This was one of those mornings where I had to wake up early, as I’m leaving on a business trip in approximatly 14 minutes. You know, one of those ‘get up early - like 5:15 a.m., finish packing, go to the gym, finish a project at the office and head out’ sort of days.

So naturally I wake up at 7:40. So much for initiative. And this is my morning, as recounted in an e-mail to a friend:

so right, it was a strange morning. i get to the sheridan southbound platform, and the train is just sitting there. not moving, no doors open. so i wait. eventually the conductor walks along the train, searching for a problem. after a few minutes, he runs back to the front of the train and tries to open the doors, to no avail. they would open maybe four inches, then close. over and over.

so he walks the length of the train again, before returning to the front. tries to open the doors. no dice.

same process a third time. again, nothing.

the entire time, i’m watching with this bemused expression on my face, trying to figure out why this is happening. after a while, though, it becomes clear that the train’s not going anywhere, so i cross over to the northbound train to take the red line (shiver). howerver, i get up to the northbound platform and …

the southbound train starts moving. the first half of it, at least. the end half remains in place, and the metal springs connecting the trains shatter, going all over the track. now, when metal touches an electrified rail, it melts. and smokes. and starts on fire. the northbound train, now approaching, sees this happen and screeches to a halt.

the cta at that point was officially shut down at the sheridan stop.

so i called a friend who drives to the office and he picked me up. i still made it here on time, bag in hand for my business trip.

Hopefully the rest of the day will rock that hard.