Serendipity Tours - 2/24/12

Friday  -  2/24/12

My first yoga class was great! 
No one showed up for the second one though.  It happens sometimes.  It's sad. 
I stayed for over a half hour, making sure no one was coming, then I took off.

Now, I'm outside the building not sure where to go.  I could have stayed at the Yoga Center for longer, but their computer isn't upgraded enough to do anything except check email and if I'm going to sit around for extra hours, I'd like a computer I can use.  I start heading to my work.  There's issues with that too.  The computer is updated enough, but it's not a comfortable environment to hang out in, even though I do sometimes.

I've been talking about getting on some bus (any bus) and riding it to the end of the line to see where it goes.  I can stare at the bus route maps forever, but until I ride it, I don't really know where it goes.  I'm thinking about eventually taking at least one ride on every bus line I can.  Serendipity tours.  Jerry and I always used to take serendipity tours (he used the name long before he met me so I'm giving him credit here).  Serendipity tours are where you head off in some direction, see what you can see, turn where you want, stop where you want, and enjoy the trip.  I'm standing at the bus stop that would take me to Avalon.  I decide to either go to Avalon, or go back across the street and get on the bus going the other direction.  I let chance decide.  I texted the OCTA for both buses and told myself I would get on whichever bus gets here first.

The serendipity tour is happening!  The bus coming soonest is going in the opposite direction.  I cross the street again and wait.

It's nice to be on the bus.  It's a bit cold and grayish out.  It's nice and warm in the bus.  A good day for just riding around!  After awhile the bus goes around the Fashion Island Mall, except it doesn't go all the way around the mall.  It pulls off and stops at a bus terminal.  There isn't any activity here, and it doesn't look like the bus driver is planing to drive any more.  Eep!  I just assumed that the bus would come back since the route goes both ways.

I ask the driver about going back.  He says, he is ending his shift, but the bus behind us will be leaving in about 10 minutes.  I get out to wait.  There are two other people waiting here, I can't tell if they are waiting for this bus or not.  After 8 minutes or so, a driver saunters across the courtyard and gets into the bus, leaving the doors closed.  I'm wondering if he will just take off without me.  I go and stand in front of his door.  He was settling in and doing whatever he does to check in.  He opens the door and all of us get in.  He notices my scooter and asks me if I really ride it.  So, I tell him about my quest and the year without the car and the mile trip to the bus stop.  We start talking and have this great conversation on the way back.   He's been a bus driver for many years and almost has enough seniority to get one of the routes he considers good.  He says they changed the routes around a few years ago with the stated purpose that it "straightened" the routes...  but this route isn't straight at all.  He finds that funny.

I'm having a good time and still have time before I need to be at Avalon.  I ask him if I stay on the bus all the way to the end, if the bus will turn around and come back (see, I do learn to ask sometimes!)  He said there is about a 5 minute lay-over at the other side, but then it does come back.  I stay and ride the bus all the way to the end.  At times, the bus gets really busy or there's a lot of traffic going on.  We pause our conversation for that, but we do keep up a conversation the whole way.

This is his last shift of the day.  He introduces me to my new bus driver.  I tried to strike up a conversation with the new driver, but somehow it didn't spark.  I sit there quietly, dozing a bit, happy with the success of the serendipity tour.

Then this really loud white heavyset (chunky) girl comes on.  She is talking on her phone.  She must have a hearing problem of some kind.  She has the phone volume turned up to very loud.  I can hear the other side of the conversation from a ways away.  She plops down in the seat next to me...  actually, to be more precise, she plops down on a bit of my leg and continues to talk really loudly on the phone.  I don't like rudeness in people, but I remind myself that this is a serendipity tour and everything is a blessing and she is here in my life for some reason.  Also, I'm getting off in just a few stops.  So, there really isn't a problem.  I quietly bless her and scooch my body away, out from under her.  I'm definitely glad when it's time to get off the bus!  I got to work 10 minutes late.  I'm going to have to watch that.  In the future, I'll have to figure a way of knowing how long it will take to go to the end of the line and come back, before I get on to do it, or make sure I have a lot of free time available.