Funny Pic

Why this is funny: I THOUGHT I had posted the original image of this poor little girl running away from a ferocious-looking dog, but can't find it.  Apparently, other people thought the sheer terror on her face was HILARIOUS and they've Photoshopped her into different scenarios.  The above was the best one.  Says me.

An open letter to the CTA

Dear CTA Administration,

I would call myself a pretty loyal customer.  I take the train to and from work each and every day, Monday through Friday.  Each way includes two transfers to different lines.  I've noticed some things that I thought were worthy of pointing out.

1. I'm not sure what exactll is going on with the track switches in the loop, but my pink line train sits (on average) five minutes when trying to enter the loop on the way home.  There's one man that usually rides in my car (no matter which car I choose!) that gets pretty violently angry when this happens.  He swears very loudly and says things like, "This train is already ten minutes late!  Come on!  Let's go! *expletive*".  You can tell it makes the passengers uncomfortable, so if not for me, would you consider fixing whatever it is at issue?
2. When your trains are late, they tend to get overcrowded.  Duh, right?  Well, also "duh" is that when that happens, it's going to cause (a) people to try and cram themselves into whatever little space there is in a train when one happens by and (b) an increase in the amount of time it takes at each stop.  More people = more time getting around the crowd that has formed at each door.  One thing that doesn't really help the situation is when the train operator comes on the loud speaker to chastise paying customers for trying to get on the train.  Everyone just wants to get home.
3. The phrase, "there's an immediate follower directly behind me" really means nothing to passengers.  That's because (a) they've been waiting for probably 15-20 minutes already for a train, so the thought of waiting longer isn't terribly welcome news and (b) the "immediate follower" will be just as crammed full as the train sitting in the station.  
4. When trains get behind, one or more of them tend to run express to some stop that no one seems to want to go to.  I understand you're trying to get things back on schedule, but seriously?  During rush hour?  You're going to run express from Belmont (major stop way before the end of the line) to the end of the line at Howard?  Doesn't that just make the red line the purple line?
5. I can't help but think things like "If the CTA was a restaurant, it would have closed in the first week after it opened!" when I ride your trains.  That's because some of the people that work for you (not all, but some) are not very good at their jobs.  Your employees are providing a service to the people of this good city.  People pay to ride the train.  So, that means that the people that work in the stations and drive those trains should at least pretend to want to help the people they meet.  Let me provide a personal experience for you.  One of my friends was in town a couple of months ago.  We went to the station to get on the train and my fare card didn't work when I tried to pass it back to her.  I pay monthly and know that my credit card is tied to my account just for such situations.  When my card didn't work, instead of being helpful, the station attendant said I "wasn't using [the card] correctly".  Really?  Cause all you do is touch it to the little pad thing on the turnstile.  So what wasn't I doing correctly, do you think?  A helpful response would have gone something like, "I'm sorry for your trouble, sir.  Please step through this gate since I know that you have an account with us and I'm sure something is at issue.  Here is the number for our customer service folks so you can get that fixed.  Enjoy your day!"

Thank you for your consideration in these matters.  I truly do think that if you fix these (and similar) issues, we might actually get the Olympics in Chicago someday.  Until then, let's focus on some smaller event -- like a Cubs game!  But that's for another letter.

Yours in concern,

D

Diarrhea (fft! fft!)

I just don't know what to do with our little Boston Terrier eating machine.  As I'm sure most of you know by now, Fergie has had bouts with diarrhea since we got her.  We've tried four different kinds of food, contacted the breeder we got her from, have made several vet appointments, and have googled "diarrhea and 'Boston Terrier'" 'til our fingers bled.  We've been assured that she'll grow out of it.  And I'm sure she will but in the interim, it's obnoxious.  Don't get me wrong -- I feel for my little schnarfey, but come on!  The current batch comes after a three-week period of relative firmness.  We think what set it off is THE CUP OF CAT FOOD THAT SHE ATE the other night.  Needless to say, P fixed the broken dog gate immediately following.

Other recent developments with The Ferg include:

1. She has taken to air humping her bed.  No matter how much you try and stop her, she won't.  
2. She will stand in front of P (not me, just P) and bark at him for no apparent reason.  This drives P bonkers.
3. Originally we thought she didn't shed.  We were wrong.
4. She insists on eating sticks (which end up in her poop).
5. She gets carsick.  That should make for fun road trips during Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I didn't mean for this post to be anti-Fergie.  I love her to death.  Here she is doing her best to look completely uninterested in everything.

  

B-cycle!

So I have been intrigued by the Denver bike sharing program, B-cycle.  They have several kiosks around DU. 

Saturday, I walked around the new neighborhood and saw that Highlands also has a ton of B-cycle kiosks.  And, I should add--I hate my new commute.  I have walked or biked a short distance to work for almost TEN YEARS now.  Now, I live 10 miles from work (which B says doesn't REALLY qualify as a commute).  SO, I decided to bike to work!

Well, technically, I decided to bike HOME yesterday.  It was DELIGHTFUL!  My route took me along Wash Park, then the Cherry Creek trail, to Commons Park and across the pedestrian bridge over I-25 to the Highlands (not having to bike in the road helps a LOT).

It took me 45 minutes kiosk to kiosk.  Then I had about a 20 minute walk home. 

So, I decided to keep at it and ride to work today.  Let me add that I am not a strong bike rider.  We lived at the top of a hill on a busy street when I was growing up so I didn't ride much.  I'm slow and I'm scared of traffic (hell, ask David--I'm skittish about cars IN my car!)

So the commute TO work is a tad more difficult than the one home.  For one thing, it's all uphill.  For another, the bikes only have 3 gears.  I won't say it was a HILLY ride, but there was one point in Wash Park I wasn't entirely convinced I was going to pass an old lady power-walking.

I just kept thinking, "This is hard!"  That usually translates to "Well, then don't do it if it's hard."  Which got me thinking about all the times I've avoided things because they're hard.  Which made me remember that there's no point having goals if you're just going to quit when it gets hard.  I don't want to add to the traffic and air quality problems we have in Denver.  And, I'd like to be more active.  So I will keep at it.  Until it gets REALLY hard.

Adventures on I-70

This weekend, I decided to head up to Eagle for the day.  I wanted to see Jill and Lainey, and to see how far Eagle is from our new place since we're waaaaay closer to I-70 now (still 2 hours).  AND, I wanted to see some fall color since it never lasts for long in Colorado! 

I had a lovely time in Eagle (we had pumpkin pancakes and coffee, hiked to the park--no such thing as a walk in Eagle!, then had lunch and I was off again to head back home to get stuff done around the house).  But I just HAD to stop to take some pictures outside of Vail:

So I was happily driving along I-70 thinking how EASY it had been to get Eagle and back in a day when I pulled up to this:

And saw THIS behind me:

The electronic billboard had told me there was an RV fire at MM 188, but I didn't think much of it until we were stuck for AN HOUR 3 miles behind it.  Luckily, I was tired anyways, so took a nap, then played with the setting on my camera.  Once we started moving, it still took us another 30 minutes to get 3 miles, but here's what the RV looked like after the fire: