Recent content by Trollopian

My last five statements have come at intervals of 29, 30, 32, 30, and 29 days. And not on the same day of the week or any other pattern I can identify. It's mildly annoying. The statement comes 3+ days after the last due date.

Great post and replies. Kudos to "forensic railfans," a term I've just invented.

Kudos to Payton for very clear and practical directions. The Metro system signage is, in my opinion, badly designed. It values form over function. For aesthetic reasons, much information is crammed on "pylons" that are arranged sort-of-diagonally and are impossible to read at any distance...

Oooh, thank you, MARC Rider. And surfing over to the site I see there's a cat show in just a couple of weeks (https://marylandstatefair.com/events/category/series/cat-show-crab-mallet-cat-club/maryland-state-fair/lutherville-timonium-maryland/). Great logo.

Two openings (well, one is a return) in DC's Union Station. Bullfrog Bagels are sort of a middle-of-pack local chain...okay for Washington, unlikely to satisfy a NYC or Baltimore palate. But far, far better than the white bread with a hole sold on Amtrak. Admittedly a very low bar. From our...

And the iconic Three Rivers Arts Festival in my hometown, June 5-8, 2025. Leave the car at home, chug in on the Pennsylvanian or the Train Formerly Known As the Capitol Limited (now the "Floridian") and walk to the festival, in its temporary Strip District home. (A permanent location is being...

Pennsylvania Farm Show! In downtown Harrisburg, two miles from the Amtrak station and easy to get to by transit or Uber or a hearty walk. Harrisburg probably has better Amtrak service than any other small city in America. You've already missed the 2025 farm show but mark your calendars for...

A little ditty composed at my old job (which was  not, I clarify, in "customer relations" or "constituent service" or similar...but did require us to set priorities) fits here: "You'll know you've died and gone to heaven When we answer your letter from '97."

This. DCA is extraordinarily popular with Congress, which is increasingly a Tuesday-Thursday institution. They can get from the Capitol dome (or more prosaically, one of the House or Senate office buildings) to DCA in 11 minutes by car, 35 minutes if they deign to take Metro, fat chance. Over...

Well, I started getting text alerts again today. Yesterday I had contacted FNBO at their online message center. Today, about 24 hours later, I got a reply: "There was a known issue earlier this week with customers not receiving text alerts for purchases made, but it should be resolved by...

Pizzeria Uno at Washington's Union Station has closed: https://www.popville.com/2025/01/pizzeria-uno-closed-dc-union-station/

Approximately two weeks ago, I stopped getting text alerts when I'd charged something on my AGR Mastercard. I've checked my account settings and I'm still opted in to text alerts; also, I'm positive that I didn't "override" that by (e.g.) replying "STOP" or marking a text as spam, actions that...

This is the old Yiddish "we lose money on every sale but make it up on volume" joke.:)

How could I forget: Pittsburgh's light rail system, the "T," has a free fare zone. It's not terribly easy to find on the ill-designed website, but a little more transparent once you descend into the station. "Stations between First Avenue and Allegheny are located inside the free fare zone...

My fault, Literalman...you were clear; I skimmed too fast. Though living in the DC area, I seldom get to Alexandria, and I hope both the no-fare policy and the beefed-up service have survived. The DC Circulator is an example of a local system, with a useful route map that intelligently...