Adventure and defeat
I bring you, as promised, the tale of today's epic adventure. I decided to visit the local public library and get my card. The trip, though, required a level of planning best suited to arctic expeditions. Only four bus lines run on Saturday, and they only run once an hour, so if you miss a transfer you are more or less out of luck. However, with the help of the transit website and my new printer I acquired a giant collection of maps and timetables and boldly set forth.
I found the library by the simple expedient of asking everyone on the bus until someone knew where to go. I also discovered, to my delight, that there was a shopping center just up the street with a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods. I filled my bag with books and then headed up the road*. With the help of my creepily accurate iPod touch map (seriously, how does that work?) I found the store and got all my weird foods. Mmmm, edamame and miso.
I then struggled back to the bus stop**, where I met today's requite Creepy Guy. Fun tip: when a woman traveling solo walks up to you at a bus stop, your ideal conversation started is not "You shouldn't be alone." This is offputting. It is especially ineffectual if you are a shoddily-dressed heavyset man with bad teeth.
Things looked up on my second bus home, where I was able to help a confused transfer student, mostly by presenting him with my Giant Collection of Bus Maps until he located the right one. He turned out to be heading my direction
Alas, the day was fated to end in tragedy. I was happily striding home, within sight of my apartment building, when my Trader Joes's bag tore and my groceries plummeted to the ground, spraying me with bits of glass and teryaki sauce. The miso, surprisingly, survived the drop, but my delicious Trader Joe's lemon-ginger teryaki sauce was a total loss, and my lovely fresh mozzarella and kalamati olives spread across the parking lot, a sight that nearly reduced me to tears. A group of international students from my building looked on and laughed. (In their defense, they did offer to help as well).
I made it home safely, but my dinner plans for tonight and tomorrow, as well as a substantial portion of the week's food budget have been lost to the local ant population. I think I shall go console myself with a book.
*In retrospect, I should have done it the other way around. Books are heavy.
*Ok, three bus stops before I found the right one. I am bad at maps.
I found the library by the simple expedient of asking everyone on the bus until someone knew where to go. I also discovered, to my delight, that there was a shopping center just up the street with a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods. I filled my bag with books and then headed up the road*. With the help of my creepily accurate iPod touch map (seriously, how does that work?) I found the store and got all my weird foods. Mmmm, edamame and miso.
I then struggled back to the bus stop**, where I met today's requite Creepy Guy. Fun tip: when a woman traveling solo walks up to you at a bus stop, your ideal conversation started is not "You shouldn't be alone." This is offputting. It is especially ineffectual if you are a shoddily-dressed heavyset man with bad teeth.
Things looked up on my second bus home, where I was able to help a confused transfer student, mostly by presenting him with my Giant Collection of Bus Maps until he located the right one. He turned out to be heading my direction
Alas, the day was fated to end in tragedy. I was happily striding home, within sight of my apartment building, when my Trader Joes's bag tore and my groceries plummeted to the ground, spraying me with bits of glass and teryaki sauce. The miso, surprisingly, survived the drop, but my delicious Trader Joe's lemon-ginger teryaki sauce was a total loss, and my lovely fresh mozzarella and kalamati olives spread across the parking lot, a sight that nearly reduced me to tears. A group of international students from my building looked on and laughed. (In their defense, they did offer to help as well).
I made it home safely, but my dinner plans for tonight and tomorrow, as well as a substantial portion of the week's food budget have been lost to the local ant population. I think I shall go console myself with a book.
*In retrospect, I should have done it the other way around. Books are heavy.
*Ok, three bus stops before I found the right one. I am bad at maps.