Wednesday, August 9, 2006 - 8:06 a.m.

First day back to work after a trip to visit my family. The el provides such a dose of reality when you return from vacation. It jars you back into a regular routine and is a strong reminder that you are not on vacation anymore.

The train was eerily quiet and empty. It filled up later but everyone north of Berwyn had to already have been at work.

A young man sat next to me wearing those large earphones - like the kind pilots wear. His reading choice was Machiavelli's "The Prince".

A very large man sat in the row in front of me. He leaned over to this other guy who was wearing iPod earbuds and asked him the time. The iPod guy shrugged him off. This must have made the man very tired because he then slumped his head down so far that from behind - he looked headless. He also had a very bright hawaiian-esque shirt on.