F Train Follies

So maybe things have been a bit too easy lately. I had been thoroughly enjoying almost everything about our move in the last few weeks, but I hadn't yet experienced the joys of a screwed up commute into Manhattan. But today I had it in spades.

Sitting (not moving) on the elevated tracks between 4th Avenue and Smith Street, the conductor got on to announce that the train was going to be switching to the G train tracks after the next spot because of track problems ahead. So I got off at Smith, where they further announced they had no idea when F Train service would resume. I already knew I was going to be late, but now I didn't know if I was going to be able to get there before lunch. I checked the map, and it looked like my best bet was to take the G to the A, then switch from the A to the F in Manhattan. With the plan in place, I jumped on a passing G and got on the A in two stops (It's already 8:45, but I'm making progress.)

Well, the conductor on the A Train announces that THAT train will be doing a bunch of the F's stops. But not all of them, only a few into Manhattan, when it would go back, apparently, to the A track. But it was going to skip the transfer stop to the F that I needed.

Now I'm at who-knows-what stop, and it's almost 9:00. All the sudden I look out, and even though it wasn't an F Train stop, there's an F Train sitting across the way. So I burst out and across the platform just before the door closes, thinking I'm all set and will maybe be 15-20 minutes late. But no, because the track is doing double duty, and they're taking so much time to make announcements, we sat in the tube between every stop, and I didn't get to mine until a bit after 9:30. Which means I got to my desk almost 45 minutes later than I intended to.

On the way home, I had to McGuyver myself an alternate route (6 to the R to the F) to avoid the problems Kim said she had going back. Of course, I waited 10 minutes for the F at 4th Ave.

The good news is that the R seems to be both fast and easy to get to...I might be trying that option again in the future.