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Now I'm totally bummed
We were in Seattle a week ago - arriving on one of those trains you hear in the background on all Mariners home games.
Not that we didn't have fun there anyway, but if we could have put off the trip a week for this, I'm sure that DH would have lobbied strongly for it.
Trains near Safeco field
I heard that train whistle last night around midnight while listening to the game on WRKO. Are these trains from Portland or Vancouver, or from Chicago, or just from the suburbs?
Multiple Tracks For Passengers and Freight
The trains are from pretty much everywhere. There is passenger service for lines running to Chicago, San Francisco and LA, Portland, Spokane, Vancouver ... King Street Station is immediately north of Qwest and Safeco.
The field is also sited between the container ports at Seattle and Tacoma, which combine for the the second or third largest container facility in North America. I counted as many as 12 tracks in some places, and there are 4 or 5 that run all the way between Seattle and Tacoma, most carrying container freights. Just to the south of Safeco, there is a large rail yard with more tracks than I can count.
Seattle recently started commuter rail service called Sound Transit. Those trains run from Tacoma to Seattle and Seattle to Everett, but only at rush hours for the most part.
Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay...
the first-place Rays, with All-Star Scott Kazmir pitching, attracted 12,428 fans to yesterday's home game. That's just pathetic.
ROFLMAO!
Manny warned by cop about jaywalking in Seattle!
Bonus points: losers on Boston.com with the "but he's Mr. Important Baseball Player and The Cop Should Know/Care About That" comments.
Jaywalking
We are a nation of laws, not men, and laws apply equally to Mr Manny and George Bush just as they apply to you and me. That said, the west coast enforces jaywalking and the east coast, not so much. I was astounded when I stepped off the curb into the street and all the traffic stopped even though they had the light. From then on, I waited on the curb until it was our turn to go.
Where Not to Jaywalk
I had to seriously retrain my offspring these past two weeks - Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver are all pretty strict about jaywalking. Calgary and Toronto are strict about it as well.
The upside: these cities also provide adequate crossing opportunities and rigorously maintained crossing lights! Lights that work! Lights that activate in a reasonable period of time and give pedestrians adequate time to make it across! Lights that don't conflict with left and right turn arrows!
In other words, you can't jaywalk, but you don't have to jaywalk.
#2 Son: looks both ways, starts to wander ...
Me: Hey!
#2: What?
Me: No jaywalking?
#2: Huh? What's that?
Me: Cross at corners or crosswalks only.(motions him to light) Just hit the button up there.
#2: but there aren't any cars ...
Me: Use the walk light.
#2: (hits button, which triggers an audible thunk in the box. The light changes within three seconds.) Wow! It worked right away!