Seven Minutes Late...

Seven minutes...

Don't let the time on my car radio fool you. A few years ago the clock was set five minutes ahead and I've kept it that way so I really arrived at 6:37am this morning, seven minutes late.

Seven minutes...

Getting up early to go to work is tough enough. It's even tougher on Mondays, and--like this morning--returning to work after a long holiday weekend, it's even tougher. I set my alarm last night considering what the roads might be light in the morning. We got a wonderful storm yesterday and by some reports, more snow was expected overnight.

The reports that predicted more snow proved correct.

This morning I shut off the alarm when it first rang out. Unlike other alarm clocks, mine does not have a "snooze" option. More than once, I've turned off the alarm and slept another hour. Unbelievably, I woke up on my own seven minutes after I turned off the alarm. I was amazed, even in my groggy state, that I hadn't slept longer.

You never know what to expect when you get in your car and start out on the Utah roads after a snow storm. Yes, it's dangerous, but then again, traveling on perfectly dry roads can be dangerous, too. We just forget when the dangers aren't in plain sight. Thankfully, everyone took their time, or most did. I wasn't tailgated or cut off. I didn't have to take evasive action. It was actually a nice commute.

Many curse the snow, but to me, it's magical. The snow was so light this morning, the sight of a passenger train passing the slower cars on the freeway as it ran on the parallel tracks was mesmerizing. Snow swirled as the huge train cars cut through the cold, the train's light illuminating the darkness and made the snow dance. Had I not been driving, I would have tried (and most likely failed...) to capture the scene with my phone. As I neared my office, the sight of three monster snowplows traveling in the opposite direction, clearing the entire road of snow, impressed me with their efficiency. So much to see, if we only look. Of course, all the while I made sure my car traveled well within my lane and at a proper speed.

I kept noticing the time as I drove and laughed out loud when I realized I'd be pulling into the parking lot exactly seven minutes late. I snapped a picture, then gathered my items and went inside ready to work on a Tuesday that felt like a Monday.

Seven minutes...had I not gone back to sleep and arrived to work right on time, had I seen the things I saw? Had the commute been so entertaining? That's the thing about life--we only get what we're given and nothing else.

Someone Needs To Remind Me...Trains Are Sometimes Late On Snow Days, Too

I knew the bus would be late this morning because of the terrible roads. And I was right. I even arrived at the bus stop a few minutes late, so if the bus had been on time, I'd have missed it. A fellow commuter checked her phone and said the bus was a town away.

I did a little calculating.

That meant the bus and the train would be arriving at about the same time. Usually, the bus gets there fifteen minutes before the train. While we waited we saw the bus exit the freeway. Soon we'd be inside a heated vehicle and out of the cold. But something told me I ought to catch the train. I had no idea how bad the roads were leading to work and I didn't want to be stuck on a bus for an hour or more in case it slid off the road or got in an accident.

I crossed the bridge and joined the others waiting for the 6:10am southbound train headed to Salt Lake. I watched the bus pull up to its stop and pick up the fellow rider and make its way back to the freeway.

No worries--the train should be pulling up any moment now.

That's when the guy waiting with us on the platform checked his phone and saw that the train was going to be late. Bummer. I mean, trains are supposed to be the reliable alternative when the roads are crappy. That's what I thought when I decided to take the train instead of the bus this morning.

And I should have known better because it wasn't the first time it happened. The second the guy said the train was going to be late, I remembered the same thing happened last year. A storm hit--I thought the train would be the fastest way into town, but the train ended up being almost an hour late. If I had remembered that five minutes earlier, I'd have been in a warn bus instead of freezing with the others.

In the end, it wasn't that bad. The train was late, but I arrived at work only thirty minutes past my normal time. The best part of the morning was when I got off my train and took the short walk to my building, the bus I passed on drove by, meaning it took the bus just as long to get into town as my late train. Had I taken the bus, I would have been warmer, but I'd have had to find something else to write about tonight.