Trains!
My train had a delay of 14 minutes.
Eventually it came but then had to stop for another train which had technical problems.
Another 10 minute delay. Conclusion: the train didn´t go all the way to the final station but stopped a station earlier. There I can take another train...which has a delay of 7 minutes.
Final Conclusion: I certainly can´t make the connection anymore so have to take a bus to get at my final destination.
Ah, trains. Allow me to narrate my most recent train experience, maybe it will make you feel a little bit better.
I was on a conference trip to Leiden in August. Trip to Leiden was stopped short somewhere in western Germany because the train broke down. Replacement train came about 30 minutes later but had no permit for the Netherlands so had to change the train again right before the border. Had to call the hotel because I was going to be an hour late for check-in time. Told that story to everyone in the conference because Germans love talking about how their trains are fucked up, and got a lot of "sucks to be you mate" and "I took the train before yours, no problems at all" and "coulda been worse".
Yeah, coulda.
On the trip back, Friday evening, I had to change trains several times between cities in the Netherlands. Train from Amsterdam to (I think) Nijmegen had a 16 minute delay. My overlay was 15 minutes. My connecting train was on time. Cue frantic search for a power socket in the station because my smartphone battery was at 5%, and whaddaya know, Dutch train stations apparently have no power sockets anywhere. After searching outside in the rain for a while, I found a McDonald's which had an empty chair in the kids zone next to a power socket. So I ordered a cheap menu, sat down on a low table, wiped off the residual tobacco and weed lying there and found one last connection online for the night. The catch: A four hour overlay in a border town called Venlo. I bought it, took the train and found myself in this station at 1 am. Fine, I think, there's a waiting room there and... it's locked. And I get kicked out of the station right away as it's being shut down and locked for the night. It's freezing cold and raining, and I have to sit outside at the bus stop - no cafes or anything in the immediate vicinity - together with some other stranded people, having to endure the loud ramblings of a drunk Polish guy who thinks it's time to tell everyone his life story, which is not only totally uninteresting but also devoid of any sort of wisdom or entertainment value. And every second thing he says is "you know what I mean?" No, mate, I don't. How am I supposed to know. And since my phone battery is at around 15%, I don't have the option to just put on my headphones; also, I feel I should stay aware of my surroundings, after all a train station at night isn't necessarily the best place to be. After about an hour I figure it's Friday night, and there might actually be a town somewhere around, so I make off to the most promising direction and indeed find masses of drunk teenagers, clubs and puke-filled streets. Eventually, I find a kebab store that is open and full of people, so I get a coke and indeed find a secluded table far in a corner right next to the draughty door - but with a power socket! I'm saved! I sit down and spend about two hours there reading and trying to ignore the teenagers (and if you think German sounds aggressive, try loud, drunk Dutch) until I eventually go back to the train station, hoping I catch the next connection - which I do. And I end up sitting in a comfortable train in Germany dozing off until at some point I start realising the train hasn't moved in about half an hour. And then in ten-minute intervals the train personnel kept us updated about how they don't know if and when the train will continue. I overhear loud, very German conversations about late trains and "oh, I had half an hour delay the other day too, so typical!" But then I realise my seat has a power socket and now I can put on my earphones and... oh, wait a minute. What's the time? 9:45. I had a tour (a gig, basically) in Berlin at 11:15, right? Didn't I laugh at myself when preparing for the trip when I was wondering if I could make that, because my train was scheduled to arrive at 6:30 and even by German standards such a delay would seem preposterous? And where am I? Braunschweig? Yeah, I better make a phone call. So I cancel the tour (which loses me 65 Euros) then sit down, and eventually the train starts to move and I put on music and find life oddly blissful just because it's warm in the train.
Fuck trains.
