Resolution time

Now that it's the start of 2007 I must adhere to the annual ritual of selecting resolutions for the new year. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Lose weight by eating less and exercising more. (I go back to Weight Watchers tomorrow.)

2. Work on my memory so I don't lose it completely like my mom has. (Suggestions on how to do this are welcome.)

3. Finance an insurrection in a small country. (My finances are limited so I have to start small.)

4. Try to stop criticizing and talking so badly about people. (My heart isn't totally into this one. That's why I said try.)

5. Continue working to keep government accountable. (I've actually got a pretty good start on this one.) From today's Sun:

Bad lighting makes for scary commute
Originally published January 2, 2007

THE PROBLEM // AlisaBS, a state employee who commutes downtown from Owings Mills, reported that there is inadequate lighting in the courtyard leading to the Charles Center Metro stop, in the block bound by Fayette, Baltimore, Calvert and St. Paul streets.

THE BACKSTORY // AlisaBS wrote that, to enter the subway station from Fayette Street, "commuters must first make their way through a very dark section that is popular among panhandlers."

She said she feels uncomfortable walking alone to the subway when she gets out of work after dark.

On Wednesday night, a reporter found nine lampposts surrounding the station without working lights and, in less than five minutes, was twice approached by panhandlers.

After The Sun called about the situation Thursday, the city Department of Transportation immediately sent an employee to the scene to confirm that the lights were not working.

Spokeswoman Tia Waddy said the department would determine the source of the problem and make the needed repairs.

By late that afternoon, workers had brought out large portable lights to use in the meantime.

WHO CAN FIX THIS // Anthony Wallnofer, chief of the maintenance division at the Baltimore Department of Transportation, 410-396-1686.

6. Raise at least $1000 for the 2007 Owings Mills Relay For Life.

7. Stay cancer free.

8. International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991. (Oops, that's a U.N. Security Council Resolution, not a New Year's Resolution. And it's from 2006 so it wouldn't count anyway. Sorry. My bad.)

Yeah, I should probably stop now.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Insert your own clever "change a lightbulb" joke here

I'll admit it. I've been known to make a negative comment about the Baltimore subway every now and then. But with the recent eruption of violence at various subway and light rail stops, I trusted that the MTA would be on top of things and make something as simple as parking lot lighting a priority. Not so.

Since daylight savings time kicked in a few weeks back, the parking lot at the Owings Mills metro station has been very dark from 5 p.m. on. At least half of the lights seem to be out and even the ones that were on didn't exactly cast off much light.

The parking lot there has also been under construction for a full year now, meaning that in addition to a dark lot, I also get to take a circuitous muddy route twice each day.

My husband and I took it upon ourselves to contact the MTA to let them know about the lights that were out. This was far more of a challenge than it should have been.

Rich called the MTA last Monday night to report the outages and the woman who answered said that wasn't her department and she couldn't forward the message. He said something to the effect of "I thought you might want to know considering the crime that's being going on lately at the stations" and the woman said "There's no crime there," and she hung up on him.

When we tried calling back, he was put on hold for a while and then disconnected. Eventually I called back on the cell phone and they said I could call the MTA comment line between 8 and 6 to report it. He called back the next day.

A week later, I arrived back to another dark parking lot. This time I'd programmed the MTA comment line into my cell phone and seeing as how it was only 5:40 p.m., figured it was the perfect time to call. But, after being on hold for 20 minutes, the comment line closed and kicked me over to a looped recording. It told me to press 1-6 to leave a comment. I pressed 1-6 and then I got the same message again. When I got home, I went to the MTA website to post a complaint.

My husband's actions yesterday, however, proved to be far more effective. Fed up with being unable to get through to anyone on any of the various phone lines set up for rider comments, he starting contacting some news organizations and politicians about the lights. Then, last night, on Channel 11's 11 p.m. newscast, success! They had a reporter out there showing the lights being changed.

It's disgusting that it took so much time and effort to get a few lightbulbs changed. The MTA claims it only became aware of the light situation yesterday, so to me that basically says they haven't had any MTA police or staff even glance at the parking lot in nearly a month. Pardon me for not feeling exactly, um, safe.

But what's today's lesson? Don't piss us off. Eventually we're going to get our way so let's just make it easy, okay?

So yay for Rich and as my dad proudly noted, "Keep complaining."

An open letter to my fellow subway riders

The New York City government recently took a drastic step and decided to legislate something that many citizens lack: Common sense.

According to the New York Times, the city will soon start fining people whose cell phone goes off in a theater, those whose car alarms go off for more than three minutes, and my favorite, the selfish subway riders who put their feet up and take more than one seat.

Now I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of legislating manners. In fact, I'm not comfortable with it at all. So instead, I think I'll just write a friendly letter to the patrons whom I share the Baltimore subway with on a daily basis.

Hey subway people,

It's me -- you know, the girl that keeps her head buried in a book or newspaper at all times and tries to pretend she's not on the subway? Oh, come on... you know me. I'm the one who showers every single day and doesn't have one of those annoying Nextel phones that alternates beeping and static. That has to narrow it down to three or four people. Still not sure? I always wear headphones when I'm listening to music. Oh, and I'd be the one who has never elbowed an elderly person out of the way in an attempt to grab one of the seats reserved for the handicapped.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a few suggestions on how to make the daily subway ride a little more pleasant for those around you. The first topic I would like to discuss is hygiene.

While I certainly encourage good hygiene, and heaven knows several of you have a long way to go, the subway isn't really the place for your primping. Now I'm okay with an occasional make-up check or running a brush through your hair, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd save your nail clipping for later. It's one of those things you really shouldn't do in public. The same goes for those of you who like to apply or remove nail polish on the train. The smell is, well, nauseating at best. An unventilated train isn't the best place for your manicure.

The next set of people I'd like to address are the seat hogs. These come in a few different forms. There are the ones who get on when the train is empty and spread out across two seats but then don't adjust when the train soon becomes crowded. I don't care if you spread out when there's no one else around, but when people are falling over one another and packed in like sardines, it wouldn't hurt for you to move your leg.

Similarly, if you're an able-bodied person, it would be nice if you would offer your seat to someone who isn't quite as lucky. That means when you see someone get on who might be elderly, uses a cane, or for some other reason, may need a seat that day, you can stand up and see if they might want to sit down. They may say no so you may get off easy. And if you're in the seats reserved for the elderly/handicapped, just move your ass please.

I also have a special message to the five young gentleman on the subway yesterday afternoon who thought it was a riot to pry the doors open while the subway was in motion. Do you really have that much confidence in the construction and maintenance of the Baltimore subway system? If so, you're far more optimistic than I am. You know the same people who can't keep the escalators running for more than 13 minutes at a time? They're the same ones working on the trains. If you want to be sucked out of a moving subway car that's fine, but please wait until I get off. I'd rather read about it in tomorrow's paper.

Well guys, I don't want this to run too long because I know you're eager to get off and smoke that cigarette, but if you could wait until you actually leave the train station before lighting up, those of us who don't enjoy a face full of smoke on the escalator would be forever grateful.

Actually, now that we're talking escalators, I do need to add a few more things. I'm thinking that whole walk-left/stand-right thing really may need to be legislated because for some reason, some of you just aren't getting it. And you're the same people who get annoyed when someone says "excuse me" and tries to squeeze past you.

Another escalator-related issue comes when a train arrives and everyone tries to get on the escalator immediately. Perfectly understandable, considering we're all in a hurry these days. But did you notice that line of people waiting patiently to board? Just out of curiosity, why is it that they should wait in line while you just push your way in? I'm sure you have someplace to be but I was just thinking that if you're that important, you might be an interesting person to talk to on one of our daily treks.

Well, that's it for now. I know this ran a little long but hey, with all the train delays, you should have plenty of time for reading!

Thanks everybody, and I'll see you on the subway!

Politely yours,
AlisaBS

On the wrong track once again

It's now been five days since Friday's "winter weather event" and as expected, the parking lot at the Owings Mills Metro Station remains a survival of the fittest scenario. (As I slipped on the ice today, I learned that I no longer fall into the category of fittest.)

You see rather than plow and/or salt the parking lot before the commuters arrived on Friday, our ever-thoughtful MTA decided it was better to wait until the lot was full of haphazardly parked vehicles, abandoned by their drivers who could only guess where the actual parking spaces exist. Apparently MTA believes that it's better to plow after the fact because how else could you condemn the vehicles to their own little ice forts?

(For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Baltimore subway, and that would be about 98% of people in the Baltimore area, it is not like the D.C. metro or the New York subway system where people travel with relative ease and comfort. In Baltimore, it's a one-line system from nowhere to nowhere, featuring homeless people, illegal street vendors hawking stolen soap, and the occasional commuter.)

But have no fear -- changes are coming! And by changes, I mean construction. According to notices posted at the station today, construction on a new parking garage is set to begin Dec. 26 and take about a year to complete. In MTA time, this means the structure should be finished sometime around March of 2074.

Please don't mistake this new project for care or concern over the subway riders. Rather, it's all a part of the massive development of the metro lot. (Remember when you could look across the horizon and see a whole mile away? Yeah, we'd better fix that.)

The subway lot project promises a mixed-use community center featuring a public library, two parking garages, community college space, high-end shops, and luxury condos. For some unexplained reason, the nearly-vacant mall a few feet away was not an appropriate space to develop such a fabulous display of developer heavy-handedness. We are in Baltimore County afterall, where it's better to build, build, build, rather than preserve or revitalize.

So while we live in an area where the mall couldn't support a Sears, Gap, Ann Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, KB Toys, or Abercrombie & Fitch (and I could go on and on) we are now supposed to believe that people will suddenly decide flock to the region. I'd be happy if, in the alternative, they'd just make the trains run on time for my daily commute aboard the Homeless Express.