Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Nitpick
President Obama said in his inauguration speech, "44 Americans have now taken the oath of office." This is incorrect. 43 Americans had taken the oath of office, even though Barack Obama is the 44th President. The problem is that Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th Presidents.
Going to work, Inauguration Day 2009
I got into work at 7:50 am today. Getting to work was interesting. First, I left my home between 6:50 and 7:00 am to see a hefty-sized crowd heading towards the mall. There was a guy hawking American flags decorated with Obama's name and face on them on my corner. Tour buses were lined up on the road, inching forwards.
I got near the old DOT building entrance to L'Enfant Metro station, and there was a huge flood of people pouring out. [Insert cliche about salmon swimming upstream here.] I don't know if any of the escalators were moving upwards, but none were moving down, so people were taking all three to get up. I had to push against the tide, saying "Excuse me," continuously. When I got to the gates, I found that all of the gates were outward facing. I knocked on the booth for the station manager; he asked me where I was going, then waved me through the "Authorized Personnel Only" gate.
I then had to fight my way through to the lower level and to the platform. Several people expressed their astonishment and sympathy for me at trying to go to work today; one wag said, "Must be a Republican." I wish I had had a good comeback for that one at the time.
Anyway, a train arrived. People exited into the station, then I got on board, to find the train itself relatively empty: I was able to get a two-seat bench to myself. We passed through Smithsonian station without stopping, and the train further emptied at Federal Triangle.
I got off at Foggy Bottom. Since my card hadn't been swiped at L'Enfant, I had to go to the station manager's kiosk to get my card fixed. After waiting for five minutes behind some customer who had the station manager filling out paperwork for a voucher or some similar goofiness, I tried to give my SmartTrip to the station manager, explaining that it hadn't been swiped at L'Enfant. He didn't reset the starting station as I was expecting him to; rather, he just waved for me to go through the handicapped gate. Of course, my SmartTrip didn't work, but I ended up just going through the gate behind someone else.
When I got out of Foggy Bottom, there were people hawking the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. I'm used to people hawking the Washington Express and the Washington Examiner, so that was odd.
I went up Pennsylvania Avenue and picked up my lunch at Marvelous Market. There were crowds all the way. I then jogged down to K Street, and it was spooky empty. There were almost no cars or pedestrians, on a road that normally is busy throughout the day and into the night. The rest of the walk to my office went without incident.
I got near the old DOT building entrance to L'Enfant Metro station, and there was a huge flood of people pouring out. [Insert cliche about salmon swimming upstream here.] I don't know if any of the escalators were moving upwards, but none were moving down, so people were taking all three to get up. I had to push against the tide, saying "Excuse me," continuously. When I got to the gates, I found that all of the gates were outward facing. I knocked on the booth for the station manager; he asked me where I was going, then waved me through the "Authorized Personnel Only" gate.
I then had to fight my way through to the lower level and to the platform. Several people expressed their astonishment and sympathy for me at trying to go to work today; one wag said, "Must be a Republican." I wish I had had a good comeback for that one at the time.
Anyway, a train arrived. People exited into the station, then I got on board, to find the train itself relatively empty: I was able to get a two-seat bench to myself. We passed through Smithsonian station without stopping, and the train further emptied at Federal Triangle.
I got off at Foggy Bottom. Since my card hadn't been swiped at L'Enfant, I had to go to the station manager's kiosk to get my card fixed. After waiting for five minutes behind some customer who had the station manager filling out paperwork for a voucher or some similar goofiness, I tried to give my SmartTrip to the station manager, explaining that it hadn't been swiped at L'Enfant. He didn't reset the starting station as I was expecting him to; rather, he just waved for me to go through the handicapped gate. Of course, my SmartTrip didn't work, but I ended up just going through the gate behind someone else.
When I got out of Foggy Bottom, there were people hawking the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. I'm used to people hawking the Washington Express and the Washington Examiner, so that was odd.
I went up Pennsylvania Avenue and picked up my lunch at Marvelous Market. There were crowds all the way. I then jogged down to K Street, and it was spooky empty. There were almost no cars or pedestrians, on a road that normally is busy throughout the day and into the night. The rest of the walk to my office went without incident.
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