November 2003

11/27
Happy Thanksgiving.
Here's what I'm thankful for: -a lot of things -I got to see my nephew last night. I'll put up pictures soon.
I worked today. As expected, the 6 was even slower than usual.
Here's a nice shot of me with my Thanksgiving dinner.
11/23
We got some snow. It's not as much as we were supposed to get, but it'll do.
I was on call yesterday. I almost made a bus change. I did restock the schedules. And I watched Prep Bowl XXII, the Minnesota high school football championship games. I saw a couple games at the garage, then I came home and watched half of the last one.
I was on call again today. The Vikings game got started and I had been there for four hours. At that point I was thinking that I wouldn't go out. Naturally, I got the call to drive the 6 for a few hours. Good thing I taped the game. Of course, nothing of interest happened on the bus.
In summary, we got snow and I watched a lot of TV at work. Sorry.
11/22
I'm the bright one.
I got up much sooner than I wanted to today because I was scheduled to make relief on the 18 at 9:49am. When I got to the garage and checked in, Bill the dispatcher said, "We have a problem."
The markup, or extra board schedule, often goes up around 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon. I looked at the markup for today at about 2:30 yesterday. It said I had two pieces of work, both on the 18.
But the markup isn't official until 5:00pm. I usually check it after 5:00, just to be sure. I was in a hurry to get to Wyatt and Tina's house last night and I forgot to check it when I got in from my evening work.
I'm supposed to call the dispatcher to confirm that I'm going to make relief at least half an hour before I do it. I usually call on the way out to my truck. Today, I figured I'd get there in time to tell him in person.
So if I had checked my schedule last night or called today before I left the house, I would have found out that I have noon call today. Brilliant.
Oz and his acquaintance Rick rode with me for a while yesterday morning. He didn't have much to say, but he wanted some money for food. I don't carry much money when I drive, but I offered him a banana and pretzels. He didn't want the banana. In fact he made some disparaging comments about the snack food on hand, but he took the pretzels anyway.
I drove the 21 for a while in the afternoon. I had about fifteen minutes at one layover. There's a Wendy's there, so I went in to get a baked potato. They were out of potatoes. I needed some food in my system as I was getting hungry and a little bit grouchy.
So I got a Caesar side salad. It had bacon on it. Apparently, that's their substitute for anchovies. Time to rename that salad, jerks.
As I was eating my Caesar salad with bacon on it, a guy got on the bus who didn't want to pay. He hassled me and dinked around getting out his money for quite a while until I finally uh, raised my voice in his direction. Then he paid. He sat down and mumbled complimentary things in my direction.
11/20
I went out late last night, but I was driving the 28 and the 6, so no excitement. I did see Little Red Loafers at 7th and Nicollet at 1:00am, though.		weapon of limited destruction
My dad gave me a gun the other day. It's a Crosman 760 pellet gun.
I suppose I'll join the NRA now.
And Mark's probably sleeping a little easier upstairs because he knows I've got the main floor of the house under control. I keep the gun under my pillow.
11/18
I'm Duke-sitting again. We're having a pretty good time.
I went to the Mall... of... the UNIVERSE today. I was excited to see that we're approximately halfway to Christmas, at least according to this tree:
I drove the 18 the other day, but it was fairly uneventful again. A little kid, probably about 2 years old, climbed up the steps of my bus, waddled over to me and gave me a hug.
Oh, did you see this, from the Onion? Mike C. sent me that URL. I gave my mom the Transit Librarian URL and even re-added it to her Favorites list today. But as I told her, the bus company has random drug testing so I won't be taking any illegal drugs and it takes a woman for sex stories, so this will continue to be a family-friendly read.
The site overhaul is going slowly.
11/15
I think a princess may have ridden my bus yesterday.
She was a relatively attractive woman, maybe in her late thirties, with a big smile and an accent I couldn't place.
She was wearing red pants, a red shirt and red gloves. She was also wearing a tiara and a pinkish rose-print cape.
She did did not, however have a scepter or wand of any kind, so I was a little suspicious that maybe she wasn't really a princess.
I went to 1st Avenue and saw the Shins last night. They were most excellent. And I'm quite fond of their latest, Chutes Too Narrow. The Aislers Set were supposed to open, but they had van problems and couldn't make it, so the Soviettes filled in. They pretty much rocked.
11/11
I had a 3:00 PM call today and as soon as I got there, the dispatcher gave me some work. I drove the 18 all night. I had a fairly easy evening.
Of course, that means no good stories. Unless the Daff climbs aboard.
He rode with me on my last trip. I asked him how he was doing and he assumed his serious voice and told me a story.
A couple weeks ago, he got on a 28. He paid and the bus driver told him to find a sit, sit his ass down and shut up. He was a little upset about it. I asked if he called customer relations. His dad did. For as long as I've known that guy, he's been getting grief from assholes and there isn't much that makes me more angry.
But then we drove by a church. He said that a lady told him that the bells had gotten stuck ringing for two hours when no one was at the church. He thought that was pretty great. He told me that he wished that he had been there with his tape recorder. He would have called it "The Bells are Ringing and No One's in the Church."
He told me a few jokes featuring psychiatrists (You're Too/Two Tense/Tents and a couple others) and then we arrived at his stop. That guy is the greatest.
11/10
Well, it seems that I've been neglecting the TL again. I've been moving it to a new server which has been a little more time-consuming than it should have been. I think I'm all there now. Next up is a complete overhaul of the site. I got some new software to help me do it, but I have to learn how to use it first. Updates might be more sporadic than usual.
I drove a couple trips on the 52 Friday morning, then spent the rest of the day on call. I took a bus to Interstate Diesel. But I also went on a secret mission.
There's a driver who keeps showing up late to make relief at Uptown Station. The driver who's getting relieved finally got fed up and told someone about it.
I went with a street supervisor to wait for that bus to arrive. The plan was for me to jump on the bus and drive away, with the assumption that the relief driver would get there late and scratch. A scratch means no work and no pay for the day. And it goes on one's record.
The relief driver was there on time. The driver getting relieved thanked the supervisor for being there. Apparently the often-late guy has a bad history and they're ready for him to go, so I'm sure that supervisor will be back over there this week until he shows up late. Yeah, that's my union brother. But you know what? If he's as bad as I heard he is, I don't care if they nail him.
Friday night I hung out with the Fabulous Wiltgen Family, straight outta Sioux City. (Tina's mom and dad were in town.) Tina's sister Angie and her boyfriend Corey announced that they are now engaged. Congratulations Corey and Angie!
I drove the 17 Saturday night. It was ultra-uneventful until it was time to pull in to the garage. When I got to the terminal in NE Mpls, there was still one woman on board. I thought she might ride with me some of the way on the pull in, so I asked if she was going further. She nodded, so I started back to the garage. I started to wonder if she was where she needed to be after we pretty much ran out of residential neighborhood and she still hadn't asked to be let off. Quite suddenly, after a turn onto Washington Avenue, she panicked.
She jumped up and started saying something. But it was in Spanish. I finally pulled over so we could try to talk. Ha. If she had been asking for more bread or telling me that she had a headache or that the customers are eating fecal matter, then I would have understood her perfectly. I figured out that she was saying 17, but that was it. What was really great was that she was doing what Americans like to do when they're overseas. She leaned in close and shouted the same things over and over in an effort to make me understand. I noticed that she had a gold star in each of her two front teeth.
Finally, she pulled out a piece of paper with her address on it. She kept saying Minneapolis and Minnesota. What could I do but smile and nod? That was indeed where we were.
The paper also had her phone number on it, so I got out my phone. We passed the phone between us as we talked to her brother (?). He spoke pretty good English and I told him where we were waiting. After a few minutes, he came and picked her up.
She got home and I got some overtime. Everyone's a winner.
11/6
I got my flu shot today.
11/5
You can click on this sentence to see what I did on my road trip. If you want.
11/4
As this dark, blurry picture clearly shows, I saw the Decemberists last night.
It was the third time that I can remember seeing my favorite band at the time that they were my favorites. The other two: The Three O'Clock and Ben Folds Five.
The Decemberists only played for about an hour, but they were most excellent.
I drove yesterday, but nothing happened.
I spent most of the day today getting my new domain in order and attempting to get this site moved there. It looks like I have another full day ahead of me tomorrow. Or maybe I just got it done...
I had dinner with Paul and Jolana this evening. Hannah is 9 months old. She's getting big and she's really a cute kid.
11/2
I came home.
I have to admit to generally feeling a little restless. Maybe more on that later.
I'm not sure what to think of this. Minneapolis is the most fun city in the U.S.? I mean, I like it here and I can see how it's probably pretty fun and everything. And Cranium is a fun game. I just have kind of a fun-killing job. Maybe I'm just bitter that I missed Belle & Sebastian the other night (in St. Paul...). But I went to a Halloween party instead (see picture). And that was fun. Can I ramble on incoherently forever? Possibly. I'm hoping that I don't have to miss The Decemberists tomorrow night.		your humble narrator
I drove the 21 Friday. I pulled up to a stop and saw that a guy was going to need the lift for his walker. Our policy on lift passengers is that they get on first and off last. So I started to put the lift out and in the process, another guy had to back away from the door. He immediately started crying. "Oh man, I could've been on already!" etc. etc. etc. When he finally got on, he put in his transfer and pulled it out with force, to emphasize his displeasure with having to wait an extra minute to get on the bus. As if the scowl wasn't enough. Meanwhile, everyone else was getting their laugh for the day at his expense. I told him that I hoped he'd get over it.
I was driving a 21D, which goes over the Mississippi into St. Paul and a few blocks later turns south on Cretin Avenue to the University of St. Thomas. (Aside to non-native Minnesotans: Cretin Avenue is named for the Rev. Joseph Cretin, the first bishop of a diocese in St. Paul.) Because people don't pay attention to the overhead destination sign, they often find themselves heading south on Cretin when they want to go further into St. Paul. Then they have to get off at the first stop and walk a few blocks back to where the next 21 will take them where they want to go. So I usually make an announcement that I'm going to turn on Cretin.
Whiny Angry Guy was the only one on my bus as I neared Cretin. I felt that it was a fairly safe assumption that he wasn't a student at St. Thomas. I failed to make an announcement and, as expected, he started shouting when we made the right turn. Apparently this was the second time that this had happened to him. Huh.
The 21 doesn't necessarily bring out the best in me.
The 6, however, is another story. I drove it last night for 10 hours and I could've gone another two. I started my day in an indifferent mood, but the magic of the 6 line turned my frown upside down.
The first trip was quite the downer as I listened to a 40s-ish man tell a lady the story of why he has a walker. Some kids trying to get into a gang jumped him and beat him so badly that he lost his sense of balance. They were supposed to kill him. But he really seemed at peace with the whole thing.
An SUV from Huron, SD or thereabouts tried to run into me by going straight through a left turn only lane. I was on his right making a left from a left turn/straight ahead lane. I think I scared him a little. I had a good horn.
An elderly gentleman got on my bus at Uptown and rode to Franklin Avenue. It took quite a bit longer to make that trip than it usually does. I've never been so pleased with heavy traffic. He was telling a lady sitting across the aisle from him about his life. He was a doctor in World War II for the Tuskegee Airmen. Then he taught at the U of M until they made him retire when he was 72, two years after the mandatory age. He had a pretty firm opinion about the (unnecessary) use of the atom bomb in Japan. I hope I see him again.
And Big Al rode my bus for the second time in two years. Last year, I picked him up on his way home from a Gopher football game. He only had one lens in his glasses and he couldn't figure out where the missing one had gone. I remembered him as much for that as for his "Oh jeece!" spoken in heavy Minnesotan after every other sentence. Last night he was pretty tipsy, but I don't believe I've ever seen a happier drunk. He couldn't make it through a sentence without stopping to laugh in that kind of noiseless, can't catch a breath kind of way. I think I told him my name seven times before he wrote it down. He has Vikings season tickets on the 48 yard line, 22 rows up and he spent five minutes telling me that he sold three games' worth and made back his money for the whole season.
I'm in the process of getting the tale of my road trip in order...