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Back In Seattle, The Mosquito-Free Land
Aug. 6th, 2010 06:35 pmI went to Madison, now I'm home in Seattle. The train trip out was nice. Then I spent a couple weeks with my folks, trying to be helpful. Dad didn't really need much, but I did stuff like mowing the lawn, making dinner, doing dishes, those kind of things. The first Wednesday I was there, I met up with some former co-workers and went to the concert on the square. All the years they'd been going on, I never went. We had a great time. It was so... Madison.
I saw friends, went swimming, caught fireflies, got mosquito bites, melted in the humidity, enjoyed a few thunderstorms, felt guilty about my eating habits, and all-in-all had the kind of time I was expecting to have.
The train trip back was kind of unpleasant. The train was packed, and seats were assigned. I was placed next to Josh, a thirty-something ex-con mechanic who had no "inside voice". He loved to interrupt and insert his loud opinions into all conversations nearby. He complained about needing a cigarette pretty much the whole time. Late on the first night, we made a stop that was long enough for the smokers to get off and light up. When he came back to the seat, he reeked, and it was clear he had no plans to brush his teeth. Ugh. The next morning, somewhere in North Dakota, a new guy boarded the train and sat across the aisle from us, and he and Josh hit it off. "Dude! That's awesome dude!" The guy opened his backpack to reveal a huge bottle of cheap whiskey. Josh goes to get a glass of ice, and they're off to the races. It's 11am. Ugh. And Josh has ALREADY had a beer. By noon, they're spilling things, and I go to the lounge car to escape. I read for a while, then asked the lounge attendant what their policy was on inebriated passengers. I said I know the train is pretty full, and they don't want people switching seats, but I was feeling really uncomfortable about the whole situation. Not only the guys, but in our car the air conditioning wasn't working properly, so that added to the misery. I mentioned the giant bottle of whiskey, and a call was quickly made to the conductor. Turns out you're not allowed to bring your own booze onto the train. Alrighty then! He went forward to take away the booze, and I was assigned a new seat in a different car with working air conditioning! The second night was much better...
I do like train travel quite a bit, but it's much better if you're not alone and forced to sit with a drunken stranger.
I saw friends, went swimming, caught fireflies, got mosquito bites, melted in the humidity, enjoyed a few thunderstorms, felt guilty about my eating habits, and all-in-all had the kind of time I was expecting to have.
The train trip back was kind of unpleasant. The train was packed, and seats were assigned. I was placed next to Josh, a thirty-something ex-con mechanic who had no "inside voice". He loved to interrupt and insert his loud opinions into all conversations nearby. He complained about needing a cigarette pretty much the whole time. Late on the first night, we made a stop that was long enough for the smokers to get off and light up. When he came back to the seat, he reeked, and it was clear he had no plans to brush his teeth. Ugh. The next morning, somewhere in North Dakota, a new guy boarded the train and sat across the aisle from us, and he and Josh hit it off. "Dude! That's awesome dude!" The guy opened his backpack to reveal a huge bottle of cheap whiskey. Josh goes to get a glass of ice, and they're off to the races. It's 11am. Ugh. And Josh has ALREADY had a beer. By noon, they're spilling things, and I go to the lounge car to escape. I read for a while, then asked the lounge attendant what their policy was on inebriated passengers. I said I know the train is pretty full, and they don't want people switching seats, but I was feeling really uncomfortable about the whole situation. Not only the guys, but in our car the air conditioning wasn't working properly, so that added to the misery. I mentioned the giant bottle of whiskey, and a call was quickly made to the conductor. Turns out you're not allowed to bring your own booze onto the train. Alrighty then! He went forward to take away the booze, and I was assigned a new seat in a different car with working air conditioning! The second night was much better...
I do like train travel quite a bit, but it's much better if you're not alone and forced to sit with a drunken stranger.
