It's cold!

I went out to my car this morning and it was cold! It's cold in B's place, my office, and the volleyball gym too. I feel like I can never warm up, and the bad news is that it's not really all that cold yet. Yikes - I may have a long winter ahead of me. I'm particularly worried about riding the train each day, as the walk to the station and the wait for the train can be a bit long at times. I tried wearing a winter hat one day, but then my hair looked ridiculous at work. Not sure what I'm going to do about that, but I'm determined to keep my non-driving streak alive. I guess I'll have to time the train better - perhaps one day I'll finally do that!

Anyway, my point: it feels incredibly cold outside, yet it's not that bad. My car said it was in the mid-20s this evening. I can't imagine what 20 below is going to feel like this season. Perhaps this new anti-cold weather thing is part of the aging phenomenon too - sore from sports, easily cold, what's next? I can only imagine what will happen to me when I hit 40!

I hate creepy men!

As I've said before, I take the train to work every day. I don't usually worry about my safety, but when it's dark out, I do tend to get a little nervous, especially when I have to get off at the Lake Street station and walk a block to my car. This exact thing happened last week, as I had to work late one night. As soon as I got on the train, I noticed a creepy white guy (think serial killer/sexual perpetrator images on TV, seriously) looking at me strangely. He instantly gave me the creeps, and my gut said trouble. I basically make a perfect mugging candidate (professionally dressed woman carrying a purse, laptop, ipod, cell phone, blackberry, etc.), and I worry about things much worse than mugging. In fact, I worried about the latter with this creepy guy.

I kept my eye on him as we rode along, hoping that he wouldn't get off at Lake Street. I stood up early to get off, and then he stood up too. As the doors opened, I motioned to him to exit first. He then insisted I go first, and I did, despite the bad feeling I had. As I exited, I thought about just hanging out in the station to see what he would do, but I realized that the station was pretty empty and I would be alone with him. I then decided to run down the stairs to see if I could lose him. I went fast enough that I was out of breath and my knee was hurting, but he kept up. At this point, I started to panic, as I had a long walk to my car. I called Kristin and told her what was going on and to stay on the phone with me. He was still behind me, still following me. I knew I wasn't going to make it to my car, and I was heading toward a dark area, so I decided to turn around and walk directly toward him. He then sort of dodged me and started running away. I waited a minute and then high tailed it to my car as fast as I could, all the while still talking to Kristin.

As things were unfolding, I kept thinking that maybe I was overreacting and that I was imagining things. However, since I rushed down the stairs and through the parking lot and because he was still behind me and ultimately ran away, I think I was right. Regardless, I've never felt more relieved to reach my car. I'm glad I was alert, but even though I was as ready as I could have been, I'm not sure I could have won in a physical confrontation with the creepster. All I could picture was being sexually assaulted in the LRT station parking lot...scary as hell!

I still love the train, but I don't think I will ever take it to the Lake Street station after dark if I have to park outside the lot. I will just take a cab to my car or something. It's not worth the panic I experienced, and it's definitely not worth something worse happening. Yuck. Fucking creepy men. Boo!

LRT adventures

I take the light rail train to work everyday. In fact, the only time I've ever driven to the firm was for my callback interview. I took the train every single day during the summer of 2007, and I've taken it everyday so far this month. It's sort of a point of personal pride now - not only does driving downtown seem like it sucks, but I feel like I'm doing a good thing by keeping my car off the road. I can't explain it really; it just makes me feel good to utilize mass transit.

However, not everything about it is sunshine and happiness. An example: the other day, it was quite hot, and the train was quite full. As more and more people boarded and several had to hold the overhead hand rings, I experienced a disgusting odor as it grew and wafted through the train - body odor. Yuck. It certainly wasn't as bad as the subway/trains in Europe (yikes), but it wasn't good either. People - daily showers are important, and so is deodorant. Just do it! If not for you, then think about your fellow riders (and everyone else you come in contact with). Or, to paraphrase a hokey commercial from my childhood, don't raise your hand unless you're sure!

Stay tuned for more reports on my LRT adventures, as I'm sure there will be more. :)