Got on the SF train at MacArthur this morning and had the pleasure of listening to a verbal (almost physical) altercation. Seems a lady asked a man to turn his music down. He took offense at the request from a "cracka." He wouldn't shut up about it (or let anyone sit next to him on the morning commute). Luckily, BART PD pulled him off at the next stop.

Hey everyone, a little late, but I just received the mailer, BART will be holding further meetings to narrow down the final route for the BART to Livermore project. If you'd like to attend the dates are below. The first meeting is this afternoon, the next will be in December. If you can't make it to one of the meetings, you can always make your voice heard on the BART to Livermore website here: www.barttolivermore.org

The public can submit their comments at two public hearings:

Watched some mom block the aisle with her kid's stroller. She got pissy when some passing woman got her purse caught on the stroller handle, but...well, the stroller was in the way. The mom continued her frowny face when she wanted to get out the car and a cyclist had to move out of the way.

Add another to the nail-clipper categories: women who pluck their eyebrows on the train. Yuck.

Also saw something new: Sharpie graffiti on an entire window. I've seen things scratched on seats, markers on the seat backs, window ledges, etc. Someone had written "F the D-team! D-team sucks!" No idea what that means.

Channel 7 News

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=7105504

bart TO tries to fondle a passengers boobies while driving the train...

as a side note, i think my 2 year old has a thomas train with the same name as this TO: calvin peter tom.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/03/BAKL1AEUM8.DTL&tsp=1

Seeing as the topic of noise and noise reducing headphones comes up on a regular basis, I thought I'd let everyone know that Woot has a special on noise blocking headphones today. Two pairs of OSHA rated earbuds for 14.99. I ordered a pair. Once I've used them I'll give an update on how well they work, but the special deal will only be for today.

An etiquette guide for BART:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/01/MN1I1ADFF4.DTL

Reminds me of a woman and her companion a few years ago. I shouted up "Excuse me" because she was standing on the left. I wasn't the only person who was trying to walk up, and as I passed her, she said snidely to her friend (I'm not sure if she knew it was me who spoke up): "It's not like they'll get anywhere faster."

I got to del Norte station in time to catch the 7:30-ish train. Normally BART runs an 8-car SF/Millbrae train, which is not enough cars for a normal commute. This is interesting, because on the three days per week that I have to catch the 6:15 a.m., train, it is a 10-car train. Whatever, BART, whatever.

I got on my train to go home today only to smell something like French fries while pulling out of Powell. I didn't think of it until the smell hit me again. I looked around to see a guy eating a pizza. The woman next to him also had a box open with pizza, I assume.

And of course, when they got off, they left their boxes, newspaper and empty (I hope?) drink cans and bottles under the seat. Sigh.

Passengers wearing masks, drunk and every other fool out on Saturday night and BART keeps the system open 24 hours. What a receipe for disaster. This will make New Year's Eve look like a Tiny Tot Parade.

BART's response that the system needed maintenance for the few hours of closure during the *work week* doesn't hold water. The week day working slob is your meal ticket rider, not the weekend recreational/hell raiser/casual rider. I'd like to see the "train of thought" that went into this decision.

click here to see which stations are favored by overnight service

http://bart.gov/news/articles/2009/news20091027.aspx

Interesting choices

I am amazed BART had to bus riders from Hayward during the recent power failure. Apparently, they don't have the budget for a set of emergency lights and real persons to take tickets. Or they could have had the technology to draw station power from the tracks, but that's just too smart for them.