Since Some Have Asked...

...I am okay. I was not affected by yesterday's Metro crash that so far has killed nine people and injured 70.

A couple of things worked in my favor. First, the train wasn't heading the direction I travel when I head home. It was on the opposite track heading in-bound. Second, as yesterday marked the return to full-time work for me, it also marked the return of eight-hour days (instead of the tens that I do when part-time). Given that I get to work at 6:30 a.m., I left the office at 3 p.m. yesterday. However, if I had been doing a ten-hour day yesterday, I would have likely been stopped at a station just north of work and had to wait who-knows-how-long because the crash happened just as I normally leave for work on those longer days.

For this morning, the trains aren't even running at the few stops surrounding the crash. I would have had to get on the train, be unloaded and take a shuttle to a stop down the line, get back on the train, and ride to work. Metro said to add an hour to commute times to account for this. However, I was able to take the other side of the Red Line to work this morning, at a cost of only 20 minutes. Sure that means 40 minutes added to my work day, but all things considered, I'm lucky.


Incredibly lucky.

(The Washington Post has tons of coverage if you want more.)