"Don't You Know There's a Recession!"

It was Tuesday morning. I was experiencing the typical beginning of the week dread during my morning commute on the LA Metro bus. I proceeded to plunk my quarters into that tall box by the driver and found my seat near the back door. The ride really isn't that bad as long as everything is on time, and the other passengers keep to themselves.

Then, there she was - the woman who refused to pay. She loudly announced that she did not have any quarters to plunk into the machine, coughed, then annoyed the driver so much, he allowed her to move on back. She dragged her large laundry bag down the aisle, the whole time justifying her lack of funds saying "Don't you know there's a recession." She repeated it and repeated it and repeated it as if that was a good reason. A lump of indignation formed in the bottom of my stomach. I imagine the dozen of us who paid fairly didn't feel much sympathy. None of us carry around our endless supplies of bus fare.

Nevertheless, I've decided to follow this woman's example. I'm going to go to the grocery store and find all the essentials including gummi worms and frozen taquitos. When the checker tells me that I owe $237.13, I will declare "Don't you know there's a recession!" and run out with my armfulls of groceries. Oh wait ... that's stealing!

The Good, the Bad, and the Scaly

This week has been an unusual mix of the wonderful and the horrible. On Monday, I enjoyed watching the bright red sun fall below the clouds at the beach. The water reflecting the dark blue of the sky. That was followed by a few sleepless nights leading up to the beginning of my busiest time at work. All of that apprehension turned to triumph when everything was successful. Triumph quickly turned to exhaustion as a few other unusual things happened. Luckily my job has a few perks. This week it was putting a lizard to sleep. Unfortunatley I didn't get to keep the dollar bill.

The Best Patrons Ever

On Friday I had a visit from some of the best library patrons ever. They came to the library ready for some fun and enjoyed a play kitchen, trucks, math trivia and lots of books.
At the end they got to check out books by themselves, and read them at my house. Liz checked out a Cam Jansen mystery. Nathan chose a Magic Tree House. Within about 5 minutes of getting to the library, Michael found an oversize book on fire engines. I helped Megan find a book to get her excited about going to the beach. But judging by how much Megan loved the water, she didn't need much preparation. They were great patrons!

A Brief Visit is Better Than No Visit At All

After receiving an email from Becca, a great friend from Maine, a few months ago informing me that she would be visiting Maine, I was inspired to do the same. I wish I could have stayed for a couple weeks, but a couple days was good too. I got to see a new niece, a future sister-in-law, and spend some quality time with family and friends.

Evalyn was ADORABLE. We read stories, sang songs and had a great time.

Spencer reached his first landmark in his academic career at his preschool graduation. He was so proud!

Maddy is my newest niece and is a beautiful, sweet thing.

My visit to Boothbay with Becca and her boyfriend Matt was rainy. It was still wonderful to catch up and enjoy telling stories of out latest adventures.

Becca had never been to Big Al's. The world's most random store. WE think this is him and even if it isn't we are going to say it was.

THIS VISIT WAS TOO SHORT!

Live Long and Prosper

This party helped me reach a whole new level of geek. Yep, I celebrated Star Trek. I was practicing for weeks. I still haven't seen the movie.

America's Next Top Hand Model

Even without a manicure it looks amazing. Surf's Up!

A Short Update

I haven't had a lot of interesting anything to share with the world on the internet. I contemplated writing about my church in Boston that burnt, but I'll leave that to people who experienced it. I could describe the 2o seconds of terror I felt during my first California earthquake ...

I considered telling the story of the large, pepperoni pizza I found outside of the box laying in one piece on the lawn. Without a photo that isn't very interesting. Then there was a world record holding juggler who I got to see perform. I do have a photo of that ...

Thus, I decided to tell about an experience on LA public transportation. Often riding the bus here is exasperating. I don't want to hear anyone in Boston complain to me about transportation there. I guarantee you it is worse here, but the other day I had a rewarding experience.

About three weeks ago, I was waiting for the bus after work at about 8:30 PM. I was tired; my legs were achy. I wanted to be home. The bus arrived, and I paid and asked for a transfer. He shrugged his shoulders and told me that I was out of luck. There were no more transfers. I had to pay twice. Livid doesn't explain my exhausted reaction. After a long day, I am actually able to get mad.

This Wednesday feeling much the same after a long day, I was running for a bus that I missed. About 15 minutes later another arrived and there was the driver I had yelled at. He recognized me and didn't make me pay. He even gave me a transfer. Maybe one bus driver does have some customer service skills. For all of the other customer service infractions I have experienced on the bus, you can ask to see the list of grievances I am keeping.