Well, that was annoying

[annathepiper]

So there I was on the 245, which is the bus that I catch near Microsoft to swing over to the Houghton Park & Ride. (For those of you who don't speak Puget Sound Area Transit, a Park & Ride is a bus station where the idea is supposed to be that you can leave your car or bike and then get onto the bus to go wherever you're going. There are Park & Rides scattered all over Seattle and the surrounding communities.) Out of general exhaustion, reaction to the muggy weather today, or what, I fell asleep. I woke up not recognizing where I was--and for a moment I was convinced that I was actually on the 342, which is the second bus I catch on my afternoon commute. Specifically, I thought I was on the 342 on the far side of my neighborhood and that I had missed my stop to get off and walk up the hill to my house.

I got a little more awake and realized I was in fact still on the 245, but my brain, still sluggishly not recognizing where I was, decided I had somehow missed the Park & Ride. So I staggered off the bus trying to figure out how to salvage this. Only AFTER I'd gotten off the bus did I realize that a woman who always catches the 245 at the same stop I do AND gets off at the Park & Ride was still on the bus--which meant of course that I hadn't missed my stop at all. But did I clue into this before I got off? No!

Stick with me, though, my story gets better.

I backtracked a bit on the road I was on, trying to figure out where the hell I was, and waited at a stop till a 245 going the opposite direction came by. The driver said that I needed to be on the other side of the street to get to the Houghton Park & Ride, and that was when I realized I hadn't missed my stop at all. ARGH.

So I went over to the opposite side of the street and hung out for a while at a stop there, waiting for another bus to show up. I waited. And I waited. And I got annoyed, especially since the bus stops along this road had none of the usual small signs with the bus schedules printed to tell you when the next bus was supposed to show up. So I got it into my head that I'd walk to the next bus stop, just to burn off a bit of energy and maybe to get a bit closer to where I ultimately needed to be.

I went about five feet, and then the next 245 zoomed right past me. ARGH.

Vexed, I kept walking for a while until I got to a major cross-street that I recognized from the usual bus ride, and there, finally, I caught the NEXT 245. That got me to the Park & Ride, where I promptly caught a 535 to get me over to Bothell, where I called solarbird to tell her I was going to be home late. She told me that spazzkat was coming over, and that she was going to try to call him to get him to pick me up en route, but he'd already left when she tried to call him.

So I had to catch one more bus to get home: the 522. I made it, tired and hot and grumpy, around a quarter to seven. Gah.

Conclusion: almost as annoying as getting the parking ticket in Kirkland. But I'd still take this over the parking ticket any day.

Comments

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Can I just say, that horrible as that is, I wish I could do it? Because there's virtually no public transit here at all, none that comes anywhere near where I live. *sigh* I miss Minneapolis for that! Rode buses most of my grad school life.

[annathepiper]

Indeed--for all my ranting in this post, I'm inordinately grateful that the Seattle area and its surrounding communities has great bus service. solarbird and I barely have to drive anywhere.

Moreover, Microsoft as well as Volt Computer Services, the agency through whom I contract at Microsoft, subsidizes bus passes for workers so I can even ride the bus for free. It's a huge incentive to commute in some manner other than the car.

It takes me over an hour to get to work, but that's okay. I can use the time to read or write or play with my handheld. :) (This being the primary reason I haven't really gotten off my duff to investigate biking to work.)

Biking to MS

[sksouth.livejournal.com]

Biking to MS from Lake WA-level sucks - no way round it. Biking home is great!

Re: Biking to MS

[annathepiper]

I think Dara and I must have hit most of the bike route from Kenmore over to Redmond--I'd have to go doublecheck llachglin's biking posts to confirm. We did make it as far as 520; we heard the traffic.

I could probably do that if I were in a bit better shape. But then, I might get into better shape if I started, like, y'know, BIKING. ;)

[kissare.livejournal.com]

Ugh! I used to ride the bus every day to work. I've had a few of those 'nap, wake up, panic' sequences! I can't say enough for living 2 blocks from work. I could always miss the bus, but I can never miss my feet.

Sorry you had such a frustrating trip home!

[annathepiper]

Really, the most frustrating part of it--I mean, aside from the whole 'I got hit with the stupid stick' aspect of it all--was trying to convince myself to actually pick a bus stop and STAY PUT to wait for the 245. ;) After I missed that one 245 that zoomed past me, and decided ctrl-alt-fuckit and headed further along the route, I had a devil of a time at one of the corner bus stops trying to decide whether to wait for the next one. But I couldn't make myself stay there.

I was lucky to catch the next one that came along when I reached the next major stop. If I had missed that one, though, I wouldn't have been too badly out of luck. I knew where I was by that point and could have hoofed it to the Park & Ride in another 15-20 minutes. And hey, it's exercise. :)