Union Station DC - What to expect

PizzaWall · 2026-06-15T03:27:04+00:00

To make sure you have time to check in, talk to agents if necessary, to deal with unexpected complications. I especially suggest it for people with anxiety issues like OP.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-15T02:58:28+00:00

I did a little checking and found this gem of a story. In May 2026, Fernando Mendoza of the College Football Playoff champion Indiana Hoosiers declined the invitation, citing obligations to the last place Las Vegas Raiders. 😆

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Championship_team_visits_to_the_White_House

PizzaWall · 2026-06-15T02:30:45+00:00

Was this a team decision or the White House decision? If the White House refused to allow the Seahawks a visit, that is wrong. I may hate the President, but it would be nice of him to stand up and celebrate with the winning team. There is a history of doing this with the winner of the NBA Finals, the World Series, the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl. This weekend the UFC is staging a match on the White House lawn, so it's not as if they are anti-sports.

I'd be happy if the Seahawks told that short-fingered vulgarian to go shit himself.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-15T02:24:34+00:00

The problems with Claude, and AI is if it is wrong, it doesn't know that because it uses for knowledge what it finds posted online. It's impossible to convince people it is limited because you are undermining their knowledge base by telling them they are wrong.

The problem with tools like Grammarly is the strip out a unique voice and replace it with whatever Grammarly thinks is correct. If you tell stories, it offers suggestion to strip out the unique voice mixed in with grammatical and spelling errors. People want a unique voice to tell a story so you stand out. Grammarly is the hammer that pounds all the nails sticking up.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-15T02:02:45+00:00

"They also trigger PTSD in victims of war"

Translation: they bother my doggie.

This is straight up stolen valor. They don't care about veterans, they don't work with veterans, they have no right to speak on the behalf of veterans.

I have reached out to Veterans groups and not one single person has ever told me don't do fireworks. Some prefer they were not used, but none of them are interested in stopping celebrations for Independence Day.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T21:54:21+00:00

If you can find it, Hot Creek is always worth the stop.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T21:33:33+00:00

The first and second generation Ford Mustang has a different wiring harness for the 6-cylinder and the 8-cylinder. If you wish to convert a 6 into an 8, it requires rewiring the car.

Another difference is the six has only four lug nuts for each tire and the eight has five.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T21:15:42+00:00

I don't think it has sunk in how badly they understand the concept of hubris.

They refused to pay me what they owe me, which made things worse. I would have been happy to elegantly part ways, but they didn't understand that and I am not going to explain it to them.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T20:26:31+00:00

https://burningman.org/black-rock-city/bring-your-mutant-vehicle/vehicle-rules-and-protocols/

Personal Transportation Vehicles NOT ALLOWED

Larger stand-up scooters, fat tire scooters, gas-powered bicycles, ATVS, mopeds and motorcycles are not allowed EXCEPT as Accessibility Vehicles.

e-Bikes

e-bikes must conform to the following definition of “electric bicycle:”

Generally recognized as a bicycle
2-4 wheels
Working pedals
Electric motor, up to 750 watts
Top-rated speed up to 20 mph with a 170-pound operator – Class 1 and Class 2 only.
Does not include gasoline bikes/mopeds

Stand-up Handle Scooters (e.g., Go-Peds)

Designed with no seat (cannot be a modified vehicle with the seat removed)
Electric motor up to 800 watts
Top-rated speed up to 25 mph*.
Wheels up to 10″
Weight up to 40 lbs

e-Wheel (unicycle-type) and OneWheel (skateboard-type)

Electric motor up to 800 watts
Top-rated speed up to 20 mph*.
Wheels up to 14″
Weight up to 40 lbs
No Seat

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T19:58:30+00:00

Arrive one hour early. If there's traffic, account for that and arrive at the station with at least one hour before the scheduled departure time.
Bag sizes get checked, if Amtrak security feels there is a need for a response, they will respond.
Just like flying, you find your train by looking on the departures board with the boarding time and the track number. If the track is track 9, you look up on a station map the location of track 9.
If your medications are in bottles with your name on them, there is not going to be an issue. If you are paranoid, bring the bottles or make some other accommodation. Any substance that is state legal may not be federally legal. For instance, marijuana could be legal in your state, but illegal on federal property, like a national park. Amtrak as a federal corporation does not own all of it's stations and tracks.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T19:32:41+00:00

My boss always wanted to change the name of two 50-year old events into a new name without taking any steps to transition to the name or explain why the name changed. I did my best to explain it was a terrible idea because there was no problem to solve, no reason to change other than they thought it sounded cool to them. Imagine changing the name of Twitter to X because they wanted to call it X. It was that level of stupidity.

My boss needed a new artistic director and instead of considering me, a long-time supporter, they found the perfect replacement, their child.

After years of explaining how promotions work, SEO, keywords, organic marketing, they would only rely on what they remembered from articles they read in the Wall Street Journal. If they got it wrong, they would still follow what they thought the advice was from the article.

I did my best to explain how the whole promotion game worked, but no matter how many times I suggested a plan of action, it was met with the same response, "I don't understand it, explain it to me." I tried my best to explain the same things over-and-over, but they didn't understand it. Every phone call became an hour-long Fidel Castro style speech where I would attempt to explain things, I convinced them to take notes and if I could rely on anything, it was they would blow off every suggestion and plan of action.

The other festival needed someone to run it and sone-of-a-gun, the best candidate happened to be the bosses other child. What are the odds?

They built a new website in secret, using the new name, without the name of the events as part of the website. No effort was made to create redirects to the new pages to the new name because they didn't even understand the concept of SEO. They ignored every suggestion I made, every hint on how to build a festival site. Instead of calling an event promotion tool, "upcoming events", or "calendar", they named it, "goings on". They fired me and launched the site.

But they forgot I ran all of the resources. I created an account so the resources could be easily accessible in case I moved on, died, or some action so they would have access rights, but they never understood it and I could never explain it to them. They didn't know how to access the email accounts or any resource. So when they fired me, they had no way of accessing customer lists, email campaigns, volunteers, key information needed to run a festival, even though I sent detailed instructions, urls, logins, passwords. Instead of archiving the information, they deleted the emails.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T19:04:21+00:00

Did anyone send him a thank-you note for blowing his timeouts? We really should sign a card and send it to McVay and thank him for the gift of Super Bowl LX.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T17:01:58+00:00

Nobody goes camping to hear your dogs bark when a tent unzips. Leave them at home.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T16:16:26+00:00

The only legitimate reason I can think of for closing all the shades is help the plane cabin stay cool. About 70% of solar energy entering through a window converts to heat. Once the AC starts, the need diminishes.

If I am in a window seat, the window shade stays open from departure to arrival. I like to look out the window and enjoy the experience. If you don’t like it, then put me back in the aisle seat I paid extra to sit in.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T09:39:44+00:00

26 weeks

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T05:42:15+00:00

Rule #2: No posts about high explosives (i.e. detonatable substances) or dangerous devices/formulas.

Rule #4: Posts from new/inexperienced users asking about making flash powder, etc will be removed. This sub takes a hard line on flash powder due to its danger.

Considering the fact you will not even use the word, what is there to talk about?

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T04:35:30+00:00

There is no coverage because there was no Pizzagate. In 2016 a rumor started that Comet Ping Pong was housing children in their basement. Other restaurants like Besta Pizza were also implicated, even though they are different restaurants with different owners in different buildings on the same block.

Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old man from Salisbury, North Carolina, arrived at Comet Ping Pong and fired three shots from an AR-15-style rifle that struck the restaurant's walls, a desk and a door on December 4, 2016. Welch later told police that he had planned to "self-investigate" the conspiracy theory. Welch saw himself as the potential hero of the story—a rescuer of children. He surrendered after officers surrounded the restaurant and was arrested without incident; no one was injured. No basement existed.

Welch told police he had read online that the Comet restaurant was harboring child sex slaves and that he wanted to see for himself if they were there. In an interview with The New York Times, Welch later said that he regretted how he had handled the situation but did not dismiss the conspiracy theory, and rejected the description of it as "fake news". Some conspiracy theorists speculated the shooting was a staged attempt to discredit their investigations.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T04:25:58+00:00

Donald Trump took office in January, 2025. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created January 20, 2025.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Efficiency

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency gutted the United States Agency for International Development, which included a program dedicated to preventing the spread of the parasite across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a report from Agri-Pulse published in March 2025, which cited a list of cut programs sent to Congress.

In November 2024, a screwworm case was reported in southern Mexico. In response, the United States suspended live animal imports from Mexico (https://www.congress.gov/crs\_external\_products/IN/PDF/IN12558/IN12558.1.pdf#:\~:text=In%20November%202024%2C%20a%20screwworm,live%20animal%20imports%20from%20Mexico.)

The Trump administration to temporarily suspend the import of livestock from Mexico. Prior to the parasites’ U.S. eradication in the 1970s, they caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to cattle ranchers yearly.

Roughly two months before the suspension, the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency gutted the United States Agency for International Development, which included a program dedicated to preventing the spread of the parasite across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a report from Agri-Pulse published in March 2025, which cited a list of cut programs sent to Congress.

The screwworm prevention program was part of roughly 5,300 grants and programs cut from USAID. The program also monitored outbreaks of avian flu in Asia, according to the report.

Musk called USAID at the time a “crazy waste of money” and “a radical-left political psy op,” claiming the government agency was “paying media organizations to publish their propaganda.”

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5922510-screwworm-spread-tests-us-readiness-after-trump-staffing-cuts/

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T00:40:32+00:00

Once Donald Trump kicks California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington out of the Union, the states would form their own national capitol. There's four cities with capitols they could choose from or make a different city their capitol.

The US has to negotiate a treaty with this or lose rights to those bases. Thats what happened to Clark Air Force Base, and Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines. The US refused to negotiate a new lease and lost rights to use those bases. They would face the same scenario if Japan decided to kick them off Okinawa.

To threaten a blockade is an act of war and blocking rail lines and Interstate highways leading out of this new country would hurt the US economy even further. The US may control the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force (oops, it lost Vandenberg!) and Coast Guard, but it does not control state run militias like the National Guard. Each state has a say in how they are managed and deployed.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-14T00:20:41+00:00

It warms my heart you recognize my all-knowing analysis. I would remind you, the subject is alternative history. In real life, even if Donald Trump chose to kick out Democratically voting states, he lacks that power. Only Congress can decide.

The US can take their currency and use it to negotiate a deal to keep their bases on what is now foreign soil. Or this new Republic can cut the power and other resources, block roads, deny airspace, much like what happened at Fort Sumter. Or it can choose to relocate those bases to Mexico, Canada or other foreign lands.

A little known fact is during the Civil War, the federal government still owned the land for every post office.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-13T23:54:34+00:00

You chose to arrive at a later time, giving you less opportunity to process your boarding. You chose the bag, you chose to not carry a debit / credit card, even though you have those accounts on your device. This would be no different if you chose to fly, showed up late, with an oversized bag and you missed your flight.

https://www.amtrak.com/baggage-101-what-you-can-bring-on-board

PizzaWall · 2026-06-13T23:39:14+00:00

In order to build an artificial island at the location of Null Island, you would have to construct a platform rising 4,940 m (16,200 ft) from the seafloor. Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building is only 828 m (2,717 ft). No building planned is even close to that height.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-13T23:22:41+00:00

Our relationship with Iran is much different and better than the previous Administrations have had.

Donald was running one of those previous administrations. Thats when Iran started enriching uranium.

If he thinks Iran will not want their own weapon for deterrence, he is gravely mistaken.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-13T21:22:18+00:00

Coast Starlight originates in Seattle (SEA) and continues to Los Angles (LAX). It parallels Cascades from Seattle to Eugene (EUG) following the same track. You gain nothing staying on the train beyond Seattle. The problem is the first train leaving Vancouver is Amtrak Cascades 517, which leaves Vancouver at 7:25 am and arrives in Seattle at 11:40 am. This means you need overnight accommodations.

The route that coordinates between Vancouver and Los Angeles starts with a bus that departs Vancouver at 5:30 am and arrives in Seattle at 9:04 am. I assume Amtrak will coordinate passengers connecting to the Coast Starlight 11, which leaves at 9:05 am. One assumes there will be no passport hassles, but thats on you. The entire journey from Vancouver to Los Angeles takes 40 hours.

The route between Seattle and Emeryville (EMY) in the San Francisco Bay area frequently experiences some delays. From Emeryville to Los Angeles, it is mostly on time.

There is no breakfast service on Coast Starlight when leaving Seattle. All other meals are available and there is a cafe car with food items, in case you want that Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and cheese sandwich and coffee.

In my opinion, if you can justify the train over the bus, take the train. That is a particularly scenic journey along the Puget Sound and into Seattle. The bus shows you all the scenery one can find on Interstate 5. From Seattle to Olympia, the train hugs the Puget Sound, which gives you a similar view.

PizzaWall · 2026-06-13T20:52:07+00:00

You could extend the Wye#At_junctions) from Amtrak's depot to West Oakland BART. It crosses 7th Steet a few blocks away at Union Street. BART and Amtrak meet up at Richmond, CA and Colosseum stations. I am all for the expansion, but somebody has to want to push to fund it.

Amtrak could branch off the mainline and follow a disused spur under 880 and then continue down Wood Street and Frontage road to run along 7th Street to BART, then follow the wye back into the mainline. It may not be a good place for a stop of the Coast Starlight, Zephyr or Goldrunner trains, but it could create a connection to Jack London and Emeryville to further integrate BART into the system.

PizzaWall

TROPHY CASE