Every day I take the train past the construction which will, in theory, some day extend BART to the airport. It's a huge project, and visibly one which has already taken forever; the plywood the've used to mark off areas is now grey, and metal sheets they've used to start the tunnel are rusted.

There are a few dozen people there in the mornings, doing standard construction things (standing around, milling aimlessly). And apparently some train-operator's manual asserts that whenever there are people near the tracks, the train's horn needs to be used. Liberally.

Similarly, some construction-worker's manual seems to assert that whenever there's a vehicle passing the site, some guy needs to go stand between the two, holding a sign which says, "SLOW".

I wonder, do the train-operators and sign-holders contemplate their Kafkalike relationship? Honking endlessly at people who could not possibly be more aware of your presence, holding signs for trains which will vary their speed not at all.

But the other day, we were forced to wait for another train to clear the station up ahead. We slowed down to a crawl, and coasted along for a few minutes before resuming normal speed. I glanced out the window to see the sign-holder, staring back and forth between the train and his sign, in open astonishment.