The post by any other name or how I survived the bus ride home

Well, as I am being gently prodded from all sides - I suppose I must suck it up and update the blog. I take comfort in the fact that Scott hasn't Scuttlebutted either. At least he isn't posting more often than I am. :D I have nothing terribly interesting to say. I've been searching my brain for entertaining stories to tell but nothin' - zip - nada. Not that I'm necessarily all that amusing otherwise - I do strive for some semblance of entertainment.

Well, there is this. Today I was on a city bus with a driver who talked to himself. Living in Chicago, you get used to passing people on the street and sitting next to people on the bus who talk to themselves. Usually you just try to stay as far away as possible and not make eye-contact. But this is the first time I have ever been on a bus with a driver who did it. It took me a little while to figure out anything was amiss. I was waiting for the bus and it was stopped behind several cars at a red light. The driver opened the door and I walked down the length of the cars to get on. So far, so good. As I got on the driver said, "Tank you fuh walkin' down - Ah dunno know why day put so much space der." I said, "Uh..no problem." I didn't linger too much on the fact that he was "chatty" - I figured he was just being polite. Honestly, though, it did kinda freak me out just a tad because as a general rule - they're not all that polite. They have the upper hand and we both know it. They've got the bus - I want on the bus...I'll pretty much do whatever I have to do to get out of the frozen tundra. I climb on the bus and grab the first available seat right in the front. I glanced down the length of the bus and notice that it's really pretty empty. There are about four other people besides myself and they're aaaaaaaaall watching me with odd expressions on their faces. Looking back, I realize that they were waiting to see my reaction. We start moving and the driver starts talking. I don't have a clear view of him from my seat but it's clear he's talking to another person. I got mad - to myself I was like, "There's a law against driving while you're talking on your cell phone!" Then I lean over and look - and he has no phone. He's having a conversation....with...nobody. I look back at the other four people and one girl catches my eyes and nods like, "Oh yeah - there's nobody there." It's a little odd but y'know...whatever. Then he starts getting agitated. "Whoo..whatchu tink ya doin', boiy? Whoo! Ya bedda run, boiy! Ah'll take ya out!" I'm like, "Oh, thank God, this is my stop coming up." I got off the bus and started down walking down towards my house. I glanced behind me and notice that two other people had gotten off the bus with me and were waiting at the bus stop. And it's COLD outside. As I walked the rest of the way home, I tried to decide whether I'd have gotten off and waited in the cold for the next bus or stuck it out and tried to get home. In the end, I decided that I probably would have gotten off too. When somebody on the bus is acting crazy, you can tell the driver...but what do you do when the crazy person IS the driver? Nah - not worth the risk. Anyway, I was glad I didn't have to make the choice. It was my stop...but Mike can never understand why I hate riding the bus. He never gets the crazies on his bus...I get the crazy bus DRIVER. What's up with that?

In other news - my Old Navy jeans are too big now. I pulled them out of the drawer today and I can barely keep them up. I'm torn between being happy and bummed because my clothes don't fit anymore. I guess I'll be asking for gift certificates for my birthday this year. It'd probably be a bigger difference but I still tend to eat like I'm going into hibernation. One step at a time, I suppose.