Planes Trains Boats Crosswalks Oh My

RantWoman has been spending FAR too much time and emotional energy on a matter involving herself, someone she will call Dear Friend and her faith community. Today's post involves RantWoman's hobby of basically data collection about her pedestrian and transit experiences, but since threads from this item cross threads on her other blog, there may be a crosslisting.


RantWoman visited the airport light rail station the first night the train went there. The fact that RantWoman was strung out about a communication from Dear Friend she has characterized as "reindeer droppings" and went there at 10:30pm only confirms that RantWoman is a solid nerd. Despite RantWoman's mania for verbosity, RantWoman actually does not always find it easy to talk about emotion. RantWoman liked the late night train ride for being not heavily populated but dry and well-lit and also within RantWoman's price range for entertainment. RantWoman REALLY is a nerd.

RantWoman thought the platform at the airport station seems kind of narrow. RantWoman is wondering why this seems so for pedestrians, likely moving a lot of luggage in doors at the airport station when other outdoor stations also have narrow platforms and two-way pedestrian traffic. There were friendly people there to assist and RantWoman was making Thwack the Cane work so at least RantWoman did not walk off the other side of the platform even though RantWoman was paying attention badly at one point and could well have done so. Then it occurred to RantWoman to wish she were catching a plane to someplace exotic. At that point, RantWoman decided she should just head home to hang with the feline staff and try to stay out of trouble the rest of the night.


Somewhere over the holidays, RantWoman did a thing she loves to do but has not done in awhile. RantWoman likes sometimes just to get on a ferry and ride it across the Sound and back. RantWoman calls this a ferry ride to nowhere excursion except now in the age of homeland insecurity, everyone must get off at both ends of the trip so there is a destination.

The important point as far as RantWoman's usual adventure themes is that this the first time RantWoman has taken a ferry ride since it became possible to pay with an ORCA card. RantWoman keeps some money in her wallet for such possibilities but had to ask at the ticket booth what is involved. Then when RantWoman was boarding the ferry, RantWoman had to deal with ORCA card readers that are basically at mid-thigh level for RantWoman. RantWoman is pretty tall but just wants to note that she would not mind if the readers were a little higher.


RantWoman will conclude with two adventures from one day's travels. Tonight RantWoman went to dinner at Dear Friend's new place. The exact circumstances of this are a matter for RantWoman's other blog. Dear Friend is several years older than RantWoman and has the sort of knee issues that cause people to complain about too much downhill travel.

Dear Friend lives in Wedgwood and needed to stop at the library between the bus stop and his house. RantWoman was making Thwack the cane work for a few different reasons. However, this caused RantWoman to discover another reason Dear Friend is definitely on her proceed with caution list: Dear Friend thinks that instead of walking up or downhill to a stoplight, RantWoman and Thwack should just help stop traffic at the intersection of his choice and save him having to walk up or downhill.

RantWoman has interesting life experiences in the realm of stopping traffic, but RantWoman is too slow these days and has REALLY limited interest in arguing with large moving masses. Even worse, Dear Friend does not get that it's bad mobility skills to try to cross if one can in fact hear the traffic. Arrrrggggh! RantWoman will deal with the interpersonal aspects of that, but RantWoman is just collecting the item as another data point in her "walkability means different things to different people" file.


Dear Friend has lived in his new place for months and RantWoman had not previously visited. Dear Friend is a good cook. He and RantWoman had a MOSTLY nice talk. RantWoman then hopped a bus to come home. RantWoman had two choices, the 71 and the 65. On either one she could have caught the 48 in the U District. However, it was rainy.RantWoman caught the 71. The 71 connects to the Light Rail in the tunnel. RantWoman weighed the weather and the half-hour headway on the 48 on Sunday nights. RantWoman decided that waiting around in the rain would be silly and decided just to stay on the 71 and finish her trip on the light rail with a little inbound jog on the 7. Boy does RantWoman know how to party.