CTA Tattler

Considering their choice of reading material, I'd say both guys were pretty close to the mark in their comments. ;-)

Yay!!!! My New Year's resolution was to get more people to use the word 'jagoff.' It appears I'm getting results.

jagoff's

A little story to share with all about urban "wildlife." I've seen mice and rats on the tracks, but my sister told me she saw a coyote on the Blue Line tracks near Addison. She was on the Addison Blue Line platform on a Sunday afternoon (March 18 to be exact) waiting for a train to O'Hare. As she looked down the tracks to see if any trains were approaching from the south, she saw a coyote running down the southbound tracks. A train from O'Hare pulled into the station, and she watched to see what would happen when this train encountered a coyote on the tracks. She watched the coyote jump over to the northbound tracks (still making it's way southbound). After the train passed, it then jumped back to the southbound tracks as a northbound train approached. (Those coyotes are smart!) We puzzled over a couple of things: what would happen at the Belmont (underground) stop if the coyote kept following the tracks southbound? How did the coyote get on the tracks in the first place? At this point the Blue Line has expressway on either side of the tracks. We could only guess that it entered the tracks from near O'Hare, but why it was still heading southbound was beyond us. Unless...maybe it has a den in the underground tunnels? There are certainly plenty of rodents to munch on down there!

Last summer I was riding the Brown Line on as particularly quiet Sunday afternoon. I was sitting in the last car by myself heading home from work at the Merchandise Mart when we stopped at Chicago/North. The door opened and a pigeon walked on. The door closed and the pigeon rode until Fullerton before calmly walking off again. Not a feather ruffled during the entire ride.

Those pigeons or jagoffs!

Where was the pigeon keeping his fare card?

The pigeon has a leather lanyard that he purchased at the CTA Store...

Back to the topic at hand, what is it with men feeling the need to squeeze into a seat where they clearly don't fit? I'm a bigger guy (6'3" and 200+ lbs.), and the only thing that stops me from getting up so Big Guy Seat Squeezer can have the whole seat is that there are usually too many people to get up before my stop. I've given up trying to sit anymore -- too many jagoffs. ;) Happy, Cheryl?

sox sux

My question is really straightforward but will likely never see some sort of satisfaction or remedy since years have passed and this minor transit woes has persisted. Q: Why are a good portion of cta's trains out of skew with their temperatures? Particularly the brown line, which i've heard from friends is a really scenic commute option as it cruises through many well-kept neighborhoods and it's destination is downtown where all of the tall buildings and glass grab for attention. Does anyone other than me notice this phenomenon, like how the cars have this loud whirring sound as if an air conditioner is blowing out full-blast air? On my commute to the loop i've noticed this a lot, even in winter the air is gusting up from the ventilation full-tilt that my hair was tossled up above my head and people around me on the same car had every inch of their face and head wrapped as if the snowstorm was INSIDE the car instead of beyond the exit doors. What is the purpose of the constant frigidity? Seeing the condensation from my breath one morning while on the brown line recently was enough for me to ponder that cta's larger problems all stem from an inability to provide quality service as if that is too much an effort. i'm writing this today because i caught a cold/throat scratchy-sore from another freezer-ride on the brown, i'm waiting for the icicles and a skating rink next i grab a commute from them!