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As much as I love Amtrak, I just could not justify $263 to visit M this weekend. There was a flight special for $140 round trip but I'd have to fly Saturday morning and return on Monday morning and I think the last thing M wanted to do was take me to the airport at 4 AM on a Monday morning.
Passenger-wise, this was a great trip. The whole bus was practically asleep. Probably because the guy behind me was trying to impress his seat mate with his extensive knowledge of computer science. She was a computer science major but I imagine a first year because she had no idea of what he was talking about. That put us all in a deep sleep. Plus, internet was spotty. That or someone was hogging bandwidth.
I had phone calls to make but I'm more and more loathe to talk on a bus due to other people listening to my biz-natch. I went low tech and read my sushi book which I am LOVING. We follow a class of students in sushi school and flash back to history, culture, science - the chemicals that make fish fishy! The chemicals that make the fish taste good. The amino acids and all that good stuff.
And then I started to get motion sick.
So I put the book away and pulled out the iPod. Despite her valley girl from the south accent, I'm enjoying the "How Stuff Works" podcasts. Today I learned about knights. And then George Michael kept me company for the rest of the way. I've fallen in love again with the timely "Praying for Time", disturbingly sexy "Father Figure", and anguished "One More Try". How people did not pick up on his homosexuality - he calls his lover "teacher" and uses gender neutral language - is beyond me. M says, "jean shorts and tank top with Wham! written across, 'nuff said."
We are taking the weirdest route to DC - it is the exact route I take to Bowie. Similar to my other Bolt Bus experiences, we had an accident before we even left the city. The driver has proceeded to talk on the phone without a headset, besides being really dangerous, doesn't her arm get really sore? I think she's taking us to her friend's house to pick something up. I just can't wait to get off this bus. Oh, right, I'm taking the Bolt Bus back to NY on Sunday. 10 points for hitting a pedestrian, 5 more points if they are using a walker.
So, in order to save a $112, I took the Bolt Bus home from DC today. Even though I was maybe 20th on line, I was first on the bus because I didn't have any luggage to put underneath and my ticket had an "A" on it. I got a window seat in the second row and was getting stoked that I'd have both seats to myself.
Then crazy homeless looking man comes on with all these bags of crap and starts putting them in the seat in front of me. The bus driver yelled at him because his bags were spilling on the passenger next to him. And then, he puts his coat on the back of the chair AND CAME AND SAT NEXT TO ME!
He smelled like old attic and B.O. He kept elbowing me because he was sorting through his mail (and tossing the garbage on the floor) and calling up the people to complain about the bills. He also kept talking to me:
Crazy Man ("CM"): "Hi, my name is Gary. Were you at the Neuroscience conference?"
A: "I'm on the phone."
CM: "Do you live in New York?"
A: "I'm still on the phone."
CM: "Are you a blogger? What do you blog about? I need a blogger for my start up."
A: "I'm on the phone."
He finally stopped talking to me but he was still elbowing me and still stank. Finally, we were at a rest stop and I ran off trying to frantically find someone to let me sit next to them. This nice lady behind him was so nice. She cleared off a space next to her and said that she felt bad for me and was going to offer me a seat earlier. She said he was acting like a crazy drunk man before he got on the bus. Then another guy said that he was ignoring the guy. So, basically, everyone thought he was crazy. The lady said that she had bad allergies and the smell of the guy was setting off her allergies. Another funny thing was the lady was at the Neuroscience conference.
I do rely on the kindness of strangers.
Readers, I am writing to you from the Bolt Bus. We are somewhere in Maryland. On my way out of the office, my Chief Compliance Officer saying to me, "Oh, you're riding the bus? In the movie "Traitor", suicide bombers put 5 bombs on a Greyhound." Oh, thanks. As if I didn't have enough anxiety about Greyhound buses from the stabbing incident (yes, I'm still obsessed with it). Bolt Bus, by the way, is owned by Greyhound.
And it is worlds away. The website is great (although I can't log back in for some reason) and I bought a one way ticket for $24. Apparently, if you buy early enough you can get a ticket for $1!!!! It was easy to get to - right in front of the Sbarro's on 33rd and 7th Ave and we left on time. Our driver was really nice and bantered with us as we boarded. He calls us "family" and gives great announcements about how we can enjoy our ride. He reminded me of the fun flight attendants from Virgin. The seats are "leather", comfy and there is wi-fi. We are driving and I am blogging. Unbelievable.
The bus drops me off a few blocks from the Verizon Center where I will be taking my sweetie to watch her childhood crush Jordan Knight sing and dance in sync with his fellow 40 year old band mates. It has been quite a convenient journey!
I am taking the train back because the train stops in Jersey and it's easy for me to head home from Jersey City than Manhattan. Will I be taking the Bolt Bus again into DC? I mean the economy IS falling apart. Is 2 extra hours on a bus worth saving $100 and making M drive into DC to get me? I do have a terrible shopping habit. Perhaps M might pick me up on her way home from hanging out with the gals on a Friday night...
