The Puddles of Rain (and my poor bag)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM SYDNEY WEATHER?

okay.

so it rained again today. i mean that'd be totally fine if we didn't have to catch the Penrith due to this bad weather delaying all of our school buses and getting us to Central station late. it would be totally fine if we weren't standing in the main part of the carriage. it would be fine if we didn't have to put our bags on the ground too.

my poor bag...

i'd put it down to read the mX and later my latest book. in the little aisle in front of the chairs facing you, it was relatively dry so i was alright with putting my bag on the floor. however, as the train emptied, Akira and i moved to the main part so we'd have more space and not have our bums sticking in anyone's face.

so where do we put our bags down...

ah a dry patch!

i took my book out from the crook of my arm and continued reading from whatever page i was up to. a few stops later, we stopped at granville or clyde (i think)...and the train tilted. all the water from one side of the train started to slide over...

AND INTO MY CORNER.

just as the overflowing flood of water reached for my schoolbag with greedy and dirty shoe-printed fingers, i snatched up my bag and put it on the stairs.

It was too late. The bottom was completely wet and the straps were disgusting.

ah. great.

i mean...really... the floors on a train after it rains is really horrible. you don't even want to stand in it. it's so terrible how tired we are and we put our bags down to lift it up again to find it sopping wet. my bum got wet after i put it on my shoulders again.

It's. Not. Nice.

that's really it for my complaint. i'm not that upset because i know my bag will dry out but i was a bit devastated when it happened.

Crazy Weather

Sydney-ians! (...?)

I'm sure many of us were affected by the very bad weather yesterday (the thunderstorms and lightning striking the railway line). I mean yeah it's totally Spring right now, but it's okay if you're already like 30 degrees Celsius and humid and storming. I mean, make up your mind you bipolar weatherman.

Due to SC, i took a different train than normal with Akira. I didn't realise it had started to rain until we reached Granville where the drops were fat and they went like THUD against the train floor when the doors slid open. But when we got off at Parramatta which is only like a km away, it wasn't raining.

... okay? I mean I understand the whole temporal shift in climatic regions and stuff (whatever I just said) because when I was little once the rain went from my house to the neighbours house and then back several times. That...was odd...

Anyway, and I remember Akira and I were laughing about the weird weather and when I got home I was talking to Jenmonster, Vaneffle and Aerii about the weather, and apparently it was storming over at their places.

o.o said i.

because it was like 35 degrees in my room and I had thrown open the windows hoping it would rain and cool down my room. I kind of hope that right now as I type this up because it's REALLY STUFFY.

Umm... yup storms are very inconvenient for train systems; i heard they caused 2 hour delays yesterday..

Hope everyone got around without too much trouble. :)

But I like rain. So no grudges.

Quakers Hill no longer

Heello!

Let's get straight to it shall we? TIMETABLE CHANGES.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AGAIN?!?!?!?!

Alright, so I don't care if you stalk me or whatever because it's not going to happen. But I used to catch the 3:38 PM Quakers Hill train from Platform 6 (i think) at Sydney Terminal in the afternoons. Yeah if you look carefully I'm the medium height girl in school uniform. Like you're gonna find me like that. Good luck.

Since the timetable change, I now catch the Schofields train. Departs at 3:39 PM. Ah, well thank you CityRail. You have given me 1 minute longer to relax after school.

Basically the Schofields train is the same as the Quakers Hill except it goes one extra stop to Schofields instead of just terminating at Quakers Hill like it used to. Also, we're on Platform 12 now. I guess this is good for me too because I get to get the mX conveniently on the way to P12 instead of running to the little newstand at the top of the stairs and then running back to the barrier and then running to the train.

I'm not really mad about timetable changes. Because I'm a chill go-with-da-flow kinda person...provided you didn't read my past post about me being very "upset" with a lady on my train last time...that was...an unfortunate event I'll admit...

Alicia's mind right now: 'Exterminate...exterminate...exterminate...'

So... hi everyone. :) I hope these timetable changes haven't affected you negatively in any way and that we students are continuing to try be good commuters! I'm sorry but we really do try most of the time. I guess I can't account for other schools, but trust me, our school is constantly lectured by our lovely deputy principals so if we hear complaints from the public about my fellow students, I'm sure there's a very good reason for it...and I apologise in advance for any behaviour from our school.

Gee I sound like such... a patronising person. ~shudders~

but really i do mean it...don't just assume school children don't care about adults. there are no accidents. that does not mean it's a lie when the student says, 'oh my gosh I'm so sorry about that it was an accident'.

anyway. so timetable changes. great. but mind telling us WHY sometimes CityRail? I'd love to know why my morning train timetable on the little monitor now says Central (i) instead of Sydney Terminal.

It looks confusing and NOBODY knows what that stupid little 'i' stands for anyway. Interchange? It-Is-Time-For-You-To-Get-Off?

Choo-choo,
the Owl Spirit

>:@ Trains ... and those annoying people who think they're better than us and should be sitting down. PSSH. SO WHUT.

Sorry. I know I'm going to draw a lot of backlash for this - and that all of you will say something "technically they did pay for their tickets and we are supposed to stand up for those people."
Okay. Fine. I'm fine with that too ... that's not my issue.

My issue: some lady decides to come along and [b-word] about us <-- right in front of us mind. And talk to her friend in A VERY LOUD VOICE about how we should be standing up because they paid for their tickets.

I know that, bum face. Take your BS somewhere else - somewhere where there's no one called Alicia Luan nearby who hates humanity for their pettiness and will most likely be kind to your face and want to stab humanity in the back straight after your disgusting behaviour. Bums.

So Akira asks me if we should stand up. I was actually thinking about it, but by the time Akira asked me, I was already pissed off enough by how many times she was saying it. I didn't even think she was talking to us until (she was sitting next to us see, and her friend or whatever was standing up) whilst Akira was looking at me...
she said: "Don't just look at each other. You should be standing up."

Um. Excuse me? Did you just... Wow. SHOCK STUNNED.

Alright Ma'am [or should i say, Your Majesty]. We'll stand up.

Her friend stands there awkwardly, probably scared I'll Kanda-glare at her or something if she took my ex-seat. Or maybe she has a conscience. Tch. Who cares, her friend is just another shallow human. But I'm not a *ahem-b...-ahem* like she is. So I say nicely (though maybe it sounded a bit pissed off to them, I can't tell my own voice really) to her: "You can sit down if you want." <-- yeah I realise that sounds attitudinal.

RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. WHUT THE BUM IS YOUR ASSFACING PROBLEM LADY.

Sure, you pay for the train ticket. But IF YOU WANT TO SIT DOWN SAY IT TOUR FACES!!!!! JUST GET UP FROM YOUR COWARDLY THRONE OF "SUPPOSED AWESOMNESS AND HIGHCLASSY ADULT IGNORANCE OF WE-ARE-MORE-DESERVING-OF-SEATS-THAN-THESE-STUPID-CHILDREN" AND FREAKING BLASTEDLY ASK US.

Gods! Woman, YOU ARE DUMB.

If you just asked us, "Excuse me, could we sit down?" I would gladly give up my seat. I am not a selfish bastard. Okay? Not everyone has to stand up and bow before your presence the moment you enter the train. I WAS DOING MY F-ING SUDOKU!!! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO NOTICE YOU EVEN BREATHE THE VERY AIR YOU STEAL FROM THE ENVIRONMENT HUHHHHHHHH???

HOLY ZEUS. Instead of being chill about it, you're just like that annoying old lady I had to deal with at Bondi Junction, always b-wording about students with other old ladies and old people in our faces, hoping we'll get off the bus and WALK home or something. You just stand there like some shallow person and say very loudly that we're sitting down. Um...excuse me...if I go up to Julia Gillard and say, "Oh my gods, the carbon tax is so stupid. Like as if does anything." It's not like she's going to do anything except pissed at me or what <-- and most likely then she'll enforce some other stupid damned law.
Sorry that was uncalled for.
But my point is...

BE STRAIGHT AND FORWARD. FREEDOM OF SPEECH DOES NOT MEAN BE A B**** IN SOCIETY. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN GET ANYTHING DONE WITH THAT KIND OF ATTITUDE THINK AGAIN.

Gods. It's not like you're all that important anyway. Shouldn't you old people be relying on the "children of the future" and all that other crap? I suppose I shouldn't care. But seriously, whilst you're off being snobby about a TRAIN SEAT (which you did NOT pay for - do you complain if a young adult is sitting in a seat and you do not get one? No you don't. How do you know someone didn't get a free train ride? How do you know that you're f-ing entitled to a seat on a train? HUH? YOU'RE NOT! JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T PAY. DOES NOT MEAN WE CAN'T SIT DOWN. FINE THE SCHOOL RULES SAY THAT  [and this is where I'm going to get backlash for speaking rashly] BUT YOU DID NOT BUY A TICKET FOR A SEAT ON THE TRAIN. YOU BOUGHT A TICKET FOR A RIDE ON THE TRAIN. NOT THE SEAT. I REPEAT. NOT THE SEAT. DO YOU COMPLAIN WHEN THE TRAIN IS FULL AND THERE ARE ONLY ADULTS SITTING DOWN? NOOOOOOOO. SO YOU DIDN'T WASTE MONEY THEN BY STANDING DID YOU? OH NO. ONLY WHEN STUDENTS ARE FREAKING SITTING FROM AN EXHAUSTING DAY AT SCHOOL.So step away, and ask nicely.), we are the generation of the future. Whilst you're probably gossiping about some housewife whose life you are making miserable with your lies (I don't know nor do I care what they were really talking about, though it seems the moment we cleared the seat the foul cow forgot our existence like we were dirt on her shoes which she just excused on a trip to the soulless disposal, and started gossiping with her friend about some other person) we are planning the future of your lives. Do you really think we're not important and we're snobby and selfish and irritable little creatures? Where will you be without kids huh? Nowhere. You'd be NONEXISTENT. Get a life would ya? Go fight an akuma or something - I hope you die.

Has it occurred to you, that whilst you're being aimless or working in the industry *scornful cough* - which I severely doubt due to your -ahem- age... WE'RE paving the stones for the next future. Live with it. One train ride without a seat is not going to kill you. We were here first. Try going to China. You won't get anyone out of their seats by b-wording about it. Fight for it. I'd like to see you try.

You're lucky you stood up to me whilst I was in a good mood. One notch lower, and you'd be tasting the aftereffects of Alicia-glare. School etiquette is flawed. Humanity is flawed.

I bear no grudge upon you, woman, for your impudence ... mere regret for your petty humanity. You represent the lower resources of your race. And for that, I'm ashamed to be considered human.

*breathes*
End of Rant. Thanks for listening and putting up with my implied swearing. Gods I just ate half a packet of Oreos in distress. Eurgh.

~~~ a while later ~~~

.......

My mum has just explained to me why those ladies -cough cough- behaved so abominably.

It's because they would be ones looking like meanies (which is what I think they are now) if they told us publicly to please let them sit, like people would look around and wonder why they were demanding that two poor innocent school kids were being bullied out of their seats. So basically, they had to set up the scene and make it look like WE WERE THE GUILTY CULPRITS. Hence why they yelled for the whole subway to hear that we were sitting down against the laws of Human Rights which apparently really don't apply to anyone between the ages of 10 and 18. Apparently.

Tch. I heard that. And then I almost smashed a wall. I could taste blood. And so I ran into my room and screamed and screamed into my blanket. It's okay... I feel better now. (medibank private is it?)

But honestly, what kind of lousy proud generation would those cows have to be from to sink to the level of blatantly accusing kids for their own selfish purpose? We're all human (unfortunately) - it's time you started acting like one.

hey Life, wave at me through the window

Trains.

Hmm.

The public community, that is to say, the majority of the public community, probably find trains are just a part of their lives. An inescapable part. How else do you get anywhere? Sitting in the soft neutral seat of an Oscar train, you don't feel the need to associate yourselves with the inner workings of a train network.

To me,

Trains seem like the beginning and the ending of a journey. When you stand at the edge of an underground platform and wait for the train, a deep rumble echoes through the hollow as the train approaches and it reverbrates through you, blasting a jet of cool air. The doors open; your first step aboard the new journey.

When you send off your friends or relations from a train station. They step aboard with a faint smile on their faces and you can feel your own childish urge to follow them, unwilling to let go just yet. But then the doors slide closed, the connection cut. As you watch, the train slowly accelerates into the darkness, they wave at you as the light rapidly passes. Seconds pass, the wind blows and you find yourself alone, surrounded by an almost silent crowd awaiting their next journey. It feels like a strange tugging sensation pulls at your insides and you just wish someone else were there. Someone you can laugh to distract yourself from this disconcerting feeling.

The train goes where it wants to go.

As you sit, staring out the rough reinforced windows, the wheels thunder against the tracks, mimicking the thud-thud-thud-thud of your own heart. Disconcerting is a nice word.

At night, the atmosphere is soft and quiet, commuters are sleepy and the mood lighting of the carriages soothe you as you try to rest. Lethargic. Tunnels full of mystery and sleep. City lights shatter and disperse into an illusion, bright colours mirroring like a kaleidoscope, rendering you hopelessly confused, but too dreamy to fight the sensation. Heading further into countrylife, the image fades away into an eerie pitch black punctured only by the sounds of the rail tracks beneath you, the light cricket chirps in the distance and the flickering globules of fluorescent carriage illumination. It's Owl Time.

By day, all the sights are visible, hidden only by shadows of the sun and clouds. You feel awake but dreary. It's boring...almost. The train speeds up and slows down, a greeting. Wake up. A cloud shimmers on the horizon. The sunstreams glisten on the morning dew. A Millenium shudders on the tracks, sending commuters stuttering where they stand. Uncomfortable Sardine-Trains.

Goldfish Bowl.

That's what it's like.

Riding in a train is like riding a horse. You never know where exactly you'll disembark on the firm ground again. Is it that end of the platform? Or this end of the grazing meadow? Sometimes the journey will leave you weary, sometimes energised. Sometimes you may be thrown unawares by an unprecedented occurence . Delays. A Giant Caterpillar.

Trains.

a metaphor for the tragedy of human life brought to modernity.

Seeing Signs

Just some amusing but strange things I've seen around train stations. : )

classic horror movie. NEXT STOP: Empty Train. D:

"Display Settings"? Are you using Microsoft Windows? : )



T-Rain

Hey! It's the first day of my half yearly exam week : ) I know I shouldn't be smiling but my first exam, English is over and it was awful today. It rained really hard and flash flooding occurred in Sydney and everyone lost their brains during the exam à cause de la pluie.

On the train back to Parra, I took some photos with my camera phone and I thought i'd post them up!

Spooky.

This is how you hang up umbrellas in the train >:D

DANGER! Wet floors!

"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" - Inside Joke. : )

WARNING! D: (Pull It Yourself: Part 4)

As mentioned in the past three posts in: Pull It Yourself, Pull It Yourself: Part 2 and Pull It Yourself: Part 3, I've been observing the strange motions of the CountryLink door locking system.

My hypothesis up until this moment had been that...

• The self-sliding door on the side of the railway tracks would open if, the door handle was loose and dodgy. Only then would the unlocking also affect these doors.

I HAVE BEEN PROVEN WRONG.
It was an ordinary day.

Monday 23rd May
Parramatta to Central: Sydney Terminal train.

We boarded. I noticed that the handle was stable and did not budge from its upright position. Would this door slide open? I doubted it. Chatter, chatter, chatter. The scenery whooshed by and the train drove on.
Upon arrival at Sydney Terminal, I yanked the door handle but it did not open. : ) I believed that my hypothesis was therefore indeed true and perhaps we were indeed safe from falling onto the railtracks.

Akira: "So you can't open it." :/

However, I persevered...and though it may have looked suspicious at that moment because it seemed as if i was purposely trying to force open CityRail property...it's not like I was trying to steal the door handle or anything.
Anyway, I jerked it around... and it slid open.

SHOCK HORROR!!!

CityRail!! How unsafe! D: All these times I thought you were simply careless with your CountryLink door handles and in repairing them! But now...I must see this in a different light.
Are they truly not bothered to execute a parallel processing unit in which only one side of the train's doors are unlocked at a time? Catching the trains, I know that the doors are locked whilst in motion...so why are they completely unlocked upon arrival at Sydney Terminal? I cannot believe that they would wish for someone to fall accidentally on the tracks because they kicked the door by accident - much like I did in my first post on this matter, without the falling however.

Yet, the confusing part is; when we board at Parramatta, I'm about 83% sure that the doors are locked firmly on the rail-facing side. Perhaps I should've jerked it around a bit to check.

Unfortunately, my dear readers...this investigation MUST CONTINUE! D:

New Hypothesis

• As the CountryLink terminates at Sydney Terminal, it does not take into consideration that it is necessary to lock half the doors anymore and therefore saves electrical effort in unlocking all the doors at once. (I doubt that really makes a difference...) Also for the "end of a journey" kind of effect. : )
  Hence this explains why it is locked at Parramatta and not at Sydney Terminal.

We shall soon see...

a sleepy driver...

Thursday 19th May
Morning train: Parramatta to Sydney Terminal

So, Akira and I were sitting in the boring old carriage of the countrylink, attempting to do our separate homework. I was doing IPT hw, and she was focusing on History. : )
As we sat, the announcement overhead said:

Lady: "Next stop Strathfield...change here to..."

Akira and I exchanged glances and i knew we were both thinking: "Strathfield?!?!?!?"
Because, of course, our morning train only goes directly to Sydney Terminal and doesn't stop anywhere else on the way. COULD WE HAVE CAUGHT THE WRONG TRAIN??? D:
Luckily, it was not so; for about a minute after this strange announcement...

Lady: "Sorry... Next stop Sydney Terminal."

xD i love trainly mistakes. kekeke.
wish that made it to the mX.

Pull It Yourself: Part 3

Parramatta to Central
morning Sydney Terminal train.

INTERESTING.

I happen to have probably caught the same train as last time [in Pull It Yourself Part 1]. Today, the Yr 10s had a History exam on Aboriginal Rights and Freedoms. Naturally, Akira and I were talking about assimilation, integration, self-determination and land rights on the train. I took out my book to read up on some of the information since I didn't really study last night. Hehe...too busy procrastinating... :/

After a while, whilst Akira was talking about lucky charms and her little bottle and other similar things, I noticed.....THE SAME DODGY HANDLE!!
There was a man standing in front of the door as the train was slightly fuller this morning than normal and we were unusually accompanied by two other adults in the outside "reception" carriage. So unfortunately, i couldn't go to check it out...

Was this truly the same train? If my thought patterns were right, then the door should open if i nudged it upon reaching Sydney Terminal.

When we arrived at Central, a pack of people came out from their seated section and piled into the entrance area. I casually went to stand next to the man who had been there earlier, and waited until the train stopped.

...I pulled the handle...
This is the moment of truth.
IT OPENED!! that is...after a bit of yanking and looking awkwardly like i was breaking public property *cough cough AHEM*

So. Is this the same train as a month ago? Are the trains that have dodgy handles the ones which are not linked to the centralised locking system of the train community? Why hasn't CityRail been notified of this train issue. It is potentially hazardous to the commuting public.
Okay. I guess...as a student and commuter of Sydney's trains...i should be the one reporting the faulty door handle since I'm the one who noticed it. :/ but I don't know how i can do that...

Hence this is an issue.

Should I be calling the hotline for graffiti? But anyway. This investigation shall continue if I ever happen across this train again! : ) Today was the first time we caught our normal train - the countrylink - this term.

FIRST DAY BACK! - Term 2

Yesterday April 28th
Parramatta to Central morning train.

It was drizzling.
Correction: it was raining.
Guess what. Trains always delay when it's raining. And yesterday was no different.
My mum decided to send Akira and I to the station that morning and we arrived at Parramatta station a few minutes early, giving us time to cruise through the ticket barrier and wait on the platform.....boring.
But like I said, as it was a rainy day, trains get delayed. Soon enough, I heard on another platform: "The train on platform ? will be delayed by 20 minutes." A lot of people were groaning and getting rather annoyed. Our Sydney Terminal train was yet to come, and the Gordon train before it was delayed. Because of this, we caught the Gordon train which still went to Central.

The disadvantage: it was a sardines train.
Most of the trip, I had to train-surf: a term used to describe the action of riding in a train carriage standing without the assistance of a handrail or a wall or anything to lean, grasp or hold. It wasn't that bad because it was a tin can train and the older the train, the less swaying it seems to do - Akira's theory.
It arrived at Central pretty much at the same time our normal Sydney Terminal train does, so we disregarded the train delays. : ) what luck hmm?

Wet.
But no one at Central. Normally, on wet days, the bus stop is packed with our students but it wasn't. Amusing.

Afternoon
Central to Parramatta

On Thursdays I catch the Penrith because Akira has piano lessons so she catches the Epping train. I wasn't bothered to catch the Penrith yesterday, as packed as it was and I wished to continue the conversation I was having with the platform 18 people. I caught the Epping with her. The interesting news in the mX was about how there had been a competition in London for Prince William and Kate Middleton look-alikes since the newest crazed is the Royal Wedding [today].

I disembarked at Strathfield.
The Epping train was delayed by police officers. I saw them as I put my bag down to stand next to a pole on the platform. They went to the last carriage of the train and did something. I couldn't see from my position and I didn't find it proper to go over and look. Nor was I bothered. But that was interesting! : )
Managing to get worried by the delay that my Emu Plains connection would get delayed by this, i was fidgeting, but to nothing in the end because the train left with the Emu Plains 2 minutes due.

I got onto the train, managing to meet up with a bunch of girls from my school. How coincidential. Unfortunately, I wasn't so well acquainted with them so I kept to myself in the corner and stared out the door, listening to my iPod. Time flies slowly when you're in these situations. It's also a bit awkward.

Finally, Parramatta. Mission accomplished.

That was my train trip in vague detail. First day of school. Term 2.
Complete.

Additional Section - Day 2 Term 2
April 29th - Date of the Royal Wedding, Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Central to Parramatta

Akira and I ascended to Sydney Terminal with the intention of catching our normal Quakers Hill fast train. We grabbed the mX with a big photo of Kate Middleton on the front with some catchy title: "Hair Comes The Bride".
The Bad News: THERE WAS NO QUAKERS HILL TODAY. *Thunder. Rain Pours*

Hence. We caught the Penrith. I think it was getting me back for not catching it yesterday. But we caught it with Vicki.E and Rhonda and had an interesting talk.......on the sardine train. After a while, the air began to feel really warm and stuffy and my head started to feel heavy. Euhh...someone install air filters and air conditioning please. I had no space to remove my jumper.

Vicki.E: Please stop at Burwood! I need air!

When we finally arrived at Burwood, the train doors casually slid open but.....THE AIR! :D it was so cold and refreshing to us! It's like on a hot summer day and then suddenly a cold fridgey wind blows over you. Breathes. In light of people moving around in the carriage, I took my jumper off. : )

Then the train doors closed, and the air slowly died again. Who designed these trains with no air? CityRail.....

I think I started sweating a little bit at some point. It was a cold day today, I wasn't wearing my jumper....but inside this train, I was sweating. Great.

Today's Advice/Moral: Do not catch sardine trains for long distance if it is avoidable. : )

My first two train-catching days of Term 2 high school. Success? or Disaster? i'd be content to say......BOTHERSOME.
Just wait till I go to University...no more trains!!!!! D:< i'm going to live on campus! : )

a train..

i'm catching public transport. i'm a catcher of public transport. public transport i catch. i'm a commuter.

nothing interesting. my latest trips have been a return trip to Burwood and the next day, a return trip to Town Hall. both times i made the journey with Akira and her brother David, though for different reasons each day. i guess it makes no difference really.

i realised, that trains really are a bit boring after a while. if you have nothing to do.

the mX didn't enlighten me either. i swear the mX gets purposely boring during school holidays. i normally read the yellow column where someone writes about something, but the one i read was about Kanye West's concert; i didn't even make it to the third line of the column. Totally Uninteresting.

Returning from Town Hall, we were eating HSCC [Honey Soy Chicken Chips] sitting around in the main part of the carriage. David dropped one and i shoved it under the brushy bit of the doors next to me under the theory that when the doors next opened, then the chip would get brushed out onto the train tracks.
Unfortunately, the doors didn't open on that side before we got to Parramatta and we never got to see if my hypothesis was correct.

ah well.

back to school soon :/ i really can't wait because i'm about to die of a boredom disease induced by holiday symptoms.

for all you regular commoners -i mean- communists -i mean- computers -now really..- commuters out there, have a nice trip. : )

Pull It Yourself: Part 2

April 8th - Last Day of School Term 1
Train - Sydney Terminal

Train ride. Normal.
Conversation. Normal.
Baggage. Light.

Say i'm weird, but i really wanted to open the door onto the train tracks* again. Unfortunately when we actually arrived at Sydney Terminal, i [purposely] yanked the door...to no avail.

Hence, my new hypotheses:

1. That they do not unlock all the doors...just the platform-facing ones.
2. CityRail has been reading my blog and has made adjustments in their mechanisms since i last accidentally nudged the door >:D

Oh well. School's over, but i've got a few missions up my sleeve for the holidays.
Stay safe everyone! : )

Holidays! Let's Fly!

* in my last post, Part 1 of this investigation, [Read Here], i said "rails"...because my brain was a bit goldfishing and i couldn't think of the word. Recently, i figured the appropriate term would be "train tracks"

Little Corner

April 6th - After Fencing

Since as usual, i had caught the peak hour time to catch a train... the sardines piled in on me, an owl squished into a goldfish can.

Location: corner of the train doors and stairs leading down

I understood the situation that befalls many people catching a fish train. I used to be the same. When the train would stop at a station, you were faced with two choices:

1. Shuffle into someone else and make space for the people forcefully joining the pack
2. Get out of the train with the dropping off passengers, then return with the school of fish.

If you were lucky, maybe you could find a corner or a seat where you were given sanctuary from this troubling decision. Hence the third option:

    3.   Be: on a seat, in a corner

After my secret investigation, i discovered the best place for a standing commuter to be: in the tiny gap behind the downstairs railing and the train doors. Leaning on the pole that turns slightly as the doors push out, you'll find that you only get weird looks from the passengers coming up from the stairs.

Solution: Hold mX in front of face.

Any problems, i will send my secret agent squad to investigate! :D

Pull It Yourself

Morning Train: Parramatta to Sydney Terminal

This morning I caught my normal train; yes, boring as normal is. Akira and I, because we catch the train together both ways, were just talking and stuff about random things as per usual.

As the train terminated at Sydney Terminal, I accidentally kicked the door that opens out to the rails. We had taken one of those weird trains - not that i know what it's called, it's like a countrylink - and you had to slide the doors open manually yourself to get out at the station. I had noticed that the handle was a bit dodgy...

I kicked the door. The door slid open. I turned around.....and found myself facing out onto the rails. Insecurity. Kinda cool.

Akira: o.o cool!

I tried to close the door, but it kind of...died...and bashed into the other door and rebounded open again. Action and Reaction :/ Physics.

Shouldn't CityRail kind of like.....improve its controlled locking system so that it unlocks only the station-side doors, and not all the doors? Imagine if I'd fallen onto the rails :/ that'd be kinda freaky - and annoying. Nothing happened though, I left the door be and walked out onto the station. :)

Beware of doors.

daylight savings...

This morning at 3am, the clocks switched back an hour. i reckon i was asleep by then...or at least i think i was. it's hard to keep track of time when your iPod's on the floor somewhere and your watch is on the far table.

Anyway, i figured, the train networks are propbably going to be as messed up as the rest of the Daylight-Savings population. last time in September, in the early morning at 2am, i suddenly didn't know if it was 1am, 2am or 3am because i had three separate clocks telling me i'm stuffed, and that i was going to lose a heap of sleep anyway...oh well, i could sleep on the plane if i wanted to.

so what really happens at train stations when daylight savings strikes?

do all the little rectangular digital clocks flicker for a second and then dial back an hour? do the trains reverse, freeze in their tracks, drivers confused (are there even trains that early in the morning?) and the sleepy city of Sydney relives another hour?

haha. if only we really could reverse time. world policies make living in Sydney really ironic.
i really wonder how many people will show up at school a total hour earlier at like 7am and go: damn! daylight savings! and i thought i was late!

i have an extra hour to finish 2 assignments.

Death Perfume

Friday 1st April

I caught the train from Central, never knowing when the train would stop being a can of sardines. Akira sniffed and extracted her phone from her bag. It was another stuffy day when we missed the Quakers Hill and had to catch the Penrith.

I'm against overdosing of Impulse or deodorants of the like. So why did the kind lady sitting on the floor next to me have to suddenly spray a fountain of it on herself...and suffocating me to death in the process? Was my pained grimace too much to explain?

Akira: Something smells weird.
Me: *glance*

Good thing Sydney trains aren't airtight. I'd have died.