The day before we lost Simpkin, my family got a new arrival: a little black kitten named Salem. My mom's cousin Stephanie's cat had had kittens, and they couldn't quite find a home for this little fellow. My mom offered to try to find a home for it through the pet stores around us. So, when we had a family dinner with Stephanie's family, they brought the kitten along with them. We all fell in love right away, but especially Dave. He decided that we had to keep tthis littel kitten, because "no one could give this kitten as much love as we will."
The naming process took a little while. In his first week with us he had such names as Eddie (for either the Munsters character or Edgar Allen Poe), Felix, Merlin, Zorro, and Figero. Dave was the one who came up with Salem. I suspect it was inspired by the city in Massachusetts, though several people have asked if it was for the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Salem is quite the adventurer. He has no fear of any of the other animals, though at first he wasn't fond of Valencia. As for the other animals' opinoins, Buffy pretends to hate him, but is secretly happy for another feline playmate, Tilly loves it like a baby, though slightly wary of the claws, and Nigel isn't sure what to make of it at all. Nigel would like to boss him around like he tries with Buffy, but Salem is so strong willed to do what he likes that it doesn't seem to be working for Nigel. haha
In any case, he makes a perfect fit for our pack of animals. :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Walking with Jesus
I have been going through a lot of spiritual transitions over the past year. Last year was very difficult for me and only through the summer did I start to feel "normal" again. Recently, God has been working in me through the college Sunday school group at Mission, and I now feel that I am in a place where I can put this working into words.
We wen tthrough a unit talking about the passages surrounding Jesus walking on water in Mark. The passage immeidately before walking on water is that of the feeding the 5000. The disciples are grumpy during this miracle because they thought they were going to have a rest. Jesus performs the miracle and there are 12 baskets of food left over. They then get in the boat and are supposed to go to Bethsaida. It is while they are on the lake that they see Jesus walking on water. They don't recognize him and are afraid. Jesus had meant to pass by them, but since they are afraid, he gets in the boat and they don't end up at Bethsaida. The next passage is feeding the 4000. This time there are 7 baskets left over. Again afterwards they get in the boat, and the disciples have a conversation about not having any bread. They reach Bethsaida, and Jesus performs the miracle of healing the blind man where at first he says he sees people but they look like trees.
Discussion with the group is where things really fall into place for application. The disciples missed the whole point of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus can provide everything a person needs in abundance. This is even demonstrated by the fact that there was a basket left over for each disciple. He wants them to understand that he, as God, provides for them. But they don't get this, which is why they are terrified when they see him on the water and don't make it to Bethsaida. Jesus does the feeding of the 4000 to try to tell them again. This time the 7 baskets symbolize completion and wholeness. It seems that the disciples still don't quite get it, because they complain about not having bread. There is more conversation int eh boat that we don't know about, but Jesus must decide that they are ready for Bethsaida, because that's where they end up. With the blind man, Jesus makes it a point that it isn't enough for him to see, but not see clearly. Jesus wants him to see everything in perfect detail as it is.
So, summary of application, God can and wants to be our provider. He provides abundantly for us both with physical and spiritual needs. When he teaches us something, he doesn't give up if we don't get it the first time. He works to show it to us in different ways so we understand and learn more about him. And even when we think we see something (like the blind man seeing people as trees), he keeps working to make it perfectly clear for us. There is always something new for us to discover about God.
Now personal application to my journey. The trips int he boat that the disciples and Jesus mke made me think about the Footprints poem. Graduating from Biola, Jesus and I were walking along the shoreline together. Then grad school and roommate issues hit, and I feel flat on my face. I spent quite a while lying face down in the sand. At first I cried out and began to reach for God, but the pain overwhelmed me, and very quickly i dropped my hand and resigned myself to lie there. I felt alone and abandoned and felt as if I were drifting from God. As soon as I realized this consciously, I reached out to God and he picked me up. Throughout the summer he carried me, and I clung to him. I was terrified of falling on my face again. At the same time, I felt ashamed that I wasn't walking, simply being carried. But the suppor tof others, and God's reassurance made me understand that it is ok to let yourslef be carried for a time.
Now, entering year 2 of grad school, and with a better elader of college group, I feel ready to walk on my own feet again. I am stillleaning heavily on God, but this is a good thing. He is more than able to support me and provide for me. And I realize now, tha tthough I was walking on my own, yet next to Jesus, when I graduate drom Biola, I believed that I had learned everything about him.
I see now that I am only seeing trees when I want to see people.
I pray that he continues to show me more and more of his character as I walk with him.
We wen tthrough a unit talking about the passages surrounding Jesus walking on water in Mark. The passage immeidately before walking on water is that of the feeding the 5000. The disciples are grumpy during this miracle because they thought they were going to have a rest. Jesus performs the miracle and there are 12 baskets of food left over. They then get in the boat and are supposed to go to Bethsaida. It is while they are on the lake that they see Jesus walking on water. They don't recognize him and are afraid. Jesus had meant to pass by them, but since they are afraid, he gets in the boat and they don't end up at Bethsaida. The next passage is feeding the 4000. This time there are 7 baskets left over. Again afterwards they get in the boat, and the disciples have a conversation about not having any bread. They reach Bethsaida, and Jesus performs the miracle of healing the blind man where at first he says he sees people but they look like trees.
Discussion with the group is where things really fall into place for application. The disciples missed the whole point of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus can provide everything a person needs in abundance. This is even demonstrated by the fact that there was a basket left over for each disciple. He wants them to understand that he, as God, provides for them. But they don't get this, which is why they are terrified when they see him on the water and don't make it to Bethsaida. Jesus does the feeding of the 4000 to try to tell them again. This time the 7 baskets symbolize completion and wholeness. It seems that the disciples still don't quite get it, because they complain about not having bread. There is more conversation int eh boat that we don't know about, but Jesus must decide that they are ready for Bethsaida, because that's where they end up. With the blind man, Jesus makes it a point that it isn't enough for him to see, but not see clearly. Jesus wants him to see everything in perfect detail as it is.
So, summary of application, God can and wants to be our provider. He provides abundantly for us both with physical and spiritual needs. When he teaches us something, he doesn't give up if we don't get it the first time. He works to show it to us in different ways so we understand and learn more about him. And even when we think we see something (like the blind man seeing people as trees), he keeps working to make it perfectly clear for us. There is always something new for us to discover about God.
Now personal application to my journey. The trips int he boat that the disciples and Jesus mke made me think about the Footprints poem. Graduating from Biola, Jesus and I were walking along the shoreline together. Then grad school and roommate issues hit, and I feel flat on my face. I spent quite a while lying face down in the sand. At first I cried out and began to reach for God, but the pain overwhelmed me, and very quickly i dropped my hand and resigned myself to lie there. I felt alone and abandoned and felt as if I were drifting from God. As soon as I realized this consciously, I reached out to God and he picked me up. Throughout the summer he carried me, and I clung to him. I was terrified of falling on my face again. At the same time, I felt ashamed that I wasn't walking, simply being carried. But the suppor tof others, and God's reassurance made me understand that it is ok to let yourslef be carried for a time.
Now, entering year 2 of grad school, and with a better elader of college group, I feel ready to walk on my own feet again. I am stillleaning heavily on God, but this is a good thing. He is more than able to support me and provide for me. And I realize now, tha tthough I was walking on my own, yet next to Jesus, when I graduate drom Biola, I believed that I had learned everything about him.
I see now that I am only seeing trees when I want to see people.
I pray that he continues to show me more and more of his character as I walk with him.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rest in Peace
The day came, and my kitty baby has gone. I called my mom yesterday afternoon with a question, and caught her just as she was arriving home from the vet. He no longer could eat, and she said he seemed ready. I would have to agree. As a friend texted me in response to the news, he's probably chasing mic ein heaven right now.
Simpkin Arnold Hastings
July 20, 1994 - October 11, 2010
Loved house cat, companion, and friend. Simpkin was born to Maggie Alic Hastings, the first of seven kittens. His brother Beauregard "Beau" Mittens Washburn was adopted to the Hastings' grandparents and visited Simpkin regularly. At age one and a half, Simpkin's mother Magie developed severe allergy to flea bites, and left her suffering, peacefully in her sleep. His brother Beau met a tragic end at age 8 in dealings with a coyote.
Simpkin loved hunting, eating, sunbathing, and being scratched behind the ears.
He is survived by his family, the Hastings, his beloved feline companion Buffy, and three canine housemates. He will be greatly missed.
Simpkin Arnold Hastings
July 20, 1994 - October 11, 2010
Loved house cat, companion, and friend. Simpkin was born to Maggie Alic Hastings, the first of seven kittens. His brother Beauregard "Beau" Mittens Washburn was adopted to the Hastings' grandparents and visited Simpkin regularly. At age one and a half, Simpkin's mother Magie developed severe allergy to flea bites, and left her suffering, peacefully in her sleep. His brother Beau met a tragic end at age 8 in dealings with a coyote.
Simpkin loved hunting, eating, sunbathing, and being scratched behind the ears.
He is survived by his family, the Hastings, his beloved feline companion Buffy, and three canine housemates. He will be greatly missed.
Buffy and Simpkin (Photo by Steve)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Tad's Birthday
Yet another special occasion this year that Tad and I got to spend together, was his birthday. The only other time we've been together on his birthday was when I visited him for the first time. It was our two month anniversary and we hadn't seen each other in nearly 4 months. That day was fun. We went to church, and then on our first official date. We did mini golfing with another couple. Ironically, that first birthday of his we were together, was the day Valencia was born. :)
Her 4th birthday started with her heartguard meat chewy (which she loves) and a frozen peanut butter kong (which she also loves). We got ready and went over to Tad's place where he surprised her with a new squeaky toy. It's a raccoon with six squeakers in it. While she was enjoying getting to know her new toy, I surprised Tad with 3 of the Glee soundtracks. We hung out for a while listening to the music and then set out for his birthday lunch.
Tad picked Fudrucker's for his birthday lunch. We each got a burger (I got bacon, bleu cheese, and mushrooms, yum!) and shared fries and a drink. It was funny, there was another service dog there when we got there. After lunch we ran a number of errands, including picking up a birthday package from the post office. We were both too stuffed from lunch to think about dinner for quite some time. We hung out and played Guitar Hero until hungry enough to eat something.
For dinner we just heated up some cheddar bratwurst and mashed potatoes, but the drinks were fun. The night before we had gone grocery shopping, and Tad picked up a bottle of grenadine and we made Shirley Temples.
Saturday, Tad bought his birthday present to himself: a recurve bow, arrows, and other archery gear. The store we got it from has a shooting range, and we got to do a bit of shooting. We're doing a badge with the Caravans kids on archery, and realized it'd be a fun hobby to have. Upon making our purchase, we promptly headed down to Sushi Diner to meet Raelene for the double (technically triple) birthday celebration.
Sunday, my mom had planned to bring a pie down when they brought Steve back to the dorm, and then decided that a full family dinner would be better. She made a roast, green beans, and potatoes, and we had pumpkin and peach pie for dessert. I think Tad really enjoyed having a family celebration for his day.
And I know I enjoyed getting to celebrate both our birthdays together within the same year, a first for us :)
Her 4th birthday started with her heartguard meat chewy (which she loves) and a frozen peanut butter kong (which she also loves). We got ready and went over to Tad's place where he surprised her with a new squeaky toy. It's a raccoon with six squeakers in it. While she was enjoying getting to know her new toy, I surprised Tad with 3 of the Glee soundtracks. We hung out for a while listening to the music and then set out for his birthday lunch.
Tad picked Fudrucker's for his birthday lunch. We each got a burger (I got bacon, bleu cheese, and mushrooms, yum!) and shared fries and a drink. It was funny, there was another service dog there when we got there. After lunch we ran a number of errands, including picking up a birthday package from the post office. We were both too stuffed from lunch to think about dinner for quite some time. We hung out and played Guitar Hero until hungry enough to eat something.
For dinner we just heated up some cheddar bratwurst and mashed potatoes, but the drinks were fun. The night before we had gone grocery shopping, and Tad picked up a bottle of grenadine and we made Shirley Temples.
Saturday, Tad bought his birthday present to himself: a recurve bow, arrows, and other archery gear. The store we got it from has a shooting range, and we got to do a bit of shooting. We're doing a badge with the Caravans kids on archery, and realized it'd be a fun hobby to have. Upon making our purchase, we promptly headed down to Sushi Diner to meet Raelene for the double (technically triple) birthday celebration.
Sunday, my mom had planned to bring a pie down when they brought Steve back to the dorm, and then decided that a full family dinner would be better. She made a roast, green beans, and potatoes, and we had pumpkin and peach pie for dessert. I think Tad really enjoyed having a family celebration for his day.
And I know I enjoyed getting to celebrate both our birthdays together within the same year, a first for us :)
Cleft Palate Clinic
Life got really busy with midterms, but I'm squeezing in some blog time.
The weekend before last I had the opportunity to go with my program to a two day cleft palate clinic in Mexicali. The clinic is put on by the Red Cross and is a full team approach type deal. There are surgeons, dentists, nurses, anesthesiologists, and us SLPs. People come from up to several hours away to have surgeries and receive free therapy. It's a pretty awesome program they have going.
My Friday started very, VERY early. I met up with the other SDSU people at 7:30 at the old clinic and from there we carpooled to the Calexico/Mexicali border. I rode with Christine and Jessie (a first year, who I found out is a Christian). It's always such a wonderful thing meeting other believers, I know I get just this sense of safety and peace. Jessie's really sweet, I've really enjoyed seeing her around the building over the last couple weeks.
We all arrived in Calexico at 10 am, and it was already in the 90's. Definitely NOT my favorite weather, but we made the most of it. I was fortunate to end up in one of the cars heading across the border, rather than having to walk. I rode with Dr. Allen, the retired SDSU faculty who leads the trips for us students. A lot of people had complained about her not being personable, but I liked her just fine. She reminds me of one of my grandmothers.
Anyway, we arrived at the Red Cross building and set up for a full day of diagnostics. The clients came in and were checked out by the surgeons. If they needed surgery, they were scheduled and sent to talk to the anesthesiologist. All of the clients, whether having surgery or not, who had any sort of craniofacial abnormality came to see us for a speech screening. Dr. Allen did all of the talking, but as she speaks very limited Spanish, she had us translate. That part was really cool for me, I got lots of practice speaking both to clients and their parents.
The other really cool part was seeing all the variety in cases: cleft palates in all states of repair, teeth growing in places they shouldn't, different syndromes I'd heard of but never seen, etc. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to watch surgeries. I went in to the operating room, but really wasn't able to see much, so I didn't stay long.
Throughout the day we were certainly well fed. There was a giant table of food that everyone had brought to share, mostly snack stuff. They also had a hot meal catered. Friday lunch was rice, tomales, and mole. Once all the surgeries for the day were done at about 10, we went with the whole group to a taco shop. I was super tired, but it was fun chatting, and enjoying some delicious tacos and a beer (which I actually liked, amazing).
We stayed the night in a hotel in town. The property is gated, and it reminded me quite a bit of the hotel my family stayed at in Puerto Rico in January. It was kind of a bummer to have to pay for a hotel room that we were only spending about 8 hours in. I shared with Christine and Janie. We basically showered and then went to bed. We had all brought our own food fro breakfast, and waited for everyone else by the pool and watching a little stray cat, hehe
Back at the clinic it was therapy day. I got to do some more translating, but not as much as Friday. I was also having an awful time staying awake, there were a few times I fell asleep standing up. Tired as I was, it was good to get to see how to work with kids with clefts and repaired clefts. We finished up with the therapy at 4:00, got across the border at 5:30, and made it back to San Diego around 7:30. It was a long couple of days, but definitely worhtwhile. :)
The weekend before last I had the opportunity to go with my program to a two day cleft palate clinic in Mexicali. The clinic is put on by the Red Cross and is a full team approach type deal. There are surgeons, dentists, nurses, anesthesiologists, and us SLPs. People come from up to several hours away to have surgeries and receive free therapy. It's a pretty awesome program they have going.
My Friday started very, VERY early. I met up with the other SDSU people at 7:30 at the old clinic and from there we carpooled to the Calexico/Mexicali border. I rode with Christine and Jessie (a first year, who I found out is a Christian). It's always such a wonderful thing meeting other believers, I know I get just this sense of safety and peace. Jessie's really sweet, I've really enjoyed seeing her around the building over the last couple weeks.
We all arrived in Calexico at 10 am, and it was already in the 90's. Definitely NOT my favorite weather, but we made the most of it. I was fortunate to end up in one of the cars heading across the border, rather than having to walk. I rode with Dr. Allen, the retired SDSU faculty who leads the trips for us students. A lot of people had complained about her not being personable, but I liked her just fine. She reminds me of one of my grandmothers.
Anyway, we arrived at the Red Cross building and set up for a full day of diagnostics. The clients came in and were checked out by the surgeons. If they needed surgery, they were scheduled and sent to talk to the anesthesiologist. All of the clients, whether having surgery or not, who had any sort of craniofacial abnormality came to see us for a speech screening. Dr. Allen did all of the talking, but as she speaks very limited Spanish, she had us translate. That part was really cool for me, I got lots of practice speaking both to clients and their parents.
The other really cool part was seeing all the variety in cases: cleft palates in all states of repair, teeth growing in places they shouldn't, different syndromes I'd heard of but never seen, etc. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to watch surgeries. I went in to the operating room, but really wasn't able to see much, so I didn't stay long.
Throughout the day we were certainly well fed. There was a giant table of food that everyone had brought to share, mostly snack stuff. They also had a hot meal catered. Friday lunch was rice, tomales, and mole. Once all the surgeries for the day were done at about 10, we went with the whole group to a taco shop. I was super tired, but it was fun chatting, and enjoying some delicious tacos and a beer (which I actually liked, amazing).
We stayed the night in a hotel in town. The property is gated, and it reminded me quite a bit of the hotel my family stayed at in Puerto Rico in January. It was kind of a bummer to have to pay for a hotel room that we were only spending about 8 hours in. I shared with Christine and Janie. We basically showered and then went to bed. We had all brought our own food fro breakfast, and waited for everyone else by the pool and watching a little stray cat, hehe
Back at the clinic it was therapy day. I got to do some more translating, but not as much as Friday. I was also having an awful time staying awake, there were a few times I fell asleep standing up. Tired as I was, it was good to get to see how to work with kids with clefts and repaired clefts. We finished up with the therapy at 4:00, got across the border at 5:30, and made it back to San Diego around 7:30. It was a long couple of days, but definitely worhtwhile. :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
From the Ocean, to the City, to the Mountains
Compared to last year, thus far this semester has been super chill. I'm busy during the week, but with only having two classes, my weekends have been pretty free. This past weekend was chock full of activity, and really fun.
Friday started out with sailing with the young adults group at Braille Institute. I hadn't done anything with Braille since the summer after my senior year of high school, so it was kind of an interesting flashback experience. It was me, Lindsay, Daniel, Krishna, and Kelvin (who I also kinda know from church at Mission, lol). We went with a group off of Shelter Island. They paired us each up with an instructor and had us do the steering. It was a lot of fun. We had a beautiful day to be on the water - not too hot, not too windy.
After sailing, I had enough time at home to change and feed Valencia before heading with Raelene downtown for the Padres/Giatns game at Petco Park. We had seats in the row in front of Nate and his brother-in-law Ben. HOLY COW were these good seats, we were RIGHT behind the Giants' dug out. Yeah, about that, Raelene and the boys were rooting for the Giatns, boooooo. haha it wasn't so bad, considering there was no score until inning 7 when the Giants got a run. Raelene and I had fun chatting and chowing down on some awesome nachos.
Saturday evening I got to go to a place I'd never been before: Mt Laguna. Steve's department was holding an event out there for students, families, and faculties. We picked Tad up on our way out there and enjoyed seeing parts of San Diego that were very unfamiliar to all of us, lol. It's beautiful up on the mountain, pine trees and mountain air and a gorgeous sunset. They had a potluck dinner, and then gave a tour of the observatories that State owns up there. I was very excited to get to be up in the dome of one of them! Once the stars came out, we had a telescope set up to look at the moon and Venus.
Saturday also happened to be my dad's birthday. He was at a work "retreat" (aka conference) all day, so we celebrated on Sunday. We went out for dinner at Pei Wei's and had German Chocolate birthday cake. It was an awesome weekend spending time with family and getting to do some things in San Diego that I don't get to do every day :)
Friday started out with sailing with the young adults group at Braille Institute. I hadn't done anything with Braille since the summer after my senior year of high school, so it was kind of an interesting flashback experience. It was me, Lindsay, Daniel, Krishna, and Kelvin (who I also kinda know from church at Mission, lol). We went with a group off of Shelter Island. They paired us each up with an instructor and had us do the steering. It was a lot of fun. We had a beautiful day to be on the water - not too hot, not too windy.
After sailing, I had enough time at home to change and feed Valencia before heading with Raelene downtown for the Padres/Giatns game at Petco Park. We had seats in the row in front of Nate and his brother-in-law Ben. HOLY COW were these good seats, we were RIGHT behind the Giants' dug out. Yeah, about that, Raelene and the boys were rooting for the Giatns, boooooo. haha it wasn't so bad, considering there was no score until inning 7 when the Giants got a run. Raelene and I had fun chatting and chowing down on some awesome nachos.
Saturday evening I got to go to a place I'd never been before: Mt Laguna. Steve's department was holding an event out there for students, families, and faculties. We picked Tad up on our way out there and enjoyed seeing parts of San Diego that were very unfamiliar to all of us, lol. It's beautiful up on the mountain, pine trees and mountain air and a gorgeous sunset. They had a potluck dinner, and then gave a tour of the observatories that State owns up there. I was very excited to get to be up in the dome of one of them! Once the stars came out, we had a telescope set up to look at the moon and Venus.
Saturday also happened to be my dad's birthday. He was at a work "retreat" (aka conference) all day, so we celebrated on Sunday. We went out for dinner at Pei Wei's and had German Chocolate birthday cake. It was an awesome weekend spending time with family and getting to do some things in San Diego that I don't get to do every day :)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Escapades on Public Transit
I mentioned in my post about my internship that I'm taking quite a bit of public transit this semester for my internship. As such, I have begun collecting a number of interesting stories and experiences. I thought I'd share them here.
The first morning of my internship went smoothly. I had no trouble finding the right buses or bus stops, but I encountered some interesting people. My first surprise was when I got to the bus stop outside of my condo and discovered a homeless person sleeping on the bench. They were there the second morning as well, but I have not seen them since. I was also delightedly amused when, on the second bus, a high school kid boarded with the hugest afro I have ever seen in my life. He is a regular rider, and I get a little joy every time I see him, lol
A more frustrating day came the first Thursday of the semester. Thursday is the day I have both my internship *and* class. Thanks to the slowness of public transportation I have to leave my internship 45 minutes early to make it to class on time. I take the bus back to Fashion Valley and then catch the trolley from there. There are two bus lines that stop outside of Sharp, both of them go to Fashion Valley. One is a regular city bus, the other is a shorter bus/van thing. The 25 happened to come first, so I got on, and was greeted by another black lab. The other dog's handler was a lady in a wheelchair. Unfortunately for my schedule, she got off before fashion valley. It took quite a bit of extra time to get her AND her dog off the bus.
Even more time was lost when at the next stop a lady got on, who spoke basically no English, and refused to get off or pay, though her 3 bus passes were expired. 5 minutes of arguing later, she pulled out a current bus pass and we were on our way. I had definitely missed my trolley at that point, but did still manage to make it to class just in time.
Somewhat frustrating, and somewhat amusing to me, have been my attempts at meeting Tad at work. To do this, requires 3 bus routes. The first week I tried, I thought I could only take the 25 to transfer to the 41, and the 25 never came. After an hour and a half of waiting, Tad picked me up. I later discovered I could take either th 25 or the 120. So last week I tried again. I caught the 120, and told the driver I wanted to transfer to the 41. He told me which stop and said I needed to cross the street, which I had suspected. I got off, crossed the street, and caught the 41...in the wrong direction. Boo, so I stayed on the bus back to Fashion Valley, and looped around, but by that time Tad was off work. Thus for a second week in a row, I didn't mak it and he picked me up from UTC. However, next week I WILL make it!!! lol
Something fun about taking the same routes a the same times is I've met other people on their way to work. They're friendly now, and know Valencia by name :)
The first morning of my internship went smoothly. I had no trouble finding the right buses or bus stops, but I encountered some interesting people. My first surprise was when I got to the bus stop outside of my condo and discovered a homeless person sleeping on the bench. They were there the second morning as well, but I have not seen them since. I was also delightedly amused when, on the second bus, a high school kid boarded with the hugest afro I have ever seen in my life. He is a regular rider, and I get a little joy every time I see him, lol
A more frustrating day came the first Thursday of the semester. Thursday is the day I have both my internship *and* class. Thanks to the slowness of public transportation I have to leave my internship 45 minutes early to make it to class on time. I take the bus back to Fashion Valley and then catch the trolley from there. There are two bus lines that stop outside of Sharp, both of them go to Fashion Valley. One is a regular city bus, the other is a shorter bus/van thing. The 25 happened to come first, so I got on, and was greeted by another black lab. The other dog's handler was a lady in a wheelchair. Unfortunately for my schedule, she got off before fashion valley. It took quite a bit of extra time to get her AND her dog off the bus.
Even more time was lost when at the next stop a lady got on, who spoke basically no English, and refused to get off or pay, though her 3 bus passes were expired. 5 minutes of arguing later, she pulled out a current bus pass and we were on our way. I had definitely missed my trolley at that point, but did still manage to make it to class just in time.
Somewhat frustrating, and somewhat amusing to me, have been my attempts at meeting Tad at work. To do this, requires 3 bus routes. The first week I tried, I thought I could only take the 25 to transfer to the 41, and the 25 never came. After an hour and a half of waiting, Tad picked me up. I later discovered I could take either th 25 or the 120. So last week I tried again. I caught the 120, and told the driver I wanted to transfer to the 41. He told me which stop and said I needed to cross the street, which I had suspected. I got off, crossed the street, and caught the 41...in the wrong direction. Boo, so I stayed on the bus back to Fashion Valley, and looped around, but by that time Tad was off work. Thus for a second week in a row, I didn't mak it and he picked me up from UTC. However, next week I WILL make it!!! lol
Something fun about taking the same routes a the same times is I've met other people on their way to work. They're friendly now, and know Valencia by name :)
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