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The idiot light in my car came on a couple of weeks ago. That usually means it's time to get its oil changed. I might be tempted to wait until the end of shelter in place, but no one knows for sure how long that's going to be, and at least a month is likely. Do I really want to defer maintenance on a car that my anxiety-prone, Hero of Socialist Groceries son drives most of the time? No.
Since he and the car were at Ex's as usual, that meant a bus and train trip, one that I've made many times, but never before during a pandemic. So I put on an outfit that said, "Stay at least 6' away from me." Shallow Fashion Details: high-necked, mutton leg black blouse, bird skull brooch, ankle-length black appliqué skirt from Mishu, black Ariat cowboy boots. Oh, and an N95 mask that I bought for Burning Man who knows when.
I didn't know that the local transit agencies had suspended fare collection. That's mighty decent of them. It's certainly not an incentive and it isn't meant to be. People did their best at social distancing on the bus, and I was one of at least three people I saw wearing a mask out of maybe twenty on the 60' coach.
And now, a little background for you non-locals: there used to be a viaduct along Seattle's waterfront that was built in the late '40s. The 2001 earthquake damaged it so badly that it needed to come down*. There was a cut-and-cover tunnel at the north end of the viaduct, and the entrance to this tunnel is on my bus route to the office. I've watch them fill it in, pave, add signals and bus stops, and plant plants. They're nearly done after more than a year, but I'm guessing they have to pause because of the 'rona.
So I got downtown and transferred to a train at a station that I thought might be less crowded than the first and fastest one I could have used. Crowded? There were three people in the whole station including me, and one of them was staff. The trains are running every 14 minutes instead of the usual 10, said the announcement.
I got off at Ex's station, and grabbed a tofu banh mi & a latte from Le's Bakery on the corner. I figure, hey, a Vietnamese-owned business could use my patronage. Good sandwich, too.
I got my banged-up mint-green Prius and took it to the dealership. Do I want to deal with those recommended maintenance items I've been putting off? Yeah, I have the time and the money for now, and as I said, my son is driving the car. Well then, Ms. Nun, you'll have to come back Monday because we're closing at 1500 today. Le sigh. I guess I'll be picking up my son Monday night and getting takeout again.
Getting back from the dealership was the hair-raising part: the nearest bus route is the 124, and there were a lot of people who weren't exactly well off at the stop. I think that's stop's near a thrift store. Social distance? Not happening. I was one of a few people in masks hunkered down against the germs. I could have walked half a mile to the nearest train station.
On my usual bus home, there was a major fire right next to the bus route, with plenty of billowing smoke. Thestreet highway that my bus normally takes was closed for a few blocks in both directions. No biggie: the driver just detoured a little, and that stretch doesn't even have any stops. Still, I couldn't help but observe the irony that I was already wearing a mask and in a situation for which it was intended.
How insane was this? I'm honestly not sure.
*It's been replaced at huge expense and with facepalming accidents and delays with a mighty spiffy new tunnel. The old viaduct offered stunning views, but it was an eyesore, a noise & pollution hazard, scary to drive on, and so worrisome to the engineers after the quake that they shut it down for two days of inspections every six months.
Since he and the car were at Ex's as usual, that meant a bus and train trip, one that I've made many times, but never before during a pandemic. So I put on an outfit that said, "Stay at least 6' away from me." Shallow Fashion Details: high-necked, mutton leg black blouse, bird skull brooch, ankle-length black appliqué skirt from Mishu, black Ariat cowboy boots. Oh, and an N95 mask that I bought for Burning Man who knows when.
I didn't know that the local transit agencies had suspended fare collection. That's mighty decent of them. It's certainly not an incentive and it isn't meant to be. People did their best at social distancing on the bus, and I was one of at least three people I saw wearing a mask out of maybe twenty on the 60' coach.
And now, a little background for you non-locals: there used to be a viaduct along Seattle's waterfront that was built in the late '40s. The 2001 earthquake damaged it so badly that it needed to come down*. There was a cut-and-cover tunnel at the north end of the viaduct, and the entrance to this tunnel is on my bus route to the office. I've watch them fill it in, pave, add signals and bus stops, and plant plants. They're nearly done after more than a year, but I'm guessing they have to pause because of the 'rona.
So I got downtown and transferred to a train at a station that I thought might be less crowded than the first and fastest one I could have used. Crowded? There were three people in the whole station including me, and one of them was staff. The trains are running every 14 minutes instead of the usual 10, said the announcement.
I got off at Ex's station, and grabbed a tofu banh mi & a latte from Le's Bakery on the corner. I figure, hey, a Vietnamese-owned business could use my patronage. Good sandwich, too.
I got my banged-up mint-green Prius and took it to the dealership. Do I want to deal with those recommended maintenance items I've been putting off? Yeah, I have the time and the money for now, and as I said, my son is driving the car. Well then, Ms. Nun, you'll have to come back Monday because we're closing at 1500 today. Le sigh. I guess I'll be picking up my son Monday night and getting takeout again.
Getting back from the dealership was the hair-raising part: the nearest bus route is the 124, and there were a lot of people who weren't exactly well off at the stop. I think that's stop's near a thrift store. Social distance? Not happening. I was one of a few people in masks hunkered down against the germs. I could have walked half a mile to the nearest train station.
On my usual bus home, there was a major fire right next to the bus route, with plenty of billowing smoke. The
How insane was this? I'm honestly not sure.
*It's been replaced at huge expense and with facepalming accidents and delays with a mighty spiffy new tunnel. The old viaduct offered stunning views, but it was an eyesore, a noise & pollution hazard, scary to drive on, and so worrisome to the engineers after the quake that they shut it down for two days of inspections every six months.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-29 05:20 pm (UTC)From:Don't blame us for the large boulder that stalled 'Bertha', the tunnel-boring machine. That was perhaps dropped there by a pterodactyl....
User-icon is of tunnel-worker nonchalantly eating lunch after the breakthrough.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-29 05:25 pm (UTC)From:I thought it hit something artificial that had been put there for the project, was supposed to be removed, but wasn’t because of PM failure.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-29 05:38 pm (UTC)From:We installed a series of extensometers and vibrating-wire piezometers, and deliberately mined through them so as to develop solutions for seismic-induced ground response. Real science, in the service of design validation.
Tim Eymon was pushing the nutjob line that this was an example of deliberate waste of funds. Fuck him.