bus stop

I jumped through all the hoops and changed the bus stop for my kids.

It's surprising how satisfying this small decision is.  Last year the bus stopped a block and a half from our home. Not too far, but far enough that it was mildly inconvenient.  We couldn't sit in the house and wait for the bus.  And the bus is late occasionally, one day we waited for an hour.

As soon as I received the form in the mail announcing the old stop for this year, I knew I wanted to request the change.  There was really no reason that the stop was a block and a half away.  My kids are the only ones who meet there. I also discovered that there is a computer program that assigns kids to stops (which, to my mind, was a good reason to question why the stop was where it was.  I understand computer programs and their defects features - all too well).

The new stop is only one house away.  There are other kids that wait for the bus (for another school) across the street.  We can run to the bus (and have). 

The change process took three weeks.  If there's one thing that's dependable, it's that bureaucracies never change.  First, the school district refused to switch the stop because school hadn't started yet. Then, the operator claimed a new bus driver would be confused (in the first few weeks). 

Finally, and most illogical to my mind, although the stop was changed in the computer, the bus driver wasn't notified until a week later (after two missed morning stops). 

Although computers assign the stops, the process is still a paper one - with the bus driver receiving the stops on paper.  Yes, this is 2011.  Frankly, I don't know if this system has changed since the 1950s (the computer part has, obviously, but not the paper part).

Perhaps it's the pain of the switch, and the irritation of the red tape I had to go through.  It's simply empowering to make a change to one of the little things that drives you nuts.  It's sweet to watch it happen, and continue to save you time and energy.

Eventful visit to the Dentist

At the dentist yesterday, I was sitting in the waiting room when a lady around the age of 70 was walking out.  She was walking slowly and at first, appeared to have problems opening the door to the waiting room.  Then, she just stopped and stared straight ahead.  The nurse ran over and caught her before she collapsed; she dropped her purse.

A chair was brought, and questions were asked.  I have been working (very hard) on my "Mind your own business" way of life but in such situations, sometimes it's difficult.  Anyway, I overheard the nurses (and assistants) and the dentist asked her about blood sugar, etc.

I'm sure she was embarrassed and uncomfortable about all the attention she was getting.

But in the end, no ambulance was called.  A nurse walked her to the car and she drove away.

So this situation seems wrong (and frightening) to me on two levels. First of all, if you are not able to respond to direct questions and almost collapse, it seems to me that you probably do need to have an ambulance check you out.  Maybe it was just blood sugar.  But maybe not. I am dismayed that for whatever reason, (perhaps money), that this woman didn't feel an ambulance was necessary.

What was going on (to my very amateur view) was a possible mini-stroke.  That's not something to take lightly.

Then, I'm dismayed that after such an incident, she was capable of driving a vehicle.  I am all for people having independence, and as I've mentioned before, my city is not so good on the public transportation front.  But I feel behind the wheel of a car, she may be a danger to herself and others.

So, I understand the railing against a "nanny state".  But there is a point where a person's behavior and choices do impact others around them.  My parked car was totaled around ten years ago by someone who suffered from altzheimers. After he hit my car, he didn't even realize he had hit another vehicle.  He slowly turned around to drive home.  When questioned by police, he didn't know why there was paint on the front of his car, or a cut on his forehead.  Fortunately, he still had insurance (!!?!).  But he should not have been behind the wheel of a car.

I hope she got home safely, and I hope that it was just a momentary lapse.  I do think we need to discuss these types of things as a society.  I'm all for personal independence, but not at the expense of everyone's safety.

Bonus! No one freak out, this is just a picture I took after the accident some years ago. 

eta: 

*I* like trains

So I've mentioned that my son is obsessed with trains.

If I never see another Thomas video, it will be too soon. I do know this is something he loves, so I maintain an uneasy alliance with it.

But I realized as I was visiting my parents over the weekend, I love trains. My parents live around 200 feet from an active freight railway. Sometimes as many as two or three freight trains will go by in a given hour.

And they live around six blocks from another railway where I could ride the train all the way to my college. Some of my best memories are of riding various passenger railways (here and in Russia).

In college, the trains were one of the first things people (who weren't used to them) noticed. There were train whistles throughout the night.

Someone once characterized my college town as a sleepy railway town - and it was.

Perhaps the appreciation for trains is easier, living where I do now, where I am not often stopped in my car at a crossing. I can visit occasionally, listen to the rumbling of cars and screeching of brakes. But I'm not forced to confront these things on a regular basis.

From my vantage point, train engines are pretty stunning, some could consider them majestic.

Perhaps it helped that over my vacation, each time a freight train rumbled past my son (and daughter) would run to the window delighted.

Manual Transmission

While I was home last week, I was fortunate enough to drive my Dad's car. It's a stick shift. I learned how to drive on my parents' stick shift mini van, back when you could still buy those. Driving stick shift is becoming more rare, but is still a useful skill. I find it's much more labor intensive - but once you get the hang of it, it's not much different than driving an automatic.

We don't have a stick shift on either of our current vehicles. They're both automatic, for various reasons.

So I found myself, the other day, trying to shift my automatic into the next gear. I had just dropped my car pool partner off, and a friend of his was sitting on his steps waiting for him to get home. It was a little awkward, as the friend was shouting "Hi, who are you? I can't see you." from the front step to my car. We've met before, but obviously, he didn't remember me.

The point of this story is, as I was driving away, I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. I was just automatically shifting, as I'm used to with a manual transmission. All of a sudden, I realized I was trying to shift into park, driving down through this residential neighborhood. It was the sound of the grinding gears that woke me out of my daze.

I believe there is such a thing as physical memory - at least in certain situations, our brains revert back to habit.

I've actually had this happen to me in the past, driving automatic transmissions. I had just thought I was over it.

Riding the Bus

With gas over $4 a gallon, many people have been adjusting to the impact on their budgets.

I've been amazed how many additional riders I've seen waiting for buses. We live within six blocks of a hub where three buses stop. Unfortunately, none of those buses go near my workplace. In the past (around a year ago) I might see three or four people waiting at the main stop. Now, I'll see people waiting at stops along the route(s). I myself rode the bus to a major sporting event I was attending for work. I was amazed at the number of people riding. Yes, it took me two hours round trip to get there (one way) - but to me, it was worth it. I walked past the cars idling, waiting to get into the parking lot and smiled to myself.

Not two or three years ago, I remember seeing the buses drive by at night. Sometimes they looked completely empty.

Infrastructure and public transportation are a worthwhile investment for a community. The libertarians disagree with this, but I believe they are worth spending money on. I believe they are worth raising taxes for. In my community, the suggestion of raising taxes for anything is the kiss of death for a politician. But at what point will we realize that the investment will pay for itself in the long run. The roads here are in bad shape. So many people have fled to the suburbs, and the road systems haven't grown along with them. So traffic (from the suburbs into the city during the morning rush hour) is abysmal. The state government has approved million dollar roadway expansion projects, but can't find the consensus to build public transportation at the same time.

I've lived in communities where there is a strong public transportation system. Not only is it affordable, it runs late into the night. It's safe and reliable. That investment originally cost those communities a great deal, but the quality of living there is high.