Saturday, December 10, 2005

Head screwed on wrong

When I have these early commutes, getting up at five, I'm not really very alert. I have to change trains at Osaka, and if I am not paying careful attention when I get on the train and sit down (i.e. frequently), then after the train doors close and the train pulls out of the station it GOES THE WRONG WAY, PANIC! PANIC! WHY IS IT GOING THE WRONG WAY? I'VE TAKEN THE WRONG TRAIN!

I haven't, of course, but it gives me a nasty few minutes before we get to the next station.

Some people have an internal compass, and always know which direction they are going. I have a faulty internal compass. Getting onto the train and sitting down is enough to turn me around completely. My faulty internal compass tells me with total conviction that I'm going the wrong way.

How do you repair a faulty internal compass?

(It happened again this morning.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blimey - it's already Sat morning..I'm just getting into Friday evening...can't be thinking about commuting right now..uh uh...there's a bottle of wine and Pride and Prejudice DVD waiting for me...

kenju said...

I have that internal compass, which works everywhere I've ever been except New york City. I simply cannot find my way around there; much to the consternation of my husband, who was born and raised there.

Artistic Soul said...

I always find the my internal compass is off when I ride trains or subways. If I'm walking around, I can find where I'm at, but without being able to see things, I always feel like I'm going the wrong direction. I double checked several times before getting on any subways in New York! Used to do the same in Osaka too - there were too many color trains, and if you got on the red and didn't want to be there, that's an hour before it stops!

Pkchukiss said...

I can re-orientate myself if I do take the effort, but mostly, whenever I am on the trains, I don't bother to concentrate, and surprise myself when the train starts moving in the opposite direction.

That doesn't mean I am a bad navigator though. I am a scout after all :-)