Monday, December 28th, 2009, evening
I didn't go home directly after work yesterday. I was meeting my fabulous friend Claire and her mother for dinner @ 7. It wasn't quite enough time to go home, nor was it early enough to go directly there. I ran some errands - Bed, Bath & beyond and my favorite, Goodwill- before heading to the Mission district restaurant, Beretta. On the bus there, we got maybe four stops past the stop at which I had been waiting. We stopped. The passengers wanting that stop got off. And we sat. A noise starting coming from the front of the bus like air coming out of a tire. A lot of air, coming very fast.
We sat for a few moments before the driver announced his supervisor had said to evacuate the bus. Luckily, we were one block away from another bus stop where a 'limited' bus running the same route stopped. I barely had to wait until it stopped. It was then an easy ride to my stop, although we passed a second bus also broken down on the side of the road. On the way home, I got a ride from Claire & her mom, so I didn't risk anymore broken down buses.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
I can read you like an open book.
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Sadly, today I left Kentucky after a mere two days time there to come back to San Francisco. And again, I didn't really use any public transit. My brother Brandon and his fiance Lisa took me to the airport, and yes, B, we'll leave a little earlier next time. I was not the last to board, but almost all the seats were already filled when I boarded. For some reason, the airport security thought my new necklace from my aunt Lu might be dangerous. Really, only in a bar fight, and I generally don't engage in those on a plane.
The reason I'm posting is that on both legs of my flight, I had my headphones on and was reading the book The Bluegrass Conspiracy. Despite having both headphones which inhibit hearing, and a book that was taking my attention, my seatmates wanted to gab with me. For the most part, that was fine. I don't mind making polite conversations with strangers, but I did wonder what these two men's motivations were.
Now, before you jump to the conclusion that they were hitting on me (and please remember that some of this was at 6am), they were both married, which both informed me of soon into the conversation without me inquiring. It just surprised me that two people had such a strong desire to talk to someone that they decided they would try to talk to someone who was obviously otherwise engaged.
Strange enough, but then, on the shuttle ride to my car, the driver carried on a soliloquy about the ongoing war between shuttle drivers and cab drivers, or at least in his mind there is one. I was glad to get to my car where only the radio would talk to me.
Sadly, today I left Kentucky after a mere two days time there to come back to San Francisco. And again, I didn't really use any public transit. My brother Brandon and his fiance Lisa took me to the airport, and yes, B, we'll leave a little earlier next time. I was not the last to board, but almost all the seats were already filled when I boarded. For some reason, the airport security thought my new necklace from my aunt Lu might be dangerous. Really, only in a bar fight, and I generally don't engage in those on a plane.
The reason I'm posting is that on both legs of my flight, I had my headphones on and was reading the book The Bluegrass Conspiracy. Despite having both headphones which inhibit hearing, and a book that was taking my attention, my seatmates wanted to gab with me. For the most part, that was fine. I don't mind making polite conversations with strangers, but I did wonder what these two men's motivations were.
Now, before you jump to the conclusion that they were hitting on me (and please remember that some of this was at 6am), they were both married, which both informed me of soon into the conversation without me inquiring. It just surprised me that two people had such a strong desire to talk to someone that they decided they would try to talk to someone who was obviously otherwise engaged.
Strange enough, but then, on the shuttle ride to my car, the driver carried on a soliloquy about the ongoing war between shuttle drivers and cab drivers, or at least in his mind there is one. I was glad to get to my car where only the radio would talk to me.
Friday, December 25, 2009
24 hours to Long Drive Farm
Christmas eve/Christmas day
This is not strictly a public transit post, it's a hellish airline transit story. The plan was to fly into Lexington, KY late Christmas eve. A 6am phone call put a stop to that. Instead of the christmas day flight they had re-booked me on, I got a Christmas eve flight into Louisville. Not a big deal as my ride, Brandon & Lisa would be passing that way anyway.
Everything was going smoothly: driving to the park-n-ride, checking in online, dropping off the baggage, going through security. Then, our flight was boarding. And then it wasn't. And then we were delayed. They boarded us anyway so we'd be ready to go at a moments notice. Two hours late, we leave. Again, not a big deal because I had a long layover.
When we got to Dallas, we couldn't land. So we circled and circled andght circled. Eventually we were diverted to houston where the plane refueled. And I swear that instead of taking the straightest path to Dallas, the pilot did loop-to(oops and zigzags across the state of Texas. And the entire time on ground in Houston, I was trying to keep my family informed and make worse case scenario preparations.
We make it to Dallas and as soon as I can, I check for my Louisville flight status. It's been delayed too, but is lifting off as we touch down. Off the plane, I get into line to re-book. Luck of luck, there's a flight in 40 minutes to Cincinnati! It leaves from another terminal but one of those crazy airport carts is flagged down to give me a ride. This is at first a huge relief until I become convinced the driver is treating the whole night as a sleepover because so many people are stranded. I ask him where we're going next, after he's picked up 2 or 3 other passengers and dropped them off, and he says ny terminal. He then drops me off at a set of escalators and tells me I'm still a quarter of a mile from my gate. I run up the escalators, across the moving sidewalks, down the escalators and through the terminal. All the while extremely confused because the signs say terminal D not B where I'm going. Luckily B is right next to D, but don't. Ask me where C is.
Arriving at the correct gate, I overhear the gate agent and a passenger discussing the lack of a flight attendant and possibly a pilot! I get in line (I'm next) and wait. A pushy woman from LA by way of Kentucky comes up and attempts to commandeer my place in line. The gate agent disappears, refusing to make eye contact with me. I forgive him when he returns with the flight attendant. I find out the other folks waiting were kept on a plane for 5(!) Hours before the flight was cancelled. This is their plane out of Dallas which I'm beginning to think is hell. I want on.
The gate agent comes back and I'm able to keep the pushy woman in check without resorting to physical or verbal abuse. I get on the plane. Pushy woman gets on the plane. There is a sense of comaderie especially among the 5 hour people. We all love the flight attendant with his spanish accent. We start to move, but only to the de-icing. It takes nearly 2 hours to be de-iced because one of the trucks break. Finally, as I slip in and out of dreams, hallecinations and dreamless sleep, we take off.
Did I mention that from midmorning California time to well past midnight Kentucky time, I didn't eat? That was awful. We got to Cincinnati at 4:30am. My luggage was still in Dallas but I expected that. I got in line at the terminal to make sure they sent it home, to Long Drive Farm. I get sent elsewhere, but it gets sorted out. I'm beyond exhaustion and I'm not sure I can eat because my stomach hurts so much and has been making funny noises since I had an energy bar a fellow passenger was kind enough to give me. I snooze as I wait until it's a decent hour to text my brother. He texts me first saying they're about to leave louisville. I decide to eat becausw surely that will help? Now, after dried pear, pita chips and chocolate milk, I await the last stretch to get to my old Kentucky home.
This is not strictly a public transit post, it's a hellish airline transit story. The plan was to fly into Lexington, KY late Christmas eve. A 6am phone call put a stop to that. Instead of the christmas day flight they had re-booked me on, I got a Christmas eve flight into Louisville. Not a big deal as my ride, Brandon & Lisa would be passing that way anyway.
Everything was going smoothly: driving to the park-n-ride, checking in online, dropping off the baggage, going through security. Then, our flight was boarding. And then it wasn't. And then we were delayed. They boarded us anyway so we'd be ready to go at a moments notice. Two hours late, we leave. Again, not a big deal because I had a long layover.
When we got to Dallas, we couldn't land. So we circled and circled andght circled. Eventually we were diverted to houston where the plane refueled. And I swear that instead of taking the straightest path to Dallas, the pilot did loop-to(oops and zigzags across the state of Texas. And the entire time on ground in Houston, I was trying to keep my family informed and make worse case scenario preparations.
We make it to Dallas and as soon as I can, I check for my Louisville flight status. It's been delayed too, but is lifting off as we touch down. Off the plane, I get into line to re-book. Luck of luck, there's a flight in 40 minutes to Cincinnati! It leaves from another terminal but one of those crazy airport carts is flagged down to give me a ride. This is at first a huge relief until I become convinced the driver is treating the whole night as a sleepover because so many people are stranded. I ask him where we're going next, after he's picked up 2 or 3 other passengers and dropped them off, and he says ny terminal. He then drops me off at a set of escalators and tells me I'm still a quarter of a mile from my gate. I run up the escalators, across the moving sidewalks, down the escalators and through the terminal. All the while extremely confused because the signs say terminal D not B where I'm going. Luckily B is right next to D, but don't. Ask me where C is.
Arriving at the correct gate, I overhear the gate agent and a passenger discussing the lack of a flight attendant and possibly a pilot! I get in line (I'm next) and wait. A pushy woman from LA by way of Kentucky comes up and attempts to commandeer my place in line. The gate agent disappears, refusing to make eye contact with me. I forgive him when he returns with the flight attendant. I find out the other folks waiting were kept on a plane for 5(!) Hours before the flight was cancelled. This is their plane out of Dallas which I'm beginning to think is hell. I want on.
The gate agent comes back and I'm able to keep the pushy woman in check without resorting to physical or verbal abuse. I get on the plane. Pushy woman gets on the plane. There is a sense of comaderie especially among the 5 hour people. We all love the flight attendant with his spanish accent. We start to move, but only to the de-icing. It takes nearly 2 hours to be de-iced because one of the trucks break. Finally, as I slip in and out of dreams, hallecinations and dreamless sleep, we take off.
Did I mention that from midmorning California time to well past midnight Kentucky time, I didn't eat? That was awful. We got to Cincinnati at 4:30am. My luggage was still in Dallas but I expected that. I got in line at the terminal to make sure they sent it home, to Long Drive Farm. I get sent elsewhere, but it gets sorted out. I'm beyond exhaustion and I'm not sure I can eat because my stomach hurts so much and has been making funny noises since I had an energy bar a fellow passenger was kind enough to give me. I snooze as I wait until it's a decent hour to text my brother. He texts me first saying they're about to leave louisville. I decide to eat becausw surely that will help? Now, after dried pear, pita chips and chocolate milk, I await the last stretch to get to my old Kentucky home.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Flattened by the road?
This morning at the bus stop, I noticed lots of perfect, light colored circles in the road. Some of them flapped up with the wind as cars drove by. What were they? They were tortillas! Someone lost an entire pack of tortillas to the bus stop.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Did YOU drink the kool-aid?
I took many modes of public transit today, including the free shuttle to the train station in San Jose. When I ride that shuttle, I try to sit near the front because it's a tight connection to the baby bullet train. The bus was pretty empty when I got on and sat right behind the driver. I was surprised when at the next stop an older guy got on and instead of sitting in the empty back sat right beside me. Not a big deal, but as he sat down I got a whiff of kool-aid smell and then something chemically underneath that smell. The weird grunting he made about half way through the ride really had me wishing he had sat elsewhere and one of the younger, more attractive non-kool-aid smelling men had been able to sit beside me.
The bus ride from the train station also was marked by the sense of smell. Two little girls were sitting with their mom across from me. One had a paper heart covering her nose and the other had a small strip of paper in front of her nostrils. I had no idea what they were. Some kind of H1N1 protection? An arts and crafts project? One of the girls was following asleep - maybe it was to prevent drool? The older girl pulled down her strip and twisted it around so that I could read it said Estee Lauder. They were perfume samples!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Unannounced Stop
This morning, my bus driver stopped in the middle of the block and left the bus to hug someone she recognized on the street. It didn't take long and then we were back on our way.
Crisis Averted
My last few bus rides have been pretty uneventful. Yesterday, I even got a seat on the homeward bus. I listened to my new playlist which heavily features Reba, thank you very much. Then as I was leaving the bus, a woman sitting near me got my attention and handed me my bus pass which I had apparently dropped. I'm glad she noticed or I would've been very upset this morning.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Ghost Bus
I've been waiting to post the past few days because SF Muni has changed up a bunch of stuff, and I've been waiting to see how it would turn out. The first few days, it was just confusing. Even though I had looked at the website, as I was supposed to, and knew the new routes and new route names, it didn't make sense. Why, when a bus was scheduled to come every 8 minutes, nextbus.com was saying it would be an hour before the next? Why were buses showing up at the stops flashing, 'Not in Service' but taking passengers?
All very confusing. I called Muni yesterday to ask why my bus wasn't coming when it was supposed to, according to nextbus.com. Apparently the buses were coming, but nextbus.com didn't know it.
This afternoon, though, everything worked perfectly. I left work and hustled to the bus stop because nextbus said 7 minutes until the next one home. I wasn't too worried, because in 15 minutes and then in 23 minutes, there would be another. I made it in plenty of time for the bus. When it pulled up, though, I was confused.
Usually my bus is super crowded. This bus was not super crowded. It was the opposite - less than half full (and no, this has nothing to do with my optimism or pessimism). In fact, I was so flabbergasted, I wondered if I was on the right bus? I was, but it certainly felt like a ghost bus. The changes SF Muni made to my route was to help alleviate the crowded-ness, so it looks like it worked. Now, let's just hope it wasn't an anomaly and that my ride home continues to be so easy. Stay tuned for updates.
All very confusing. I called Muni yesterday to ask why my bus wasn't coming when it was supposed to, according to nextbus.com. Apparently the buses were coming, but nextbus.com didn't know it.
This afternoon, though, everything worked perfectly. I left work and hustled to the bus stop because nextbus said 7 minutes until the next one home. I wasn't too worried, because in 15 minutes and then in 23 minutes, there would be another. I made it in plenty of time for the bus. When it pulled up, though, I was confused.
Usually my bus is super crowded. This bus was not super crowded. It was the opposite - less than half full (and no, this has nothing to do with my optimism or pessimism). In fact, I was so flabbergasted, I wondered if I was on the right bus? I was, but it certainly felt like a ghost bus. The changes SF Muni made to my route was to help alleviate the crowded-ness, so it looks like it worked. Now, let's just hope it wasn't an anomaly and that my ride home continues to be so easy. Stay tuned for updates.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Can I steal a TicTac from you?
I generally ride the bus or train by myself, as a commuter. Not today!
My friend Carla is visiting from NYC, and we took a bus to North Beach to have brunch with Alicia, a new friend from NYC who is looking to move westward to San Francisco. The three of us, plus Alicia's 2 friends took a bus toward the Mission so she could look at an apartment there. Carla and I sat in front of her, facing sideways. Her friends sat across the aisle from her.
After a few stops, a man got on the bus and comes all the way to the back and sits in the back row that stretches across the entire length of the bus. He effectively was sitting between Alicia and her friends, but a row behind. Alicia's friends directed a question to me or Carla, and we had a cross aisle conversation that Alicia wasn't at that very moment a part of. The stranger, very loudly, asks, "Hey, can I steal a Tic Tac from you?"
We all look at him, he had just asked for a breath mint from Alicia who had just stashed them in her purse. He seemed to realize what a weird thing that was when we all looked at him and apologized for asking, but he still took the Tic Tac.
When we got off the bus, we all agreed it was weird, that he was hitting on Alicia (very poorly) and he probably didn't think all five of us were riding the bus together, and when he did, got shy that he was hitting on one of the five.
My friend Carla is visiting from NYC, and we took a bus to North Beach to have brunch with Alicia, a new friend from NYC who is looking to move westward to San Francisco. The three of us, plus Alicia's 2 friends took a bus toward the Mission so she could look at an apartment there. Carla and I sat in front of her, facing sideways. Her friends sat across the aisle from her.
After a few stops, a man got on the bus and comes all the way to the back and sits in the back row that stretches across the entire length of the bus. He effectively was sitting between Alicia and her friends, but a row behind. Alicia's friends directed a question to me or Carla, and we had a cross aisle conversation that Alicia wasn't at that very moment a part of. The stranger, very loudly, asks, "Hey, can I steal a Tic Tac from you?"
We all look at him, he had just asked for a breath mint from Alicia who had just stashed them in her purse. He seemed to realize what a weird thing that was when we all looked at him and apologized for asking, but he still took the Tic Tac.
When we got off the bus, we all agreed it was weird, that he was hitting on Alicia (very poorly) and he probably didn't think all five of us were riding the bus together, and when he did, got shy that he was hitting on one of the five.
Hey, Mister Driver Man
Drive that thing slow
Thursday, December 3rd
I did not ride the bus today. I drove to work in San Jose for some very boring reasons. What was not boring, and was rather unbelievable and scary, was as I was returning home the bus at the bus stop that did not think it prudent to let me pass it, but to instead come dangerously close to hitting me. It did not hit me because I stopped in the middle of the road, looking incredulously at the bus as it passed very very close to my right hand side.
Thursday, December 3rd
I did not ride the bus today. I drove to work in San Jose for some very boring reasons. What was not boring, and was rather unbelievable and scary, was as I was returning home the bus at the bus stop that did not think it prudent to let me pass it, but to instead come dangerously close to hitting me. It did not hit me because I stopped in the middle of the road, looking incredulously at the bus as it passed very very close to my right hand side.
Many Many Many
Wednesday, December 2nd
How many buses did I ride today?
2.
How many trains did I ride today?
2.
How many languages did I hear spoken on said buses & trains?
At least 4.
How many buses did I ride today?
2.
How many trains did I ride today?
2.
How many languages did I hear spoken on said buses & trains?
At least 4.
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