#4103

Another bland morning on the 6am66. I can't even imagine how quiet it will be once the semester ends. I know all about peaks and valleys, but this valley seems very deep.

One nice event did occur today - Bill gave both Mark and Dave ASU Alumni t-shirts. They seemed very surprised and very pleased by the thoughtful gesture. A sense of loss and, as Mark said, melancholy begins to gather as graduation approaches. I found it like the two-edged sword of reading a good book. You eagerly approach the end with the long-anticipated finish in sight; however, you also feel the emptiness of nothing-to-look-forward-to once the last page turns. Regardless, it's a great achievement and kudos are in order for both of them.

#4130 on the 730am66

Off a couple for grandmothering purposes. As a new member of that club, find I need to indulge myself when occasion permits. The small child and parents returned to their nest and I returned to work . . . sigh . . .

Very restless last night due to late coffee consumption so I let myself sleep in a bit and took the 7:30am66. It provided a refreshed view of the bus since many of the riders attend Tempe Union High School. Few and far between describes recent ridership on the 6AM66; not so the 7:30. Riders boarded at nearly every stop and it played SRO from Mill and Baseline to the high school at Mill and Broadway. I forgot how energized the kids make me feel. Early morning rides to school don't quite vibrate like the afternoon rides home, but I still find an undercurrent of energy as they approach a new day. Freshly showered, hair combed, backpacks in place, skateboards in hand - an army of workers, off for a day in the textbook mines. High school made me nuts and, while I wouldn't mind having that body back, not much else about high school beckons.

Bill retires at the end of April and two weeks later, Dave and Mark graduate from ASU. I might need to vary my bus routine in hopes of finding new inspiration. Perhaps the 7:30am66 will suffice.

assorted

No point in worrying about today's bus number - the 6am66 lacks excitement and posting the daily number implies otherwise. Ridership remains sparse and with summer around the corner, it can only get more thin - the peaks and valleys of bus routes.

On the ride home last night I heard a new message from the electronic lady voice that announcees the stops. Occasionally I still hear the man voice reminding passengers to check for personal possessions before leaving the bus. The new one yesterday, in the lady voice, goes like this: "In consideration of your fellow passengers, please refrain from using offensive language." I forgot to ask Dave if he ever heard that bus announcement. Dave makes full use of the 4-letter lexicon. His sentence structure is based almost entirely on expletives, with a particular talent for turning a certain "f" word into virtually any part of speech. The new message could apply to him, I suppose, although I think it might be aimed more at the young men who sometimes ride in packs and feel a strong need to speak loudly to each other using shock talk. I think ignoring it works more effectively to take away their thrill - they thrive on confrontation. When I heard the beginning of the message I thought it might end in 'cell phones' instead of 'offensive language'. I would rather encounter the occasional smarmy comment than become audience to loud speaking cell phone addicts. With expletives, you might learn a new way to curse a bad driver - half a cell phone converstaion usually reveals nothing of interest or import.

I leave you today with a link to a story in the Daily Mail about a cat who rides the bus. I have a year-old Abyssinian. Hoover, who needs to read this article. She could learn a trick or two from this enterprising feline. Hoover is featured in today's image.

#4101

Bus rides lately seem pretty bland and work continues to aggravate. No time to write! Worst of all, work will get worse as we move deeper into new site development. I might resort to drugs of abuse before this process ends.

My latest excuse for not writing, however, centers around a new family member - Emily Sarah - my first grandchild, born Sunday, April 1. She arrived a week early and surprised us all. Undoubtedly the most fabulous granddaughter ever born . . . I swore I would remain calm and not get all grammy-weird, but much, much easier said than done. She belongs to my son and daughter-in-law and I stayed fairly detached during the pregnancy. One look at the newborn, though, and release the hounds! Best of all, everyone correctly stated it - you can give them back to their parents! Such fun.

Today's picture, of course, is Emily Sarah. Thought we ought to welcome her to the wonderful world of bus blogs. You can be sure she will be on the bus with me at the first opportunity. She must learn to see the world through bus traveling eyes.