trainmaster611

In Europe, trams operate in mixed traffic or pedestrian plazas/spaces far more than they do here in the United States. Ostensibly (among other concerns), it's dangerous to operate what is effectively a train in these mixed areas and the US generally puts an emphasis on separating the tram track from other right of ways. In your experience, how dangerous do you think it is to operate in these mixed traffic areas?

I was horribly horribly socially awkward in high school. I still am a little bit. But I remember the first people to reach out and begin a meaningful friendship with me. It was extremely rewarding for both me and them. I love them a lot.

But how do you feel about operating in them?

My grandmother and grandfather were also 14 and 12 and living in Mindanao when the Japanese invaded. I don't know much about my grandfather's story because he died when I was still young. I do know that his father joined a group of rebels that waged a guerrilla war against the Japanese. The father died of Appendicitis because of a lack of doctors.

My grandmother is still alive but she doesn't like to talk about the war and her mental faculties are failing so I've only got scattered pieces of the story. She mentioned that when the Japanese arrived, they carried the heads of dissenters on pikes through the streets to scare the population into submission. After that, her family decided to flee into the mountains where they led a subsidence life at a rebel camp until the end of the war. Her closest call was when there was a column of Japanese soldiers marching through the woods in their vicinity. They hid under a bridge and the Japanese marched right over them without detecting them. But her story during the war consisted mostly of hunger and her father struggling to find food in the forest to support the family.

Most of what your grandmother has said really reflects the sentiments of my own grandmother. Gratitude toward the Americans, a smoldering hatred for the Japanese, etc. Even if you don't see this, thanks for sharing OP.

Metra is supposed to join CTA and Pace on a "unified fare system" (aka Ventra) by 2015. Given that's an entirely electronic tap cars and not a paper ticket, how do you think this will affect your job?

Also what do you think of the proposal to turn the Metra Electric into a rapid transit line?