It's just after 11 p.m. as I write this, and I just got home from work about 20 minutes ago.  I didn't plan to get home this late; I left my office at 7 p.m. and should have been home a little over an hour afterward.  However, several of the subway stops between my office and my home were shut down due to smoke in the tunnels.  I ended up having to take a shuttle bus that went in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go before turning south and stopping at every single station between Crystal City and Braddock Road.  Once we reached Braddock Road, I then had to get off the shuttle and transfer to another one that alternated between every Yellow Line and Blue Line station south of that point.  Instead of taking a 50-minute subway ride with one transfer, I had an unexpected three-hour bus tour of Washington, D.C. at night.  It was annoying, but I managed to amuse myself by taking pictures with my cell phone and e-mailing a few to Chris.  Both Chris and A.J. were in bed by the time I got home.  What a night!  Apparently there was a similar problem with the subway yesterday as well.  At this point the Metro (subway) managers are not sure whether or not they will operate trains tomorrow morning.  I hope so; my friend Nadine's farewell party is tomorrow afternoon.  Arghh!   A Washington Post article about the situation