July 2002

7/31

What shall we do on the bus this evening? Get high? Splendid!

I'm reasonably sure that's exactly how it went for some of my passengers this evening.

I couldn't tell for sure, but I was pretty sure that was the scene in the back of my bus. The mirror jiggles too much to really watch the action closely. A basketball-playin' stayin'-out-of-trouble kid confirmed the scenario after the perps, yo, had left the bus.

7/30

The Suburbs reissues are in the stores today! Rock and roll.

click here for info

7/29

Yeah, I'm behind.

I'll get caught up just in time to move it all to the July page.

It's all Marty Moore's fault. He was staying in my computer room for what seemed like two weeks. And he was always sleeping when I wanted to work on this.

For now, you could take a look at some photos. (They're thumbnails, so click away.)

7/28

So a minivan took a right turn through a red light and a NO TURN ON RED sign and got in front of me on Nicollet today. It wasn't a big deal. We made the same left turn at 36th and I slowed for the red light at the next intersection.

The minivan kept going. Until he was hit broadside by a little Chevrolet.

I failed to take a picture.

In my experience, both in the bus and in my car, there are three groups of vehicles that give me the most trouble:

Minivans, Saturns and Pontiacs. Why? I don't know, but I have some ideas.

Key:

$%&! often guilty of erratic driving

#*@! often guilty of hostile driving

&^#! often guilty of clueless driving

&^#! $%&! Minivans. This one seems pretty obvious. Soccer moms drive minivans. But wait! The person driving the minivan today was a young guy! Minivans are simply evil!

&^#! Saturns. Waiting at the green light for someone to go? Wondering who's trying to cut back into traffic from the right turn only lane? Does that car look lost? It's probably a Saturn. But why? I think it's the Saturn target market. I remember the commercials that said, "These cars are so easy. There are pictures and nice big signs to tell you how to do everything." Uh, except drive, folks.

#*@! Pontiacs. Again, I think it's the marketing. Are you a man between the ages of 18 and 34 with lots of extra testosterone who needs a sporty car so you can let everyone know how fast and aggressive you are? (I still like you, though, Pete...)

7/27

So a kid got on my bus today and told me he had to lay low because some guys were trying to kill him.

He was from the 'hood. (The one where my friends Wyatt and Christina live.)

"We live in the 'hood!"

He said the guys didn't even know him, but knew him by reputation and were jealous of his money. Or something like that.

He was going to the place where his (pregnant) girlfriend was working so he could stay at her place for a few days and let it all blow over.

Much of his story made little sense to me, but he was a nice enough kid and we ate an evening meal together there on the bus at Hedberg Drive and Greenbrier Road.

7/24

I went to see The Minus Five and Tuatara tonight. It was excellent. Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) and Peter Buck (REM) are in both bands. I didn't notice Peter drinking any wine, probably a good thing for all of us.

7/23

I was on call, waiting at the garage for some action.

I spent a couple hours Uptown sitting in a bus, but I wasn't needed until I was heading back to the garage. I picked up another call driver and we retrieved a bus that had been taken to an accident scene.

A bus had gotten into an accident. From what I understand, a drunk driver ran a stop sign and plowed into the bus. OK. The guy had to be pretty well gone, because he hit the very back of the bus. Nearly the whole bus passed through the intersection in front of him and he couldn't manage to stop.

Then I was watching TV in the lounge at the garage and a Christian Children's Fund commercial came on. I swear the Sally Strothers-type guy said, "The only crime these kids ever committed was being born poor." It's a crime to be born poor? That's pretty rough. Here is where I might normally make a snide remark about The Anointed One, The Appointed One, His Majesty the Savior of America, W, but I think you can fill in your own commentary as you see fit.

7/22

Some guy:

How do you know [my hat] has character? (I didn't know.) It's like going fishing. You never know what you'll catch.

I don't know what that means.

Then a guy asked me if I like jazz. I said I did. He told me that blues is for children and old people, and that I was neither, so it was good that I like jazz.

Then he told me that the best saxophone player ever (besides Charlie Parker) is Sonny Rollins. And that I should hear the Pizzarelli brothers [actually father and son]. And that the Pizzarellis play jazz and blues. They do what they want.

Apparently, what I don't understand about musicians is that they play what they want, under different identities, like Superman.

Thanks, dude. Now I know.

7/21

I got behind a bit here when my computer refused to boot for a few days.

A lady got on my bus after walking further than necessary to catch me. The schedule isn't very clear about the bus route. So she was sort of upset and gave me an earful about people who sit at their desks with their computers and make decisions. You know, people who get degrees and get too smart.

That reminded me of how I've heard the phrase "fancy degrees" numerous times in conversations regarding the folks higher up in the transit company.

Coincidentally, I got an email recently from my friend Jamie (from library school) who was helping her uncle get an older computer set up. A friend of her uncle's, a younger guy, was there and was in awe of Windows 95 and the old machine, but had not much of an idea what to do with it.

And that reminded me of some guys I met in Florida a couple of years ago. We were hanging out behind a house in a big shed that featured a Confederate flag flanked by nooses. Yeah, you get the picture. They had no time for computers and one guy basically wrote them off as a big fad.

So, what does it all mean? Jamie pointed out the growing technology divide between the haves and have nots. Librarians have spent a lot of time and money addressing this problem. That's a main reason why libraries have computers. But if, as Jamie noted, the have nots don't go to a library or anywhere else that they could learn technology, then Bill Gates' money is being wasted.

What I find most interesting is the hostility toward technology and correspondingly, the people who know how to use it. I have no idea how prevalent that hostile attitude is. But I find it so fascinating because the culture in which I was raised loves education. Does the hostility come from fear? Jealousy? Practicality? I mean, The Anointed One, The Appointed One, His Majesty the Savior of America, W is the poster child for the "I don't need to be smart to be President of the USA" crowd. Uh, assuming that crowd exists.

I've wondered about my insulated life.

You might hear me rant about the very conservative Christians and their insulated lives. They can read only Christian books, see only Christian movies, get only Christian videos for their kids, listen to Christian music, do business with Christians, watch Christian TV, etc. and never know what's really going on in the world they plan to save.

And my life. Very generally speaking, I hang out with educated people who know their way around a computer, read, like to eat at locally-owned restaurants, listen to jazz, independent, and otherwise "cool" music and despise W. (Did that sound snotty enough?) I have dear friends who don't fit much of the above, but enough with the disclaimers about the generalities here, right?

What do you suppose I'm getting at? It seems that I could be getting at a lot of things. But this is getting too long.

Driving the bus has made me more aware of how other people live their lives. Everyone rides the bus, from doctors to homeless folks to retired vets to cubicle monkeys (�-- is that inflammatory? ha). This job has made me think that I might think I know how things go, but I don't know squat.

7/20

I'm pretty sure I saw a guy who I worked with at Cambus in Iowa City. Or maybe I didn't work with him, but he was around for parties.

7/19

I was on call today. That means I go to the garage and wait for something to do. For instance, if someone doesn't show up, I drive. Today a driver on one of the busy routes got behind, so I took a bus and filled in. Basically, I was an extra bus on the route.

I wasn't very busy. Not much happened. But I think a lady put her cigarette out on the side of the bus. I couldn't tell for sure, so I didn't say anything. The whole world's an ashtray when you're a smoker, right?

Then I got back to the garage and sat around and read and watched TV. I collected and organized a bunch of schedules.

My parents got back from Kosova today. They were tired. I didn't notice any shrapnel that wasn't there before.

7/18
Well, I sort of lied. No Naked Lunch for me. I thought the guy had it, but I wasn't sure and I looked at it online and at the store and the cover wasn't even close. I have to admit that I'm relieved. I own Naked Lunch but I never finished it. I figured this was the time, but I don't think I'm up for it anyway. A young woman got on the bus with Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. I'll read that one.
I saw the Most Amazing Combover Ever today. Someone ought to tell that guy. Other than that, my day was utterly dull.
7/17
As soon as I finish my write-up of American Gods, I'll start in on William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, thanks to a guy on his way to work this morning. I drove a route for 45 minutes this morning, then drove a bus from my garage to the overhaul garage. I have to go back and drive for a few hours this afternoon.
7/16
I had today and yesterday off. I hung out with friends and relaxed.
I finished Neil Gaiman's American Gods today.
7/14
Not a lot happened today. A golf ball flew onto the road about 50 feet in front of me.
A drunk guy with a scraped-up arm got on my bus. It had pretty much stopped bleeding and I gave him a paper towel to cover it. He said he'd had a seizure. That guy rode with me about a year and a half ago, a week or two after I finished training and went out on my own, and had the dubious honor of being the first real drunk to ride my bus. He sat down behind me and fell asleep. So he rode with me all the way to the north terminal, where he woke up, then back downtown. On our way downtown some young black guys got on and went to the back. They were laughing and joking loudly, clearly in good spirits. This guy made some racist remarks to me (ignore, ignore, ignore) and then started to react to what they were saying. They weren't talking to him, but he thought they were. As he got off, he started to yell back to them. Needless to say, I was glad he got off the bus. They were getting off at the same stop, so I've always wondered if he got himself into some trouble that day.
7/13
Oz rode my bus today.
I met him when I was a parking valet at Cafe Havana (conveniently located between Sex World and Yoshiko's Sauna on Washington Avenue). He used to panhandle on the corner. One night he wanted to talk to me, but I was running to get a car. I think it was an Audi. As I was pulling the car around, he slapped the window with both hands. That really ticked me off, so when I was running to get another car, I stopped long enough to get in his face and yell, "Don't f*** with me when I'm working!!!"	Oz.
From that night on, we've been cool. He used to yell, "You losin' weight yet?" when I ran by him. It got to the point where I'd talk to him quite often and slip him a little cash every once in a while, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with that, since he seemed to be messed up much of the time.
Now I see him on the bus. He's sober now, but still living on the streets. Today he rode with me most of the day. I didn't mind at all. He's pleasant and doesn't bother anyone.
He's waiting for his mom in Gary, IN to send his birth certificate so he can get an ID and a job.
I already told him that if he's feeding me a bunch of crap, I don't really care. It's between him and his conscience.
Well, I hope he can get everything together. He seems to be a decent guy who's trying to do just that. Clearly, he has made some poor decisions that have led to his current state of affairs, but everyone makes bad decisions. Some outcomes are just worse than others.
7/12
Basilica Block Party. It was a beautiful night. My route went right past it and it was hopping.
I saved up all year, and I think if I cash in a war bond, I might have enough money to go this year. But then, I'm not sure if I want to spend 3/4 of my net worth to see Big Head Hazelwalla and the Seven Mary Spin Blossoms, if you know what I mean...
7/11
"The driver sucks!" At least that was the opinion of one particularly old and grumpy and vocal gentleman today. This was the guy who held out his cane as I pulled up (to tell me where to stop), ignored my greeting when he got on the bus, and then shouted about my driving ineptitude to the rest of the passengers. Admittedly, it wasn't one of my finer driving moments. Some jerky in a Dodge pickup didn't realize those things come equipped with turn signals. I had to brake a bit more than I should have if I'd left a better space cushion, and apparently that upset "Happy" Jerry Atric. Then he was mumbling stuff at me when he got off the bus. He muttered something about "idiots." I thought he was telling me that I got too close to the curb, but when he was off the bus, he yelled at me to get closer to the curb. So I took a picture of my bus and the curb. When I get them all developed, you'll see what all the fuss was about. [or not, as the picture people didn't develop this one despite my explicit instructions to develop all of the pictures, even if they looked bad...]

Hey, guess what? The Anointed One, The Appointed One, His Majesty the Savior of America was in town today. That's right, W had downtown Minneapolis tied up during rush hour today. I lost some time, but that's OT, so fine with me.
7/10
ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! W ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! corporate responsibility ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!
Kids, the word of the day is DISINGENUOUS.
I was waiting for a bus today. I was headed to the transit station where I met the bus that I drove. (It's called "making relief." tee hee!) Anyway, while I was standing in a bus stop a guy asked me if I could help him out with a transfer. Um. The way it works is that a transfer comes out of the farebox on the bus. And, to reiterate, I was standing at a bus stop...
7/9
Before starting bus: Clear personnel from maintenance compartments. Secure all compartments.
Some guy talked my ear off for something like 45 blocks. The topics of the "conversation" were a little odd: kidnapping, Gary Glitter and other freaks with child pornography, Michael Jackson, etc. He would have taken the younger Smart sister because she wouldn't have struggled as much, or he would have taken both of them. After all, he had a gun. And was Elizabeth Smart the result of her mother's fling with another man? So yeah, it was probably a bit creepy, but it was my last trip and I was tired, so I didn't think about it too much at the time. But it sure sounds funny now, doesn't it?
7/8
It's miserably hot and humid outside. I haven't felt like leaving the house. But I got to church yesterday. I'd never been to this particular one before, but I'm looking for somewhere to go. It's a More Light Presbyterian church, which means that they're open to the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith. I'm straight, but I used their More Lightness as an indicator that the congregation might be a good fit for me. I'm not sure if I'll go back or not. The people were really friendly and I liked it, so we'll see.
My mom and dad left for Kosova today. They're with a parachurch organization. The last time they went, I suggested to my brother that we get them Kevlar helmets for Mother's and Father's Days. I guess it's mellowed out over there quite a bit. They made it back two summers ago when they went, so I'm not any more concerned about their safety than I would be if they went to Spain or something.
7/6
It got hot and nasty outside today. Fortunately, I worked in the morning and the buses have great A/C.
My route took me to an almost empty mall. And though mall culture in general is pretty much out of my realm of interest, I find an empty mall to be horribly depressing. If I remember correctly, I think I went to this mall when I was a kid and they had a mini train that ran around the courtyard. So it is especially depressing to see it joyless and barren. Though the mall feels neglected, the liquid soap containers in the men's room were full.
Last Tuesday I passed an ambulance and another emergency vehicle attending to a man on the sidewalk. There was a motorized scooter lying next to him. As I was passing, the paramedics got out the backboard and I thought that maybe it was pretty bad and hoped he was OK. Well, for the most part he's OK. He rode my bus today. He looked scraped up and he had a cast on his arm. But he was really upset about not having any power at his apartment.
I have the next two days off. Maybe I'll write about some of the music I've been listening to. Or something else.
7/5
I had a pretty interesting day.
The weather yesterday and today has been fantastic, as far as summer goes. It's been warm, sunny and not very humid. And so I was first amazed, then amused when a guy got on my bus and responded to my "How's it going?" with, "Weather could be better. Got nothin' to say about the weather." And that was funny to me because he did have... something... to say... Well, you saw that.
Then an older Asian man, fairly new to English, told me he was going to the library. "The center of learning." Although I may never be a practicing librarian, I do not regret getting the degree. My heart is still very close to the library and I love to hear things like that.
Apparently if you are on the kitchen crew at Rock Bottom Brewery, you are a Kitchen Rocker! Yeah! Rock on!!! Several years ago, I did time working at a large, bad Italian restaurant chain where you can now get chicken con broccoli (!). I still have a large neon-pink vinyl sign that hung in the kitchen. It features the silhouette of an airplane and the words Hot Food Go! Non Stop Flights on the Call! Yeah, it got me pumped up to get that hot food out to our customers. Oh, excuse me, GUESTS. I can empathize with those folks in the Rock Bottom kitchen, putting up with some corporate bonehead's idea of something cool to get their crew excited about working there.
I saw an argument between a bicyclist and a driver today. Two bicyclists were riding side-by-side in the right lane of a rather busy street during rush hour. The woman, who was on the left, was arguing with the driver of a New Beetle, who was in the left lane next to them. I'm only assuming, based on what I heard, that the driver was unhappy with the bicyclists for riding in the manner that they were. OK. I like bicyclists and the idea of bicycling. I feel like in many ways, we're on the same team. As I understand it, bicyclists are supposed to ride in the street and behave as if they are a car or a motorcycle. That's fine and it makes sense. And clearly, bicycling is a socially conscious method of transportation. Unless you are socially unconscious. I appreciate youth and idealism and all that goes with that, but at some point maybe if you are on a bicycle and moving slowly (these folks were not your basic decked-out Lance Armstrong-types), maybe you could consider being considerate of others and getting out of the way. I have noticed that most bicyclists do very well at doing their own thing and staying out of the way of traffic.
And finally, the route I was driving today goes past the frats at our local university. One of them had a big sign out front that looked like a "HELLO... my name is" sticker, but it said "HELLO... my fraternity is" and underneath, someone had spray painted "Gay." I took a picture of it, so I'll add that and revise this as necessary in the near future. Anyway, I was glad to see that the boys are getting more inclusive these days.
7/4
Ah, the Fourth of July. Time to put on your U.S. flag-themed shirts and hats and get a free ride on the bus. Think nice things about the United States and try not to think about the people who were celebrating a wedding that we bombed the crap out of. And here, right at the beginning of this thing, is where I might lose you. I certainly hope this is not the case, but if it is, c'est la vie. You might consider skipping to the next paragraph. See, the thing is, I don't think I'm a patriot. I looked over some definitions and I just don't fit. I think the biggest breakdown for me is the part about "supporting" or "zealously supporting" my country. I don't really support a lot of what we do. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy that I happened to be born here. But that's just it. I happened to be born here. OK, you might say that God or a higher power or the Fates or whatever deemed that I'd be here, but that doesn't really matter. I still didn't have a say in it. I'd be equally as happy living in Canada, Japan, England or any other modern, civilized country. I probably won't move though, because I have a family and plenty of friends who I love and I want to be near. But I don't really think much of the United States in several ways. There are the obvious ways: our president is a joke, our representative democracy is really just an oligarchy, we remove, or at least try to remove governments, even democratically elected ones, who don't kiss our butts and very generally speaking, we are an ignorant lot. But I think the saddest thing about it is that we have the intelligence and the wherewithal to address and correct many of the problems that plague this country and we simply don't do it.
Before I get to be too much of a downer (and before Herr Asscroft tracks me down and detains me), I want to make something clear. I'm talking about the small group of people, elected, "elected," and not, who run our government. Every single day, nearly every person that gets on my bus or that I interact with in some other way is friendly and pleasant. I have a nice conversation (that goes more that "sure is hot out." "yep.") with a perfect stranger nearly every day. I know there are many good things about this country because I see the good things daily.
Anyway. I'm quite aware that that's not very coherent, but I don't feel like fixing it. And since it's my freaking web site and I don't have to answer for it, I'm going to leave it.
I went to a bbq this evening and then we went to a condominium on the seventh floor of a building that overlooks downtown to watch fireworks. It was beautiful. But I'm not sure what happened to the grand finale. That is, there really wasn't one. Oh well.
7/3
I drove the same route that I did yesterday. Not much happened. One lady, who was on her way to the liquor store, provided the most excitement. She was talking to another lady and started one sentence with "Some people don't think war is good..." and another with "Forgiveness is nice, but..." Uh, yeah. That was nice. And a lady got on the bus with Bridget Jones's Diary. So I'm pretty thankful for the guy with American Gods. I've decided to look for a new book once I've finished one. I don't want to feel behind.
7/2
I had a pretty uneventful day. I drove a nice route where everyone pays and there aren't really any hassles. The only thing remotely interesting is that James Earl Jones and Mark Messier rode my bus. Well, a lady who looks like JEJ and a guy who looks like MM rode my bus. Oh, and someone got on my bus with Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I'll read that one.
7/1
OK. It's clear that I'm not a professional web designer, but my landlord/roommate is. And he will probably have nothing to do with this site. I have the day off and I thought it was a good time to get something together. I assume that the site will change as I learn how to do more, but for now, it's nice and simple.
Two things that I saw last week:
- A very drunk old lady with a glob of snot on her chin who smelled like she had pooped her pants told me that I was gorgeous and tried to kiss me.
- A hippie-looking guy missed his bus and smashed his guitar on the sidewalk.