AHH. I started at the new place today!

So I get into the office and the receptionist shows me to my desk and helps me get all set up and everything. I was given some fancy-dancy mag-card or something so I can get into the office on weekends/late evenings/early mornings or something. Tres cool. Umm. Our company has an internal wiki, so I was directed to that and began installing software on my computer. Did that for a while. While doing so, I was told I was already set up with MSN (everyone in the Ottawa + Toronto office has eachother on MSN, using our work emails) and out of the blue someone started talking to me. Turns out she somehow knew about me (I later learned she was in T.O) and we both knew someone I used to work with! Hah. VERY RANDOM to sit down at a desk and have like 30 people in MSN that you’ve never met before. Eep!

OMFG. On Monday’s they have meetings with spreadsheets and the ‘managers’ talk through the status on all of the things they’re managing (projects) and any new/upcoming projects. This is a completely new process to me, but I managed to take note of the things I was to be working on. Omfg. Otherwise, I remember nothing from that meeting. EXCEPT: there was an awkward situation between 2 managers (one being the vice pres) and 1 of them over whether or not I’d be working on a project. He was REALLY REALLY not cool with me working on something which made me feel very awkward … … 

I worked on a site for the day … and felt pretty inadequate while doing so … because the tasks were not hard. Familiarizing myself with the site was pretty arduous … oh … and the horribly-organized, 1500-line CSS document. Not cool. 

It was good, though! Lots of really cool people. I feel like they’re very close-knit, so it’s kind of awkward being a new guy. Hah. But they’re all nice.

AFTER WORK: I ate with someone I work with, then we headed over to “Web … I hate it when you start something with quotes and forget what you’re writing. Damn it. What’s it called. DEMO CAMP OTTAWA. Yes. There we go. People present their software/typically web apps to a crowd of fellow developers. While drinking/eating ensues. Tres fun. *hiccup*

Made a huge mistake while busing home and took the most random and arbitrarily decided route home EVER. … EVER. 7 > 85 > 176. It was not thought out well. At all.

NOW IT’S 11 AND I HAVE TO BE UP EARLY TOMORROW. GNIGHT.

AND WTF. YOU HAD ALL BETTER BE STUDYING LIKE HONEY BADGERS. WHERE’S THE POSTS? IS BLOOG DEAD? CUZ I’LL STOP POSTING IF IT IS. :P

— busing, buzzed, omfg, work

At Baseline today I caught a 116 to get me home, and before we pulled out a 156 went by. I sighed. Anyway, we got to the stop by MHS (in front of the Esso) and a guy in an electric wheelchair yelled at the bus driver, since it was apparently the 2nd 116 that went by without a way for him to get on.

So what did this poor frustrated guy do? He started to drive down Merivale, in front of the bus, in his electric wheelchair. Yikes.

The bus passed him really quickly, so we weren’t crawling down Merivale (hah! :/ … ) and when I got off at my stop he actually made it all the way down to the Collonade-Merivale intersection. Uhh … wow … I thought he’d give up after the 116 passed him. But I guess he thought slowing down a 156 South (which I did not take for the whole single stop — EVEN THOUGH I COULD HAVE) would benefit him in someway too.

Aw. I sympathize with him, but the buses seem to be pretty random when it comes to their accessibility, so … yeah … shouldn’t ParaTranspo be involved in this situation, instead of the regular transit system? Hmm … I dunno. :/

— busing

So. I lost my bus pass again today. It was similar to the first time I lost my pass … a mere 3 weeks ago … both happened on a 176, and both happened while wearing these pants. It’s annoying because I know how horrible these pockets are for carrying things and while riding the bus TO work I made SURE to put it in the cargo pockets on them, and did the same leaving hull. Apparently I did not when I left Lebreton. DAMN IT.

It’s kind of funny because while on the 176 I thought “ok this was a huge mistake, I am never taking this bus again” (because it’s so slow). BOOURNS. I guess it might be kind of ironic that after picking up my passport I realized I lost my bus pass. Aha. So I suppose the good news is that I can travel outside of the country, though not using public transportation. Aha …

The 176X I was on went by Priya’s too, and Priya valiantly tried to search it, despite her gimpy leg. However, it wasn’t there/ in the hands of the driver. THEREFORE SOMEONE BETWEEN MERVALE+VIEWMOUNT AND MACFARLANE HAS MY BUS PASS. *glare* or *yey* … :/ … I don’t know how I feel about this yet. Ahaha.

— annoyed, busing

*giggle*

I get so amused when there’s like 6 people on that bus and it gets to the last stop before turning down Merivale and the people who don’t know are like “Um? Wait, What?”. AHAHA. AM I EVIL? Oh you know the people at the last 176x stop would be doing it if I got on, expecting to go to Fallowfield. Bastards.

Oh. So Kanata sucks. EVERY BLOODY BUS SEEMS TO GO TO KANATA. 6. SIX (!!) KANATA BUSES WENT BY ME BEFORE A SINGLE PACKED 95x! SIX!! Then TWO more, followed by a packed 95 Barrhaven Centre. *glare*. But an articulated 69 went by *giggle: double the length*, followed by a 96 (which also goes to kanata :|). I was very quick to notice that the 69 was followed by the 96 (flip it around and what do you get! HAH).

Long story short: next time I am just going to take that damn 176x, since it always seems to come before the 156x. Where was my beloved 178 … my love, you never showed up today … (I like that bus since no-one seems to take it :P, it’s so speedy, my best experience on it: only stopped at Lincoln fields and that damn red light at the Iris stop between Lebreton and Baseline. However that day the 111 showed up 5 minutes early and I still ended up waiting for a 116, which was late :|).

There is no winning with buses.

— busing

OK. I know most people have a crowded-bus horror story, BUT COME ON. Today was ridiculous. Maybe the weather makes it feel worse than it was …

Anyway, Priya and I got on the 95 at Baseline. Unfortunately we couldn’t get seats, not that they would’ve helped. So we were standing in the back of the articulated bus, and space suddenly became a luxury … so at this point it was uncomfortable, but bearable.

By Lincoln Fields it seemed like people were only getting on the bus, not getting off — and what was worse was that people were SQUEEZING their way into the bus. Just … too many people. I lost Priya by this point. And was getting to close to the guy in the seat behind me. Remarkably, I managed to get to the very back of the bus as some of the people were getting off at Lincoln Fields.

WHEW. So I had space once again, though it began to disappear by Tunney’s, when I was slowly pushed back even more. Awkward. Mike wasn’t on the bus yet, and was supposed to get on at the stop after Tunney’s … so I called him to tell him we were there (however, I actually didn’t know we were there …I was just kind of hoping). So somehow he got on at Bayview or whatever, and saw Priya? (Priya called me at some point to ask what was happening with Mike). ONLY ONE MORE STOP TO GO! Except only Mike was able to get off … HAH … it was funny … Mike standing outside the bus, looking all “wtf” … and I was helpless! I COULDN’T GET AROUND THAT DAMN SWARM. Apparently Priya couldn’t either, but I couldn’t see her! We did get off at the next stop, which had Mike all confused …
WE DID MANAGE TO GET OFF THOUGH, and while waiting for the next bus (which was empty) saw the 69. YES. WE HAVE A 69. Splendid! SPLENDID! And we saw many other non-crowded 95s go by. Damn it all!

In other news: today’s weather = hideous.

— busing

Two incidents, two back-to-back days. Both 116s. Both the same stop. Both old salmon-seated buses.

Incident 1: I AM STUPID. RETARDED. However you’d like to put it. Anyway, I guess I’ve become comfortable with buses. Recount the ways you exit them these days? Push a handle, wave your arm in front of a door, push a bar. So obviously when I walked down the steps and the doors didn’t open, I was like “wtf” … so I tried again, before the nice bus driver said “you have to push the doors open”. That was awkward, and shrouded in shame, I left the bus.

Incident 2: It’s kind-of ironic. I noticed that our bus driver seemed like he was in a bit of a hurry at the stop in front of Merivale Mall. He let the people on and immediately started driving. I thought to myself “he didn’t give much of a chance for people to get off”. So, my stop was approaching, and to make sure (since I was on an old bus again) I got out sort-of early to stand at the stairs to get off, so I could see if there was a green light that would go off (denoting when to step down–yeah, I’m one of the people who doesn’t step down until the green light goes off–wanna fight?). He stopped, I stepped down … the doors began to open, and suddenly closed … and he was driving away. I was in shock… it felt like a pratical joke was being played on me. I just walked to the front of the bus … and got off at the next stop. What was I going to do? Like … yell at him and get out in an intersection? Ahah. So whatever the extra walk wasn’t long … but still.

It got me thinking though … what if I had made it out most of the way and the doors closed/caught on my bag or something. It just made those “man dragged 100m by bus!” stories seem plausible. If the bystander effect was really that powerful I weep for humanity. *shakes fist*
*glares at the 116*

I miss the comfort of the 156. Ahah.

— busing

There is such a thing, right? Unwritten rules which we as frequent bus-riders abide by? For example, you generally sit beside someone unless there are no seats available … or, you don’t talk to people, unless you know them — that type of thing.

This morning I was casually sitting on the bus, when a relatively-young guy sits beside me. K. Right of the bat, he broke a cardinal rule in that our arms were touching. ‘Whatever’ I thought, the bus ride is short and it’s not that taboo. You wouldn’t think it could escalate — but it did.

OC Transpo buses come in a few flavours, ranging from the really old ones (with the non-separate, pinkish-smooth-leather seats) to the seperate seat models. We were on an old one with the ‘slippery’ pink-as-salmon seats. Every time the bus turned to the right, this fellow slid into me even more. That’s mildly annoying, since he made no attempt to stop the slide (some people will grab on to the seat/railing-thing, others use their feet?).

It actually ESCALATED when he decided to start using his Blackberry/PDA. For the uninformed: you use your thumbs to type (er, well more on the Blackberry). Rather than stick the device in front of him, he used it close to his body, thus causing his elbows to extend to his sides. He was so close that they went into my arm — and he was ‘jostling’ them, too — I suppose you would say since the keys are in different positions. Geez.

INVASION OF PERSONAL SPACE.

;D

— busing, etiquette