Moved - Day 1 of New Job

Well, I need to write this stuff down before it gets too late.

I moved to Baltimore. I went from Missouri – Illinois – Ohio – West Virginia – Pennsylvania – Maryland. I left Thursday (7/30) after work, stayed in Indianapolis and arrived at home (aww) Friday (7/31). I was exhausted, but managed to make it through the weekend. I was so relieved to make it. I was worried it would never actually happen… But it did.
I was very nervous for my first day of work. I only slept three hours that night. That was ok though, I wasn’t worried about being too tired. I was a little worried that it would be more difficult to think. I already knew where the train station was and how to get there. I had taken taxis to Matt’s from there before, and we drove there Sunday so I would really know for sure.
I bought a ticket one way ($7) and got on the train. I didn’t bring anything to read, just my work laptop and purse. I did grab a paper that morning, but didn’t open it. I was excited about the scenery. That train (The Marc train) is about an hour. I was surprised at how comfortable it was. I can compare it to an airplane I guess, but more spacious. That was the easy part. The train left from Penn Station Baltimore, and arrived at Union Station Washington DC. I got off the train and followed the crowd.
The crowd split. I just went one way. I could not find the entrance to the Metro (DC Subway). I didn’t want to ask. I saw signs for it, but it took a few minutes. Later I learned there are two entrances, hence why the crowd split.
I knew I had to buy some sort of ticket. I stood in front of the machines for probably two or three minutes. I got brave and walked up. I figured out how to buy a day pass. That was $7 (which seemed like a lot). I saw a cop-type lady and asked her how to get to the blue line going because I was trying to go to Crystal City. She told me where to go. (Later I learned the Yellow line is shorter/faster than the blue).
I went over to the ‘turnstyles’ and watched how people did that. You slide the ticket in and it comes out a little farther up and the gates open. My gate wasn’t opening. I went back to that lady, showed her my day pass and asked what I was doing wrong. She said day passes aren’t good until 9:30 AM and this was about 7:15. She told me to read the price list on the board above the ticket vending machines and get a ticket for the amount that I would need. When I got back to the machines there were some tourists there trying to figure them out. I said, don’t get a day pass, they aren’t good until 9:30. I said somehow we have to figure out how much we need. I read and it looked like from where I was to where I was going was going to be about $2.50. I bought a ticket for about $5. The default was $20 which I thought was odd (turns out that makes sense).
I put my ticket into the turnstile thing and it poppod out the other side and the gate opened! Hurray! (Fortunately I was told I could use the day pass another time).
I could not figure out what was going on. For some reason I had it in my head that the signs would tell me where the train was going to stop next. The lady told me to head toward Shady grove, so that was what I did. After all, I did tell the people at work I had no idea what I was doing and might end up somewhere else. I had a small map so I could see if I went in the right direction or not at the next stop. I did go the right direction. I got off where I could get off the red line and onto the blue line. I had to ask what direction to go in again. That line goes by Arlington Cemetary. I thought of Diana. I finally made it to Crystal City, got off and followed the crowd up to the ground. I didn’t know where I was. I looked at a map that was displayed at the corner. There is an underground mall underneath, so there are maps above to direct people. I found my building and knew I had to go north. I couldn’t tell which way was north. Yes, I know I could look at the shadows to see where the sun was, but everything was shadows from the buildings. Had I tried harder I might have figured it out. I just followed some guy. I then ran into someone smoking and asked if he knew where the Boeing buildings were. He said I was headed in the correct direction. I walked a block and saw another map/sign. I figured out that I was going in the wrong direction. I turned around and went down that same road the other way. I called Monica (OA that works here) to tell her I was lost and what should I do. Right when she answered I recognized where I was. She said to go the the 7th floor and find Betty’s old cube. I did (after sitting at the wrong cube for a while). I made it to work in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Granted I spent extra time in the Metro and at Union Station.
Going home… Monica told me the yellow line was more direct. For some reason I wasn’t sure if the yellow line stopped at Crystal City, but it does. She also told me that when the sign says for example: Yellow line to Mt. Vernon.. that is the direction the train is headed. It doesn’t show the next stop, it shows the last stop. That makes perfect sense now, but I didn’t know that eight hours prior. I found where the yellow goes to Mt. Vernon and stood there. I got on the next train. It was the blue line… How did I get on the blue line? (turns out sometimes they use the same tracks, when two trains go through the same station they alternate). At least I was familiar vaguely with the blue line having been on it earlier that day. I got off and found my way to the red line heading toward the last station (but I was going to get off earlier at Union Station). Ha! I made better time with that bit of education. I bought a ticket for the train. Turns out I bought a $20 Amtrak ticket, not a $7 Marc ticket. ugh… I went to the Amtrak help station and asked. I could return the $20 ticket and buy a $7 ticket. Fortunately that didn’t delay because I had some time before the train would leave. I was comfortable on the train and made it home.

(I would write more now, but I think I just got carpal tunnel)