Picking Up The Truck - 3/22/12

Thursday 3/22/12

I had a sleep over with Christina (my Granddaughter) last night.  She woke me up this morning by telling me that it's time to get up.  It made my heart sing.  I love both of the kids so much!  I had a great day babysitting them.  We had a play-date with Claire and her kids.  That was fun too!

Charles called me to verify I'm picking up the truck tonight.  It'll get a ticket if it says where it is.  I almost told him I don't need it.  My job this weekend was canceled.  It seems silly to borrow it.  It's a gas expense with no extra income.  But, it's supposed to rain this weekend and I'll be teaching Sunday night class.  I decide to go ahead and borrow the truck anyway.  I've needed a break.

I had the directions to get from here to Charles' printed out.  I was sure I packed them when I packed for today.  I can't find them.  Fortunately, I checked early.  I'll print them out again from here.

Leaving the kids is always so hard for me to do.  They're involved in making a pizza with Dad.  They've already moved on, but my heart wants to stay.  I've said my goodbyes though and need to leave.

I'm to the bus stop on time!  Maybe I'm getting better at this!

Now that I'm on the bus, I'm using the GPS on my phone to show where we are now, and to look for the street I need to get off on.  I don't know that stop and I can't find the street on the map.  When we get to a stoplight I go ask the driver about it.  He doesn't know that street name either!  He says something about there being a lot of streets on this route.  He seems grouchy and not helpful.  One of the passengers says he thinks the street I need becomes Katella.  He doesn't seem sure though.  I'm now searching frantically for the piece of paper that has the instructions on it.  I can't find it.  Maybe it fell out of my pocket when I got on the bus.

Finally I found the directions!  They were in my pants pocket!  The traffic here is really bad, which is probably why the driver's grouchy.  We're stopped at a stop light again.  I go back and tell the bus driver I need the number 50 bus and ask if he knows where to get off for that.  He says I need Katella.  It's verified!  Katella it is!

The bus took a  long time getting to Katella because of the traffic.  I might have missed the 50 and might have to take a later one.  I'm texting OCTA to see when the next bus arrives, when the 50 shows up!  I wonder if it was late or on time?

On the bus, I look it up and the 50 was 5 minutes late, probably because of the same traffic we got stuck in.  If it would have been on time, I would have missed it.  Thank goodness we were all stuck in the same traffic!  I'm not worried about where to get off this bus, even though I haven't taken it before.  I'm going all the way to the VA Hospital in Long Beach.  That has to be their last stop.  There's a hub there between Long Beach, LA and Orange County.  That's the start and end of several bus routes.  I'm not even worried about catching the next bus, since Long Beach has four buses that run the route between the VA Hospital and Charles' place.  When it's time, I just have to find the right stop and wait for the first one of those four buses!

It was a long ride and I dozed a bit.  Now we're at the stop.  I ask the driver where to catch the Long Beach bus.  He doesn't know, but said it would be "back there somewhere", pointing to 7th street.  I head off that way and realize everyone who got off the bus is going the same way.  I hadn't needed to ask, I could have just followed the crowd!

What a beautiful bus stop!  This is the best one I've seen!  The bench is long and curvy and white, with an artistic white canopy overhead.  There are several seat segments.  It's both functional and pretty!  I think they must be able to seat 20 people!  There's even an electronic readout to tell you what buses are coming and when they will arrive!  How nice!

I've got long johns and a jacket on.  I'm still cold.  There's a woman here in shorts and a bright pink top.  All I can think of is that she has to be cold.  One of the other people waiting, is shivering, and asks her about it.  She says she's not, that she's just used to it.  Somehow, we all get into a discussion about monthly bus passes and the price of the passes on the different systems.  Orange County costs $55, Long Beach is $65 and LA is $75.  We all ride multiple systems and really wish there would be one pass to cover everything.  I always have to make sure I have change when I'm going to ride a Long Beach or LA bus.  I'd love to have a pass that included it all!  Less to think about before I leave is always better!

The truck is right there where Charles said it would be.
When I go in to pick up the key, one of his roommates asks for my bread recipe (I often send bread over.)  That's cool!  It's nice to know that people like it!

I'm in the truck and getting ready to drive home.  I knew I was tired of riding the bus, but I don't think I understood how much.  A part of me wants to sleep in the truck or something.  I'm so grateful to have it for the weekend!