Rindis.com

Slept through my stop on CalTrain last night. Considering my penchant for taking naps when riding in any moving vehicle, only twice in a year and a half is not bad.

Last time, it was a limited that stopped at the next station. This time I got to go all the way to San Jose before my train stopped. And of course, a conductor came by to check tickets right after we pulled out…

Fortunately, he believed me when I explained that this was NOT part of the plan…. Something confirmed when I pulled out my schedule to see what my options were. Good news: the next north-bound train was a mini-bullet straight back to Mountain View (my stop). Bad news: I’d have a twenty minute wait for it. Just as well, the train which had been on time all the way down to Mountain View was ten minutes late into SJ (it caught up with the previous local train; apparently they need to tweak this part of the schedule).

So, I got to see what the SJ station was like. I am Not Impressed. Considering that it’s *the* major stop on the south end (some trains do go further), I was expecting something like the San Francisco terminal. Instead, it’s an ugly spread out thing that’s so noisy yelling is obligatory. There’s just two tracks (one north, one south) like the rest of the minor stations in between. Up a couple miles there’s a area with a half-dozen tracks, some of which are still in use with freight, but not here.

So I was quite happy $3.50 later when the doors closed, instantly cutting the noise level by two thirds. Still irritated as heck about getting home 50 minutes late, but it’s my own fault (well me and the extra-quiet PA announcements they had that day).