So, I had to take the 140 down to the place where I intern today. It was the crappiest bus I have ever been on. The flow of it was kinda like /\/\/\------------/\/\/\/\/\/\_______________/\/\/\/\ it was terrible. I was sure that at any minute, it was going to break down completely and just stop. And the air conditioner was BROKEN. I was so happy to get off that bus. But then, when I was done with getting everything ready for interning, I got back on the 140 to go to school and... IT'S THE SAME STINKING BUS! Except more crowded this time. So right now, I'm still on the bus whose wheels do not go round and round, but /\/\/\/\___________/\___/\/\/\/\.
A guy missing several teeth and carrying an ice chest just sat down opposite me. Next to him, there's a kid who looks abou 14 with a tattoo on his arm that says, "Jen." I sure hope Jen is his mom or sister or he will soon be wishing Jen wasn't permenantly stuck to his arm.
A gal a few seats down from me is now explaining that no one can sit next to her because her backpack has a name, and that is "his" seat.
Getting off 140 soon.
Now on the 777, heading to school. ....okay, boring 777 ride.

Ride Home, Same Day

Extremely crowded 766 right now. I'm amazed I found a seat. There is probably someome reading this over my shoulder right now. The driver seems to not understand the concept of braking slowly so as to ease into a stop. He keeps slamming on the brakes in the manner some would refer to as a "seatbelt check." Unfortunately, there are no seatbelts on the bus. Everyone is flying around a lot.
Now on bus 8. The guy across from me has a tattoo of a vampire bite on his neck. I guess he's more of a Stoker fan than a Meyer fan.
I just caught the end of a conversation that this couple next to me is having. He said, "no one's getting charged unless the cops catch us." Weirdness.
Getting off soon. That was relitively eventful.

First Bus Trip of the Term

7:36 in the morning, just a-waiting for the bus... Now sitting on the 766, waiting for it to fill up with people. Among the people here so far, there's a girl with a giant make-up case that looks more lile a laptop, so now I'm thinking she's probably some kind of Miss Congeniality secret agent with a laptop disguised as a make-up case.
Also, there is this fly landing repeatedly on my foot, and it's driving me a little bit bonkers.
Just stopped again, and a variety of strange people got on. It's the busiest stop in town. An old dude is now sitting across from me, a gal in pink scrubs next to me and now nearly every seat is filled.
I will be exiting the bus soon, so that concludes the term's first bus trip.

Quote List

Hello to all of my four followers!
As you may have noticed, I have a list of interesting quotes I've heard on the bus over here
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If you ever hear anything super funny or bizarre on the bus, be sure to leave it in the comments, so I can add it to the list.

My Friend's Bus Trip Today

I did not have to take the bus today, my mom dropped me off. However, my friend Softball-Stud took the bus and told me about it.

This is paraphrased.

"I was waiting for the bus for forever, and then it started raining and it was pouring! And I got completely soaked and then I come to class and they have the air conditioner on like forty, so I was shivering all through class. I'm still freezing. Is it cold out?"

It was actually quite hot, but getting drenched while waiting for the bus and then freezing in refrigerated air can mess up one's personal thermometer.

Currently waiting for bus 5 and it is sure taking its time...
Finally on. Heading toward bus 31.
Someone has a spanish radio station going really loud on a boom box, but other than that, it's uneventful. Relitively normal people ride the 5. Weird driver, though; he's talking animatedly to himself.
Now waiting for bus 31 along with some guy in scrubs and a nose ring and a guy eating a carmel sundae. Why didn't he get chocolate?
Now I think he's starting to wonder that too, because he just threw away the sundae cup with all the carmel in it. Hmmm...
31 came 6 minutes late. Don't take the bus anywhere if you're in a hurry.
Some gal next to me just announced that she wants someome to make her mad so that she can kick them in the face. Guess she's having a bad day. Getting off soon sorry the eide was boring. Doesn't make for very good reading.

Family Bus Trip

As I posted earlier, on Monday, there was a family bus trip. My sister and I, who both ride the bus frequently, taught my mom and two little sisters how to ride the bus.

People in this story:
Mom-- Webname: Mom
My older sister-- Webname: Bikerchick
Me-- Webname: Rangergirl
Younger sister-- Webname: Red-Headed-Swimmer
Youngest sister-- Webname: PrincessSarah

To get to the Community College or the University, the fastest way to go is to take the 8 to the transit center and then take the 766 from the transit center. This is one of about four ways to get to school.

We live a block away from Park Avenue, where bus 8 stops. I planned this grand adventure in which we would all take the 8 and the 766 to get there and then the 31 and 777 to get home. This way Mom knows more than one way to get to and from school and the family gets the full bus riding experience. But... the family did want the full bus riding experience. So we took the car-- that's right, the CAR down to the transit center. It turns out, the transit center has a very tiny and full parking lot. So we parked over at the mall and then walked back to the transit center.

We boarded the 766. The transit center is its last stop, so the bus is empty and all five of us sit together and we have a nice, quiet, air-conditioned, uneventful trip down to campus. Sadness. Not a lot of blogging material there, other than Mom getting very excited about her one-day bus pass and how it was so nice and cute, with the little picture of the bus on it.

Once we got there, we had to go to the community college because Bikerchick needed to talk to one of the extra-helpful people there to get her transcripts transferred to the University. I head my usual direction. To get there, you go straight and then turn right once you reach the street that the CC is on. You walk down that street until you reach it. But oh, no, Bikerchick had other plans. So we walk straight for just a few steps, then we turn down some creepy alley behind some run-down restaurants. So we all walk down the creepy alley and pas some hobo wearing nothing but a pair of cutoffs and we almost get run over. Not a whole lot of wiggle room in an alley. Then we walk up another street to school. Now, she hasn't been to school all summer like I have, so she doesn't know that a street between here and there (when going her way), is completely under construction. There's a sign that says the sidewalk has closed and past that, there is no sidewalk. It's all very uneven ground, like some mud sculpture that's been hardened. And there's tractors and huge cement cylinders.

I knew we shoulda gone my way!

So, even though there is NO SIDEWALK and there's a sign that clearly states SIDEWALK CLOSED. Mom and Bikerchick just keep walking. Red-Headed-Swimmer and PrincessSarah trailing along behind them, and we go right between the two tractors. What the heck? THE SIDEWALK IS CLOSED!!!!

We took care of all our school stuff at CC and then went over to the University to take care of MORE school stuff, and then back on the bus. The stop downtown where we were is not nice and empty like the transit center. Two buses stop there and it was packed with people. I sat down on the bench next to a guy with a cheek piercing and eyebrow piercing. We wait for about ten minutes and then the bus comes.

All of the people at the stop load up the bus. It was packed and there weren't a lot of seats left. But a very nice man gave up his seat for my mom and littlest sister. I sat in the back. It's always this way on the bus. A bazillion people pack themselves into the front, sitting and standing on each other, but the back is nice and empty. The back is a good place to be. My other two sisters found seats close to Mom.

I didn't mind sitting in the back, because it was a lot cooler-- not as many bodies. But I was right across the aisle from some supergross make-out-couple. That should be outlawed on the bus. People have to sit next to you, ya know. Once the middle was emptier, I moved farther away from make-out-couple and sat across from my family. Then I learned that that seat is the seat where there's a crack in the ceiling and all this dirt and who-knows-what-else started blowing continually onto me. I was quickly coated in dirt.

We soon reached the transit center, where we got off and headed back to the car. The end of the family bus trip. The goal to teach Mom how to ride the bus to school: Accomplished.

Here it goes....

I am teaching my family how to ride the bus today.... It is going to be quite an adventure.
Y'all ready for this??

On Location: Orlando

In Orlando, FL right now. Tonight we took the bus from the hotel to Downtown Disney. (Downtown Disney Bus.)
The driver: Super nice
Bus ride there was not too eventful, but the bus ride home....
When we reached the bus stop, there was bus there with the windows covered in some anti-bacterial cleaner and right there, just inside the front door was a giant pile of vomit. Needless to say, we waited for a different bus.
The ride back to the hotel was quite packed, and then in the middle of it all, the kid next to me shouted, "AAAH! My butt crack!" Yeah, don't really want to know what that was about.

The Buses

The 766-- from uptown to downtown, passing by the Community College and University
The 66-- Up and down Central Avenue. Very packed. Very smelly. Lots of weirdos, but comes every 15 minutes.
The 31-- Up and down Forest Road. Only comes once every forty-five minutes or so. Has several grumpy drivers, but a few nice ones.
The 777-- Also goes up and down Central, but with fewer stops and less people.
The 140-- Up and down Washington Street, then onto Frankfurt Road.
The 141-- Up and down Washington Street, then onto North Pine Road.
The 8-- Up and down Park Avenue. Connects with the 766 at the transit center.

These are the usual buses that you will be hearing about. Stories on the way!

The Bus System

Anyone who has never taken the bus is under this strange illusion that the bus picks you up exactly where you're at, at the most convenient time for you, and then takes you exactly where you need to go. NOT TRUE. There is a whole bus system. The buses are each assigned to one street and they go up and down the same street all day long. Some streets have buses every hour, some every fifteen minutes, Some just when they feel like it.

However, taking the bus is a fantastic way to make your life more exciting. Taking the bus is always an adventure.