Email! From the Stouffville folk and it's not about where Stouffville is on a map!

from M.C.
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 6:28 PM
subject Finally someone that understands :)

Riding the 6pm stouffville train here, and I have to wonder why some people get all in a huff when you nicely ask them to lower their headphone volumes. Now I know people have (noise canceling) headphones, but every single person around my compartment is looking at him, so clearly his music is too loud.

We can hear all the beats, the lyrics and the sounds of what seems like seriously hardcore music. This guy listening to his rock music gets all mad and leaves after I ask him to turn it down. I only asked him to *lower* the volume.

His response: " I've never been told my music's too loud before." My reply: "People are just too scared to tell you." His reply: "I'm not a scary guy." Mine: "I know, so that's why it'd be nice to turn the volume down."

So he packs up, saying that he would rather remove himself from the situation. Of course, he reminds me to not listen to my own iPod too loud. Aw, how classy and considerate of him!

Ugh... Someone needs to invest in some quality headphones.

-rider on the stouffville line.

---

Here's what I have to say about M.C.'s willingness to take a stand:

*\o/*

Actually, this deserves three more cheerleaders:

*\o/* *\o/* *\o/*

Go locomotives on holiday

In sunny Santa Barbara, California. Doing the conga with two Amtrack locomotives.

This picture is missing something. I want to Photoshop a bikini on that engine but I don't think the photographer, Joe Blackwell, who appears to be a die-hard railhead, would approve. So I won't.

- Photo embedded and linked from http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=372198&nseq=0

Thanks to Dan-1 for the link.

Moses, let people off the train!

You Oshawa door donkeys are outta control. People exiting at Whitby shouldn't have to ask you to move and because of this "me first off the train" ape way of thinking, this man who tried to get off the train is now riding to Oshawa.
I can tell he's pissed.
It's well after six o'clock so I don't know why you assholes have to line up like there's no tomorrow seeing as most daycares have a 6pm cut-off. Just be respectful there are stations before yours.

People of public transit

Hilarious blog. Rises to heights that I can't. Exposes lows far below what I can manage.

This one photo caught my eye.


I always wanted to dress up as a front lawn for Halloween.

Source -> People of public transit.com

Coz I gotta pee and I'm grumpy

from IXXXXXXXXX@hotmail.com
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 8:18 PM
subject oshawa washroom security officer

Hey, the whole time I was on the train I was dying because I knew I had to write an email about this woman I got off at Oshawa with and her issues.

I was in the first coach and sitting on the main level on the train going to Oshawa that left Union at 6:18 P.M.. The bathroom was one of the larger accessible kind. Apparently lots of people had too much to drink because the bathroom was getting used more than a (omitted due to vulgarity- CJ). Know what I mean?

Then this guy goes in and this was around Rouge Hill. We're just pulling out of Ajax when the woman sitting in the two seater starts stomping her feet and slapping her book against the pole.

She's talking to anyone who will listen, including me. She's all pissed that the guy is taking to long and that she has to pee and it's making her mad. Last time I checked there were toilets in every coach. She's sitting there, crossing her legs and bouncing her legs like a complete idiot.

Some man sitting across from her suggests she use another bathroom but she shakes her head saying she shouldn't have to move.

I'm getting a little concerned myself because I'm wondering if the guy has died or either he has Crohn's and it's ridiculous this woman thinks the bathroom is her own en-suite. She even said if he was doing number 2, he should wait for the station or get off at a station.

Finally, just as we leave Whitby, the guy comes out of the washroom. Who the hell would want to go in there after that?! Especially if the guy was crunching a loaf for 20 minutes??? This woman gets up and charges into the washroom and slams the rolling door close behind her.

There was no need for such dramatics. Other people come down the stairs and a person tries to open the door and the woman insides screams at the top of her lungs: "It's occupied!" Holy crap. She comes out and makes this big production about having to pee and that it made her grumpy. Just wow.

-Ian

It's only foot-ridin' when the turnips do it

from Jonathan Xxxxxx jonathan.xxxxxx@gmail.com
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 9:28 PM
subject (no subject)

Apparently I was a foot rider. I get excused because I was a cute one, right?
Jonathon then attached a photo of himself as a wee lad on the GO train.

from cj@thiscrazytrain.com
to Jonathan Xxxxxx jonathan.xxxxxx@gmail.com
date Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 9:29 PM
subject Re: (no subject)

Aww. Absolutely! Provided you wiped down those shoes with baby wipes!
Very sweet. Thanks.


from Jonathan Xxxxxx jonathan.xxxxxx@gmail.com
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 10:03 PM
subject Re: (no subject)

I should hope it was cleaned after.
PS, if you even end up doing an expose on Lil' Foot Riders, you have my permission to use my picture :P

Off Topic: Bored? No really, are you?

Check out these scans from a Best Buy flyer from 1996.

A new Macintosh PowerPC would have set you back about $2400.00 US. That was about $3800.00 CAD (maybe more) and doesn't include the monitor. Another $500 got you a nice 15 inch boat anchor. See Page 9.

And for $2500.00 (again, all prices USD) you could really take advantage of a laptop. With an 11-inch display! Bet you thought you were the cock of the walk back then, right Fancy? See Page 10.

Oh, and don't forgot your Sony Walkman - a steal at $14.99. See Page 11.

Make sure you check out the pimpin' cell phones on Page 7.

These trolls. They angry ...

You'll notice that I'm using a different Blogger ID pic when I comment. Gone is my Hulk avatar.

It was only a matter of time before someone, riding a train somewhere, or sitting all cozy in an office tower, clicked on a post and recognized either themselves, co-workers, train buddies, siblings, the guy that sells you milk, etc., and got super-mad. Got all righteous and gasp, called me a bully.

This website would be nothing without the pictorials. I do my best to obscure faces. I myself am forever immortalized in a group photo for what was the grand opening of The Docks nightclub wearing a hairstyle that really didn't suit me and an outfit that my best friend should have slapped off my body. I didn't mind having my picture taken. I was in a public place after all. What I did mind was that my face was clearly distinguishable. This picture became a poster. And then it became a nightmare. There's nothing like having your mom call you up months later, because she had taken the subway back from a doctor's appointment, to ask you if it's you who is half-dressed in a poster for a nightclub wearing a tube top you had no business wearing. Ah, 1997. I don't miss ya. But I sure learned from ya.

So to make it fair, I have put up a photo of myself in an an obscured pose.

Now we're even.

Fail of the Navigator

from Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date: Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 10:01 PM
subject: Stouffville

You're wrong. Stouffville is east of Uxbridge. Get a map you dummy.


from cj@thiscrazytrain.com
to Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 7:37 PM
subject: Re: Stouffville

I have no idea what the heck you're talking about but I found a minute to analyze your email and tried to to connect it with a post. Are you SpongeBob? I don't recall giving anyone directions to Stouffville but I went ahead and got myself a map like you said and call me crazy (Ha ha! That's a joke, get it ... seeing as this is the Crazy Train website and all) and Stouffville looks to be west of Uxbridge. Who's the dummy now? Not I!

- Cindy


from Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:04 PM
subject: Stouffville

It took you two days to answer this email? Wow. Glad you don't work in Customer Service.


from cj@thiscrazytrain.com
to Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:16 PM
subject: Re: Stouffville

What? But I don't work in customer service ... You implied I didn't know where Stouffville was on a map. So, to prepare for the day when I'm a contestant on Jeopardy! The Canadian Edition, I located it on a map and corrected you. It's not east but west of Uxbridge.


from Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:22 PM
subject: Stouffville

What a sad person you are. If you're going to give directions to customers, at least be right. Stouffville is east of Uxbridge.


from cj@thiscrazytrain.com
to Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:27 PM
subject: Re: Stouffville

Are you a robot?

Oh my god, are you like V.I.C.I. from Small Wonder?! Where when your battery drains you repeat the same thing over and over? I used to think Ted was hot.


from Txxxxx.Cxxxx@telus.blackberry.net
to cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date: Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:30 PM
subject: Stouffville

Are you mental? Why do you keep bothering me?

---

That's how I left it, folks. Some people just can't be saved from the stupid gene.

Should have used the accessibility ramp

This was sent via picture message to my Blackberry. With no description. I texted the person back and got no response. That was five days ago. So ... I can only hope this wasn't someone who was bucking it for a GO train at a station along one of the corridors. If it was, I hope to God he's all right.

My trained eye tells me this photo is staged. So don't panic. Look at how the crutches have been placed. Not to get all Matlock on you, but you'd think the crutches would have landed on the ground after sliding down the stairs. Right? No? Is it real?

Does this mean my headline grants me a one-way ticket to Hell? Aw c'mon, if you laughed, you know there's a spot reserved for you in that handbasket.

Um, MacGyver? You dropped something

For the young'uns who don't know what it means to "macgyver" something.

From wikipedia:

The series revolved around Angus MacGyver (known to his friends as "MacGyver" or "Mac"), whose main asset is his practical application of scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items—along with his ever-present Swiss Army knife. The clever solutions MacGyver implemented to seemingly unsolvable problems — often in life-or-death situations requiring him to improvise complex devices in a matter of minutes — were a major attraction of the show, which was praised for generating interest in the applied sciences, particularly engineering,[3] and for providing entertaining story lines.
The use of ordinary household items to jury rig devices shows an influence from The A-Team (though MacGyver eschewed firearms). The idea has entered United States popular culture: such constructions are referred to as "MacGyverisms" (a term first used in episode 3 of season 2, "Twice Stung"). MacGyver has become a verb, as in "The car broke down but he MacGyvered a fix to get home".

Thanks to David for the pic. Lord knows what the story is behind this.

Tonight's special: Parma Fettucini

The outlets available on some coaches are not meant for hotplates but it shouldn't surprise you that people do plug in small kitchen appliances such as the lady on the Stouffville line who boils a kettle.

There was an incident on the LSW last Wednesday night where a few people texted and wrote me to tell me about a woman who was attempting to cook pasta noodles on the train.
There's no photo to back this up but seeing as there were a few eyewitnesses, it's most likely true.
Someone went to tell the CSA out of fear of this woman starting a fire.

I have a ton of questions about this that I just didn't think to ask at the time.

Where did she get the water from? Hopefully not from the on-board bathroom. Ewww.

How long does it take to bring water to a boil on a hotplate? Last time I tried this, after I allowed myself to be coerced into some shit called "camping", which is basically like living out in your backyard only 300 kilometres away in a forest, the water wouldn't boil. I have trees in my backyard by the way. I never understood why my husband convinced me he needed a 1,000 pound cast iron, 6-burner, Vermont Castings barbecue. What? Cooking meat in our backyard requires an elaborate cooking appliance but in some forest somewhere, a stick and a firepit will do? The hell?

Anyhow, back to boiling water, people who were in a house on wheels (call it a trailer if you want, but compared to a tent and sleeping bag, it's a house) next to our campsite (how is that camping?) let us borrow their electricity. Three hours later, we managed to kill the battery in their camper and I had water hot enough to melt chocolate and nothing more. I slept in the car that night. Earwigs and I are NOT friends.

Espionage. He has it.

Here's Bond decoding the microfiche from behind his big black briefcase. It was all up in my business. How could I not take a picture?


He was even dressed the part right down to the black turtleneck sweater.

Oh Miss Moneypenny ...

Donkey!!!

Took my daughter swimming Sunday. This parking lot was FULL. Why? Because of parking donkeys. We left a note. My husband relished every word he wrote.

Despite what others are telling you ...

GO Transit has never had a strike in its 45-year history. So for those who wrote about so called chaos from the last strike are confused and may be thinking about a strike that affected another transit system, not GO.

If the union heads into a strike, you can expect trains operating. What you can also expect are picket lines at stations and the inability to purchase tickets at ticket counters. You will also be stranded if you rely on GO buses.

Those with Presto cards can travel uninterrupted during a strike provided cardholders use the website to re-load or subscribe to auto-load. Those who rely on passes and paper-ride tickets won't be able to purchase fares. There's no word on how GO will enforce fares on trains and if the strike affects their security staff who often conduct ticket inspections.

Source

Dear Parents, let's chat

I know riding the GO Train is exciting for your little ones. I know you want to believe in your heart of hearts that commuting on public transit is safe, especially on GO Transit and generally, it is.

But this is a much different society we live in from the one that you and I grew up in, where our parents didn't think twice about handing us a quarter so we could ride the Annette 4 bus, one whole kilometre down to Bloor Street, in Toronto's west end, at the age of 6, to attend tap dancing classes. Alone.

That's not to say nothing happened. Because it did. We just didn't talk about it as much. Or think about it as much.

Friday night I was on the 10:13 pm LSE to Oshawa. The lower section of the first coach was fairly empty. A crowd of young men and older male teens were upstairs, drunk/happy/crazy, probably from the Blue Jays game. They were loud, carrying on ... just another Friday night on the GO.

In my section sat a father with his two children. A boy about 4 and a girl about 8, maybe 9. Just around Guildwood, the young girl breezed past me before turning around to tell her father she didn't know where the bathrooms were. He says, "Upstairs. Just go". And off she went. Her body language was telling me she was a little apprehensive. I put my BlackBerry down, said out loud, "Are you serious?" Then I turned around to face the father and said, "I'd go with her". To which he replied, "She's all right."

Disgusted, I got up and told him the bathroom is the other way and went after his daughter. Like hell I'm gonna let an 8 year old girl, at this hour, walk through a train, out of site and go into a bathroom. Unsupervised.

I caught up with the girl who was standing at the top of the stairs in the upper section. She looked nervous and was clinging to the handrails. The men on that level were goofing off, one sitting on the floor in the middle of the aisle while his friend tapped him over the head with an empty beer bottle, both singing out of key. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", I believe. I motioned to her with my hand and said, "Come with me. Let's go get your father." She hesitated and then her facial expression changed. As I turned around, I nearly collided with the girl's father. Boy, was I angry and I told him so. I'm also a stranger. But I knew if I got up and went after her, he'd at least realize the point I was trying to make. What's stopping some guy from doing the same? Right? Only my intentions were to help. But he doesn't know that. That's my point. YOU DON'T KNOW.

He knew he screwed up.

I don't care what people think about me and my actions. Having been a young girl, having been in a situation where a man took it upon himself to touch me inappropriately as I exited a TTC bus, I know it takes mere seconds for a girl to be put in a situation where she's targeted. It can happen so fast. A brush of a hand across the chest, the pressing of the groin into one's back. In no way am I implying that all men or women, regardless of age or state of sobriety are criminals lying in wait, but I am telling you, shit happens.

Be smart. Don't let your children out of sight until you're confident they can take care of themselves. Don't put them in situations where they don't have the wherewithal to know how to defend themselves. If they turn around and look unsure, get up and be a parent.

Parenting is hard. I know this much is true. I'm doing it myself but we can no longer teach our children to "swim" by throwing them into the water and hoping for the best.

The Hell? What happened to the benches?

You know the ones. In the east Bay Street Teamway? Solid metal. Mesh pattern. Painted baby blue and white. The kind you see in a jail, in the visitation waiting area. Not that I've spent much time in jails but I've seen them on tv.

This bummed me out. I had some time before the 10:13 pm train last night and would have liked to sit for a bit. Take a load off. Rest my feet. Are they off to be spray painted? Maybe green and white? Oooh, that'd be edgy.

These are the GO bus idiots most of us have to restrain ourselves from beating up

1. No headphones
2. MP3 player set to external speaker
3. Monotone sing-along voice

Bette Davis eyes, indeed.

Go Transit Olympics

Isn't it nice to be popular? Especially when it's for all the wrong reasons?

I'm printing out this posting and will be placing it folded under the windshield wiper of this Ford Escape so the owner reads it.

Sir/Madam:

You're not special.

These photos of your vehicle were taken by two different people and I received several more throughout the morning. What pissed people off enough to snap photos is that the parking lot wasn't even full, but you chose to park like a douche anyway.

It's hard for those of us who do follow the rules to respect you and your decision to park on the curbed island. You're not exempt from the rules. I can't understand why you would do this but you set a precedent when you do, because by 4pm today, you'll be joined by other assholes and your plan to be "deserted" on your own parking island will have gone awry. If I can swallow it and park my $55,000 Ford Flex Limited out in the lot with the "regular" folk, seeing as you seem to feel you *are* better than everyone else, then I'm sure you can also stomach it with your $28,000 Ford Escape.

Have a good night,
CJ Smith
Editor, Ride This Crazy Train
www.thiscrazytrain.com