Wow. It's really amazing how restful one weekend at home can be. Today, I was wide awake for all of my classes. The whole day, I just felt happy and motivated and "I can get it done" ish. I accomplished a lot without stressing myself out. I felt like a completely new person than I had been when I left last Thursday.

Monday was pretty stressful. I had to wake up pretty early to do my laundry, and we had to leave the house at 9:00 to drop my mom and sister off at their place, and then we went to the train station to pick up my ticket and check my baggage. My train was scheduled to leave at 10:53. It was on a line that I don't normally take - "Coast Starlight," which runs from southern California to Seattle and back. I normally take "Cascades", which only runs from Portland to Seattle and back.

Here's some background: I had debated taking "Coast Starlight" on the way up on Thursday, because it ran at a more convenient time for me, but I didn't for a couple reasons: 1, it made a lot of stops on the way, which added a full half hour to the travel time. That would be super annoying. 2, it had a flag on it that said "subject to delays." Plus, I was just more familiar with the Cascade line, and I like routine. So I ended up taking the Cascade line up instead of Coast Starlight.

But now I was coming back down, and I had to take the Coast Starlight because I had to be in Portland before 5 because I had to work at 5. So, I bought a ticket that would have me in Portland at 2:15 pm which is, in fact, earlier than 5. The Cascade lines would have been too late. That's why I had to take Coast Starlight. Okay?

So, we get there at about 9:30 and it says the train has been delayed. It was going to be at Tacoma at 10:53, now it'll be there at (I think) 11:45. We sigh. I pick up my ticket and check my bags (that's a story in itself that I'll share after this) and we go back home to wait for a bit.

We live half an hour from the train station. So, already that day, I'd had an hour of car driving.

When we were about to return to the train station, I looked up the train schedule and found out that it was now scheduled to come into Tacoma at 12:30. So, we waited. Then I looked it up again and it had been changed to 1:25. So we waited again. The next time I looked it up, it was the same. So we left. But when we arrived at the station, it had been modified to 2:25. There was a Cascade train leaving at 2:33 (which, of course, I hadn't made a reservation for because it arrived in Portland at 5:15) and I was fairly sure that the predictions of the Coast Starlight train weren't even accurate, since it was coming from Seattle, and they were basically just tacking on another hour every time the deadline was reached - I was pretty sure the train hadn't even left Seattle, since it takes about an hour by train from Seattle to Tacoma (or less). (That was a horrid sentence.)

So I changed my ticket to the 2:33 Cascade train. The idiots at the front desk (you'll hear more about why they were idiots later on) tried to covince me not to change my ticket.

"But ma'am, the Coast Starlight will arrive at 2:15, and 2:15 comes before 2:33!"

"Yes, but the Coast Starlight was supposed to arrive three and a half hours ago, so why should I assume it will arrive at 2:15?"

"..."

"Furthermore, the Coast Starlight takes 3 hours to get to Portland, and the Cascade takes 2 1/2 hours to get there. So, may I please modify my ticket?"

"..."

"Thanks."

Both trains ended up being somewhat delayed, though mine arrived first. I finally arrived in Portland at 6. By 6:15 I had been picked up and was headed back to school. By 6:30 I was at school. Around 6:45, I was at work. I had called in earlier that day, and my boss had basically said "okay, but you need to come in at 7 if at all possible."

So, it was a day of being in the car a lot, and being in the train a lot, and after the train going straight to work. I was so exhausted. But I slept hard. And today was wonderful.

That was a very boring story.

So, the idiots at the Tacoma station. Ugh. I tried to check my baggage, and when I tried to check this plastic container I have, the guy said, "Um, we can't take that," in an offended tone, as if I had wronged him by trying to check it.

I said, "why not?"

"Because it's plastic."

"Um, okay, well, they checked it just fine on the way up here..."

"Yeah, well, we can't take it, okay?" He sounded angry at me. My dad started getting involved.

Dad: "Look, they took it on the way up! Why can't you take it on the way down?"

Guy: "Because it's against our policy. She has to carry it on board with her."

Me: "Fine." I took it back and put my laptop under.

Guy: "We can't take that either. It's an electronic."

Me: "I also checked this on the way up."

Guy: "Well, you'll have to carry it on board with you."

Me: "And I'm allowed two pieces of carryon luggage, right? Which I already have. So, you're saying I can only take two pieces of luggage with me?"

Dad angrily says something about the level of service and the inconsistencies we've encountered. The guy shrugs.

A lady comes over and explains very slowly and clearly to me (as if I am a small child) that these items are not allowed, but we're going to "bend the rules" (and as she says "bend" she does a very deliberate and slow motion with her hands as if she's bending an iron bar into a horseshoe) and have me sign a waiver that says I acknowledge that I'm putting this item on board, even though I'm not supposed to, and that it won't happen again, okay? Okay. I sign.

Anyway, I couldn't believe how rude they both were. No "sorry" about anything - about the train being 2 1/2 hours late, about the checked baggage thing, nothing. When someone has a complaint about a sandwich - a sandwich, people, which pales in comparison to the importance of a train ticket - I treat their sandwich concerns with way more respect than these people treated my travel plans. This tells me that they should be making sandwiches, and I ought to be in their position.

And I also mentioned, I think, how the same lady and guy tried to keep me from changing my ticket, even though not changing it would mean I'd arrive in Portland at least half an hour (and probably more) late. Stupid, stupid, incompetent idiots. I should have their jobs. I should. They should be making sandwiches. Or frying up fish tacos on some grill in Mexico - some place where no amount of customer service is expected.

I'm going to email amtrak now.