transitension
I got to work eight minutes late this morning, really because of my own stupidity with regards to public transit. It was 7:50 when I left the condo, and the One Bus Away app said the #11 was not arriving at my building's stop for another seven minutes. So, I decided I would walk for a bit, until the 11 caught up with me, and then hop on.
I proceeded to spend the entire rest of my commute with dumb near-misses with buses. First, when I reached Broadway and Pine, the #49 turned the corner and bypassed that spot right in front of me before I could cross the street to catch it. The #11 was coming up behind that, going down Pine, and I trusted One Bus Away when it said the bus was running 4 minutes late -- and it turned out it was only running two minutes late. So, when I should have stopped to wait for it at the next stop two blocks down the street, I kept walking, only to have that bus bypass me when I was still another block from the next bus stop after that.
By the time I reached the bus stop at Pine and 9th, I came thisclose to getting on the #47. It had actually stopped, and one person came out the back door, and I even trotted quickly right up to the front entrance door -- only to have the driver looking in the opposite direction for oncoming traffic as he pulled away literally at the moment I reached the door. So then it was like, okay, I guess I'm just walking to 3rd.
One Bus Away was notably unreliable this morning, telling me the Rapid Ride D was coming to its stop on 3rd between Pike and Pine at 7:14, and then that bus did not arrive for another five minutes or so. Under normal circumstances I would have just walked the rest of the way, as then I can get to work just as quickly, if not faster, by walking. But after the bike ride yesterday morning really exacerbated my cough, I decided I would seriously take it easy today and not do any physical exertion at all. So, I waited to see which would arrive first: the D at that stop, or the #33 at the stop on 3rd a block further north.
Downtown on the way to work, I always prefer to take the #33 or the #24 on 3rd between Pine and Stewart if I can, because once those buses reach Denny Way at 1st Avenue, they turn left on Denny and goes to a stop only about a block and a half from my work building. All the other buses I can typically take northbound from the middle of downtown -- Rapid Ride D; the #2; even if I catch the #8 down Denny from Capitol Hill -- go straight north on 1st instead of turning left on Denny at that intersection, and it's another extra block and a half distance from work before I can get off, because of a temporary movement of the 1st & Denny stop due to construction on that corner. My point is, when the buses come at about the same time from downtown, the ones going straight up 1st at that intersection add more time to my walk from the stop.
And this morning, I hopped on the D just as the otherwise preferred #33 was also pulling right up, but I stuck with the D, theorizing that it was likely to bypass the 33 at some point due to Rapid Ride having fewer stops. I was right, but only barely -- between the traffic lights the 33 beat us through taking the same route up to Denny Way, we did not bypass it on the D until we were all of a block and a half from Denny. And then it was a red light, and the two buses were right next to each other. So which bus reached its Denny Way stop first? The suspense is killing you, right? What a nail biter!
Well, the buses pretty much reached their respective stops at the same time. The difference was that the bus I was on could only stop a block and a half further way. Had I gotten on the #33, I might have gotten to work at, like, 7:34!
Now, if I'd gotten on that #8 while still on Capitol Hill to begin with, I might very well have made it to work by 7:30 as intended. Or maybe 7:32.
What gripping prose I'm offering to you this afternoon!
I took myself to see You Were Never Really Here right after work yesterday, which I quite liked, save for a slightly underwhelming "twist" ending. It played at 4:45 at the Uptown on Lower Queene Anne, which was just the perfect amount of time to walk up there from work and use the restroom before sitting down in the theatre.
There were nine people in there, counting myself. Only two were a couple of people who had come together. All of the other seven, including myself, had gone to see a movie by themselves at 4:45 on a late Monday afternoon.
It was my first time being able to go see a movie in a full week -- a relatively long break for me, typically. There were at least two other movies I had hoped to go see last week but had been unable because I was sick. What a pain in the ass.
The decision to take it easy today, at least so far anyway, seems to be paying off. When I cough it still sounds like I've got an upper respiratory infection or pneumonia or something, but as long as I'm restful, I haven't been coughing much, actually -- not nearly as much as I did yesterday, enough that Alicia heard me and commented, "That doesn't sound good."
I do have slightly more of the "sick" taste in my mouth today as I did yesterday, which is also annoying. Strangely, my body still feels far better and stronger today than it did yesterday. I'm just ready for this fucking crud to go away completely. Scott told me this morning that a Netti Pot always helps him a great deal, but I don't think I can stomach pouring liquid through my nose. That said, I sure as shit hope I'm well enough for the Birth Week Bike Ride I have scheduled with Dad on Sunday. At least I still have four days to continue recovering until that day. The bummer part is that it would have been helpful to be able to commute by bike all this week to help me get more used to bike riding before that. On the upside, Dad already told me he's had very little biking so far this year so it's not like he's going to leave me in the dust or anything.
I may get back on my bike for coming to work on, say, Thursday -- when it's actually supposed to reach nearly 80°! But, only if I feel notably recovered by then and the cough has made significantly more progress toward going away. Right now, there seems to be a notably better difference today compared to yesterday, at least.
Anyway, I bused home after the movie last night, and Shobhit had made pasta with an alfredo seasoning packet for the sauce. It was pretty good, and it yielded a lunch of leftovers for both of us today. We never watched any TV together, as I went to write the movie review after eating, and stayed in the bedroom for the relatively short period of time between that and going to bed slightly early, in an effort to get better rest than the night before.
[posted 12:24 pm]