November 2002

11/28
Happy Thanksgiving and all that...
11/27
I just packed my stuff for a short-term move to the 'hood.
I'm going to hang out with Steve for a few days and do the things he likes to do: sleep, tear the bark off the tree in the backyard, eat, wipe my butt on the rug, fall asleep in front of the fire, and um, well, I guess I don't know what else he likes to do.
I work tomorrow until 3:08pm, so I'll miss Thanksgiving dinner. Family friends invited my parents and me to their house, so I'm hoping to get in on a turkey sandwich a little later in the day.
11/26
More chilitos, quick lunch with my mom, new socks, Diedrich Weiss at the Acadia Cafe. Today I didn't even have to use my AK. I got to say it was a good day.
11/25
I talked to Oz today. He's on a waiting list to get in to some kind of rehab place. He didn't sound too bad. Obviously, it's getting cold outside so I hope he can find somewhere to go until he gets in.
It's my Friday.
11/24
I haven't intentionally neglected the TL. I've been busy.
Much of my computer time has been spent updating sites Eric and I set up to chronicle his trip across India. (Those linked sites are identical.)
I have a new batch of pictures that I'll get up here soon.
The biggest reason I haven't updated for a bit is because of my brother Corey. He used to be known as Our Little Vegetable Guy because of his fondness for vegetables, but he has been pushing for a new moniker: Our Little Surprise Guy. In September, he showed up unexpectedly at my grandparents' anniversary celebration. And this weekend, he showed up for his father-in-law's birthday celebration. We all expected to see his wife Tara, but Corey wasn't going to make the trip. And that's not all.
Despite years of being fed a whole lot of misinformation about how these things get done, Corey somehow wised up and I'M GOING TO BE AN UNCLE! I'm pretty stoked about that. But if you see my grandparents, don't tell them because, well, you know... Our Little Surprise Guy will be at it again in December when we see them.
Yes and Low were both playing in theaters on Hennepin Avenue last night. Those are shows that I probably would've enjoyed. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that All were at 7th Street Entry and Bis and Ash were on a double bill at the Quest.
Last Sunday, Wyatt, Christina and I spent a few minutes trying to recall the name of a guy we worked with in Des Moines. We couldn't think of it. I was pretty sure it was a short name with a V and an R in it. It bothered me off and on all week.
I drove the 18S (to Southdale Mall) the other day, and around 50th Street, I thought of that guy again and tried to remember his name. About five minutes later, I turned onto 66th Street and headed toward Southdale. Because I feel comfortable complying with ADA regulations, I called the controlled intersections. Sheridan Avenue, Vincent Avenue, York Avenue! ha ha! That's the guy's name! York. Yes, that's a Y, not a V, but I picture the shape of names when I try to remember them. We liked that guy.
And more fantastic news this evening. A few months ago, I noticed a Zantigo restaurant in my parents' neighborhood. My first job ever was at a Zantigo very close to home. Then, around 1987, Taco Bell bought them out (I think) and they disappeared, along with their fabulous chilito. Taco Bell had a chilito for a while, but it was a miserable facsimile. Now it's called the chili cheese burrito. I always imagined that it was put on the menu as a response to all of us clamoring for chilitos. I have missed the chilito ever since it disappeared. Anyway, by some miracle, the Zantigo that I saw appears to be the same as the old Zantigo and their chilitos taste the same. Oh, I am a happy boy. I don't know where Zantigo has been, but I am glad to see them back. Yes, I know I swore off fast food, but this is what we call the exception to the rule. I LOVE CHILITOS.
11/21
I just got back from Big V's in St. Paul, where I saw the Soviettes. They rocked.
I didn't stay to see the next band because my eyes were burning from the smoke, my ears were ringing from the noise and I was tired. I am getting old.
I just missed "Captain Delirious" Shon R. I was on my way home before I remembered that he might be showing up tonight. By the time I got here, he had already come and gone.
I drove the 21 today. It was pretty uneventful. I was in a most excellent mood and that always makes everyone else friendlier.
I talked to an old guy who was on his way to a bar. He told me that he usually drinks 105 ounces of beer every Thursday night. I couldn't figure out how he arrived at that number, so I asked. That's fifteen 7 oz. beers.
11/20
My mom told me that she gave this URL to some ladies she knows from church. Uh... good time for that, huh? "Joyce's son really is a freak, isn't he?"
I had a long day today. I worked about five hours this morning, then had a couple hours off, then I worked another five hours this evening.
There was a big company-wide safety committee meeting at my garage this afternoon. Ironically enough, it was held out in the bay where the buses get parked, which is probably the most unsafe part of the garage. Well, we've been told that no one's quite sure how bad it is to breathe diesel exhaust.
11/19
Regular readers might remember that I went on a date a couple weeks ago. It was a pleasant experience.
So I emailed her and indicated that I'd like to do something again. She said that would be fine, but that she wasn't looking for anything serious. That's cool. My schedule is a mess so I don't think that I'd be worth much in a serious capacity anyway. I told her that if she was politely putting me off, that was OK. She said that she was also doing online dating and that dinner would be nice.
So what kind of psycho am I? I picked an online dating service and entered enough information gleaned from our two-and-a-half hour conversation to get a pretty narrow return. I found a profile that resembles her. It might have taken all of five minutes.
When I emailed her to make plans for dinner, I mentioned the profile, including the alias on the profile. She replied that part of the email threw her a bit. So I explained what I had meant in part of the email, but it wasn't the part that concerned her.
Then I didn't hear anything for several days.
My final inquiry into the situation, which included apologies for whatever might have been alarming, got a response.
Apparently, the part where I mentioned the alias made her very uncomfortable. Anonymity seems to be the crux of the issue. And she said that I shouldn't mention such things to strangers.
Hmm...
Did I mention that she told me that she was online dating? What I can't figure out here is this:
If I had seen her ad and then we had gone on a date, then I would have both seen the ad and met her. As it happened, I met her, then I saw the ad. The net result is the same, is it not? I'm not sure how anonymity figures in after that.
And I didn't put myself out of the stranger category after a two-and-a-half hour conversation?
So yes, the whole thing is a bit puzzling.
But I don't want to come off a more of a jerk than I already have by posting this. I have close female friends who have been the object of unwanted attention and I know the stress it causes. And I understand the need for women to be cautious. There are a lot of creepy men out there. So I'm not trying to blame her here. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the ad, but I would've felt dishonest talking to her as if I hadn't seen it. Maybe I shouldn't have looked at it in the first place. Unfortunately, I am a curious fellow and that kind of thing is fun for me. There's a very good chance that if I know you, I've Googled you. Now's the time to tell me off.
11/18
The 2-7 Vikings beat the 8-1 Packers yesterday!
That was pretty great. And it kept the Minnesota teams from going defeated over the weekend. The Gopher wrestling and football squads both lost to the Iowa teams.
I drove the 17 on Saturday. Downtown was a zoo. There were Iowans all over the place. I rescued several people from the swarms of bumblebees. And there were a lot of confused foreigners driving their cars on the bus-and-taxi-only Nicollet Mall.
On one trip I picked up a lot of Iowa fans headed downtown to the game. The 17 tends to be a demographically older route, and those folks were good sports about the Iowegians singing the "in Heaven there is no beer, that's why we drink it here" song. I wonder if any of them were the guys who tried to take the goalpost.
Elvis rode my bus! He had the hair, the sideburns, the leather jacket, the sunglasses, and the "thankyouverymuch."
I got to watch most of the Vikings game Sunday while I was working. I did a fill-in on the 21 when a bus broke down. I got back to the garage right around kickoff. Then I made a bus change and did some odd jobs around the garage, mostly in sight of the TV.
11/15
I went to the grocery store on my way home from work today. I noticed a piece of paper taped to the windshield of the car in front of me. My first thought was that somehow someone was upset with the parking job, which looked fine to me. In grandmotherly script was written:
Warning! Cat hiding under tire!
I looked under that car when I was done shopping and apparently the cat had moved on.
I was on 5:30am call today. I drove two trips on an express route for the morning rush hour. Then I made a couple trips moving buses around. I helped swap buses with another garage and then I retrieved a bus from the overhaul base, where buses get major work done on them.
Correction: Yesterday I reported that the Minnesota/Iowa wrestling match was last night, but it's tonight.
11/14
The Mall of the Universe in Bloomington will be absolutely hopping this weekend! I hope they stocked up on Big Johnson t-shirts and framed 9/11 pictures featuring a bald eagle in front of the towers! And why is this?
The Iowegians and the Cheeseheads will both be here! The Gophers face Iowa on the wrestling mat tomorrow tonight and on the football field Saturday. And the Packers will be here Sunday.
"Action" Shon R. showed up fresh out of South Dakota last night. He caught a flight to Portland this morning to visit Corey and Tara for the week.
I drove the 6, then doubled over to the 2 this morning. Some days I can't believe I'm getting paid.
One rather paranoid lady talked for about twenty minutes about brainwashing, Catholicism, and some of the actions that our government has taken in the "war" against terrorism. I said, "Yeah, I think we've gotten a little crazy in some areas." She said, "They're all crazy, all of them. They try to pin it on me, but they're all crazy."
She pointed out a building at the corner of La Salle and Franklin. She told me it used to be a bank and that a friend of hers held it up with a toy gun. Apparently her friend later died in a river at, um, a secure psychiatric facility.
11/11
I had a bright ray of sunshine on my bus today!
And I think I got a lesson in karma.
I was in the drivers' room at the garage when another driver said, "Oh, you're 2245!" Apparently a (developmentally disabled?) woman said some nice things about me a couple days ago and was looking for my bus. Huh. Looks like my fan club just climbed back up to one.
Today I drove the 6, which goes down Hennepin Avenue from downtown to Uptown. I stopped at 22nd Street for a young woman who seemed a bit agitated. I noticed immediately that she had voted. She asked me if I knew where the 28 was, because it was late. It always amuses me when people ask me if I know where a certain bus is. I guess it's kind of a natural thing to ask, but if you think about it for very long, you'll probably realize that it's very unlikely that I'll have any idea whatsoever.
The 6 and the 28 take convergent and divergent paths to Southdale Mall, where the 6 terminates and the 28 goes further south. After she stood there (I've got a green light...) deliberating (and a schedule to keep...) for way too long (let's go, huh?) she decided to ride with me. I still had some green light left and, as I do a hundred times every day, pulled away from the curb as she was paying. We hit a patch of uneven road and she fell back a little and caught herself. That scenario is an everyday part of riding the bus. Except that most people know that the bus might lurch a bit and are ready for it.
A guy got on at the next stop and almost the exact same thing happened, except that he slipped. Again, this is something that hardly ever happens. For it to happen twice in a row in highly unusual. Well, that was all it took for that lady to start in on me about passenger safety. I immediately sensed danger. I tried a generic pacifying comment. This is usually enough to calm someone down. She didn't calm down. Ordinarily, when I make a mistake, I simply apologize and keep driving. But I hadn't done anything either unusual or wrong. And I was in a good mood. So when she kept talking, I pointed out to her that I don't build the roads, I just drive on them. And that I generally assume a bit of balance on my passengers' part. Yes, I'll admit to egging her on. Shame on me.		life is so hard
At this point, the people on the bus who could hear what was going on were laughing. The guy who slipped told her that he was fine and that it was no big deal. She kept on for a little while, then finally stopped yapping.
The guy who had slipped got off the bus at 36th. He leaned in to me and said, "You better watch yourself with that lady on board!" and laughed. The next guy who got off said, "If anyone asks, I feel safe on the bus." The next lady who got off said, "Good luck!" It was nice to get a little support from the rest of the passengers.
I drove carefully all the way to Southdale, though. When we got there, she waited for everyone to exit. She held up three fingers and went into full-on drama queen mode. She told me that she had been "thrown around three times" and blah blah blah. By now I'd had enough, so I got very nice. I told her that I was sorry that she'd been thrown around. I said that I was a bit surprised that it was anything unusual, since no one has ever said anything to me about it before. (In fact, I've gotten compliments from people about my smooth driving.) She asked me if I was glad to hear it from her and not my supervisor. I told her that they've ridden with me and know how I drive. And then I said that I was sorry that the 28 was late, and that I realized that that's what this was really about, but that I didn't have anything to do with that bus being late, and again, I am sorry about it. And try to have a lovely day, anyway.
Well, did you need to hear all that? I doubt it. Will I leave it all on here? Probably. I made a composite sketch of her at a pretty cool website. Unfortunately, it seems to be short on women's features and this composite doesn't really look much like her. But if you see her, steer clear. She's mean.
11/8
First of all, don't miss this story. That's pretty cool. I just finished Fast Food Nation, which I read after my friend Manda read about my vow to quit eating fast food burgers and asked if I'd read it yet. So it's somewhat related here.
I only say that because Mike C. and Kevin T. were laughing at me because I haven't written about any books since the first one. I'm getting there. It's just that I've read two books plus the beginning of another since I finished Northanger Abbey. And the one I've only started is The Mysteries of Udolpho, which I'd like to finish before I write about Northanger Abbey.
I had a split again today. I didn't have a very good day. The morning was fine, but the afternoon could have been much more pleasant.
It started with a hissing sound. The controls for the seat are pneumatic and one of the buttons was leaking. So I plugged/covered that as well as I could. But it bothered me all day.
Then I noticed that the speedometer wasn't working and the jammed coin release button on the farebox was stuck.
Yeah, those are little things, and one at a time, they wouldn't be too much of a problem. And they still weren't really a problem, but they were annoyances nonetheless.
The real problem is that some driver drove that bus and put it away without writing any of those things up.
But the thing that topped off the day was watching a car broadside a bicyclist. Right in front of me. I was waiting at a stoplight near the U of M. The car, a PONTIAC driven by a kid from 'Sconsin (too young or too blond for a proper 'stache I think), made a left turn and accelerated into the bicyclist, who was going straight. The bicyclist bounced off the windshield, did a cartwheel in the air and landed in front of me. I closed my eyes for a second to prepare myself for the sight of bones sticking out of appendages or a lot of blood or something along those lines. The bicyclist popped right up and asked me for a statement. I could not believe he got up. I'm pretty sure that the bicycle had the green light and the right of way.
I needed to wind down a bit, so the Duke of duke and I took a walk. No fecal issues this evening. I feel much better now.
11/7
I drove the 21 for a full shift today. It went well. No one hassled me at all. I did arrive at one terminal two minutes after I was scheduled to leave it, which meant that I was 16 minutes late. That's never fun, but fortunately, it was easy to make up the time.
I'm Dukesitting again. Duke is the golden retriever that I was watching when I fractured my ankle last spring. He's a good dog, but he always manages to save some dumping for when we're in the middle of a walk, even when he's supposedly taken care of business on his lawn before we leave. My weak stomach, which is legendary in certain circles, does not like the cleanup procedure. One of these days I'll write my most famous puking story here and then I'll never have to tell it again.
11/6
I have a lot to talk about. I'll try not to ramble.
Let's see... I had a blind date last night. I don't know how it went, so don't flood my inbox with inquiries. ha. But I'll leave it at that I liked her just fine, thank you.
The elections. Yeah, anyway... If our new lieutenant governor gets her way, I'll be writing daily updates on The Cardboard Box Under the Bridge Librarian. And nationally, it looks like the politics of greed and fear win again. Oh well. We made it through the Reagan years, right? Never mind the mentally ill homeless folks... pass the ketchup.
Oh. It was Death Day on my bus today. I'm pretty sure terrorists were plotting to kill me and the ram the bus into the base of the IDS Tower downtown. How do I know? I found a box cutter hidden in a seat. Someone has inside information, too. I found it before I even left the garage. So that didn't work. Then I found a pack of cigarettes, clearly left by someone who wants me to start smoking and die an early death of lung cancer. I didn't start smoking, so I foiled both attempts and I'm on a personal color-code level of ORANGE for the next week.		terrorists' tools
Aside from the death threats, I had a pretty good day.
I had lunch at my mom and dad's house. Also in attendance: Ben Lee (send your money now). The soup was excellent and Ben told me that the URL to this pile of drivel made some kind of rounds at my alma mater. I blame Mike C. He protested, methinks a bit too much. But, as I told him, I do this to keep myself amused. If other people actually read it, that's a bonus.
11/5
Hey, I voted.
I always do. Even when I'm not convinced that it means a whole lot. And that's most of the time. Well, the act of voting itself certainly means something. The Iraqis recently re-elected Saddam, didn't they?
But obviously, our last election, in which a convictionless bore faced a chimp, proved that, with a little help from his friends, a marginally charismatic monkey with a lot of money and a well-connected daddy can beat a rich cord of timber with a famous daddy. And it showed a lot of people, me included, that our vote doesn't really matter. Again, I'll point out that our supposed democracy is really a plutocracy. And I don't see how that's ever going to change.		I VOTED
On the other hand, I like the chance to vote for local and state politicians. I get less of the feeling that they're in it for something other than to make a difference (or maybe to get some free plumbing- ha!). Plus, my friends in Minneapolis usually get a write-in vote to be a sheriff or soil and water supervisor or something. And, as always, Hard Rockin' Don Bakken, my high school guidance counselor, got a vote. I think he'd make a fine judge.
They ran out of I VOTED stickers at the school where I vote. I got the very last sticker. It's the red part of that photo over there.
11/4
I just got back from a massage. So I feel better about just about everything right now.
I forgot to mention that I made a couple buffalo pot pies yesterday. I made them at Wyatt and Tina's during the (painful) Vikings game. Wyatt coached/taught me how to make them. We ate one of them. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself.
After not ringing all day, my phone rang three times during The Simpsons.
One of those calls was Jamie calling from the airport. She got voluntarily bumped from flights twice yesterday and spent the night here. I picked her up at her hotel and she, Wyatt, Tina and I played NTN trivia at a bar downtown.
11/4
I got up at 9:30 today. Yesterday I got up at 2:45.
I had that 3:50am call yesterday. I got to the garage and sat around for a couple hours, then drove the 17.
Sunday morning on the bus tends to be rather relaxing. Yesterday was no exception.
I did see a squirrel get tagged by a cab on the Nicollet Mall. It happened about 50 yards in front of me, and due to the 10 mph speed limit, I had all kinds of time to watch that thing flop around and kick and shudder. It was pretty nasty.
One lady said she had been watching John Tesh on TV. Mr. Tesh was discussing diet and exercise. She asked me the difference between protein and calories. She peppered me with several questions and comments, most of which I can't remember. Early mornings get fuzzy in retrospect. Then she asked me about the medicinal uses of marijuana. I told her that from what I understood, it was helpful for people suffering from glaucoma and it helps alleviate the nausea caused by chemotherapy. She assured me that a doctor would have to give her something else. Uh...
Perhaps the strangest thing about that whole conversation is that John Tesh has a radio show.
11/2
I drove the 4 today. Nothing exciting happened. I have to be to work at 3:50 in the morning tomorrow.
11/1
My schedule got crazy again. Well, a little.
I worked a split yesterday. I was on the 18 until 11:00pm, so I brought a costume along. You might think to yourself: Wyatt Earp, Pancho Villa or maybe Fu Manchu. But you'd be wrong. You should be thinking to yourself: Guy from Wisconsin. It amused me all evening to ask people who commented on it, "You didn't recognize me, did you?"		"How 'bout them Packers?"
I pulled out at 7:15 this morning. (They are required to give us eight hours off between shifts.) I got split again today. I had a couple hours off this afternoon then drove the 21 until about 6:15 this evening.
I got my flu shot today, so I feel kind of lousy, but better than I did a couple hours ago.
Warning- the following anecdote is rated PG-13: An older guy got on my bus and started talking to me, but I was having a really hard time understanding him. I smiled and nodded at the appropriate places until he said, "Would you do it?" He had to repeat himself several times before I figured out he was talking about a colonoscopy, or something along those lines. He was nervous about it. I agreed that I would be nervous and that I am not looking forward to such things. He then lamented further that his doctor is a woman and that she had been putting her finger in his rectum. (I got the accompanying gesture at this point.) In my flu shot-induced haze, I told him if it came down to it, I'd rather have a woman doing that than a man. That made him laugh, and he said I was bad and that I really wasn't much help.