Typical Day
The jarring first ring of the bedside phone wakes Angela from a deep slumber; by ring number two she's picked up the receiver. "This is your 6:00AM wake up call" says the robot on the other end. Hanging up forcefully, Angela grumbles herself out of bed.
Checking her cellphone, she sees that her husband has sent her a good morning email. The cute dog-in-a-sweater video perks up her mood, and stepping into the shower only increases her positivity. That's a good thing, too, because today she has to check signals at a dozen major stops over a fifty-mile stretch.
At 7:15AM, Angela tosses the leftovers from her continental breakfast (half the reason she stays with this budget hotel chain) and rolls with her luggage and all-important document bag out to her car. The trusty, American-made hybrid vehicle is a quiet and comfortable ride―much better than that used piece of junk she drove as an independent railroad contractor half a dozen years ago. She used to travel a lot less though, so it's all a trade-off.
The hybrid and its occupant pull up at the first inspection point at 8:15AM―a lonely, dusty backroad crossing that probably sees more deer than it does motor vehicles. Still, since safety is the whole reason for her job, she has to make sure the signal is working properly. Every stop she makes was last inspected six months ago, which is plenty of time for something to have gone wrong.
Satisfied with the signal at this stop, she heads back to her car and starts writing her notes. After sticking the next location into her GPS, she presses the ignition button. As she drives away, she watches a family of deer sprint down the road and over the train tracks. She wonders if they've learned where the safest place to cross is.
Around 11:30AM Angela sees the first people of her day, at moderately large depot where she's checking the installation of the new switch system. Since she's only ever been here a couple times, Jeff the signal operator walks her through the depot. She has a hunch, though, that Jeff has led her there before. When they finally get to the terminal, he cracks a joke about the complicated board being easier to understand than his ex-wife. Yeah, Angela definitely remembers that from the last time.
Lunch is a quick pit stop around 1:00PM at a hot dog stand halfway between two highway crossings. Angela sits on a small bench outside, enjoying her mustard-slathered all-beef dog while she checks her itinerary for the afternoon. It looks like she's a little behind schedule. She'll have to drive carefully, efficiently, and slightly fast in order to make it to the last station by the 6:00PM closing time.
Speeding into the parking lot at 6:20PM, she almost takes out the station sign as she Tokyo drifts her domestic hybrid up to the front of the building. The station manager is at the door, tapping absent-mindedly at the watch hanging from his pocket (train people are punctual like that).
Angela apologizes profusely and speed-walks as quickly as she can. However, when she finally gets to the control panel, she takes her time as always. Getting the station manager back to his family is important, but making sure equipment works is the number one priority. Even though he knows it, the guy still tries to rush Angela. Jerk.
Having completed her full fifty-mile trek in the course of the day, Angela pulls into another hotel from her preferred chain. Since she called ahead as usual, check-in is a breeze, and she opens the door to her room at 7:20PM.
After eating a late takeout dinner while finalizing the day's notes and planning for tomorrow, she calls her husband around 8:00PM. They spend the next thirty minutes recapping the fun events of the day, arguing a bit about date night next week (pizza or Thai?), and saying all those lovey-dovy disgusting things that couples say to each other.
For the remaining couple of hours of her day, Angela watches television. When she's back at home, she's got pleny of hobbies; puzzles are a favorite. But on the road her downtime involves television. Anything that allows her to shut off is a good thing.
At 11:00PM, with the sounds of the night's local newscast in the background, Angela falls into another deep slumber. She dreams about her cat, and her husband, and her house, and not for one second about trains.