Missed It By That Much

[kevin_standlee]

Late this afternoon, I got a call saying that my van was ready to be picked up. I spoke to the dealership's courtesy shuttle driver and gave him directions to my place. I started figuring that I might just barely have enough time to go to SF in SF after all.

It took the driver 45 minutes to get to me, and as the minutes ticked away while we made our way down to Fremont Chevrolet, I found myself longing for when Central Chevrolet was still open. Central was less than a mile from me, and I could easily have walked there in the time it took the shuttle driver to collect me and bring me to the Fremont Auto Mall.

After paying the $647 it cost to repair my van, I started heading for the Fremont BART station, in the hope that I could catch the last direct train to SF of the night, the 5:49. Alas, it pulled out of the station just as I was buying my ticket, followed by the Richmond train. That meant I had the maximum possible wait time for another train, and would have to transfer at Lake Merritt to boot. However, I figured I could still get to the reading just before it started at 7 PM, or maybe just a few minutes late.

I boarded the next Richmond-bound train. I thought something was strange when it took maybe ten attempts to get the doors to close. We started out of the platform and stopped again. That happens sometimes. What doesn't usually happen is the train moving a couple of car lengths, stopping, then starting again. The driver made apologetic sounds and we at least cleared the station mouth, but we kept stopping and starting. We plodded along in this stop-and-go fashion for a while, with the driver unable to clear the problem. She even tried "rebooting" the train — shutting the train down completely and restarting it from scratch — but that didn't work. Finally, having gone perhaps half a mile in ten minutes, she announced that we would be returning to Fremont station, where we could board the next Richmond-bound train that was waiting on the platform there.

When our train lurched back to the Fremont platform, I bailed out. It was now so late that I would be lucky to make it Montgomery Street by "halftime" of tonight's reading. I told the station agent the situation and he stamped my ticket and let me use the luggage gate so that I wouldn't be charged the "excursion fare" for exiting from the same station from which I'd entered. I hope there's no difficulty using that ticket, as it's what I plan to use on my trip to SFO to catch my flight to Australia on the 30th.

Comments

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

I have learned to accept Train fail myself, which is why I get on a train a half hour earlier than I really need to get to work on time everyday. I still don't always make it to work on time, but work is understanding because of the amount and quality of work I put in when I am there.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed that your dealer has an afternoon shuttle at all. All the places I've dealt with will shuttle you anywhere you want in a broad area in the morning, but they won't pick you up in the afternoon, period.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

When you next use the ticket, ask the agent to use the luggage gate going in, which shouldn't be difficult as you'll be carrying luggage. Have fun in Oz.

[lindadee.livejournal.com]

I have a similar experience yesterday, with buses. I was heading out from Northgate to Redmond for a book reading by Kat Richardson (sponsored by Foolscap), leaving at 12:30 and figuring to get there by 2 p.m. I thought I had missed my first bus when it went whizzing by before I got to the stop, but at the next stop (a block away), I saw a passenger was using the wheelchair ramp. I ran and actually caught the bus (even though I had to wait for the light to change)!

I made it downtown in time to walk the two blocks over to the next bus stop and waited . . . and waited. I saw the bus come . . . and go, without stopping. But it said "Seattle" where it should have said "Redmond", so I continued to wait. After fifteen minutes, I finally gave up, assuming that the bus that had gone by was the bus I was supposed to have taken and headed back to catch a bus home. Just after I passed the point of being able to run back to catch the Redmond bus, it turned the corner and headed for the bus stop where I had been waiting.

I just continued home.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

I very much like being within walking distance of my mechanic - after all, if you can drive there, you may not need the mechanic... I've been mostly lucky with this, and I'm a little surprised that your vehicle maintenance is so far from your home. You mentioned 'dealership' rather than 'mechanic' so I'm guessing there are only a few places you could go for this, correct?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I took it to the dealership because I figured the issue with the HVAC fan was something to do with the electrical system and might be model-specific, and thus something I should have the people specifically trained in GM vehicles work on. I do actually have a general auto mechanic within walking distance who I trust more with engine-drivetrain matters. In retrospect (and Lisa was the one pointed this out to me), I should have had that mechanic do the oil-cooler line replacement. But by the time Lisa pointed it out to me, I had already okayed the work at the dealership. Even if my local mechanic had charged me the same, I would rather give the money to him because I trust him more than most. (He's the mechanic who replaced the van's engine, and he's always played square with me.)

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

Ah, quite logical.