Bus Adventures

So here starts my chronicles of my bus adventures. Mind you, yesterday was the first time I had ridden the bus to work at my new job.

[sidebar] I won’t be riding the bus again until my parking garage contract is up at the end of November, so you will just have to sit tight and wait for all my eye-opening adventures of the bus rides until December, but for now I can leave you with this:

I knew going into riding the bus that there were going to be some unique encounters. I guess I just didn’t expect to really see and experience as many as I did see yesterday.

I drove to a park and ride pretty close to my house. There were a few other options as far as the park and rides go, but after comparing the duration of the bus trips, driving to the one I selected saves me about 25-30 minutes one-way. So, I get to the park and ride, hop out of the car and wait for the next bus to show up. These buses should be coming about every 5 minutes, so it wasn’t long that I was in line behind one other person, and the next bus was entering the lot. I hopped on the bus, entered my cash fare and took a seat toward the back of the bus. I took out my phone to have the maps app follow the bus route so I knew a little better where the bus was going and when I should be getting off the bus.

At one of the stops on this stretch, a guy boarded the bus and stood directly across from me. He had one wandering eye, so I was trying not to be distracted. And PS, WHERE and WHAT are you supposed to look at in a bus without offending anyone or feeling that you are a creeper staring at them the entire ride? I didn’t have a book with me, and I didn’t really need to have my eyes glued to my phone the entire time, but I felt a little awkward the whole time, and felt like I was being watched.

The first length of the trip went pretty smoothly. I got off the bus in Mpls and walked to where I would transfer to another bus that would take me to St. Paul. This was where I had a small issue. My stop to pick up the next bus was located along Nicollet Mall. Well, a little background on Nicollet Mall – Buses come and go from both directions and many different ways. I went to where I thought the stop was, looked around but did not see a little bus stop sign. So, I walked another block to where I saw many buses coming and going, but that was not the correct street intersection. Luckily for me, there was a city worker cleaning the sidewalk. I finally went over and asked him where I should go to pick up the bus I was looking for. He was one of the nicest men ever. He told me that all I had to do was cross the street! I was THAT close! I just couldn’t see the sign because an awning was obstructing the view! I thanked him and hurried over to wait a few more minutes until my transfer bus arrived.

Once boarding the transfer bus, I struggled a second to find where to put the transfer ticket. They need some better labels for that area CASH here, TRANSFERS here, etc. But I think the next time I ride the bus I will have my “Go-To” card that I tap on the machine to board and pay my fare.

Once on the route, at one of the stops, a male with a HUGE duffle bag and I am assuming his girlfriend, boarded the bus together but had to sit separately. As my luck would have it, the guy sat next to me reeking of some of the most awful smoke I have smelled in my life. He had to get up a minute later to deposit his dead body bag more up front. You know how sometimes you get feelings about people the moment you come in contact with them? Well one word for this guy: oddball. He stood up to talk with the driver soon after boarding and the bus was in motion – about which bus he could take that would get him to Wisconsin. When he got his answer, he sit back down and only a few minutes later, stood up to ask the driver almost that same question again. After that, he did it another time, and I thought the bus driver was going to tell him to get off.

Meanwhile, on that same transfer bus, there was a guy who I am willing to bet – is what my younger cousin will look like in his early 20s. I kid you not. It was like an “older version doppelganger!” I was amused and a little intrigued at the same time.

When I got off the bus for the last time, it was a short little walk to the front of the building where I hopped in the elevator and it was off to work!

Honestly, once when I got to work, it took me almost an hour and a half to focus on work. My mind was buzzing! Must have been all of the nervousness, anxiety, anticipation and watching the bus route craziness that caused me to feel so frenzied!

Speaking of frenzied, that time of the year is upon us!

My mom just sent out an email for her side of the family’s annual Christmas Party – and White Elephant – that I have taken the initiative on and have been planning and executing for the past three years now. It is hilarious and quite possibly the new highlight of the party. It is awesome some of the things that people “re-gift” and one or two keep making the rounds! Derick got stuck with one of them last year, so we will need to be clever in how we get rid of it this year! So, there’s that which is already planned, and my mom and Derick’s mom have already been asking about Thanksgiving plans, Christmas wish lists and some other upcoming events like my sister’s college graduation and winterizing the boat and pulling the dock out of the water for the season. Whew! I cannot believe it is already the end of October! I think next year we should have a Halloween party at our house. I love seeing all the great costumes and decorating for the occasion! FUN!

Speaking of Halloween, I was just talking with my coworker today who was trying to get her boyfriend excited about dressing up – and looking for some good couple’s Halloween costume ideas. She said that once (I think last year) when they were in college, she dressed up as a white rabbit, and he surprised her by coming in as Elmer Fudd, complete with play-hunting gun! Cute! When I did a Google search for couple’s Halloween costumes, there were some interesting things, for sure, but one of my favorites was this one of Mary Poppins and Bert the Chimney Sweep, SO CUTE, and I think, easily do-able!