fatvegan

I have a bit of an embarassing story about getting to frisbee on Monday. It's embarassing for two reason. I was catching a train from Asquith. I had to get to St Leonards. The train was late, but eventually showed up. I hopped on and started reading my book.

A moment later and looked up. I'd just passed Normanhurst. I thought "Hmmm. Dear me. I'll have to get off at Thornleigh and catch a train back to Hornsby." I was worried I was going to be late. We got to Thornleigh, but the train didn't slow down. Just kept on training.

I began to suspect that I'd got on an express. I started to concoct damage-minimisation strategies. I thought I could get off at Epping and catch a train back to Hornsby. Or I could catch a bus from Epping to Chatswood. Or even a taxi. I tried to work out how much being on time was worth to me.

Then I had the clever idea of taking the express all the way to Central and coming back to St Leonards. I wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait for a train back from Epping. I tried to evaluate in my head all the different trip times and frequency of various expresses and normal trains. I started adjusting times by probabilities and adding them all up. I tried to take into account the extra goodness of getting to go across the Harbour Bridge again - the third time in one day. The express had got stuck behind a slow train, and I was worried that it would go slowly all the way to Central. But I was also worried that I'd get off at Epping and there'd be no train for 20 minutes. I still wasn't sure as the train approached Epping.

Then the train blasted through Epping station without a thought. I was confused for a moment, and then realised that it made everything much better. I didn't have to make any choices any more. So I sat down and continued reading my book.

After we went through Strathfield I realised the train was completely empty. I started thinking about ways I could speed up the process once I got off the train. I wasn't in my frisbee clothes. I had to change my shoes, and change into my shorts, and that would have taken me another five minutes once I got to the oval. It took a little while to build up the courage, but I did it. I went to the upstairs part of the carriage so that no one standing on platforms would see me as the train went through. I laid out everything I needed. And quickly got changed. It was so quick. If someone had been sitting next to me I doubt they would even have noticed.

But it's still embarassing. Especially when you have friends like Tom and Robert, who might not ever speak to me now they know this.

I was a couple of minutes late for frisbee. But I was able to dump my bag and run straight on the field, because I was already prepared.