Ryan's Currently Unnamed Blog

So, I've worked in downtown Chicago for just about 2 and a half years now, and the daily commute has become quite routine. The hour or so gives me time to read, think, get some work done on my laptop (or just getting it to work... wiped away my second to last installation of Windows... yay Linux!), or just catching up on sleep.

The delays aren't really all that unexpected either. They have an automated recording to let ya know how far behind the train is running and tonight it seems as if the Conductors or Enginneers or whoever the heck runs the trains wanted to have a little bit of fun.

Out of nowhere, the first message comes across the speakers, "Due to scheduled construction, this train will arrive at its final destination... 6... minutes late. We apologize for any inconvenience."

It was the same polite woman's voice as the regular messages, but I've never heard them in that format before. And this seemed odd because we were moving pretty well, and maybe the problem was on the track ahead of us.. I shrugged, and went back to reading a new live journal I stumbled across today at work.

Then, moments later, "This train is currently running approximately... 6... minutes late due to... a marathon... Metra apologizes for any inconvenience." You see, they can substitute the time and the reason into the standard message, but it seemed kinda crazy that there would be a Marathon in suburban Chicago on a cold and rainy early day in early March.

This drew chuckles from a couple people, but most ignored it. I finished up reading the journal and dove into Wil Wheaton's Dancing Barefoot. (A great read! I'm amazed at how fantastic his writing is, but that's for another post!)

A few minutes later, "This train is currently running approximately... 4... minutes late due to... a holiday parade... Metra apologizes for any inconvenience." By now, its painfully obvious that someone is just looking for the less used delay reasons. We are all very used to hearing about 'switch problems' or 'waiting on other trains'.

A few minutes later the boisterous conductor comes in and he's talking to someone on his radio, 'Sure! Why not! Play another one!' and he wanders through the train.

As the train nears my stop, I'm graced with yet another announcement: "This train is currently running approximately... 3... minutes late due to... a hazardous material condition... Metra apologizes for any inconvenience."

Now, I wanna know how many other recordings there are. I wonder if there is a 'Terrorist Attack' one.. Or a 'Tornado' one.