Metro, mX and Me

Metro, mX and Me

Today I caught the train to work for the first time since, ooh, let me think now, late March.  So that would make it nearly 4 months ago.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind catching the train to and from work.  I could quite happily catch trains all over the world.  I enjoy trams too.  I do not like bus travel.

Due to a flood in the house we had to vacate for a few weeks whilst repairs and restorations were made.  Lucky for me, I’m with AAMI.  After a holiday in the caravan, they put us up in a fully furnished serviced apartment, initially for 3 weeks.  This turned out to be 3 months, but life goes on.  Lucky for me, the apartment was in the city, just a couple of blocks (or 2 tram stops) from work, so I didn’t have to catch any trains.

Over the weekend and the last couple of days we moved back in to the house, sort of.  The removalists lost the nuts and bolts to the beds and cupboards.  We finally got screws for the single beds and the cupboards on Tuesday afternoon, so the unpacking had a late start.  My bed is still missing some nuts and bolts and the bed frame (amongst other things) was broken.  So sort of living in the house, but the bedroom is in the caravan. 

All first world problems I know.

This morning I awoke 2 hours early, I think nervous that I would miss the alarm.  When you live so far from work, missing a train can throw your day right out of whack.  I arrived on the cold, wet and windy platform in plenty of time to catch the 5.46 am to Dandenong.  Would I recognise anyone, would anyone recognise me?  There was Bronwyn and she greeted me with a ‘Hello stranger’.

Boarding the train, I didn’t bother getting my knitting out, too busy gas bagging and it’s only 12 minutes to Dandenong.  Ha, ha, ha.  Just after Lynbrook the train stopped.  We waited, we waited and we waited some more.  Out with the knitting.  Having a Metro morning, 45 minutes (and quite a few new inches of scarf) after leaving Cranbourne we pulled in to Dandenong to change trains for the city. Once on the city bound train I scored an aisle seat and fell comfortably back in to my morning routine of knitting my way to work.  So long as I have room for one wing to fly, I can knit.

Just as well I had a busy day, as the scarf was getting close to completion.  Just enough wool left to finish off after tea tonight.  Or so I thought …

This afternoon, whilst in the middle of a confusing reconciliation, the woop woops start. ‘An incident has been detected, please be ready to evacuate, woop woop.  Standing in the corridor waiting, waiting, waiting for instruction, you guessed it, out with the knitting.  Like an Amex card, never leave home without it.  People laughed, but I say, “Keep calm and carry on knitting”. Another few rows before the all clear was given to return to our desks. Not a lot of wool left, I wonder if I will have enough to finish the pattern?

Leaving work and heading to the station, I was so looking forward to reading the mX on the way home.  That’s my routine, knit to work and mX my way home.

Not to be.  Looking where the mX is normally placed for commuters, vacant floor space greeted me.  Hmmm, maybe I’m a little bit early and they’re running a little bit late.  I just missed a train, so no worries, I’ll see if the papers are still stacked in the street. Nope.  Hmmm, something’s not right.  Finally, not wanting to miss another train for the sake of a paper, I asked a couple of Metro blokes at the gates.  Gasp!  No more paper mX!  Not for a couple of months now it seems.  Apparently we can still read it on an app.  I don’t want to read the paper on an app.  For a number of reasons.  I don’t like reading on a little tiny screen. I like to look at the page as a whole, not one little paragraph at a time.  My phone is with Telstra, so I have the best coverage, but the crappiest plan. Biro doesn’t work for the crossword on a screen.  Oh well, bring out the knitting.  I finished the scarf and had the ends sewn in by Caulfield.

 No wool, no mX = another first world problem on another Metro day.