~Tuesday~ Wash. Rinse. Repeat. I was running late yet again this morning. I really need to start setting my alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning.
When I got to the Food Lion Park & Ride, there were two Wolfline buses waiting, the #1 Avent Ferry and the #9 Greek Village. I got on the #1 since it was in front and it left as soon as I got on.
The girl sitting to my left was studying—presumably for an exam, since exam week is finishing up this week—from flash cards made from old-fashioned index cards. There were four other students studying on the bus, too.
Sitting directly across from me was an older guy. He had salt and pepper hair, with a little more salt than pepper at this point, but he only looked slightly worn—I mean for his age. He kept his eyes closed a lot on the way as if coveting that luxury afforded him by public transportation. Every time he did open his eyes, he caught me looking at him, and he reminded me of Janet’s Nicaraguan doppelganger of me. Enough reflection (literally!) this morning.
I had my staff meeting with my boss today, which was professional and productive. And it only lasted a half-hour instead of an hour. Bonus.
I took the bus across main campus to the Butler Communication Building, where I attended the reschedule of the “Writing Right for the Web” part two education seminar that was rescheduled from the week before due to poor audio. There were only two other people in attendance, and frankly, I didn’t learn much of anything new in it.
Both on the way and on the way back, I was grateful for the GPS technology that’s on the buses, as the wind was biting cold today, and it was nice to be able to look on my phone to see exactly where the bus was before going outside to the stop. I love it when technology actually enhances your life.
I caught the Wolfline #1 Avent Ferry bus back to the Park & Ride, for which the inappropriately-talking bus driver was at the helm. He must have had a talking to, however, because he made not one peep the entire ride.
In other bus news, I thought of one my readers, Ann, who takes public transportation from Carrboro to Raleigh when I saw this news item, and I wondered if she has to take the Chapel Hill bus as part of that commute: Chapel Hill city bus engulfed in flames!
I attended tonight’s SIGDOC End-of-Semester & Holiday Party at Hibernian in downtown Raleigh, where it was good to catch up with some people I hadn’t seen in quite a while. One of them was my friend E-Ching, who nonchalantly walked up 8 months and three weeks pregnant! Straight people!
It was great to catch up with her and her husband, David, who’s just an all-around nice guy, and who I’m sure will be a wonderful father. I’m happy and excited for both of them.
It was also good to see Andrew—a handsome young man with or without his beard, in my humble opinion—too. I was looking forward to seeing both Lars and Sandy, but Lars sent regrets earlier in the day, so I knew he wasn’t coming. Sandy, however, I did think was coming and so was disappointed in not getting to see her.
Not unexpectedly, me, Sarah, Brad, and Jen “closed the party down,” meaning we were the last ones there, and laughing until the bitter (cold) end (out in front of the restaurant).
I dropped by Bob’s holiday party, but got a little lost on the way, which made me even later than I already was. I was in a neighborhood and pulled up beside this guy who was walking to his car, and I asked, “Am I close to Courtland?”
“Courtland?” he said, as if he’d never heard of it, and then pulled out his phone and said, “Let me just put it in real quick and see.” It took him a minute or two to get to his GPS system, and I thought, “Oh boy. While I appreciate the help, I really didn’t want this to turn into a long drawn out thing.” Sometimes, “I don’t know” is the best answer. Ungrateful bitch, aren’t I?
Then I heard the GPS lady say, “Turn left on…” and I got the information I needed.
I arrived between 10:15 and 10:30 to an empty house, but Bob was gracious enough to invite me in anyway, and drag out some of the party food after it had all been put away. Now that’s Christmas spirit! Thanks, Bob!
At one point, I had to use the restroom, and he sent me to the one off his dining area, in which I found a real live urinal mounted on the wall! Just like Flex, only without the candy in it. An actual functioning urinal. Too funny.
Bob also showed me his phenomenal collection of recordings from vinyl, to VHS tapes, to CDs, and a few DVDs—all in alphabetical order by artist, which totally appealed to me!
And, finally, I would be remiss in not mentioning those two precious dogs of his—Frances & Vincent. I can still see Vincent laying along the top of the couch with his chin resting on my coat. What cute, cute, sweet, sweet beings.
And today’s holiday favorite: