#6441 then 6452

About last night's ride home . . . took the 3:45PM 81S, which arrived at ~3:57PM with the engine cover in a raised position - foreshadow? At 3:45PM on Monday in the summer, rush hour traffic generally doesn't exist, so it seemed the 81S delay probably originated in the engine. A new driver got on and we took off. Things seemed OK until we got to McClintock and the 60 - stopped at the light and could barely go forward after sitting. The driver nursed it along but it choked and died in front of Fry's, just before Baseline. The driver got out, fiddled in the engine area, came back, re-started the bus but lights and warnings told him problems still existed. Fortunately, the 4:00PM 81S appeared in the distance and our driver had us all get off so we could catch the next bus - a totally painless delay. Before I knew the next bus approached, I tossed around the idea of walking home - about 1.25 miles - but the temperature hovered around 101 degrees and my shoes left something to be desired for distance use. So glad I didn't take off down the street.

An interesting/positive note about that ride. A man with a bicycle sat in front of me and I heard him tell the lady sharing the seat that he lived in Chandler, but worked in Scottsdale. He said with gas prices on the rise ($4.01/gal today), he now bikes to and from the bus and loves it. Said it adds about 20 minutes to each commute, but he has no stress from driving and gets much needed exercise! Hope more people follow his lead.