Pubi- er, I mean, Public Transporation Woes...

One of the great things about my job is getting a RADICALLY reduced all-zone yearly pass. One of the bad things about my bus route is that it only has ONE freakin' bus that runs anywhere NEAR my house.

The local bus system somehow figured it would be a grand idea to run one bus next to my house, once per hour after 9 am on weekdays and Saturdays, and not even START running the bus until 7:30 am on Sundays. Why? We have no clue - neither does the bus system - it just *is*.

In addition, we have the few, the proud, the nincompoops who have, for one reason or another, a phobia about pulling near the curb to allow access to the bus. And I don't mean a foot - I'm talking stopping the bus no less than 5 feet away from the sidewalk, and having you walk across the bike lane (that has been unoccupied through the 10 minutes it's taken for the driver to get there and stop), then get into a bus that has the first step over 1.5 feet up from the ground. Yeah - cuz those of us card-carrying members of the lard-butt clan can really get up there without struggling. And what if someone had a wheelchair, or cane, or crutches? Would they simply have to wait for the next bus? Gah.

The good news is that most days I can avoid the one driver who stops so far from the curb - I get into work a good hour early, but it does allow me to relax, read emails, and do updates in a quiet room here - and not worry about missing my last chance to get to work on time. The bad news is that on Sundays, if I have to be here at 7:30 in the morning, I'd better be prepared to get a cab to my apartment by no later than 6am so I can catch the MAX downtown and make it into work on time. *sigh*

So far, there's only been a small downside for me, which is the Sunday thing and the hourly run thing. I'd love for them to run more of my bus down my road. I don't see the issue most days, as it goes from downtown (a fairly populated place even at night), over to Washington Square (also a fairly populated place, even at night). Why not help out a bit, eh? I hate having to wait practically an hour in the evenings for a bus to get to my stop so I can go home. I'm not scared, just annoyed and, lately, cold.

On the upshot, I'm working, so that means that as we get further into summer, there will be more and more money coming in. This is a Good Thing. So, can't complain too much. Oh, and I like my job, too - which is also a Good Thing.

Thankfully, it's looking like today we actually HAVE people on the phones, which means that we will actually be doing some real training, rather than doing confirmation calls all day. Yay us! Tomorrow we do some sort of scavenger hunt up on the hill - should be interesting. Need to remember to bring my backpack so I can take my lunch with me, as I have a whole whopping $0.39 in the bank.

I'm glad that Friday we get paid.

~M