Road Trip!

Waiting on a rather long line at Port Authority Gate 22 for an 8 am trip to Syracuse. As my father would say, "Get on the bus, forget about us."

Hmm. The rather long line may have been for an earlier bus to Montreal. Must investigate...

Update, 7:18 am
I don't know if I'm on the right bus, but it's going to Syracuse, so here I sit.

I ran upstairs before boarding to use the restroom - the one downstairs at the gate was posted as out of order - and I saw the statue of "The Commuters" by George Segal. I took a picture.

What creeps me out about the photo is the three people walking through the door with their eyes closed. It's just disconcerting.

Anyway, I walked back downstairs a couple minutes later and the bathroom at the gate was now working. Maybe someone just wanted me to see the commuters...



Update, 7:47 am
My 8 am bus was boarding at 7 when I got there and we left around 7:30. By the time my scheduled time hits, I'll be well into Jersey...

The last two passengers to board were a pair of black ladies who could be heard complaining that they had to sit at the front of the bus. The civil rights era is over...

Update, 8 am
Just passed the exits for the Caldwells, 50 miles or so left in Jersey. I'm going to take a nap.

Update, 9:07 am
Last time I took a bus trip like this, I think, was September 2000, when I took a bus from Cortland to Erie, Pa., to visit my friend Jen (happy birthday!). On the trip back, a two-hours late bus marooned me in Syracuse. I had to call in the cavalry and have Serena, Ruben and Gallo come pick me up (thanks guys!).

Another Cortland student had the same problem. Rather than make him wait for morning for the next bus, we took him in.

In the back seat of Gallo's car, sitting bitch (I was the biggest dude there, how did THAT happen?), we hit a bad bump and my Dunkin' Donuts coffee exploded all over me. Good times.

Update, 9:26 am
In Scranton. Going to meet Jim and Pam at the Chili's.

As far as I know, there's no actual Chili's in Scranton, so all three things up there are fictional.

Other people on the bus are making references to The Office now. At least I'm not alone.

Update, 10:29 am
Switched to my laptop because I realized, three hours into the trip, that the bus offers Wi-Fi. The bus driver saw me booting up and made me promise to tell him whether the Wi-Fi was working. It's good to go, Ace. 

We've been stopped at a Burger King in Pennsylvania, 18 miles from Binghamton according to the driver, for a while now. I haven't eaten yet today and I'm not going to eat BK, so this really is more like torture than anything. The smells of fast food surrounding me may drive me crazy. 

Hopefully we leave soon...

Update, 10:45 am
"Next stop, Binghamton. If I can find it." That inspires confidence.

Finally left the BK. Hopefully the bus empties out some in 18 miles. I'm getting cramped.


Update, 10:53 am
Somehow, I missed the entrance to New York State. How did that happen? Isn't there a great big sign?

Update, 12:08 pm
Last update didn't take...
Blew a raspberry out the window as we passed the exit for Cortland. The woman sitting between me and the window didn't appreciate it that much. Oh well.

First glimpse of snow on this trip now, too. Getting pretty close now. 16 miles, according to the sign.

Update, 12:42 pm
Finally made it. Time for some food!

Thanks for following along. Have a Merry Christmas everyone. I'll be back soon!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Been a While

Image
Back in college, I got hooked on a delivery place for (usually) late-night post-drinking munchies. D.P. Dough made several different kinds of calzones. My favorite was the Buffalo Zone (later renamed the Buff Zone, for reasons beyond my understanding). It was, unsurprisingly, a calzone stuffed with buffalo chicken. I ordered that much more often than I care to remember. Now, I'm nowhere near a D.P. Dough, and I've yet to find a place that sells a calzone that matches it. One of the upsides of cooking for yourself is you can make something just the way you want it. Back when we were still in Chicago, that's exactly what we did.  Usually, Stacey takes point on the calzones. But Stacey went back to Liverpool today, so I'm left on my own. Helpfully, Stacey left some dough behind from the pumpkin pizza she made last week, so I had all I needed to make a calzone on my own.  Wow, OK, this picture's not as good as I hoped. In front is a ricotta mixture, wi
Read more

Redistricting Battle

My story last week didn't make the paper's website, so I'm posting it here.  Vigilance Called For In Redistricting Battle Panelists at a forum on redistricting Tuesday night, Feb. 21, urged a largely Hispanic crowd in Elmhurst to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to veto the proposal as it currently stands.             “The Governor made a campaign promise, if the lines weren’t suitable, he would veto the lines,” Kenneth D. Cohen, regional director of the NAACP NYC Metro Council, said. “If we allow what has been proposed to happen, you won’t be represented fairly.”             The forum, held at the Make The Road New York offices at 92-10 Roosevelt Ave. , was meant to be an educational tool on the redistricting process. It quickly became an indictment of the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment – LATFOR – the committee charged with redrawing district lines based on the 2010 Census.             “The idea of independence really is nowhere
Read more

Torture

It's been a long time since I've written anything other than a cover letter. Frankly, while I try to change things up every now and then, there's very little creativity that goes into writing one of those things. "Dear Sir or Madam, as the case may be, I'm awesome. Hire me. I know you won't, it's OK. But I'm trying to pretend that all hope is not lost here, just to save some face. Thanks for pretending to take the time to review stuff, Me." Hmmm. I may use that next time I send something out. Today, I shall try to write, because it's Wednesday and why not? Because I enjoy torturing myself, I will post what I write right here. In fact, I'll just write here. Maybe. It sure beats applying for jobs, but it's not as much fun as playing video games, so I'll do some of that, too. I'm babbling. Good bye.
Read more