— पांच हजार नौ सौ उनतीस —
I'm going to detail my public transit rides from last night now. No one is likely to care about it but me, but I'm goin to do it anyway!
I left work a couple minutes after 4:00 to go catch the northbound light rail train at Symphony Station. It took me a while to figure this out, but the station's northeast entrance, not one of the main entrances, is located on University & 3rd, only like a block and a half from the office. I then had to wait longer than expected: they were doing test runs of the 2 Line, which is set to open
early next year: once the connection across Lake Washington finally opens, with two new stations and connecting the eight Eastside stations that have already been in operation since last year, those trains will run all the way between Redmond Technology Station and Lynnwood City Center Station—28 miles in total length. (Laney and I always joyride new routes when extensions open, but have been waiting on East Link until it actually connects to the original line downtown, and we can get there on light rail from Capitol Hill. At that point we will check out
all the stations going to the Eastside.)
It felt like this testing process was causing some delays. I don't know how long it had been since the last northbound train we could actually use had passed through, but the platform was packed with people. I saw test trains for the 2 Line pass by in either direction, and it seemed they were doing this in alternates: regular trains and then test trains. The regular trains had the standard four cars on them; the test trains, which all said OUT OF SERVICE on them, just had one. It made me wonder if they planned to have shorter trains for the entire length of the 2 Line; I want to say I've seen them on occasion on the Eastside and they were indeed shorter. But, once they connect, they will go through major stations like Westlake, Capitol Hill, University of Washington and Northgate. I don't know if that alone will make them lengthen the trains or if they might still think shorter is okay given the greater frequency of trains between downtown and the north end. (Although the airport is south; plenty of people go that direction too.)
Anyway, the train was so packed when I finally managed to get on a 1 Line train that was actually available to board, I could only stand. This is a scenario in which I still wear a mask—I've gotten somewhat lax occasionally on bus rides that are not crowded, but here, masks are good. Even though they protect everyone else from me far better than they protect me from everyone else, so it kind of renders the point moot here since 90% of people now go mask-less, but, whatever. Every little bit of protection counts.
I worried a little that I would arrive at Alderwood Mall too late, but I actually made pretty good time. The scheduled duration of the 2 Line between Symphony Station and Lynnwood City Center Station is 34 minutes, which is not really that long, all things considered—it covers 10 stops, not counting the one I boarded from. The Swift RapidRide bus from Lynnwood Station to Alderwood Mall is only a five-minute ride covering 1.6 miles, so how long it takes to go that last leg varies widedly depending on how long a wait is for that bus—when I got to the bus stop, the bus came within one minute. Talk about perfect timing. The scheduled showtime was at 5:00 and that was the time I boarded the bus, but I knew I had lots of time as trailers take a solid half hour anymore. I was able to ride that bus, walk the distance from the station to the AMC at Alderwood Mall, and use the bathroom, and I still saw no fewer than three trailers I hadn't even seen before.
— पांच हजार नौ सौ उनतीस —
— पांच हजार नौ सौ उनतीस —
So. The movie I saw was
Dust Bunny, a kind of horror-fantasy mashup that I
really dug in spite of some clear flaws, and I'm bummed no one seems to know it exists. It feels like a great eventual choice for Action Movie Night, although my next choice is one I've had on my list since the beginning and I'm done postponing it. So, maybe for my second choice in 2026.
I actually brought my laptop to work with me yesterday, so I could have it with me on the transit ride home, and I could use my phone as a wifi hotspot and then work on the review as a way of using the time it took me to get back productively. I had a whopping 14 minutes to wait for the Swift RapidRide bus going back to Light Rail—long enough that I consdered walking, but Google Maps estimated 37 minutes. The bus would beat that by a wide margin, so I waited.
A lady came and sat next to me on the bench at the bus station, and she was a bit chatty. She had a pull-cart, the metal mesh kind you often see old ladies taking to go grocery shopping. This did not have groceries in it, but mostly certain types of supplies, like an umbrella and other stuff. I did not realize she had a kitten inside a carrier perfectly tucked into the stop of the stuff in this cart until she pointed it out to me.
It was a gray tabby cat. She told me she had come all the way from Tukwila—she had also taken Light Rail—just to take this cat to see Santa Claus at the mall. She actually started up conversation by saying they had snowflakes hanging in the mall that looked like my earrings, but I have not gone inside this mall; I have only gone to the AMC, which is in a standalone building on the opposite side of the mall's southwest parking lot. All I could think was: that's a hell of a long trek to take your kitten to see Santa Claus.
I did ask her what the cat's name was. It's Sunny. She even spelled it out for me: "S-U-N-N-Y Sunny." Apparently someone else had the kitten before and had named it Rainy, which I mentally laughed at. The lady asked me other questions, like "Do you like cats more or dogs?" (Cats, of course.) She dialed it back just a little after I took my laptop out in an effort to make use of my wait time, but she did ask me what time it was. She wasn't even the first to do so: a guy sitting on the other side of the aisle from me on the train later also asked me what time it was. It felt like they did this because they knew there would be a clock on my laptop. Do these people have neither watches nor phones? Maybe they're lonely.
I did worry, just a sliver of a bit, about someone trying to snatch my laptop. The lady with Sunny the Kitten was clearly not a threat, and this bus stop was not a shady area. I felt pretty safe putting my laptop on my lap once I was on the train, and thought more about whether anyone would try to eavesdrop on my writing. As if anyone cares.
Lady and Sunny boarded the bus near the front when it arrived, and I boarded the back. I did very little on the laptop on the five-minute ride. A train just left moments before I got back up to the Lynnwood City Center Light Rail Station, but it moved further up the track and then back down the opposite side within minutes.
Scheduled duration of the train ride between Lynnwood City Center and Capitol Hill Stations is 27 minutes, so while I got pretty well into my review, I'd say I managed to get half of it written before I needed to get off. I was pretty locked in for a bit, though; I only barely noticed the announcement that Capitol Hill was the next stop. Then I walked the half-mile home from that station, heated up leftovers for dinner, and finished the review.
Shobhit wasn't home when I got there. He had gone to the SAG-AFTRA Annual Meeting, which must have been at or around Seattle Center because he took the #8 bus home, waiting 11 minutes for it. I noted he might have gotten home faster had he gone the Monorail + Light Rail route—his work finally issued him an Orca Card annual pass, which gives him the same free access to the Monorail that I have. (Technically mine isn't free, as I get $12.50 deducted from a paycheck once a month—a $150 annual expense, albeit pre-tax, but still it's for a pass that has the same value of a monthly pass you can buy for $207
a month, which would mean spending $2,484 a year. So I'd say $12.50 monthly or $150 annually is a steal.)
I was getting ready for bed by the time he finally got home though. I had him change the dressing on my cyst-removal wound. This morning I decided to let him sleep and try replacing it myself, even though it's on my upper back. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I think part of it may be that it's clearly, finally, visible healed a little bit.
— पांच हजार नौ सौ उनतीस —
[posted 12:38pm]
