Metro was a mess ^[1] yesterday, so I skipped the Orange Line and took a taxi to meet up with a friend in Arlington, but it turned out that said friend got stuck on a Blue just short of Rosslyn and eventually had to cancel because no Orange Line trains were coming. Generally, it seems that when any line outside of the Red has a major problem, the delays cascade to the other non-Reds, since Orange runs with Blue, Blue merges with Yellow, and Yellow joins with Green, so later that night it was with trepidation that I descended into the Southwest Waterfront Metro — in time to see my train pulling out of the station, with an indefinite wait for the next one. (The signs were just showing the time, no arrival info.)

So I walked home. Yeah, it was DC at 10pm, and I thought I would get mugged at least twice, but the path up to the National Mall was well lit, patrolled often by MPD, and I spotted a few other people out and about whom I wouldn’t have expected would be out. A jogger was doing jumping jacks outside the American Indian Museum. The Capitol Terrace and Grant Memorial were deserted, the Capitol Reflecting Pool thawed and populated by sleeping ducks, the normal traffic of DC quieted to a hiss, surprisingly devoid of firetruck sirens for the evening.

So thanks for FUBARing ^[1] yesterday, DC Metro. I got a nice, relaxing evening walk, and I saved $1.35 which would otherwise have been spent deep underground in a station listening to over-loud Metro Transit Police security reminders while waiting for a train that could have taken longer to arrive than it took to go on foot.

What’s that, Metro? Another track fire near Farragut North ^[2] and doors opening themselves mid-transit ^[3], you say? Well, maybe I’ll save another $1.35 and walk again, then.