I had a $1 ticket on Megabus or Bolt (whichever one does that) from DC to NYC. I had to go that day to get back to work. There was a big rainstorm and all the buses were cancelled. I found out when I decided to get off the Metro at VanNess/UDC and check it on my phone. I continued on the Metro to the train station,…

Butbut let me guess. You hate corporate greed right? 

Butbut let me guess. You hate corporate greed right? 

Buses are impacted by traffic so Amtrak might be quite a bit faster during holidays, bad weather or similar. You also have the ability to get up and walk around on a train, which is worth it for some people.  

Advantages of the train: They stop at places you’ve heard of and can find on a map. The drivers are (usually) attentive. You can get up and walk around. You can buy booze on board.

Imagine your worst public trans nightmare, scale it back by 10%, and imagine it for several hours straight. Also it may set on fire. That is MegaBus.

Fares from NYC to DC or Boston are often $50 if you book in advance. I’ve never been able to find one of those vaunted $1 Megabus fares (I usually pay $35). Seats are more cramped on Megabus and traffic can really turn a 4-hour bus ride into a 6+ hour slog. Thank you I-95 in Connecticut.

Looks like Acela is an hour shorter and more comfortable in that case. I’d be inclined to pay the $40-50 upgrade

Trains are WAY more consistant between DC and NY. Busses are shitty, uncomfortable, and you will probably get stuck in traffic. The train takes about the same amount of time, but you can drink and eat and nap.

The train doesn’t get stuck in painful traffic of I-95. Seats are (much) more comfortable than the bus (especially if you’re tall). You can get up and walk around the train. The bathroom is of decent size on the train relative to the bus. The train ride is less herky-jerky, so you could work without getting sick.

When I lived in D.C. I took the Northeast Regional to the Gawker (RIP) mothership once a month or so. It was mostly fine and good! It’s the rest of it that’s the problem.

I am also a frequent NYC-DC train rider and I LOVE IT.

I was once with my sister while she was being admitted to the hospital for a kidney infection, a painful experience that she only developed because she has an extremely high pain tolerance and never noticed a UTI she had before it spread up. While waiting with her, a patient a few beds down had a ruptured gall…

I don’t know if what I had was trigeminal neuralgia, but it was the most painful thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life by a very large margin. Imagine stepping on an electrified Lego inside your brain. Now imagine getting a shotgun loaded with electrified stompy Legos to the back of your head. 

Worst pain I’ve experienced: when I had to have my congenital urethral strictures cut out of my dick. The surgery wasn’t the worst (I was knocked out for that, natch), but the first time I took a piss following the removal of the catheter was the single most painful experience I’ve ever had. Almost passed out and it…

I’ve had spinal meningitis (which included blocked blood vessels and the always lovely spinal tap to go with it), and I’ve had a finger rrrrripped off my hand, but I don’t consider myself really pain tolerant. I just know that when I tell a doctor I have pain in the 8 or 9 area, its real actual pain.

Shingles

I get frequent, debilitating migraines, have broken numerous bones and torn muscles and nothing has come close to the pin I experienced with Shingles.

5 or 6 years ago I had my first flare-up of gout. man-o-man, I get awful migraines fairly often, I’ve broken many bones over the years and those all hurt like crazy, but nothing compares to a gout flare-up. just the slight change in air-pressure when someone enters the same room is enough to make my foot feel like…

When I was 16 I broke my collar bone skiing. That wasn’t too painful in and of itself. I was in a brace the rest of vacation (broke it day 1 of a 7 day trip). When we got home, I had an appointment with a doctor (Orthopedic?) and he asked me to raise my arms from my side like a jumping jack. I got about 8 inches off…

Good timing on this one. I nipped the tip of my finger off at work last night. You know it’s bad when you hear the thunk of the knife hit the cutting board.