~Wednesday~ On the bus this morning, a man sitting in the seat formerly known as Swapping Dollar‘s had on a ball cap and a Carolina Panthers jersey. He kept a filtered cigarette that was burned down to about a half-an-inch of it left, unlit in his mouth the entire ride. It reminded me of a baby pacifier, albeit a nasty one. I also thought, “I’ll bet his breath is nasty.”
Starting with me, and at least two other times, the bus driver drove off while while we were still either swiping our cards or putting in our fare, all the while standing “forward the yellow line” under the sign that says:
federal law prohibits operation of the bus while anyone is standing forward of the yellow line. |
Grumpy Boy got on without a smile, but wearing his “Does this shirt make me look grumpy?” t-shirt.
At the stop with the family with the daddy with the two boys and the wife in the burka or chador, there was a surprise today. Lo and behold, on the mother’s lap was another little boy. I’d say close to one year old, maybe. Adorable. In a little gray hoodie with the hood up! I’m going to name him (the daddy) My Three Sons. Who knew they had a baby? It did make me wonder where that baby has been all these other times the rest of the family has been at the bus stop.
Two other “regulars” got on at the next couple of stops: Li’l Dino Lady and the man with the boil, today with two vertical BandAids® and one horizontal—just one horizontal one away from a tic-tac-toe board.
Three forgotten items from yesterday:
- I heard a very interesting segment on NPR of an interview with an author of a book about words. He introduced the notion to me that there are spoken sentences that cannot be written. I loved that, as it was one of those things that I “didn’t know I didn’t know.” I’d share the example with you, but I can’t write it. 🙂
- Last night at Bag Lady Bingo, Eunyce Raye had a tip jar on the table up on the stage where she was calling out the Bingo numbers that said on it, “The baby Jesus loves tippers.”
- I heard part of a story on NPR in which they were talking about how out-of-whack our compensation-for-contribution system is in this country, particularly with regards to not reflecting what we value. The example they gave was of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roberts getting paid about $225,000 a year for the complex and critical judicial decisions that come before him on a daily basis, setting the tone for our very freedom in this country, compared to Judge Judy who makes about $25 million a year. That’s messed up.
I’m quite sure somewhere along the way in my blog I’ve mentioned, or at least intimated, that I’m not a phone person. Here is a chart of my usage from my September bill:
- I had 28 one-minute calls, 11 two-minute calls, 2 three-minute calls, and so on.
- 58% of my phone calls are 1 minute or less (I wouldn’t mind this being higher.)
- 81% of my phone calls are 2 minutes or less (I’d love to see this in the 90% range, and more of them moving into the one-minute category.)
I stopped by the ballroom in the Talley Student Center, where free, compliments of the State Health Plan, I received my flu shot. This is the regular flu shot, which I’ve been getting every year for the last four or five years. I’m not getting the H1N1 flu shot.
There was a long line, as it stopped at 5:00 and I guess most people had the same idea of stopping by on their way home. However, they had about 6 nurses giving the shots, so the line moved quickly, and the woman who stuck me was excellent.
When I got home, there was a package sitting on my doorstep, which I thought might be a package from my parents—some Portuguese food for my birthday.
Alas, it turned out to be eight rolls of toilet paper! I forgot that I’d participated in some survey (for pay, of course!) in which they said they’d send me some to try and then follow up with a survey about “my experience” with it. I hope the questions don’t get too detailed about its use.
The note inside the box said:
| Dear Panel Member,
There are just a few rules that I would like you to follow:
I am most interested in your opinion of the product and at the end of the two weeks, I will be emailing you a questionnaire survey link so that you can give me your opinion of the Charmin Ultra Soft tissue product you used for me. Thank you very much for helping with this study. I will be looking forward to seeing your comments. Cordially, |
Dancing was a lot of fun tonight. There was a decent crowd. As far as regular dancers, we had: Carl, Bill, Rick, Michael, Geromy, and Ernie. Other folks who are learning and people I know included: Ernie’s Wayne, their friend Jason (I’m pretty sure that’s his name), Geromy’s Jeff, Joe T. and his boyfriend Phil, Karl (who’s been coming for the last three weeks or so, as he’s here weekly now on business from Charlotte).
The lesson tonight was another review of the dance to Alan Jackson‘s Good Time—the third week in a row we’ve reviewed that dance. It’s almost to the point where I’ve danced that dance long enough that my initial “I’m not very fond of it” starts wearing off to, “I like it okay.” Well, I’m not there yet, and in fact, am moving in the opposite direction. There’s a good chance I’ll stop doing it in the future.
Bill, Joe, and Karl asked me to two-step, which I take as affirmations. I did a nice partner dance with Geromy.