Learning about public transportation 1/21/11

               What a long and eventful day.  I’ve learned several things though.  First, pedestrians are not always safe on the sidewalk.  While taking Thomas to school one of the moms, decided to drive up on the sidewalk & park so she could take her kid into the school.  I’ve noticed this before, people parking on the sidewalk, just never near Thomas school where the sidewalk is only about 5 feet wide. 

                For lunch, Thomas and I went to meet Kate.  She tested the restaurant with her boyfriend before we went.  So, lunch was much better this time.  I may have to take Bryan there. 

                On the way home, we tried out the bus system.  We’ve had great success with the Tram, metro & C1.  How difficult could the bus be?  (Probably not as hard as I made it.)  I’m not a rocket scientist, but I’m no idiot either.  I do have some common sense.  This bus made me feel stupid and showed me how little I know about public transportation.  At the bus stop, there were 2 guys already waiting when we showed up.  They got on first.  (Thanks for the courtesy guys.  I’ll stand out here a little longer with my son in the freezing cold.)  As soon as I swiped my card, the bus driver hits the gas.  Thomas and I were not prepared for the launch and we ended up stutter stepping our way to the back of the bus where we were lucky enough to find a seat.  It’s time to get off & I know from riding the tram that you have to push a button (located on a pole near each seat) to alert the driver you want off at the next stop.  I push the button.  I head to the door and the driver stops.  Now…I run into my problem.  How do you make the door open?  Metro doors are automatic.  Tram doors have a green circle with lights all around it and you just push the circle.  I’m looking all over the place for something to push, pull or kick to get off at our stop.  No luck!  So we speed off to the next stop.  I’m frantically searching everywhere to figure out how to open a simple door.  We come to a screeching halt and after I regain my balance I try to get off again.  Finally, some woman took pity on me and showed me that I had to push the stop button located on a pole behind me.  It looks exactly like stop button you push to get the driver to stop the bus.  Thank goodness we were finally free!  I located the bus stop on the other side of the street & decided to brave another ride back to our original destination.  This driver was just as bad with his gun & jam method of driving.  I was smart enough to stay near the front of the bus so the driver could open the door for me.  Next time I’m wearing my helmet with elbow & knee pads.  Or I could just go ahead and get myself my own set of wheels.

                Bryan had some fun stuff happen today.  He and his boss found a place they could go swimming at lunch.  (Bryan has started training for his first 1/2 Iron Man.)  I’ve always thought Bryans training swimsuit was a little on the skimpy side.  Guess I was wrong... again.  He got fussed at by the life guard because he was not wearing a Speedo.  (I promise I won't be posting pictures of this.)