Bad things:
1. The lady sitting next to me on the bus yesterday smelled like a pungent mix of peanut butter and doggie poo. I hate taking the bus. Love public transit. Hate the bus.
2. Had a dream last night about my high school drama teacher, Mr. Mark Melymick. In the dream, he selected me to direct a play. I think it was one of Shakespeare’s histories: Henry V? Anyway, in the dream, I did a great job directing and organizing, but when it came to curtain time, I realized I’d forgotten to learn *any* of my lines. There were headsets for queues, but they were ancient and non-functional (packaged in early 1980’s Namco Family Computer-style boxes). There was a chapbook, but I kept losing my place, and the book kept getting thicker and thicker and there was a comic book rendition of the play at the beginning that the pages kept turning to, and I couldn’t even finish the first line of the play.
I think this dream is about me not being done my essays, and not working this weekend or last night, and the performance pressure is on because as of tomorrow I have 14 days to complete these two papers. PANIC.
Good thing:
1. Glenda is a star. She gave Justin her old Telus cell phone so that I can use it until October when my Telus contract runs out. I’m going to have the cell number switched over tomorrow I think, and then Telus and I are going to have a little chat about my contract and the rates I’m paying. Yay Glenda!
ps – for some reason, I have the overwhelming urge to read sci-fi this morning. Like, Robert Aspirin’s “Myth” series, and Herbert’s “Dune”, and Charles deLint’s “Moonheart”. Puzzling.
What exactly is it about the bus that brings out the dregs of the transit population? All of my worst encounters have been on buses.
… what kind of rates are you paying?
When I was with Bell, I changed my plan multiple times on the assurance that it would save me money, but no matter what I did, my bill always came in at about $40 a month… unless it came in a lot higher.
Glenda’s a good witch!
-caellum
Not all buses are like this. The Bay bus is fine. Buses in Oakville observe freakishly Stepford-esque levels of sanitary cleanliness (probably due to lack of use).
But the Keele bus and the Jane bus? Damn. Are a whole lot of people with severe issues take those buses. Like, not just talking to themselves, but talking to their bicycles and mittens and ticking and hiccuping like perpetual motion machines. And they say “bitches” a lot.
I really do love streetcars and the GOTrain. They get me where I need to go, without me having to take a cab or buy a car. Mlle. Bicycle is still the best way to get around in my opinion, though!
This just occurred to me… as the weather improves, is there any way you could cycle to work? Or is the distance completely prohibitive? (I really have minimal sense of the actual geographical layout of this city, since I experience most of my travel underground).
That might be an awesome way to get your daily exercise in!
Also, when are we working out next??? I know you’re super busy with essay stuff, but a half hour to hour long workout would be a good use of a break, and would leave your brain all oxygen-saturated and ready to get back to it!
It’s all about the hidden fees. Take a look at the post I did about cell phones, two days ago. That outlines in detail my current “Big Deal Promo” plan with Telus, and the proposed plan from Bell.
Yeah, my cell phone bill is always around $40-45, too.
I love cycling, and I have been thinking about trying it. I don’t believe it is *prohibitive* but it will certainly entail me hauling my sorry ass out of bed a lot earlier than 7:30am, which is when I’m waking up now. My morning schedule got a lot lazier when I realized I could take the 7:56am train in to Union and walk up and still make it to work for around 8:30am.
But I will try it!
And we should TOTALLY work out! Tomorrow?
The best thing to do is to just tell me a day. Boss me around, you know you want to. 😉
Wednesday sounds good… I walked home yesterday and was going to do so again tomorrow, but a good burn on the elliptical trainer (assuming I can get at it at that time of day) would be even better!
What time works for you?
I don’t think it’s physically possible to get it below $38 (the lowest bill I’ve ever had) on a contract. Wait, that’s a lie – I had voicemail and call display (or is that automatic on a cell?) at the time. So maybe like, $30-35 for a stripped down, bare bones cellphone on contract. Possibly it could go down to $25/month on a pay as you go, but then you’d have to buy the phone, first.
It’s a racket, man.
My phone bill averages around $65 a month, but when I’m in New York it goes up to $250-300 and San Diego comes in at a whopping $400+.
I think it’s not so much buses as neighbourhoods. There’s a lot of sketchy housing on Jane, and people who smell like peanut butter and canine waste products are more likely to be underprivileged for a whole host of reasons. (Disclaimer: note that I didn’t say that people who are underprivileged are more likely to smell weird.) Which means that they’re more likely to live on Jane and be on the Jane bus.
That also explains why the Bay bus is ok. Housing on Bay Street is not so much with the cheap.
A friend of mine told me I had to read “The Onion Girl” and I liked it…I was pondering which to move to next…
Not for long, sugar. I am going to work my unstoppable-new-persistent-phoning-technique on those evil money grubbers at Bell until I get your ABSURDLY high fees down to a more reasonable level.
There is no reason you should be paying more than $50, even with the kind of heavy usage you put on your phone.
Now if only I could keep you from shredding one of your bills so I can get your account number…
The closer to 5pm, the better. I’ve been getting very lazy and sleepy after work recently, so we should strike while the iron is still luke-warm!
Yes! It’s a good read. Relaxed, local, Canadian, funky, dreamy, Celtic. Have you read Spider Robinson? Totally different subject matter, but similar *feel*.
I recommend.
I should be able to get there for shortly after 5:30… sound good?
JVL should be able to get a MUCH better deal out of Bell. The key is to call them and ask for one, because otherwise they will continue to enjoy feasting off his lifeblood.
Also, JVL, dude – you shred your bills right away? Record-keeping is your friend!!!