out of hard copies of the Watch Tower?
How much does this "handing out flyers" thing co$t?
Why doesn't BART just lay the info out on a table instead of using the information army to acost patrons as they exit the stairway or escalator?
Shit, I thought I was getting something for FREE.
But...NO!!!.
Really BART, I don't need some guy handing me shit.
What he should really say as he hands me the shit is...
"Here, you throw this away."
just bring on the free shit
jbap21
Hello.. first time poster here. I just wanted to state that last Friday I called the Bart Police on Friday morning around 10AM at overflow lot of Union city station to report 2 tires missing on the driver's side of an Accord. Union city police called me about an hour later to take a report. When I got back to the station from SF at about 7PM, I met the unfortunate driver of the Accord as well as another driver that had her spare tire stolen off her SUV that same day. I'm sure it was a pleasant Holiday experience.
Today, I happened to get home around 6:45PM and found that my front passenger tire had been stolen. I also called Bart Police, who quickly came by to tell me that it wasn't under their jurisdiction and Union city police would come by. As I waited there a guy came over to tell me he saw tires stolen off of cars in the past few weeks. And as the policeman was dusting off prints on my van, a lady came by to tell me that her tires were stolen a month ago. Both the UC policeman and the car service I called told me that yes, there is rampant tire theft near Union city police station.
The lot is new and great.. however the overflow lot in the back is difficult to access (it's about a 10 minute walk to the front of the building) and is not monitored by Bart security. I should have taken the hint on Friday... but this is not a safe station and worse could have and may happen.
My suggestion to all of you is to not park there as it is not safe. Union city is more ghetto than I thought.
Happy Holidays.
It's back to court we go..............
You know, I am returning to college to finish my degree in Education, but I am wondering if economically speaking I should change that to a law degree... hehehe.
Christmas has now come and gone ... problem, SD goes to grandmothers for X-mas eve, we pick her up at 9, she is cold drunk! Only 15 yrs old. Grandma says what do you want me to do about it! That is the first issue, second, SD says she has a drinking problem, third point/problem, we call bio mom, open communication right??, and she says she doesn't have a problem with that and that she is aware that she drinks and smokes "on occasion" "I don't buy it for them but it is in the fridge in our house." That is what she told us.
After my last blog about the time with the ex my BF said F*#k it and said he's not playing games with the kids like her--he picked them up at 11am. Can you believe she still got pissed about that too? She called him a martyr and DRAMA...a lot of projecting going on, huh? Well, 'crazy' is going to get another surprise---we're engaged! The kids know all about it and we've been talking about a wedding for two days now. When they come back from her house, I'm sure she'll have an attitude b/c he didn't tell her anything and she is going to find out from the kids--oh, well.
There is a phrase I use at work - LTBI ... Little Things, Big Impact. All the little things that are easy to overlook can often cause a huge catastrophe. Like a little oil leak could be the sign of a blown gasket or something like an appointment I missed ends up being the one I was supposed to go to that saved my life .... That kind of thing.
What a crappy christmas I had..christmas with my family was normal...all the grandkids including stepson got the same amount of gifts, and about the same things...the kids got books and outfits. Yesterday we went to BF's parents house. I vowed to never go back there after Thanksgiving but I love my BF so I felt I should go. I didn't want his family to buy me anything because I don't like them very much...but they did, and the same thing that happened at Thanksgiving happened yesterday but worse. SS was an outright spoiled brat who was talking back to BF ALL afternoon, he didn't listen was acting like he was two, took cookies when he wasn't supposed to and didn't say thank you for 1 single gift he got. I was surprised because my daughter has ADHD and ODD and she was acting better than him! She gets over stimulated on hoidays and it way more hyper than she usually is so i have to keep her on a short lease, and also keep her close because SS likes to make up stories about my daughter pinching or hitting him. Anyway, I'll get to the part where my heart got ripped out of my chest...I know full well that these people aren't my child's blood relatives but I figured that since my family treated SS equal to blood relatives, these people would do the same...boy was I wrong! My daughter opened her gifts and said thank you after opening every one...after she was done SS had way more gifts than her of course...well his granparents bought this 5 year old an adult sized guitar with an amp...and my daughter started crying cause she's always wanted a guitar...I mean really, what kind of reaction do you think ANY kid would make who is 6? I would've done the same thing if my sister would've gotten something that I've always wanted...anyway than BF's parent's start uttering smart ass remarks about my parenting and how "some people just don't get it". I don't get it? Really, I'm not the one who is a close minded BIGOT. I know for a fact if my parent's would've bought all the blood grandchildren more stuff and SS just had to sit there and watch all the other kid open extra things he would've felt left out too...to me it was insensitive and I totally understand about him being the only grandchild but when another child is involved in something like that you can't expect a good reaction....So last night when we got home, I took over because I felt SS needed to be punished for all of his disrespectful behavior towards his BF...I told him he couldn't play with any of his new toys..he had to sit on the couch and think about what he had done..and had NO priveleges what so ever..Because I knew if I let BF handle it it would've been a "You have to start listening" speech which would've went on for 15 minutes...
Well, here I am again. My H ex-SD (ages 27-29-these are his Ex-wife's children, not his blood children. He was married to her for 15 yrs) were unhappy that I had a picture of my family and mailed out as xmas cards. My H told me to send the 2 ex-SD a picture/card. In the picture were my kids, grandchildren and my husband and me. They thought they should be in it. Mind you that it is very hard to get everyone together. So, at Thanksgiving my children were invited to my oldest child's home for dinner. Perfect time to snap a picture! The ex-sd were also mad that my H's mother was invited also. She is 70 and a widow. She had no place to go.
last night H and I went to eat at a friend's restaurant, which was so annoying, because the place was packed and we didn't have a table, and everytime a table was cleared, H let whoever was behind us in line go sit down first, so we waited at least half an hour before we could even sit down.
I am seriously considering what another poster advised me to do regarding the Invaders. Here is a letter I drafted. I found their address on the net.
Dear Invader 1, Invader 2, and Invader 3
You are hereby notified that your presence on or in the property located at:
Who needs it? You know, now that I am older I can see clearly how my mother is creating needless drama for the sake of her being in control. And finding out she let a complete stranger care for me when I was an infant just drives an even bigger wedge between us. I no longer feel guilty for being different than my relatives. Who doesn't want a better life? Why am I the badguy because I got off my ass & worked for it honestly? Why should I be resented for living well? Why should I be put down for being nice & polite? Whatever. I'm glad there is a wedge between us. And I'm glad there is no guilt, because I simply don't care what any of my relatives think of me anymore. I've always been the outsider & I always will be, & I'm fine with it now.
Does anyone know if it's possible to use Wageworks' Commuter Card to pay for the BART EZ Rider card?
Wageworks' card claims to work just like a credit card, but I'm not sure if it only works in ticket machines.
I tried calling both BART and Wageworks, but neither know whether or not it will work, and just refer me to the other one for more information.
So if anyone has had experience with this and can confirm that it will work, please let me know. Thanks.
DH and I came up with this fun little question. So if your life were made into a movie......who would you cast?
For me:
DH - Kevin Costner (DH looks and acts just like him)
Me - Renee Zellweiger (Only because I could've written Bridget Jones' Diary)
Which ones were the most helpful to you? (non religious-based)
I'm also looking for books to help me understand others reactions to stepfamilies; how to be effective in setting family boundaries
a few months back i noticed a fart-like smell when exiting the tunnel going from berkeley to orinda. i just assumed someone in my car dropped ass. but almost everyday since then i have noticed this same smell at the same spot on my commute. i assume it is possible that there is a fellow passenger with IBS that executes a well timed fart everyday to avoid suspicion. more than likely, however, there is some kind of leak near the track. doesn't smell like sulfer or natural gas. it smells exactly like a fart. does anyone know what this is? i smell it exiting the tunnel that parallells the caldecott on the orinda side in the evenings, and occasionally in the mornings when entering the tunnel from the orinda side. extra credit if you know the name of this tunnel.
ARE BART POLICE REAL POLICE?
That depends on what the definition of real police is. Some people are unfamiliar with terms like "police powers" and "jurisdiction" and are left to their own opinions or assumptions of what the real police are. Generally, you would expect that the men and women who patrol your city or county in black and white cars are in fact REAL POLICE. The real police wear uniforms, carry guns, arrest criminals, write tickets, solve crimes and all those other law enforcement related jobs. The CHP, city and county police have police powers anywhere in the state of California. Their primary jurisdiction is controlled by whoever employs them.
For example, San Francisco police officers are employed by the city of San Francisco. Those officers have state wide police powers and can enforce laws and make arrests ANYWHERE in the state of California. San Francisco police officers have the primary jurisdiction within the city limits of San Francisco. This simply means that most crimes are handled and investigated by those officers. In contrast, Oakland police officers would not normally drive to San Francisco and investigate crimes that occurred within the city of San Francisco and vice versa.
So how do the BART police differ? Just like San Francisco police officers, BART police officers have police powers anywhere in the state of California. BART police officers receive training in the same academies as the police that patrol your cities and counties. The simple difference is that BART police officers are not employed by a city or county and their primary jurisdiction is more complicated.
The BART police are employed by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The transit district is given the authority to create and maintain it's own force of police officers for the primary purpose of maintaining order and investigating crimes in relation to transit patrons, trains, stations and properties. This authorization requires BART to hire police officers who are certified by the California department of Police Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.). Police officers can only be certified by P.O.S.T. after passing a standard 6 month police academy. The BART district does not employ any security guards or any other employees who merely posses "GUARD CARDS." They do employ uniformed civilian employees for the purpose of supplementing the police force and enforcing parking regulations.
BART police officers differ from the CHP, city and county police only by their primary jurisdiction (as does any other law enforcement agency). BART police officers respond to calls and investigate crimes that occur within BART property because that is their primary jurisdiction. Oakland police officers respond to calls and investigate crimes that occur in the city of Oakland because the city is their primary jurisdiction. Both of the mentioned agencies have police powers to take police action in each other's jurisdiction because they are authorized to enforce the law and make arrests ANYWHERE in the state.
Regardless of any other opinion, it is a fact that BART police officers are real police officers in eye of the state. However, there is a wide public misunderstanding that transit police officers are somehow inferior. In contrast, BART police officers are required to have a college education. Most city and county police departments do not have this requirement and this includes the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. If the BART police are a squadron of "rent-a-cops," "academy drop-outs," "2.5's," and "BART security," then I'd be more concerned about the officers who patrol the neighborhoods you live in.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/25/MNHTU0369.DTL
first off, mark sutton, if you are reading this: your catalytic converter was stolen not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES? and the third time it was stolen it was WELDED ON BY YOUR MECHANIC??? and your wife's car was also burglarized AND vandalized? i can only think of two possible reasons for this: 1) you REALLY pissed off someone (a neighbor, perhaps?) that is now out to even the score or 2) you are running some auto insurance fraud ring and are stupid enough to tell your "sob story" to the chronicle. does anyone else think this is fishy?
and i gotta love the first piece of advice they give on how to keep your car safe:
"Remove your keys from the ignition and take your keys with you" no shit?
Of course Bart's going to be empty on Dec 24TH - Duh. I was bored and just wanted to share these garage pics with ya'll on my way in to work. Merry Xmas. Feliz Navidad.
My god, i get tired of answering to calls about "people" making giant commotions while riding BART. I wish individuals would just try to keep SANE and not make stupid choices while on BART. i bet schrapnel feels me here.
what is that horrible sound that bart constantly makes while departing from each station, like a whirring up? the motors? it changes in pitch, c'mon everyone you know what i'm talking about. any train operators or mainline techies know? hmm..
I was only held over for about 20 minutes. I was about to get off the train and take a bus over the bridge and then get back on BART in the East Bay when the operator announced that the trains were being released. I was only about half an hour late for work! Luckily Saturdays are a little more loosey goosey so I was alright. But it did make me realize that I probably can't rely on BART the way I thought I could.
I'm off on a BART-free week. Our company has graciously given us a week off, between Christmas and New Years, so Merry Christmas, happy Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, and New Year (or Festivus) to one and all.
See you next week!
10 car train left Pitts/Baypoint with only 4 of the 10 cars open to the public. The rest of the cars were dark and locked... the look of confusion and exasperation on peoples faces as the doors didn't open up was classic. I got my commupance though... This has happened before and I just got on and then went to one of the darkened cars... The Systems person seemed ok with people doing that before... but today ALAS!! The connecting doors were locked... leaving me looking like a dork trying to open them. But whadda ya know... this 4 car train was far less crowded than my normal 10 car train. Go figure.
I got this email this morning from the EZ-Rider People, I left links and addresses out but the concept sounds nice! I want my iPhone to do that!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your help in testing BART?s EZ Rider card. Thanks to you, the EZ Rider card has become a popular way for our riders to pay their way on BART.
Because we want to offer our riders a variety of safe, easy and convenient ways to pay for fares, we are always looking into new technologies.
Our latest idea is to let you use your mobile phone to pay for your BART ride. As someone who has shown an interest in new technology, we would like to ask you to help us test this newest fare payment method.
If you are a Sprint or Boost Mobile phone user, you can help us test this exciting new program.
We are recruiting a very small number of BART riders to participate in this trial. If you qualify, you?ll be able to use a Sprint or Boost Mobile cell phone to pay for your travel on BART. Be one of the first people in the Bay Area to use one of these specially equipped cell phones.
All participants will be given a specially equipped cell phone for the duration of the trial which should last from January through March. These cell phones will be exchanged for your current phone during your orientation meeting. All trial participants will be paid incentives for their participation and given opportunities to win other prizes during the trial.
Because the trial will only cover a three-month period, please be sure keep your EZ Rider Card so you will be able to use it again after the trial is complete.
=========================================================================
Any Thoughts???
Anybody know why there was so many SFPD, BART PD, undercover PD and the Bart Captain scoping out the SF Airport Train at 4pm? They were all walking in and around with mugshots of a guy like for 20+ minutes. Of course while clogging up the blossoming number commuters.
Sad thing with all this is the overheard announced, the SF Airport train will be leaving in a "few" minutes and sorry for the delay. It would be nice to know if we were in danger of some lunatic, terrorist, small time shit disturber or a professional killer. Maybe some one eating their lunch.
It would only take someone to yell fire or an earthquake to have a riot! Just hate to be blindsided in crowded conditions.
You know I was having a pretty good morning. I get to the San Bruno bart station and the garage was half full - people must be starting their Xmas vacations early. I knew that I was going to miss my train because I got to the station 5 minutes later than usual. I was taking my time and not rushing. I got to the turnstile and there was an announcement that the train going north is to arrive in 2 minutes. I look at the clock in the station agents booth and it was 845am. Wow. This morning is going very well. I get to the platform and my train was already pulling up. I get into my usual center car and take a seat in the back - the car was nice and heated. I get my pocket pc out and start reading the newspaper on it. We get to Colma which has the first set of tunnels showing you the outside world. I turn to my right to look out the window and.....YUCK!! WTF??!! Someone left a damn used Qtip right on the window sill. Who are these disgusting fucking people? This is not your freakin bathroom. I hope whoever left this gets an ear infection. That is just disgusting. So, I used one of the Yellow "we raised our prices" leaflets and scooped up that nasty shit and dumped it in the trash can on my way out.
I'm so angry I could !! We asked Bm multiple times when the winter concert was this year, and Bm flat out lied to my face!! "Oh, they're not ding that this year because they're doing the play..." Yeah, bullshit...it was tonight.
HB is yet again allowing BM to dictate MY time. She is suppose to have skids over the holiday dec. 28-Jan. 1. Today she called and told him how the cow ate the cabbage and has scheduled her holiday time once again around her social life.
Okay so BM calls hysterically crying... can the kids come over here for a couple of days... DH says.. of course (no problemo here. BM
drops the kids off... they march up to their room no communicado. DH whoo was resting becaue of oral surgery today and on pain meds...
My SS is visiting his mom for the week and I love it. I love not having to talk over him, having a clean house, not having a 9 year whinning all the time or running his mouth (he's a real smart ass and has to have the last word in).
Wow I can't believe that Bart is providing a shuttle!! This morning it was announced that there was a 30 minute delay between the airport and Millbrae due to electrical problems. Bart then announced that there was going to be a shuttle provided to move people between stations.
Here is the announcement
Bart Shuttle Announcement
How come they didn't do this when this happened?
Okay so I anticipated this would happen...call me psychic or just able to predict that crazy BM would pull her crap once again.
The first thing is that she after mediation over a month ago she has been following the agreed upon schedule, until now. She was offered a copy of the schedule they agreed on but wanted to work from her own that she had originally created and would just edit the changes. It doesn't seem that way though. She tried to say that my BF had a day that was clearly her according to the mediation schedule...and I am sure she is going to dispute other days too. But, the mediator has a copy so it is on file they agreed to the days on our schedule.
Self love and self respect isn't something that I can just give to my BS20 as a Christmas gift. I would if I could. I am hurting so bad these days. I am so worried about my BS. His BD and I were divorced when he was 9, and BD wasn't envolved at all he works for the railroad and lived 2 states away from us.
i forgot to mention this, and i'm writing down everything that happens which bothers me.
SD asked me last week if I would buy her a "small bottle of vodka"
As if I want to get in trouble for her!
NO....anyway.
Can anyone (Shrapnel? TrainOperator? anyone else I haven't figured out that they're a BART employee, yet?) shed some light on this:
All too frequently I'm on a train and the t/o is making an announcement s/he expects the people on the platform to hear (i.e. "there's another 10 car San Francisco train 3 minutes behind this one", "board up people, doors are closing", etc). Those at least are partially aimed at people getting on the train, but my favorite was just yesterday when the t/o started out telling people on the platform to move away from the yellow line, and then increased it to a yell. For one thing, I'm pretty sure in a noisy, commuter-filled station, announcements made over the train intercoms are virtually washed away before they can make it out the door. I've been there... standing behind the yellow line. I've not been able to hear t/o announcements - at least not clearly. And for another, yelling to make yourself heard to those OUTSIDE the train means you're deafening those INSIDE the train.
While we're on the subject, there are a LOT of announcements going on. System announcements, station agent announcements, incoming train announcements... I know it's probably hard to time these things so you don't step on each other's proverbial toes (is it? I'm being generous here. how hard can it be to know a) the train schedules and b) that central is about to broadcast its "video cameras are not a guarantee against criminal activity blah blah blah" message), and when there's no train roaring into the station, but I gotta tell you, all too often those announcements are inaudible over the roar and horn-beeping of one or two incoming trains combined with the din of a platform full of passengers combined with the fact that the nearest loudspeaker is quite a distance away. If I had a dime for every time a fellow passenger has turned to me with a puzzled look on their face asking if I heard the announcement, well... maybe I wouldn't be so bothered by the pending fare hike!
should be required reading for all parents.
Today BM made the statement about doing "because the kids didn't want to do something I told dh that when did parents start letting kids make the choices. Hello!!!
I wrote a book about becoming a stepmom because I was scared. I wanted to talk to as many people as I could to make sure that I did it ?right.? And I learned so much from the many brave stepfamilies I interviewed for the book. I found out what worked. I wrote it all down. I practiced it in my own home. But there are still days when I can?t handle stepmotherhood with very much grace at all.
What will the new ADA announcements sound like?
"Ten car San Francisco Airport Train now approaching, Plat-form two-uh"
"Four car Milbrae train now boarding, platform one"
Hmmm? Anyone know what the new Destination Announcements will sound like? Any ideas?
I think I would just drive on by.
Yesterday was awful. She started in with her evil crap with DH's family. He found out she was taking her BF his 3 kids & the boys to DH's evil abusive brothers house. She then alluded that DH's parents would be there & that she had not realized that we were having DH's parents, grandma & good brother & his wife over to celebrate the next day.
I really am.
BM took the girls to the doctor (immunizations) the other day, not telling DH, and didn't pay the copays. She had them bill us because the insurance is under DH. Now, we went through this before and DH went to the Dr.'s office and said not to do this because BM won't pay her portion back to us. It also makes it DHs debt on his credit should it not get paid. Well, now BM works at the Dr.'s office and she says she can do it since DH carries the insurance. So it has become obvious to me that she can in fact do this and she will.
as of today i have almost all of my clothes back- i went into sd's room where she's been putting stuff into her own closet finally, and took out one of my skirts, one dress, one sweater, and a shirt i've been looking for. i left one dress and another sweater in there, because i don't really care about them- and also found my black sweater that i haven't seen in ages.
Attached are a coupla' photos of my Richmond bound train that was littered with yellow flyers describing some BART special information.
This isn't the first I've seen of this. Is this the best that Linton and the public relations/information staff can do ? Did some underling hired to disseminate the flyers get lazy and just dumped them. Or did some lunatic rider take a bunch and dump them over (at least) three cars ?
BTW... I've been reluctant to use my Treocam because I didn't know how to clandestinely take pictures without looking (sounding) like a pervert (no I'm not one) with the shutter noise going off. My other (Windows based and Blackberry) PDA phones, I could disable just the camera sound (or delete the camera's audio file). Never dawned on me that by putting the phone on vibrate... that the camera would make no noise--- duh !! (That wouldn't work as a solution on my other phones as they still would click)... ahh so now I feel more comfortable clicking away at the miscreants, freaks and oddities on BART.
this morning these yellow fliers were on all the seats of my train. i assume you all got them as well, but just in case, i scanned it...
I guess we've all had both, right? Some of it has been a success and some perhaps not so much. I'm curious as to what you think has been behind the times when you were successfully being what you consider an effective SM and what might have been going on when things were not so effective.
Last Thur. ss had his Christmas band concert. The date has been on the school website for a month. We dropped his band uniform off at Bm's house the Wed. before because ss is at Bm's house on Thur. nights. So we thought all the bases were covered. Not!!
SD 17 (will be 18 in Jan) has not been a part of our family since March of last year. She moved in with us Jan of last year and when she went to her mom's for the weekend the beginning of March, she never came home. BM drove her to our house and she cleaned out her bedroom while we were at work and moved back in with her mom. BM lives on our support checks, and basically made SD feel like she had to move home, because they couldn't make it without her.
I came across this website and found it quite interesting.
Interesting Website
This graffiti must of occurred on last Wed or Thurs afternoon which was Dec 13th or 14th - not sure. I just remembered seeing it as I was exiting the San Bruno train and rushing home to babysit on both days. It completely left my mind and I didn't have time on either day to dwell on it. Today I did have time to see not only the graffiti on this bench, but outside the station as well. I would of taken a pic of the outside graffiti, but it was raining a bit this morning and I had two minutes before my morning train arrived. What the hell? This isn't the 70's or 80's anymore. There is no reason to tag a somewhat graffiti free Bart station. I'm wondering if the "video camera that is not designed to prevent or guarantee there would be no crime" caught this or not? or whatever the recording says.. Damn, this pisses me off.
Here's the graffiti
So in all of my time reading stuff randomly about BART when I really should have been doing something else, Ive never seen pictures of a bart train wrecked.... Like the Fremont Flyer... Why isnt there a picture of it anywhere, it would be interesting to see lol.... as well as some of the smaller incursions that have happened over the years, de-railments etc.... does bart try super hard to cover everything up?
any thoughts????
On Friday, March 30, 2007, after exiting a train at Embarcadero, I slipped in a puddle of spilled coffee, went flying, and slammed my head into the platform. The puddle wasn?t visible because many others were also exiting the train.
I was unable to focus my vision for almost an hour and, over 8 months later, I?m still having pains around the brow bone above my eye, which is what hit the platform. My doctor thinks I may have fractured my brow bone. I?m seeing another doctor on Monday, and potentially might have to have an MRI to find out why it?s still hurting and why my eye is still bulging out slightly.
I submitted a claim to BART to reimburse me for my medical expenses and time off from work, and THE CLAIM HAS BEEN REJECTED. I have about 4 months left to do something about it.
I?m looking for others who have had slip and fall injuries at BART, or anyone who remembers seeing someone spill the coffee, or saw the puddle of spilled coffee and a white plastic lid on that morning. I fell at approximately 9:25 a.m., so it would have been spilled sometime earlier that morning. If I can prove the spill was there for quite some time, it might help. The spill was between the platform edge and the bottom of the escalator, near the first car of the westbound train.
I'm not sure if it's okay for me to include my email address or phone number with this posting, so if you do remember anything about the spill, would you please leave a comment and I'll check periodically? Thank you very much.
This seems suspect.
QUEEN OF THE ROAD
Why BART empties parking machines during commute hours
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 12/12/2007 03:01:35 AM PST
Commuter: It happened again at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. I arrived about 6:20 a.m. Dec. 6, and I went to the parking machines to pay my daily $1 parking fee before hurrying up the stairs to board the train before it departed.
But it is during this commute time, as hundreds of fare-paying customers are arriving, that BART has decided to open the parking machines to empty the money inside. A number of the machines are open, surrounded by armed guards, and lines form at the few machines they have not opened yet.
What possible sense can it make to take parking fee machines and/or fare machines out of service in the middle of peak commute hours? BART is open all day. Can't this chore be done, say from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., outside the main commuting hours?
Gary Vincent, Livermore
Queen: Unfortunately, because of safety and security restrictions and machine operations, there is only a small window of time left for emptying the hundreds of parking machines through the BART system.
"If safety were not an issue, we'd service all our machines in the wee hours of the morning when the system has shut down instead sometimes during commute hours," BART spokesman Linton Johnson wrote in an e-mail. "But, the FBI has warned us that it would be very dangerous for our employees to be transporting those large amounts of cash around during the wee hours of the night instead of during the day."
So to protect employees, machines are not serviced overnight.
Given the parameters recommended by the FBI, Johnson says the service window is already small. "If we were to shorten the window by eliminating the designated commute hours of 4 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., we would then have nine hours fewer to service the hundreds and hundreds of machines in our 43 stations. That would put our passengers up the creek!"
When a machine reaches capacity, it automatically shuts down and remains out of service until it's emptied.
"This would make them completely unavailable and cause passengers to be tremendously aggravated at the inconvenience of not having a machine for days and days instead of the few minutes it takes to service a machine," Johnson said.
It takes two to three minutes to empty a machine, he says.
As for Gary's specific complaint, Johnson says the Dublin/Pleasanton station is serviced weekly with the least amount of disruption possible.
"On the Thursday your reader was inquiring about, we were servicing three of the 12 (machines), so there were nine others available for people to use," he said. "Yes, we had three machines out, and we don't like doing that, but they were out of commission for no longer than nine minutes."
If you think about it, nine minutes isn't huge. I've spent more time waiting for my peppermint mocha at Starbucks.
Queen: This Sunday, be sure to read the Queen's Commuter Gift Guide. The royal Highwayness (that's me) and her elves have been busy shopping for you.
We'll have recommendations on everything from luxury items to stocking stuffs and all the good stuff in between!
Got questions about your commute? Whether you drive, ride, bike or walk, write the Queen at the Commuter Page, c/o the Times, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, or ccncommuter@bayareanewsgroup.com. Visit the Queen online at ContraCostaTimes.com/queenoftheroad.
I know this has a great chance of being a no brainer but, I thought that I would let it out just incase.
With the new changes in 08 bart is going to be stopping the sfo service from Millbrae, this you know, what you may not know is that there is a hugh amount of sfo workers that currently use that line to get to work (driving in and parking there is cheaper then paying the $260 fee to park on site) Well with that line gone there is a really good chance that the people that park there now will be parking at the San Bruno station. I'm not sure what the parking status is there now but expect it to get much tighter come the new year.
anybody out there ever had a run in with the panhandling family? mother and father(who look like brother and sister) and about 7 red-haired boys. they have been pimping their kids out since daiper days to support their drug habit. they are into aggresive pandling and robbery. as a station agent i have been dealing with them for the last nine years. the father has flashed thousands in front of me as i asked them to leave the station. they say they are going to jump me when they see me on the street.however, when they do the father is very friendly, i guess trying to build a relationship so i don't bother them. do not give them any money, but watch your back as i have seen them jack people before.
Last night I was on the 11:38 train from Dublin/Pleasanton. It took me two hours to get home, but the TO kept us informed. He told us what was going on the whole time. We got stuck right before Bayfair station and he said he had to get out and switch tracks manually, something like that. Usually when I take the train home around midnight there aren't too many delays -- last week we got stuck in Oakland because of a fight on the car ahead of us and that took about an extra hour. Does anyone know what happened last night?
I see that san bruno bart is now doing the "lets look like downtown san fran? look by having the same type of ad all over the place. The ads are promoting the mall next door. Hey bart I know you read this board how about free wifi on the platform? You are now getting paid for billboard ads. Just ask for fifty bucks more monthly. That will cover the cost of the internet connection. I will contribute ten bucks towards a wifi router. I think my fellow commuters will make up the difference. Wifirail is only doing san francisco and not san bruno. Psst - you can even sell ads on the sign on screen. If you don't want to handle the wifi portion perhaps an outside contractor can handle everything for you? Please contact sanbrunocable.com and they may be able to set it up for you.
Here are the ads
New San Bruno Bart Ads
After a very busy week at the office last week I was very happy to be on the train on the way home when these two guys came in and sat across from each other in the handicapped seats near the door. They were about 25 or so, pretty normal looking, and one had a case of Coronas in a black plastic bag under his chair. They settle into their seats and the guy proceeds to pull two cold ones out of the case. He hands one to his buddy, opens one himself, and they start their own private little happy hour right there on the train.
I was mostly annoyed that I wanted a beer just as much as they did but was not fortunate to have a friend to hand me one at the moment, so I did my thing, read some magazines, etc. and tried to ignore them. They probably had at least one or two more before they got on the train because about halfway through their beers they started getting a bit louder than I think they intended to.
Apparently I wasn?t the only one who was jealous and lacking beer, because as they were walking out the door of the train I see a dark blue arm with a nice BART PD patch block the door open. Guy with the case was smart enough to put his beer bottle back in the case and put the case back in the black plastic bag, so I think he may have gotten away with it, but guy number 2 was holding the newly empty beer bottle, suds still clinging to the side, in his hand. Busted!
What a wonderful Monday morning. I volunteer at my daughter's school this morning which was cool because I get to be in her classroom and watch her. I leave her school around nine thirty this morning and head on over to the San Bruno bart station. The garage's normal spots are all full, well at least the top three floors are. I drive around and around for half an hour and see that a bart policeman was watching me. We meet at an intersection and I give him the universal "where are the spots" shoulder shrug. He points me to go down the ramp and check the second floor. So I go down and he follows right behind me. Now I?m nervous - I know I didn't do anything wrong, but that's just how I am. I look at the posted signs and all I could see are the words "reserved parking." I failed to see that you can park there after 10am ? it was in a smaller font (it was already 10:05am). I was thinking that the bart cop didn't understand that I was looking for a spot to leave my car for the day. He?s right behind me and stops when I stop and moves when I move. I'm about to roll down my window and wave him on to go ahead of me. I look over to him and he gives me the hold on a sec hand gesture and gets out of the squad car - I was thinking cool he's going to help me find a spot. This is how the conversation goes
Cop: Do you know you were going the wrong way?
Me: No, I never go this way. I usually park on the fifth floor, but there aren?t any open spots.
Cop: You can park here on the second floor reserved spots. You know its 1005am and the reserved times are over
Me: But I have to leave my car here until 8 tonight
Cop: It?ll be fine. Do you know that one of your tail lights is out?
Me: No, sorry it must have just happened.
Cop: I?m not going to give you a ticket, but can I see your driver?s license?
Me: Sure
Cop: Is this your car?
Me: Yes.
Cop: Can I see your insurance and proof of registration?
Me: Sure
The dispatcher calls him and he talks into it.
He looks to me and says
Cop: There?s a stolen car. I have to go. Turn your car around and go the other way. Don?t forget to fix your tail light.
He then hands me my driver?s license back and takes off in a hurry.
Shrapnel you might know him. He looks like the guy from Rush Hour or Shawshank Redemption
Looks like this actor
Got this email in the Moderator's account.
Please email us if you would like to help her out, and would like me to put you into contact with her for this story.
Is this a bad idea, or a great opportunity to gather public support for our cause (improving the BART system) and getting publicity for our site?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wong, Claudine (CTV-Oakland)
Date: Dec 4, 2007 7:02 AM
Subject:
To: BARTRage.Moderators@gmail.com
Hi there
We are working on a story about crime on public transportation, both Muni and Bart and have seen postings on your site. One specifically by specialone last year? Are you able/willing to put us in contact with some of these people who have posted their stories on your site, in the interest of getting their stories out there? Or would you be willing to contact them first and then connect us to them. We'd also like to get our hands on some of this surveillance tape they are talking about but need to know dates and times of these alleged crimes. Thanks for any help you could give us!
Claudine Wong
KTVU Channel 2 news
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/08/BAG3TPR9S.DTL&tsp=1
BART riders will have to dig deeper into their pockets when a 5.4 percent fare increase kicks in Jan. 1, but the new year also will bring more frequent service.
Starting next month, passengers will pay between 10 cents and 30 cents more a trip, depending on the distance traveled. The minimum BART fare for one-way trips within San Francisco, for example, will jump to $1.50; the priciest one, between Millbrae and Pittsburg, will hit $6.60.
The fare increase, one of a series approved by agency officials in 2003, is expected to generate an additional $16 million a year for BART. Some of the extra money will help fund stepped-up cleaning of stations and cars - a high priority for riders, according to a BART survey. More frequent service also is planned.
Under the change, trains will run every 15 minutes instead of every 20 minutes on Sundays and after 7 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays. That's the same frequency now offered during the Monday-Saturday daytime runs.
In addition, there will be more frequent service on the Peninsula, with trains serving Colma, South San Francisco and San Bruno set to run every eight minutes instead of every 15 minutes, as they now do, because the stations soon will be served by two lines.
Airport passengers and workers also will be able to catch an earlier weekday train to San Francisco International Airport. The first run from downtown San Francisco to SFO will get people there at 5:15 a.m., 16 minutes ahead of the current schedule.
And while passengers who want to travel directly between Millbrae and the airport will be inconvenienced by the loss of that service, the new schedule will shorten the trip by six minutes for a greater number of people who are traveling from Millbrae to San Francisco.
Lynette Sweet, president of the BART board of directors, said the changes will be a mixed bag for riders.
"It's good news in that we are going to have more trains more often, but at the same time, the next automatic fare increase will be going in," she said.
The BART board in 2003 approved a sequence of four fare increases that take effect every other year. It started with a 3.7 percent hike in 2006. The plan called for raising fares based on the rate of inflation, minus 0.5 percent. The formula was devised to force BART to find cost savings instead of relying solely on inflationary revenue increases, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said.
By setting fare hikes over the long term, the agency has been able to lock in a more stable funding base. And politically, the elected BART board of directors avoids regular votes on unpopular fare increases.
BART, which provides about 360,000 trips on an average weekday, recently has been experiencing a steady increase in ridership - a marked turnaround from the decline in the years immediately following the collapse of the dot-com economy and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
During that period, riders saw service cuts and higher fares, a deadly combination for a transit agency trying to attract patrons. When ridership drops, so does revenue. The agency's operating budget is $627 million for the current fiscal year.
Even though the fare hike is a done deal, BART officials hope the service improvements will blunt blowback from the public.
I took Bart on a Saturday morning to go back home and visit the family. I usually don't run into any major problems with Bart on non-commute days, except for the occasional stare from a middle-aged pervert. I got on at the Powell St. station and took a seat behind this woman, who was selfishly hogging the seat next to her with tons of bags. This lady was yelling into her cell phone the entire ride to the Dublin/Pleasantion station. I don't care if you use your cell phone, but you don't need to scream. Nobody gives a sh** about your conversation. The whole time she was yelling,"what?! I'm almost home! I can't hear you! I'm on BART! It's loud over here!" No duh, dumb f***, you're on a train!?!
So crazy woman, soon after we pass the Oakland area, starts putting on make-up. For 40 minutes!! It was disgusting, her powder was flying everywhere and her make-up was smeared. Then crazy woman starts talking on her cell phone again while putting on make-up.
I moved to another seat further away from her and she turns around and glares at me. So she moves closer to me!! She then starts asking me for money, but I didn't say anything to her.
I ignored her until I arrived at the Dublin station, and proceeded to get off the train. I took the stairs down and she starts trying to race me down the stairs. As if that wasn't weird enough, she follows me out towards the parking lot. I told her if she didn't leave me alone I would call the cops on her. She walked away laughing and making calls on her cell phone. Too bad I couldn't find a Bart police officer at the time.
This lady is crazy, watch out for her. I wanted to take a picture to post on here but the camera on my phone was broken. Hopefully no one has run into her; is it just me or are some Bart passengers really this stupid and harassing? I've run into rude, inconsiderate people sometimes, but never this weird.
I will be going on a trip during the holidays for a week or so and wondered if anyone could comment on the safety of Bart airport parking, especially at the San Bruno or SSF station. Bart's price of $6/day is very enticing compared with the near-airport parking lots, but I'm wondering if it would look enticing to thieves (especially at night) to have an airport parking permit on the dashboard of a car that won't be moved for a week. Is the savings worth it over the on/near-airport lots?
I've always been curious about why Bart places cars with non-functioning doors on its' trains. Today, car 1635 was out of order but running along with 8 other functioning cars. This has happened to me three times within the same week. The last 2 times, the lights were even off. I wait at the platform, the train arrives, and the doors fail to open. I then look up, see little stickers saying "Door not operational (or something along those lines)" and have to rush to an adjacent car to catch the train I've been waiting for before it leaves me on the platform.
To me, this makes no sense. If the train is departing from a teminal station/yard, why take that car along for the ride? All it does is create delays as people rush to board the adjacent cars, adding at least 15-20 secs of stopping at each station-which adds up quickly. Not to mention the extra announcements T/Os need to make to advise passengers to exit in a different car. I'm not buying an excuse that Bart is short on rolling stock either. This was a noontime daytime Richmond train which is normally shortened to 4 cars (but was 9 today). It's not that I don't appreciate the longer train, but I don't appreciate unncessary delays nor having to rush to board a train I've been waiting for.
Last night, I just needed to get downtown from 9th and Irving. Should be 25 minutes, right? It took an hour because of the tunnel backup. Maybe it was the rain, but Muni pulls this kind of crap all the time with no obvious reason and we bite our tongues and put up with it.
I'd gladly pay $3 fare for a train that runs efficiently and on-time. Hell, I'd pay $5 if it really did function properly. I'd even support more huge pay raises for Nat Ford if the f'n trains and buses ran faster and on time.
I'm tired of making excuses because Muni made me late. Muni, you make me look bad, and it's time the blame was properly directed at you!
I know that BART has a few diesel locomotives, flat cars, a rail grinder, and a track geometry car. What other kind of MOW equipment does BART use and/or own? Also, is there any connection in the system to outside rail lines? I know that a direct connection is impossible due to gauge differences, but is there anywhere in the system where this occurs?
I live in between both North Concord and Pittsburg BART Stations off of Evora Road. On late Sunday night/Monday morning, someone or ones stole all four tires off of a brand new Dodge Charger on Azores Circle in the Mota Ranch neighborhood. At least they left that car on jacks. Last night sometime after 1:00 a.m., the group hit I think it was an Escalade taking all four tires and rims and they just left that one in the street, not on jacks. I thought I heard some weird noises last night but dismissed it to my television. I'm posting this because I figure these thieves will be over at BART next. They obviously have the ability to move very swiftly and they know what they are doing. I'm hoping BART Police is keeping an extra eye out during this Holiday Season. I was shocked to see that.
Does this qualify as a "system problem"? I despise the crappy "turnstiles" employed in BART stations. From slow-moving gates (including 1 gate that's slower than the other - always pleasant jamming one thigh) to all but 1 turnstile "closed" (open the other direction) despite the rush-hour traffic flowing that direction, to ones that complain "See agent" despite the next turnstile over accepting your ticket.
Add to this the new EZ Rider. I jumped on this as soon as it went into effect, and while I'm all for the new program I've got to say it sucks not being able to pay for parking with it too. I STILL have to carry a paper ticket so I can use it in the morning through the turnstile and then pay for parking (or make sure I always have $1 bills in my wallet). And what is up with not being able to JUST pay for parking at the machine with a paper ticket? If you try to use a ticket to pay for parking, it MUST be the ticket you just used in the turnstile or else it won't work. I've tried using my EZ Rider card on the turnstile and then a paper ticket to pay the $1 for parking with no luck. Sheer idiocy.
Wow... that was a tangent. Told you I have a LOT of BART complaints. Anyway, back to the turnstiles. I joined this site last night just as I was about to leave work and asked to be wished luck. Well, not enough of you responded and my luck didn't hold! ;)
I get to Embarcadero and tap my EZ Rider to the bubble. A lesson I've learned over time - no "close calls" as the system's just not sensitive enough. You MUST touch the card to the bubble or risk failure and even then there's about a 25% chance of failure.
Anyway...
*tap* *BEEEP* "See agent". *sigh* must not have tapped well enough... I must have been tilted at a slight angle and it didn't get a good read on my card.
*tap* *BEEEEP* "See agent" Oh for the love of G_d what now? I know there's nothing wrong with my card and I just laid it down on the bubble. Now there're people behind me so as I shuffle out from between the turnstile to allow them through I try one last time.
*tap* *BEEEEP* "See agent".
I am NOT walking 1/2 way across the underground so the agent can tell me there's nothing wrong with my card. I wait for the person next to me to go through and tap my card on THAT turnstile's bubble *tap* *DING* - and I'm through.
Oh no... I feel another tangent coming on. Knowing the EZ Rider system is uber-sensitive and there's always a chance for failure, even with paper tickets for goodness sake (oh you better watch out, you better not cry... wow... tangent on a tangent!), WHY OH WHY do some people follow so damned close behind you that they've already shoved their ticket into the slot before you've cleared?
On two occasions recently I had my EZ Rider b0rk and yet the gates opened and a ticket pops out beside me. *Momentary confusion* until I realize the idiot behind me couldn't wait the .5 second for me to clear and shoved his ticket in and the gates opened based on his ticket. Thanks for clearing me buddy. I'll take care of my "lack of exit" the next morning when BART's practically empty (compared to now) while you extricate yourself from a line 15-20 people deep behind you and go see the agent (who's already helping his own line of people) to explain why your ticket is already stamped with an exit but you didn't get out. How ironic that your impatience has now delayed you. Hahahahaha
I see no one's posted in here for a while, but I gotta tell you, this is one of my biggest rants.
I'm sorry, but I'm not one of the multitude who hold "financial district" jobs that need to be at the office by o' dark early. I'm a regular 9-5'er who usually gets to BART (Lafayette or Walnut Creek) by 8:15. I can't possibly get there any earlier as I have to drop kids off at school.
I realize there's no land to extend the parking facilities, but for the love of God BART, do NOT complain about ridership being down then turn around and implement parking fees and hike fares to compensate, when you're turning people away!
If the lot is full, which it is on average 4.75 days out of 5, I end up circling the lots in search of the elusive "missed" spot. When I arrive at 8:15 or 8:20 (if I'm running REALLY late) I usually play this game with anywhere from 3 to as many as 10 (yes, that's right TEN!) other cars attempting to find a spot. And that's just at that time. Who knows how many people have come and gone already or how many will come after me, after I give up.
Oh I know, I can wait until the "late" lot opens... at 10am!!! Yes, I'll just be 2 hours late to work so I can park in an area BART has set aside for people who don't rush into the city every morning for work. Or wait, better yet I can get on a waiting list (who knows how long THAT would take) to get a parking permit so I can have the honor of paying 2x - 3x (yes, THREE TIMES) the normal parking fee per month, all for the luxury of guaranteeing me a spot (as long as I show up by a certain time, otherwise they give my spot away)
Yes, let's all spare the air! C'mon BART - advertise some more, beg for more riders, complain ridership is down, raise fares, charge for parking... but by all means, PLEASE don't have the capacity to handle the riders you already have. That's just silly. Why take care of the ones you already have?
This rant could easily segue into related rants... spare the air days that basically screw their normal riders by opening the doors to a flood of freeloaders, less trains that are smaller in length less frequently, paying employees, increasing security, increasing parking facilities, cleaning and/or fixing trains and stations, fixing the existing signage, fixing the displays to correctly reflect train arrival times and lengths, incoherent announcements from train operators and station agents, train noise that could potentially damage hearing, turnstiles that malfunction... the list goes on and on. None of which even touches on the riders themselves! :)
Trust me, I loathe BART but they have me by the short hairs. Despite fare hikes, and even if I payed a LOT more for parking it's still cheaper than driving my car - bridge toll, parking in the city, gas, wear-and-tear on the car, plus the intangibles - wear-and-tear on my sanity, loss of sleep/reading/movie watching/doing work time.
BART, if you're paying attention: WAKE UP already and start fixing what's wrong!
I don't know what it is. I don't want to know what it is. I'm wondering if this could of been avoided if there were one gallon sized trash cans on the platform?
If this person was sick then I feel bad for them. If this person wasn't sick then I hope when he or she lays their head on their pillow tonight that this spit will be waiting for them to lay their head upon.
Vid Clip
click this link
After finding a seat on this morning's train at Dublin, I noticed another rider (male probably late 40's early 50's, well dressed) drinking coffee and eating a white powdered donut as if he were still at the donut shop. THe powder was literally flying all over like a duststorm. One little nibble of his donut followed by a loud slurp of coffee. Over and over. I could actually see the donut powder settle on the top of the seat in front of him.
Finally, I decided I was going to tell him "excuse me sir. you're donut looks delicious, where do you buy them. And oh yeah, don't eat in the train buttwipe!". As I leaned to my right to tap him on the shoulder, I noticed that 2/3rds of the riders were either drinking or eating something. One guy unpeeled a smelly brown banana and inhaled it, yuck!. A lady unzipped a plastic bag of Cheerios and began crunching away. Other breakfast specials being served on my train included yogurt, bagels, cold pizza, toast peanut butter sandwich, grapes, oranges, tortilla chips, and the worst, leftover chinese food. I kid you not. All of these were being consumed. I thought I was at a frigging baseball game. I kept waiting for the hot dog vendor to come over with the spicy polish dog.
Needless to say, after realizing I'd get pummeled by the "united coalition for dining equality" army, I pulled away. As I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes, I had these horrific visions of every seat being occupied by Homer Simpson (with coffee and donut) lookalikes.
Face it anti-drinking eating riders, we are completely outnumbered now. BART may as well put a paper towels and handi-wipes dispenser on each platform. If you were to tell someone not to eat, I guarantee he'll respond with a three fingered salute and an impression of Joe Pesci laced profanity.
Some other behaviors associated with eating and drinking are not that far off from being commonplace on the train. People will start excusing themselves to the space between the cars and pee and poop there. You hear "hey! pass me the grey poupon!", "got at extra fork?", "hey, can I have your recipe for that mu shu pork your'e eating?".
Well, first it was the paperspreaders, now the diners. While were at it, let's allow smoking, sex, alcohol, gambling, clothing optional on the train. For those of us trying to stay healthy, how about a mini 24 Hour Fitness on the train. And lastly, I'd like a shoe shine stand, a mobile dry-cleaner, and a florist selling roses on the evening commutes on days I think I might get lucky with wifey.
I walked into Car 1596x tonight (6pm southbound to SFO) and it really really smelled like piss and BO. I walked over to my usual spot in the back and I pointed out to an already seated girl the puddle of fresh piss. She didn't realize that she had her nice black shoes splashing in the puddle until she looked down and saw for herself how shiny the carpeted floor was. By her reaction to this she made an eww sound and vomited a little in her mouth. She got up rather quickly, found another seat, and rubbed anti bacterial stuff all over her hands and shoes. God damn that's just sick. How can someone piss all over the floor and in front of all these people?
The following pics you'll see the pissed on floor and the splashed in piss shoes. Hint: she's the one wearing the nylons.