We left for the train station at 4:45 AM. People were functioning amazingly well given the time of day. We got to the station just before the station opened. It was an interesting situation. At the station, there were 3 escalators. One going up and two going down. At the base of the escalators, there was a locked fence that was about 2-3 feet away. Seventeen of us headed down the escalators and started piling up at the base. We all were waiting for the station agent to open it up. Mark took some pictures. I’ll try to get a copy.
After our day of work, I went back to a dark hotel. They shutdown power to the building so they could do routine electrical testing. We still had access to the elevators and our rooms. None of the lights or outlets worked though. It was okay because I was so sleepy from all motion sickness pill I took earlier on the day. Because I’m riding trains a lot, I start to get sick. Anyway, most of this trip has been spent sleeping because of the pills. They’re supposed to be non-drowsy but it doesn’t work that way for me.
I got up around 4:30 PM and then headed to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum where I bought a ticket to see The Dark Knight in IMAX and then checked out the Hope Diamond. It’s 45.52 carats and has an estimated value of 200-250 million dollars. Let me backup a bit. Walking into the Smithsonian isn’t very much different from walking into the local public library. There are some steps going up to a number of average looking doors. I thought I was at the back entrance for employees I’d something but the place is just that accessible. What a fantastic resource!
Well, I looked at the diamond for a little bit. It’s shiny, blue, and very pretty but it really didn’t interest me that much. Someone went to a lot of care cutting it up though. That was impressive but maybe it’s easier on such a large specimen. I don’t know.
Batman on the IMAX film was awesome. The star of the show was definitely Heath Ledger as the Joker. What a menace! I haven’t seen Ledger in any other films but he definitely would have gone on to do better things. Too bad about his early departure. I don’t think they filmed all of the movie in IMAX format. As you’re watching, it switches from one aspect ratio to the next which is pretty obvious from the letterboxing. I was kind of distracted by that but the scenes where IMAX was used warranted the additional expense. They could have shortened the movie by getting rid of all the good/evil lecturing but then it would have been nothing but chase scenes in IMAX which would have been fine. 
After the movie, I stopped at CVS and got some Gatorade and granola bars for tomorrow. I also got a sandwich at Subway for dinner.
I’m sick of eating out in this town. The food is too expensive and the quality isn’t that great. Bay area living really raises the bar as far as I’m concerned.
