For my birthday back in March, I had invited a few of my good friends to go to this Cuban restaurant in Denver for dinner and mojitos. My sister was also planning to attend, but then that day, hours before we were planning to drive down to Denver together, she broke her ankle snowboarding and couldn't attend the birthday festivities.
Well tonight she was celebrating her 21st birthday and I was maybe going to go out for a drink or two after I got off work, but this evening, just hours beforehand, I tripped going down some stairs and hurt my ankle pretty bad. I haven't been to a doctor yet so I don't know if it is broken or not. I have been walking on it all night, so I'm thinking (and hoping) that maybe it is just sprained pretty bad...
So yeah, kind of weird coincidences...
And another coincidence, this is an excellent opportunity to put up OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" video that Catherine suggested in her comment on the last post. It is an excellent opportunity because in this video these guys are doing some moves that I probably won't be doing for a little while with a bum ankle
9.30.2007
9.22.2007
Brush with Fame
I think I had my first famous bus passenger the other day while driving the Intown route. I say "I think" because I'm not actually sure if it was who I think it was, or if it was just a look-alike, a body double perhaps. Anyhow, body double or genuine article, either way she is the closest thing to a famous person I've had on my bus during my entire illustrious bus-driving career. I think this person might have been none other than the legendary Denver Channel 7 News anchor, Bertha Lynn. She is definitely the most famous local television personality with whom I have been in close proximity ever since I met the venerable Ernie Bjorkman way back in elementary school.
I didn't realize who I thought it was until she came up to the front of the bus to ask if the bus stops at the Marriott Hotel. I simply replied, "Yup," and she said, "Awesome," and that was the end of the "conversation." In addition to her striking physical resemblance to Bertha Lynn, I was also tipped off by her rather distinctive television voice. She also seemed to be looking at me in a way like she was half expecting me to recognize her from the TV. I thought about asking her if she was indeed Bertha Lynn, but then I thought I would feel silly if she wasn't. What if she wasn't even from this state and I start asking her if she is one of our treasured local icons? It might be uncomfortable. So then I thought about simply telling her that she happens to look like a local television personality, and then if she really WAS Bertha Lynn, she would have the option of either lying to me and saying that she was not who I claimed her to look like, or she could fess up and spill the beans.
In the end I did neither of these things. I simply pulled up to the stop, opened the door and let her get off the bus just like any other Jane Doe, never knowing the full truth of the situation. Now I will live the rest of my life unsure if Bertha Lynn is the most famous person to have graced my bus with their presence or not...
I didn't realize who I thought it was until she came up to the front of the bus to ask if the bus stops at the Marriott Hotel. I simply replied, "Yup," and she said, "Awesome," and that was the end of the "conversation." In addition to her striking physical resemblance to Bertha Lynn, I was also tipped off by her rather distinctive television voice. She also seemed to be looking at me in a way like she was half expecting me to recognize her from the TV. I thought about asking her if she was indeed Bertha Lynn, but then I thought I would feel silly if she wasn't. What if she wasn't even from this state and I start asking her if she is one of our treasured local icons? It might be uncomfortable. So then I thought about simply telling her that she happens to look like a local television personality, and then if she really WAS Bertha Lynn, she would have the option of either lying to me and saying that she was not who I claimed her to look like, or she could fess up and spill the beans.
In the end I did neither of these things. I simply pulled up to the stop, opened the door and let her get off the bus just like any other Jane Doe, never knowing the full truth of the situation. Now I will live the rest of my life unsure if Bertha Lynn is the most famous person to have graced my bus with their presence or not...
9.18.2007
Ridiculous Contingencies
For some reason I've spent an inordinate amount of time over the past few days thinking about and making plans for what I would do if I woke up to find that the world was being taken over by zombies. I'm not sure why I've been thinking about this. Maybe working night shifts is starting to get to me. Maybe it's because I saw like 5 minutes of some zombie-esque movie on TV the other night.
Most of the plans I've come up with involve going to the Vail bus barn (since I know the code to get in the door) and stealing various large vehicles. Which vehicles I steal would depend on several factors like what kind of zombies they are, how many other survivors I have with me, what time of year it is, and probably just what kind of mood I find myself in at the time. At the top of the list would probably be one of the snowplows they have parked in there because I figure the big plow would come in handy for plowing through crowds of zombies. It would also be useful for getting through the snow in the winter. The driver's cab in the snowplow is also relatively high off the ground and it would be hard for the zombies to attack me there. One problem with the snowplow, however, is that there isn't much room for cargo and stuff. I mean, there is the dump bed in back, but if there are zombies all over the place, I don't know how I would make it from the cab to the dump bed to get stuff...
That is where a bus would come in handy. Although a bus wouldn't be as well-suited for plowing through crowds of hungry zombies as the snowplow, I think that it could probably still get the job done if need be. The bus also has the added advantage of lots of room for things like other survivors I might come across, extra cans of fuel, perhaps a bed... Also, since I am a bus driver I have a bias towards taking a bus. The driver is relatively more exposed to attack, however, in the bus. But depending on what kind of zombies they are, this might not be a problem. If they are mean, scary, zombies that run really fast like those portrayed in movies like Resident Evil or Dawn of the Dead (I think...), then the large exposed windows of the bus might not provide enough protection. If, however, they are the more lethargic zombies portrayed in the farce movie Shaun of the Dead, then I think we will be fine in the bus.
The question then becomes, however, which bus to take because there are 6 different kinds of buses in the fleet. There are the old big ones with three doors, but they tend to break down the most so I would probably not take those. There are older and newer versions of the the slightly smaller and generally reliable ones. There are the really old, very reliable, but also very slow ones. There are the newest and sportiest ones (if you can use the word "sporty" to describe a bus). And then there is the big, fancy, new hybrid electric one. If there are enough other survivors, then we can each take a different kind of bus and it won't be an issue, but if it is just me then I would have to decide. The hybrid would be a good choice because it gets about 30% better fuel economy than the other ones, which would be important because getting out to fuel might be a risky proposition with hungry zombies running around. It has a big open floor plan so you could bring along a lot of stuff. It has a nice big back door that would be relatively easy to conduct drive-by zombie attacks through. And it's my favorite bus to drive. One problem with it, however, is that it is the biggest bus in the fleet, so it would be harder to maneuver around whatever sorts of obstacles I might encounter.
I think the other one I might take is one of the new, "sporty" ones because they probably have the most power for driving through crowds of zombies. They also have good air conditioning, and their doors close quickly.
If there are a few other able-bodied people to drive then I would probably also have someone take the Toyota Highlander hybrid, someone in the ambulance, and maybe even one of the fire trucks. Ideally I would find enough other people that we would head out as a convoy with all of these vehicles in our arsenal.
One of the first things I would do once I had secured the vehicles is try to locate and rescue one of the town of Vail mechanics so they could come along and fix the trucks and buses and whatnot when they broke down. That would definitely be the first order of business. Then I would go to Ace Hardware and get all of the gas cans I could find there, and go fill them up and bring them along. I would then book it for the grocery store, probably driving at high speed through crowds of zombies the whole way there. After I had stocked up on supplies, I guess I would try to drive to some relatively unpopulated areas. I suppose some firearms might be in order too...
So yeah, that's the plan. I'm glad that I'll know what to do in the event of zombie take-over... what a relief. What will YOU do?!
Here's a trailer for the movie Shaun of the Dead:
Most of the plans I've come up with involve going to the Vail bus barn (since I know the code to get in the door) and stealing various large vehicles. Which vehicles I steal would depend on several factors like what kind of zombies they are, how many other survivors I have with me, what time of year it is, and probably just what kind of mood I find myself in at the time. At the top of the list would probably be one of the snowplows they have parked in there because I figure the big plow would come in handy for plowing through crowds of zombies. It would also be useful for getting through the snow in the winter. The driver's cab in the snowplow is also relatively high off the ground and it would be hard for the zombies to attack me there. One problem with the snowplow, however, is that there isn't much room for cargo and stuff. I mean, there is the dump bed in back, but if there are zombies all over the place, I don't know how I would make it from the cab to the dump bed to get stuff...
That is where a bus would come in handy. Although a bus wouldn't be as well-suited for plowing through crowds of hungry zombies as the snowplow, I think that it could probably still get the job done if need be. The bus also has the added advantage of lots of room for things like other survivors I might come across, extra cans of fuel, perhaps a bed... Also, since I am a bus driver I have a bias towards taking a bus. The driver is relatively more exposed to attack, however, in the bus. But depending on what kind of zombies they are, this might not be a problem. If they are mean, scary, zombies that run really fast like those portrayed in movies like Resident Evil or Dawn of the Dead (I think...), then the large exposed windows of the bus might not provide enough protection. If, however, they are the more lethargic zombies portrayed in the farce movie Shaun of the Dead, then I think we will be fine in the bus.
The question then becomes, however, which bus to take because there are 6 different kinds of buses in the fleet. There are the old big ones with three doors, but they tend to break down the most so I would probably not take those. There are older and newer versions of the the slightly smaller and generally reliable ones. There are the really old, very reliable, but also very slow ones. There are the newest and sportiest ones (if you can use the word "sporty" to describe a bus). And then there is the big, fancy, new hybrid electric one. If there are enough other survivors, then we can each take a different kind of bus and it won't be an issue, but if it is just me then I would have to decide. The hybrid would be a good choice because it gets about 30% better fuel economy than the other ones, which would be important because getting out to fuel might be a risky proposition with hungry zombies running around. It has a big open floor plan so you could bring along a lot of stuff. It has a nice big back door that would be relatively easy to conduct drive-by zombie attacks through. And it's my favorite bus to drive. One problem with it, however, is that it is the biggest bus in the fleet, so it would be harder to maneuver around whatever sorts of obstacles I might encounter.
I think the other one I might take is one of the new, "sporty" ones because they probably have the most power for driving through crowds of zombies. They also have good air conditioning, and their doors close quickly.
If there are a few other able-bodied people to drive then I would probably also have someone take the Toyota Highlander hybrid, someone in the ambulance, and maybe even one of the fire trucks. Ideally I would find enough other people that we would head out as a convoy with all of these vehicles in our arsenal.
One of the first things I would do once I had secured the vehicles is try to locate and rescue one of the town of Vail mechanics so they could come along and fix the trucks and buses and whatnot when they broke down. That would definitely be the first order of business. Then I would go to Ace Hardware and get all of the gas cans I could find there, and go fill them up and bring them along. I would then book it for the grocery store, probably driving at high speed through crowds of zombies the whole way there. After I had stocked up on supplies, I guess I would try to drive to some relatively unpopulated areas. I suppose some firearms might be in order too...
So yeah, that's the plan. I'm glad that I'll know what to do in the event of zombie take-over... what a relief. What will YOU do?!
Here's a trailer for the movie Shaun of the Dead:
9.13.2007
Something Drastic
I have been wanting to move out of Edwards ever since before I even moved back here after graduating from school last December. This was only supposed to be a temporary transitional thing for me. I thought I would get my ya-ya's out driving a bus for a few months, find something cool to do for the summer, and then have some sort of real-ish job-ish thing lined up for the fall. Well, here we are knocking on Fall's door, I have been driving the bus all summer and I have nothing else lined up for the near future. I have spent lots of time online looking for jobs and internships and such. I have found a few interesting things that I am or will be applying for, but so far no real leads. While it would be ideal to get a cool job lined up before I move somewhere, I am starting to feel like maybe I should just move to a cool city even if I don't have an awesome job already lined up. Even if it means that I just move there and end up having to get some sort of part-time bus driving job or something, maybe it would be better to at least be living somewhere that I enjoy and then trying to find an awesome job once I'm already there.
There are lots of places I think I would possibly enjoy living; NYC, DC, Seattle, Portland, San Fran, Chicago, Denver/Boulder, Boston, maybe the Twin Cities, etc... (not to mention all of the cities outside of the US that I would also like to live in). If I were to choose right this very moment, however, I would probably choose DC because a significant majority of the cool/interesting jobs and internships that I've found online in recent days are located in DC, so I think there would be better chances of me eventually finding a cool work situation there later on. Plus, DC was ranked one of the best cities in the USA for young people in some magazine that I read a few months ago. Plus my aunt and her husband live there and they are cool people. Plus it has a great public transit system, which often correlates directly to how cool a city is. I haven't actually spent any significant time in DC though, so I don't really know for sure if I would actually like it or not. I think there's a good chance that I would like it though.
So yeah, I am halfway seriously considering just packing up my stuff and moving to DC even if I don't have a job already lined up there. I think I might have enough money to scrounge by for like a month or maybe two months with little or no employment before I went broke and had to beg my aunt to let me sleep on her couch. And I suppose even if it took me a little while to get a job that I really felt emotionally invested in, it would still be better to have a ho-hum job and live in DC than to have a ho-hum job and live in Edwards.
So yeah, that's what I'm thinking...
There are lots of places I think I would possibly enjoy living; NYC, DC, Seattle, Portland, San Fran, Chicago, Denver/Boulder, Boston, maybe the Twin Cities, etc... (not to mention all of the cities outside of the US that I would also like to live in). If I were to choose right this very moment, however, I would probably choose DC because a significant majority of the cool/interesting jobs and internships that I've found online in recent days are located in DC, so I think there would be better chances of me eventually finding a cool work situation there later on. Plus, DC was ranked one of the best cities in the USA for young people in some magazine that I read a few months ago. Plus my aunt and her husband live there and they are cool people. Plus it has a great public transit system, which often correlates directly to how cool a city is. I haven't actually spent any significant time in DC though, so I don't really know for sure if I would actually like it or not. I think there's a good chance that I would like it though.
So yeah, I am halfway seriously considering just packing up my stuff and moving to DC even if I don't have a job already lined up there. I think I might have enough money to scrounge by for like a month or maybe two months with little or no employment before I went broke and had to beg my aunt to let me sleep on her couch. And I suppose even if it took me a little while to get a job that I really felt emotionally invested in, it would still be better to have a ho-hum job and live in DC than to have a ho-hum job and live in Edwards.
So yeah, that's what I'm thinking...
9.05.2007
Boulder Poser
Since moving out of Boulder back in December, I have been coming back to the Denver/Boulder area at least once every couple of weeks. I love Boulder. I loved it when I lived here, and absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. I was in Denver only three days ago hanging out with friends and playing at Water World (for the first time since I was a wee young lad), but already I am back down again. This time my excuse for coming down is to help Granny buy a new and hopefully much improved car. Every time I come back though it just makes me wish I were still living here and going to school. Sometimes when I'm here I like to come to campus and pose as a student. In fact, I'm sort of posing as a student right now since I am writing this from the UMC student center since Granny doesn't have internet. I'm even wearing my leather messenger bag just to help blend in, even though there's nothing in it. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow when there are actually students on campus. Maybe I'll ride my bike too fast around campus like the good old days. Who knows, maybe I'll even take it to the next step and go sit in on some big lecture class. Haha, well maybe I won't do that, but I will probably at least come hang out on campus for a bit tomorrow and soak in some student vibes.
School isn't the only thing I love about Boulder though. I also love things like the awesome bike paths. I love that people USE the bike paths. I love the trees. I love the old houses. I love the less-old, dumpier houses. I love all the young people. I even kind of like some of the old crazy people. I love that you can get print versions of The Onion. Oh, and the Flatirons, they're cool too.
Anyway... I think I'll go ride my bike around for a bit before it gets too dark out. Adios people!
School isn't the only thing I love about Boulder though. I also love things like the awesome bike paths. I love that people USE the bike paths. I love the trees. I love the old houses. I love the less-old, dumpier houses. I love all the young people. I even kind of like some of the old crazy people. I love that you can get print versions of The Onion. Oh, and the Flatirons, they're cool too.
Anyway... I think I'll go ride my bike around for a bit before it gets too dark out. Adios people!
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