05/14/12 - Monday

05/14/12 - Monday

The alarm's going off. It's 3:15 in the morning. I must have been in deep sleep. I'm having trouble rousing myself enough to even turn off the alarm. Some part of my mind is telling me I can reset the alarm and sleep longer, that it would be OK. I know that's not true. Still, I'm just laying here.

Oh my goodness! It's 10 till 4! How did it get to be that late?! I have to leave soon and I still have reports to do and a comic to mail for eBay! I'm taking care of mailing the comic first. I would have liked to have mailed it on Friday. It feels like my duty to my customer to mail it today at the latest. I'm not moving fast though. I can't seem to get myself together.

I decide the only way I'm going to make it is to take the bills with me and scan and send them from the yoga center. I'm not sure that's possible. I hope it is! I make sure I have everything for that, stamp all the papers and put them into my backpack. I'd meant to clean some this morning. I think Scott is coming tonight. No time for that now!

My backpack was packed for going to Prakrit's on Saturday. There isn't much in it and it's all the wrong things! I tear everything out of it, dump it all on the floor, then try to sort through everything to put the right things Into the pack. Paper, pens, tea, water, sun hat, sunscreen, book, vitamins, memory sticks. I feel like I'm forgetting something major. I can't think of anything else I need. I'll have to do without whatever it is. Brushing my teeth then I'm going.

I can't remember what time the bus comes to my "regular" bus stop I'm trying to use the google maps on my phone to figure it out. I'd rather go to that stop, but making this first bus is the most important. Probably the time spent figuring this out will mean I should go to the farther away stop. It's silly doing this right now! Google thinks I won't make the first bus. So it's not giving me a departing time for it. I'll have to give up and go to the other stop. Google doesn't take that stop into consideration for me. It's too far away.

I just walked past the desktop computer. It reminded me that I haven't sent the maintenance report in. I'm going to have to do that! Ok. That's done! I'm finally at the door putting on my gear. I go to put my earbuds on and one of the ear pieces is missing! I look all around for it and don't see it. I know I have a backup headset or two right here In this drawer, but I'm feeling really rushed and can't find any. I should leave without them. I don't want to, though! There! I finally found my "bad" pair of earbuds. I can't waste the time putting them On. I stuff them into my bag, grab my gloves and take off.

Now, there's no question. I definitely need to go to the alternate stop. I may not make it even then. I'm not taking the time to check the time to try and figure that out! I'm pushing myself to get there. Hah! That's the place where there is a big change in the concrete. It didn't catch me this time! That means the stop is only about a block away too. Yay! There's the bus stop. I'm on the diagonal corner from it when I see the bus coming. I may not make it! I have to cross the street twice to get to the stop.

I cross the first street and hope for the light to change. It does! I get to cross the final street while the bus is waiting to turn! I made it! A whole 1\2 minute or so to spare! I'm so grateful! Getting on the bus I say goodmorning to the driver and show her my bus pass. She doesn't say anything back, doesn't look at the bus pass and starts the bus moving. I wonder if she is running late or something. Normally the female drivers are exceptionally nice. I'm wondering if she can talk. I'm not sure I've heard her talk to anyone. When we get off the bus she does say goodbye to everyone who thanks her as they are leaving. I guess she just wants to focus on her driving or something.

The 83 (not my bus) comes soon after the 460 left. I've been standing here watching it, not realizing that my bus had pulled up behind it! I could have missed my bus! I grab my stuff and go down to where it is and get on! The earbuds are annoying me. They only have sound in one ear. But, it's better than no sound!

Hey! I'm to the yoga center early, at 6:40. I must have caught an earlier bus at Disneyland. I've had a problem doing the Avalon deposits from Monday in a timely manner. The only time I pass a union bank until Friday is at harbor and Adams if I take the bus to there on my way home and make the deposit then I'd miss the bus home and would have to take a later one. I've had plans to do that sometime, but it's such a long trip home, I always end up deciding to just go home and do the deposit at a different time. Today, I've decided I'm going to go to Avalon now, after yoga, get the deposit ready and take it to a bank. That way the extra time doesn't affect my time going home.

I'm at Avalon. I was going to go to the union bank I'd seen at harbor and Adams, then I decided I should look to see if there's an easier one to get to. I had union bank tell me all the banks in the area. Now, I'm checking them with google maps to see which one seems easiest to get to and from. Wow! I can ride the 71 to one. Google says even with the 1/2 mile scootering to the bank that it will only take 25 minutes. I can take the same route back too! It's close time wise, but I might be able to get off the bus, scooter to the bank, make the deposit, scooter back and get on the bus, with almost no waiting! The bank teller Is curious about my scooter. She's looking at the deposit slip to find the business address and is a little surprised that it's not close. I told her I took the bus from there. I'm not going into the full why because of time. There's a Carl's jr across the driveway from the bank. I've been hungry for French Frys for a couple of weeks.  I chance it and go there.  I tell the lady I only want fries if I can get them quickly.  She gets the fries for me and I head off.

I'm at the bus stop in plenty of time!  I sit and munch on some fries.  I have about 1/2 of them gone by the time the bus arrives.

When we were emailing, Mary told me that Scott is on light days now at work.  That's bad.  He's coming over tonight.  I was counting on his arriving his normal late time to give me time to pick up the apartment.  I guess I'll just wait and see.

I'm at the bus stop, waiting for the 43, the first bus on my way home.  Scott calls right when the bus is supposed to be here.  I answer.  He's getting off work early.  He's in LA.  So, picking me up from Orange County won't work.  We go over different places we could meet and finally end up saying he'll pick me up at the alternate bus stop when I get off the last bus.  I can't remember the cross street name.  We hang up so I can look it up, then I call him back, give him the cross street name and tell him I'm supposed to arrive there at 8:05.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the place.  I won't have a chance to pick up anything!

The 43 is late.  I check the schedule.  I had 12 minutes between buses at Disneyland.  I'll gain a couple of minutes by going to the alternate stop there.  So, that gives 14 or 15 minutes total.  It will be fine.

The 43's finally here!  But it's 15 minutes late!  I doubt that it's even the one that was scheduled.  I think that bus never came and this is the next one.  I'm frustrated.  I don't know what to do.  It's not just me counting on this, Scott will be there waiting on me.  He doesn't have a cell phone so if I miss the connection at Disneyland there is no way to tell him!

I decide to call the OCTA and complain.  Their complaint department is closed for the day..

Now, I'm thinking I just want to know why the bus didn't come.  Maybe the driver was sick, or the bus was in an accident or something.  I should give them the benefit of the doubt.  I call the bus company and ask to know why the bus didn't come.  The nice lady on the other end of the line says she will talk to the scheduler and find out.  She came back and said he couldn't tell her why it was late, just that it was running 20 minutes late.  How strange.  I've always said that the 43 seems to run on it's own schedule (one that it doesn't tell anyone else about) this is proof of that.

We're almost to Disneyland.  We're so late I don't think there is any way I'll make the connection to the 460, but I'm still hoping.  I've been on edge the whole trip.  It really bothers me that Scott will be there waiting and I won't be there at the right time.

The bus stops and a father asks if we can take them to Disneyland.  The bus they are waiting for keeps passing them and not stopping.  The driver is really nice and accepts their pass even though it isn't for our system.

We're still not at Disneyland yet.  This time an Australian family is asking if we go to Disneyland and how much the fare is.  They are $1 short and turn to leave.  One of the passengers gives them the $1 so they can ride the bus.

Part of me is thinking it's great seeing all this sharing and caring between people, part of me is thinking this all took way too long, more delays in getting to my transfer.  I'm trying to remind myself that everything is a blessing.  I'm stressing anyway.

I get off at the Katella / Harbor exit and scooter to the alternate bus stop.  I check the time.  The only way I would make the 460 I was scheduled for is if it was running really late, which it doesn't normally do.  I'm hoping anyway.

A few minutes have passed.  I know I've missed it.  I take off my backpack and settle in to wait for the next bus.

At the exit, Scott is there waiting.  He didn't mind waiting.  I should have known he wouldn't mind waiting.  He wasn't worried about me.  He just assumed I was on a later bus.  All that stress I had about getting here, it was all silly.  

I need to de-stress somewhere.  I ask if he'd mind going out to eat.  He wouldn't mind at all.  We went and drove down pioneer.  We ended up at a Boba place, eating Chinese food.

Scott bought my dinner and then drove me home.  We're both tired so he just dropped me off at the front gate.  How funny.  I didn't even have to stress about how messy the place was.  It was a non-issue.  We never went in!