Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - "What's WMATA with You?"

For this week's added shot from my archives, we have this photo of an Orange Line train in DC's subway system that I took on my walkabout last weekend. One of my contacts on Flickr pointed out that it looked like it could be a scene from a sitcom.

(Taken with my Nikon D90)

Day 132/365 - Above and Below

This is the exit from/entrance to the Metro subway stop at Union Station in Washington, DC. I popped over to Union Station during lunch today to grab a bite to eat and pick up a grounded plug converter for my laptop from the travel store in preparation for my trip next week. And while I was at the store, I also found a cool messenger bag that I think will be perfect for carrying my camera, umbrella, book, and assorted other junk with me while I'm trekking up, down, and around Venice.

I was having trouble deciding which day bag to take with me. Taking a backpack makes it a hassle to swap out lenses, so I'd made up my mind to instead take one of the jillion messenger bags/satchels I have. That left me with a Goldilocks dilemma, however: some bags were too big, others too small. But then I found this new bag and it seemed just right. Plus it's yellow, my favorite color!

Okay, I'm starting to get a bit alarmed at the note of girliness that has manifest itself in my 365 project of late. ; ) Yesterday it was a bubblebath. Today I'm all atwitter over a new bag I bought. What's it going to be tomorrow, a discussion of shoes? Grrrr, I feel the need for some beer and sports and jokes centered on bodily functions.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 37/365 - Hi Ho, Hi Ho

This is my morning commute to work on the Yellow Line train going into DC from Northern VA. At this point the subway pops above ground and traverses a bridge over the Potomac River before ducking back down into the tunnel like a groundhog that spotted its shadow. I have a pretty short trip into the District each day -- I go 3 stops, switch to either the Blue or Orange Line, go one more stop, get off the train, and my office is right next to the Metro station. If I get lucky with the timing it's a 15-minute trip. If my timing is off, it's a 30-minute trip.

Either way, it ain't bad. I'd definitely rather have my commute than that of the poor saps who are usually creeping along bumper-to-bumper on the bridge you can see in the distance. Plus my agency gives me free train fare to encourage the use of mass transit, so it doesn't even cost me anything to go to work.

Even though I've been traveling this route for years without any problems, I still have a bit of an irrational fear that one day the train will derail and plunge into the river. The odds of that happening are probably astronomically remote, but I still worry about it a little bit in the back of my mind just about every time the train crosses over that bridge.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)