transportation – Page 5 – Geeky Girl Engineer

About Those Rail Ties, WMATA

Posted on January 21, 2014 by geek

WMATA’s new rail ties ad

Dear WMATA,

I saw your new ad while I walking into the Metro the other day. That is, the new ad where you tell your riders that your installing new rail ties to give us a more comfortable rise. Considering the purpose that rail ties serve, I am hopeful this type of maintenance will also give us customers a safer ride, but I’m not going to quibble on that. First, I would like to thank you for at least not insulting your customers, making an incredibly sexist stereotype, or presenting a vague statistic with absolutely no context that really conveys nothing in this ad, like you did in a certain ad from this new series of ads. I would also like to commend you on doing actual maintenance on your rail system. As an engineer, I am more aware than many of how important and needed regular maintenance is, and from what I have heard in the news, you weren’t actually aware of this fact until several years ago.

However, I do have a question for you about these new rail ties that you admit that we, the customers, might not notice. Exactly how would you like to your customers to notice these fantastic new rail ties? I mean this in all seriousness. After I saw this poster, I made a point of looking at the rail ties while I was standing on the platform waiting for my train. Both my originating and destination stations on this particular day were underground, and what I noticed is that there were no rail ties underneath the track in front of the platform. The rails were held in place by metal bracing of some sort that was attached directly to the concrete beneath the tracks and did not tie the two tracks together. As my name Geeky Girl Engineer might suggest, I am in fact a geeky engineer, and thus I became intrigued by this metal bracing holding the tracks at the platform. Thus far my internet searches have not led me to information as to what these braces are called, but since the braces only hold one track, they don’t seem to actually be rail ties. However, I could be wrong, and if you would like to educate me on what they are called, I would be happy to learn about it (in all seriousness).

The other thing I noticed about the track in the station, is that it is really hard to notice the rail ties or braces. To begin with, the station is dark. Second, the area where the track is, is mainly different shades of black as it’s rather dirty. I wouldn’t expect it to be clean, but the darkness makes it difficult to see any level of detail. Also, the platform tile closest to the edge is rather textured, and this makes it uncomfortable to stand there for very long to examine the tracks. I realize the textured tile is a safety design to make people realize how close to the edge they are and to keep people from standing there while waiting for the train and thus potentially falling onto the track. I think this is a good safety, and I am certainly not arguing against it. I am just pointing out that between the textured tile and simply not wanting to get too close to the edge, conditions are not really conducive to a person examining or admiring your new rail ties.

As for the rail ties that are under track between stations, well, those are kind of hard to see also. The Metro, as you are of course aware, is underground a significant portion of the time. There is no way to view rail ties at all while the train is underground. There is no way to view anything outside the train while the train is in motion underground. Quite frankly, you should be aware of this. I also looked at the track while the train was in motion above ground. I was able to view the track and see that there are wood ties holding the track in place, but that honestly was about it. Again, the train was in motion making it difficult to really examine details of the ties. I couldn’t say whether the ties I viewed were new or old. I’m not actually sure how I would be able to tell the difference. I’m fairly sure that old ties would be dirtier and probably darker than new ties, but I am not sure to what degree. Presumably if I saw an old and a new one side by side, I could tell the difference, but except for that case, I am not sure how I would. Thus, it would be nice if your ad touting your new rail ties would have educated me on how to tell the difference.

Again, I commend you for your maintenance work. I thank you for not insulting me or stereotyping me. However, I think you might want to rethink your ad. For safety reasons, I think it would be best if you did not encourage your customers to examine your rail ties.

Your observant and educated customer,

Geeky Girl Engineer

Amtrak Viewliner Roomette

Posted on January 13, 2014 by geek

This past Christmas I took Amtrak to visit my family in Houston. I took the Crescent down to New Orleans, then after a short stay in New Orleans, I went on the Sunset Limited to Houston. Since the trip between DC and New Orleans is about 25 hours, I decided to get a room instead of just a coach seat. Yes, it is a long trip, but I love train rides. It gives me a chance to sit and read and just watch the world go by.

The train rooms are, in my humble opinion, marvelously designed. The designers managed to fit a whole lot of features in a tiny little space. The features also have to be designed for the constant movement on the train. During the day, the room as two comfortable seats with a fold-down table. At night, it can be transformed to give two comfortable beds. The room also has a toilet, sink, and small storage area. The room is tight, but it has almost everything you need, and there is a shower down the hall.

Both seats with fold down table between them

Right seat

Left seat with sink (in closed position) and toilet (also closed)

Fold down sink

Lower bunk created from the chairs pulled down.

Head of lower bunk

Upper bunk which can be lowered

Storage area

Delivery Fail

Posted on January 11, 2014 by geek

I buy a lot of stuff online. I hate malls. I would much rather shop while sitting in front of my computer. Also, I can find a much better selection of many things online. I specifically shop at Amazon.com a lot. Several months ago, I joined Amazon Prime that guarantees free two day delivery. Well, it’s free after you pay the Amazon Prime membership fee. I’ve never had a problem with Amazon Prime deliveries or almost any other delivers. Every once in a while I get a delivery that is considered too expensive or big that they won’t deliver it without me being present, but it is pretty rare. When I ordered my new DSLR camera I couldn’t even leave a signature slip, but considering how much my new camera is worth, I was fine with needing to receive it in person. I’ve had big and small boxes left on my doorstep by FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Huge box with my new dining room chandelier: check. Bulk tea: check. Kindle: check. Several large boxes of Fiestaware: check. Athletic shoes: check. Box filled with jars of peanut butter: check. You get it. I order it. They leave it on my doorstep. I live on a busy street in a safe neighborhood. My doorstep has a balcony above it, so rain is not an issue, and the doorstep is far enough back and obscured enough by geography and vegetation that it is not amazingly obvious that there is package sitting there.

Wednesday I ordered a $23 book, specifically a field guide for birds of Europe, from Amazon with guaranteed delivery Friday. So imagine my surprise when I get an email from Amazon Friday night that stated “UPS attempted to deliver your package but was unable to leave the package unattended.” I’m thinking, really, UPS left my new Kindle on my doorstep, but they are worried about a $23 bird book? I mean I know us birders sometimes have a reputation as being somewhat crazy, but generally we don’t go stealing each other’s bird books. Of course, the book was supposed to be in a box, so no one would know what it is unless Amazon has taken to really new labeling on the packages. I call UPS and ask what is going on and why wouldn’t they leave it unattended. UPS informs me that they actually handed the package off to the USPS, so I need to contact them. So the UPS tracking number that Amazon gave me is pretty much worthless because UPS only tracks it as far as a municipality near mine where they evidently turned it over to the USPS for finally delivery.

Here is the best part about the fact that it was USPS that couldn’t deliver the package: I was home when the mail arrived. My mail is delivered through a slot in my door. I heard it this morning when it arrived. No one knocked at my door or rang my doorbell to try to deliver a package that wouldn’t fit through the mail slot. I did leave the house later in the day, but I presume the whole point of UPS handing the package to USPS, is that the USPS can just deliver the package when they deliver the mail. It makes no sense for USPS to make two trips to my house, the 1st with my regular mail and a 2nd with the package. Furthermore, after UPS told me that it USPS that couldn’t leave the package unattended, I opened the front door and checked. No package and no notice stating that a package couldn’t be delivered was there. So, precisely how the heck am I supposed to know that someone, anyone attempted to deliver a package but couldn’t because I wasn’t there? How am I supposed to know that I need to be home on some (hopefully stated) day in the future? How am I supposed to be able to leave a signature noting that I am perfectly fine with them leaving a $23 bird book sitting on my doorstep?

Then I contact Amazon via a live chat (of which I will copy and paste the conversation from the email with the chat transcript), and I ask them where is my package. He helpfully informs me “They will again try to deliver. By Monday. You must get your item shortly.” Well in the first place, I was guaranteed delivery by Friday. I then said “Well I won’t be home Monday, and they did not leave a slip for me to sign, and since they don’t knock on my door there is no point to the slip anyway.” He patiently tells me “you can try to contact your local post office.” At this point I realize that Amazon like so many other companies obviously has their customer service people in another country because what US resident would suggest you call your local post office?! In the first place, I am not even sure which specific branch is my “local” post office. There are two relatively close to me. Second, have you ever tried to get a human being on the phone at your local post office? Third, the final leg of the UPS tracking has the package in a nearby municipality, but not my municipality. I have no idea form where the postal worker who delivers my mail actually works. I don’t know if they are at my “local” post office or a larger regional one. I have no idea. Fourth, I don’t have a USPS tracking number for the package so what good would it do to call them? As far as I know USPS doesn’t use UPS tracking numbers. Heck, one of the reasons many companies use FedEx and UPS is that they offer easy tracking as opposed to USPS, which really doesn’t. I explain this to the Amazon rep, who once again just states that I should contact USPS. Then I ask “Why did Amazon tell whoever that it couldn’t just be left on my door?” Amazon rep states “A signature is typically required for packages where the total value is more than $250. A signature may still be required for a package where the total value is less than $250; it’s up to the driver’s discretion. We can’t instruct shipping companies how or when to leave packages at a shipping address. Your package was shipped by a special service called UPS Mail Innovations. UPS takes these shipments from our fulfillment centers and transports them to the U.S. Post Office closest to the delivery destination. The U.S. Postal Service will make the final delivery.” This is amazing information to me. I have shipped packages via USPS before, and if want a signature or anything other them just dropping the package off, you have to pay extra for it. Same with FedEx and UPS. I can remember getting packages ready for shipment for FedEx, and there was a little box that you checked if a signature was required. However Amazon with its vast shipping demand is completely unable to tell delivery companies that it doesn’t want a signature? What they heck? And why this of all the packages ever delivered to my house would need a signature? AND HOW ARE THEY GOING TO GET ONE IF THEY NEITHER KNOCK ON MY DOOR NOR LEAVE A SLIP FOR ME TO SIGN?!

So somewhere out there is my bird book. I can only assume it is sitting in a USPS warehouse surrounded by electrified barbed wire and a moat being patrolled by guard dogs and guards with machine guns. I also assume there are lasers and sound detectors and sirens involved. I mean since my package is so dang valuable that they can’t leave it on my doorstep like almost every other package then they clearly think it contains a true treasure that needs that kind of protection. When will I get it? No idea as I’ve got no way to track it now. How will I know when it has arrived? Presumably when the postal worker feels I am ready to receive this valuable book, he or she will sound a trumpet, as opposed to my doorbell or door-knocker, to let me know of its arrival and give me an opportunity to receive it. Perhaps my house did not look welcoming enough yesterday, so I was only allowed to receive my regular mail but not the treasured bird book. Is a red carpet and fresh flowers needed? It’s a bird book, perhaps I should leave bird food out on the front doorstep to welcome its arrival. Who knows? Maybe the USPS knows its content and will only allow the book to be delivered by an actual bird from Europe. I may have to wait until the spring migration. This of course brings up a very important question. Just what is the the air-speed velocity of an unladen European swallow? And what would be the air-speed of a European swallow ladened with my bird book? Perhaps a European white stork will be necessary to bring the bird book with a stork’s better carrying capacity. If I ever receive my bird book, I will let everyone know.

Saturday morning update: When I heard the mail come through the mail slot this morning, I went outside to see if the package was sitting on the doorstep. There was no package, but the mail carrier’s vehicle was in front of my house, so I waited for her to return. When she came back to the vehicle, I told her the story about the package. She said she was off on Friday, but she couldn’t understand why the other carrier wouldn’t leave the package. She said she leaves packages on my doorstep all the time. I nodded, laughed, and said I know, I’ve never had a problem. I told her I suspected that perhaps USPS might have the package, it had not gotten to the location where the actual carrier would have it. She asked if I had a USPS tracking number, and I said no, they only gave me a UPS one, which she agreed is useless to her. She promised that she would check with the Friday carrier and bring the book to me today if she could find it.

As I was typing this update, my doorbell rang, and it was my mail carrier with my package. I asked what happened. She said it was given to a different mail carrier, and it was supposed to be delivered today. I am not clear if it was given to a different mail carrier by mistake or design or what. I thanked her profusely and wished her a great weekend.

Conclusions:

The method of FedEx or UPS giving a package to USPS for the final leg is a great idea and obviously saves money, but if they don’t give you a tracking number for the USPS leg, it is impossible to find out what happened or where your package is.
Amazon, UPS, and USPS have horrible customer service when it comes to this delivery method.
UPS and Amazon just plain lied. I don’t know if UPS told Amazon they couldn’t leave the package unattended, which would be stupid since they were not supposed to be the one leaving the package, or if Amazon just made up that nonsense when they got some sort of notification that the package was not delivered as guaranteed.
If Amazon is going to continue guaranteeing two day Amazon Prime delivery with this delivery method than they better figure out what went wrong, especially if what my mail carrier is true that the package was not supposed to be delivered until today.
Amazon makes it dang near impossible to figure out as an Amazon Prime customer what I get if they do not fulfill their two day delivery promise. They’re website says they will refund shipping costs if they don’t deliver as guaranteed, but I am still trying to figure out what an Amazon Prime customer gets. Oh good, I get to deal with their customer service again.
I have a very nice USPS carrier, who by far gave much better customer service than Amazon or UPS.

Saturday afternoon update: I have back from Amazon customer service based on my blog post. The Amazon customer service rep yesterday gave me a $10 promotional credit to compensate for the missed delivery. Amazon responded to my tweet and asked me to submit comments by following a link. I did this and simply gave the blog post link. This second customer service rep also extended my Amazon Prime membership by a month. Conclusion: It pays to complain and complain in a public manner.

USBG Holiday Exhibit

Posted on December 7, 2013 by geek

The United States Botanical Garden has an annual holiday exhibit that consists of fantasy model trains running through, by, and over various bridges, tunnels, and model structures. They also have models of numerous DC structures and buildings. All the models except the trains are made of natural materials and are built with amazing detail. They are simply gorgeous and the use of natural material is just genius. The model train exhibit also smells wonderful due to all the cedar in the room. Definitely worth the visit.

: Three bridges at model train exhibit

: Railroad support

: Blimp at model train exhibit

: Train exhibit pavilion

: Seattle Space Needle

: Model train on truss bridge

: Ferris wheel at model train exhibit

: Model train tunnel

: Unisphere at model train exhibit

: Hot air balloon at model train exhibit

: Model train exhibit

: Jefferson Memorial

: Library of Congress

: Library of Congress

: Library of Congress

: Lincoln Memorial

: National Museum of the American Indian

: Smithsonian Institute The Castle

: US Botanical Garden

: US Botanical Garden

: US Capitol

: US Capitol

: US Capitol

: US Capitol

: US Capitol

: US Supreme Court

: US Supreme Court

: US Supreme Court

: Washington Monument

: White House

NY IKEA Ferry

Posted on November 24, 2013 by geek

On my recent trip to New York, I learned that IKEA has a ferry from downtown Manhattan to its store in Red Hook, Brooklyn. On weekdays there is a small fee to take it because evidently some commuters used to use it when it was free everyday. On weekends though, it is still free. IKEA must know that some people take without ever going into the store, but I guess few enough people do it, that they don’t mind. On neither legs of the round trip I took, was the ferry full. It has wonderful views of downtown Brooklyn, the East River, Brooklyn, the Statue of Liberty, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. I happened to take it at sunset, and on the return trip, there was a full moon out, and all the buildings and bridges were lit. It was spectacular.

View of East River from the IKEA ferry

View of downtown Manhattan from the IKEA ferry

View of midtown Manhattan from the IKEA ferry

View of the Statue of Liberty from the IKEA ferry

View of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from the IKEA ferry

View of downtown Manhattan from the IKEA ferry

View of the Statue of Liberty from the IKEA ferry

View of downtown Brooklyn from the IKEA ferry

View of Pier 17 from the IKEA ferry

View of East River from the IKEA ferry

Delancey Williamsburg Bridge Rail Terminal

Posted on November 14, 2013 by geek

I joined the New York Transit Museum this year so that I could go on some of their members only tours of some real cool transit places. Today I toured one of those places, the old Essex/Delancey trolley terminal from the Williamsburg Bridge. Trolleys from Brooklyn came across the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan and then turned around in this terminal. Trolleys in Brooklyn were evidently on a different rail system type and thus couldn’t continue onto the Manhattan rails. I won’t try to give the history, as so many places can be found, which do it much better, such as this one. The terminal is right next to the Delancey and Essex subway stations and can be seen from part of the platform. Inside the terminal area, some of the old tracks, paver stones, and rails can be seen. While I found those interesting, I also just loved being able to walk in a behind-the-scenes area that the general public usually can’t access.

Another thing I found interesting was the condition of the columns and beams. Like almost all parts of the New York underground, the area is continual being eroded by water that seeps in from groundwater and storm water that flows through various cracks in the utility areas. Thus much of the metal support structures were badly rusted. Some parts of the area have been rehabbed but not all. It was a stark reminder of how continual maintenance is needed on essentially everything humans build. If you are not an engineer, you can be forgiven for not understanding that once something is built, it still needs maintenance. It can’t just simply be left to itself to continually function properly for all eternity. Unfortunately most politicians, who hold the purse strings to maintenance funding, don’t seem to understand this.

There is an idea or plan by some to turn the area into an underground park called the Lowline. It would be incredibly interesting to see that if it happens. In the meantime, I’m glad I got a look at this piece of New York’s transportation history.

View of Delancey Terminal from subway platform

View of subway platform from the Delancey Terminal

Subway train passing by Delancey terminal

Wide view of Delancey terminal with old track monitoring office in background

Wide view of Delancey terminal, old tracks can be seen in foreground

Wide view of Delancey terminal parts of which are wet from normal seepage

Old track in paver stones terminating at a more modern tiled wall

Old track in paver stones

Old tracks

Old rail, which is held inside a wooden casing. Wood was used since it doesn’t conduct electricity, and rail was electrified.

Rusted column

Rusted beams and columns

Rusted beam

Stalactites from water seepage near rusted metal

Rusted and rehabbed beams

Book Review: “Conquering Gotham”

Posted on October 10, 2013 by geek

This isn’t really a proper book review but really more of a book recommendation. I’m not a writer or literary critic. I’m just an engineer who just finished reading a book about the history of one the greatest engineering feats in the early twentieth century and want others to know how interesting a book it is. The book is “Conquering Gotham: A gilded age epic: The construction of Penn Station and its tunnels” by Jill Jonnes (Penguin Group, 2007).

The book chronicles some of the history of various people and companies who tried to link Manhattan Island and New Jersey via bridge or tunnel. When the book starts, the Brooklyn Bridge, which was an engineering feat in itself, has been built, but the only railroad connection to Manhattan Island was via New York Central and its bridge over the Harlem River. Thousands of commuters, other people, and cargo must use ferries across the Hudson River everyday to get to Manhattan from New Jersey. Dewitt Clinton Haskin unsuccessfully attempts to build a tunnel underneath the Hudson River, but due to construction and financial problems, the tunnel was abandoned. [Decades later the tunnel would be completed and in present day is used for PATH trains.] Gustav Lindenthal unsuccessfully tried for decades to build a bridge across the Hudson River but was never successful due to an inability to get funding. Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) under the leadership Alexander Cassatt is determined to get their trains into Manhattan in some manner instead of having their tracks end in New Jersey and their passengers needing to take ferries across the river.

The book describes how PRR explores the possible ways to get their trains to Manhattan Island and finally settles on an audacious plan to build two tunnels underneath the Hudson River, two tunnels under and through Manhattan, a grand station in a not so nice section of Manhattan, and four tunnels underneath the East River to further expand their tracks into New England. Completing this audacious plan is fraught with many engineering and financial difficulties and is further complicated by the need to deal with the corrupt New York City Tammany Hall politicians, which put about as many delays on the project as the difficult engineering. The history is fascinating, and Jonnes describes it really well. The book is not a dry history textbook. She describes the engineering obstacles in a way in which a non-technical person will understand and be interested, although as an engineer, I actually would have liked more details about some of the engineering issues, particularly with the tunnels.

The final chapter describes some of the post-completion problems, including the eventual decline of the railroads due to automobiles and then aviation. The modifications made to Penn Station after its completion and finally its destruction and replacement with the atrocious Madison Square Garden are also discussed. I have traveled on Amtrak trains many times via the Hudson River tunnels and twice via the East River tunnels. I have a much better appreciation for the difficulties in their construction now. I am also now even more sad to have never seen Penn Station in its original glory. In my humble opinion, the current Penn Station with Madison Square Garden is the ugliest and most ill-designed train station ever, and New York City deserves so much better. Of course, New York City is partially to blame for the destruction of the original and the construction of the current Penn Station.

If you are at all interested in history, transportation, or engineering, I highly encourage you to read this book. It is a great read. [I received no compensation for this recommendation, and I checked this book out from my local library.]

Solar Impulse

Posted on June 23, 2013 by geek

Solar Impulse, the solar powered plane that can store enough energy to fly through the night, is currently at Udvar-Hazy Center. The plane is a marvel of engineering both from the standpoint of being able to collect enough solar energy during the day to power itself all day and through the following night but also from the standpoint of being light enough in weight that it needs very little energy to keep it flying. I went to see it while it was open for public viewing Saturday, and from an engineering perspective, it is just beautiful. When viewed in person, you can see how the plane is covered in high strength fabric. In the back stabilizer, you can see the internal structures that give the stabilizer its shape. It is just an amazing vehicle. Note: If you click on any of the photos, it will open up larger in a new page to allow a better look.

front panorama of Solar Impulse

Side panorama of Solar Impulse

Solar Impulse cockpit and middle two propellors

view down the wing span

Tail and stabilizer

View of stabilizer from side showing internal support

View from below stabilizer showing internal supports and photovoltaic cells above

Solar Impulse wing flaps with photovoltaic cells on top

View between wing flaps using my zoom lens to show wires connecting photovoltaic cells

Shipping Human Specimens

Posted on January 16, 2013 by geek

This morning I read an article in the Chicago Sun-Times concerning 17 human heads that had been discovered at Chicago O’Hare Airport. The best part of the headline is that it said “no foul play suspected.” This article has now been updated to state that “‘They were properly preserved and tagged as human specimens,’ said Tony Brucci, chief investigator for the medical examiner’s office” and that according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “the specimens appear to be legitimate medical samples.” The original version of the article, which I can no longer find, did not have all these details. It just said 17 human heads had been discovered, transported to the medical examiner’s office, and no foul play was suspected. This of course, sent most people’s imaginations wild as to how 17 human heads could end up at an airport without foul play. Perhaps this is a new way to save on air fair, just send a head, not the whole body.

The shipment of human heads, legitimately or otherwise, made me think of my human specimen shipping adventures while in graduate school. The field work that my fellow graduate students and I performed included three one-month trips to Seattle. Everyday we would drive to a different location to sample at the type of workplace we were studying. Among the samples we collected were blood and urine. For the vast majority of blood analysis, including the ones we were doing, the blood has to be separated into the red blood cell fraction and plasma section before it can be frozen. We were actually isolating the white blood cells also. To separate blood into these fractions, the blood has to be separated within 24 hours of being drawn, in truth, the sooner the better. Therefore, every night after sampling, we would ship the samples overnight to the east coast where our university was located. This may surprise some people, but this is actually not that big of a deal. Another grad student and I became certified hazardous materials shippers to do everything properly. In the case of our biological samples, the blood and urine, they could be shipped as “exempt human specimens.” This is specific term for shipping that meant our samples were not infectious and only required certain precautions to ship. Unless a person has a urinary tract infection, urine is sterile. Blood of course can carry many infectious agents, but if a person can be reasonably believed to be healthy and free of a blood-borne infection, then the blood can also be assumed to be non-infectious, and the blood can be shipped as an exempt human specimen.

Therefore every night after sampling, we would put the blood and urine samples with ice packs in a styrofoam container that was within a cardboard box. The cardboard box was clearly labeled “EXEMPT HUMAN SPECIMENS” as per shipping rules. We would then ship via FedEx, or if we couldn’t make it to the FedEx drop off before the overnight cut off for east of the Rockies (FedEx had an hour later drop off for west of the Rockies, presumably those went to a different sorting center), then we would drive to SeaTac airport and ship via cargo on a passenger aircraft. Shipping cargo on a passenger aircraft was an adventure. This was post 9/11, and they had started to implement more security measures for cargo. I don’t fully know what the security measures were then or today, but let’s just say, I don’t have a lot of faith in the security of cargo. In any event, the first time I dropped a box off at the passenger airline, which I won’t be naming, after going through a whole lot of paperwork, the employee took the package which had already been sealed. He asked if he could open it to examine the contents for security reasons. As he had no gloves on, I said, of course you can examine it, but to avoid contamination of my samples and for your own safety, please put on latex or nitrile gloves. He stopped and stared at me and asked why. Another employee who was working on the paperwork stopped what he was doing, looked at the first employee, and then the second employee and I at about the same time, said because the package contains human specimens, as it states on the outside, and as all the paperwork states. The first employee then said “oh” and looked a little embarrassed and took the package to the back, hopefully to be x-rayed or something. I say hopefully because as someone who flies, I am hopeful but not confident all cargo gets x-rayed. The fact that the employee was going to open a package without reading or noticing the large letters on the outside that said “EXEMPT HUMAN SPECIMENS” made me rather wonder how much they check things they accept and how much their employees might endanger themselves by not paying attention. Things were much easier when we could make it to FedEx, and they ship thousands (millions?) of these types of packages everyday. [This is not a plug or advertisement for them.]

The packages’ return trip was also made me wonder how much people question or don’t question things. After our fellow grad students back at the lab had received a week’s worth of packages or so, they would put the thawed ice packs back in the styrofoam, close everything up, and ship them back to us via FedEx ground, so we could reuse the boxes. The first time they shipped boxes back, they didn’t bother to remove the taped labels that said “EXEMPT HUMAN SPECIMENS”. I thought I had told them to do this, or perhaps I just assumed they would. I don’t know if there is anything legally or technically wrong with shipping boxes labeled as exempt human specimens that don’t actually contain human specimens or anything else for that matter. However, as we were shipping them back via ground to save money, and it took five days to get from our university to Seattle, I would think it would be better to remove the labels so that no one at FedEx questioned why or what kind of specimens would not go bad over the course of five days. Because the label said “exempt”, it should not change the shipment method, but packages shouldn’t be labeled as something more dangerous than they are. There are some types of dangerous goods that can’t be shipped via ground because it takes too long or it would affect the route (think of all those freeways and roads that say “no hazardous cargo”). Conversely there are some dangerous goods that can’t go in an airplane. However, I guess I worry too much because the packages arrived at our hotel without any problems or questions from FedEx. I guess FedEx was not concerned with five day ground shipment of exempt human specimens, whatever they might be.

I’m not entirely sure what the hotel employees thought of us, but they must have wondered. We were there for an entire month, and the people at reception certainly knew me if only because we were rather unusual guests. We had a small freezer in our room to store our non-biological samples before shipping them back to the lab. We had stacks of empty boxes labeled “EXEMPT HUMAN SPECIMENS” and other boxes labeled for the chemicals we shipped. My room had boxes of urine and blood sample collection supplies. Another room had a bunch of charging personal air sample pumps and their calibration machine. No, we were not normal hotel guests. They knew me at reception because I was always picking up packages, including our returned “exempt human specimens” boxes. First time I came to pick up the returned packages, they had them stacked up in the front office. One employee timidly asked if I would mind telling him what was in the boxes. The boxes were about 18 inches wide by 12 inches deep by 18 inches or so. I explained that they were currently empty and what we were using them for. He started laughing and seemed relieved but almost disappointed. Evidently they had spent the day guessing what was in them. The winner had been human heads. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. However they didn’t call the police or kick us out of the hotel, so I guess they thought we and our credit cards were trustworthy enough that what we were shipping was legitimate and safe. Still, it makes me wonder how much people pay attention to things and question what they see.