A Day Out!
The quarter ended last week, so on Saturday I decided to kick off my break with a day in Seattle. I drove up to Tacoma and parked at the Dome park-and-ride and waited for the 594 bus. I hate dealing with Seattle traffic so when I go to the city I typically take the bus. It takes me a little longer to get around, but I like not having to worry about traffic and parking and the like.
The bus was about half full when I got on. I walked to the back and sat in the only empty seat on the bus. And there was a reason for it being empty. There was a time when I was a savvy bus rider, but I have lost most if not all of my mass transit skills. As I sat in the seat I quickly realized two things: 1) The seat was over the wheel well and 2) there was about 6 inches of leg room. This is a deadly combination. But I had made my choice and I would have to live with it. I did, however, have the seat to myself. No one in their right mind would try to sit with a 6'4", 280 lb man in that seat. I pretty much had to sit sideways.
There were these two girls in there twenties sitting in front of me. One had eyes that looked like two tarantulas perched on her eyelids and while we rode she brushed more and more mascara onto her already saturated eyelashes. The muscles around her eyes must have been in great shape to hold up all that goo. Tammy Fay would have been proud. Her friend was going on and on about her boyfriend. I normally try not to eavesdrop but she was using the word "like" with such regularity and so rhythmically that my attention was drawn. That particular dialect, the one that replaces "he said" with "he was like" drives me up a fucking wall.
I got off of the express bus downtown and took the 70 up to the U district. Holy shit, the driver was in training and I think this was his first time out of the bus barn. The guy training him was giving constant direction and oh my god it was the slowest trip ever. He jerked his stops, he jerked his starts. I was sitting in one of the front seats, you know the ones where you sit sideways and every time the bus took off this poor little girl kept sliding over to me. She was very embarrassed (and pretty cute), she said "I'm sorry" every time it happened, I just laughed and said, "no problem." It took about 65 hours to get from downtown to the U, jerking and stopping all the way. Again I say, holy shit.
Back when I went to school at UW I used to fill my pockets with unsalted peanuts and troll for squirrels in the park. It used to be that if you made loud "kissy" noises the cute little furry rodents would come running. With this in mind, I had brought along a pocket full of nuts. But there wasn't a squirrel in site, so I left the nuts on a stump and roamed around campus for awhile. The trees on the quad were in bloom and very pretty.
Hopped on the 66 up to East-West Books to buy a new meditation cushion (this was the purpose of the trip all along). Found what I wanted, actually found a lot of things that I wanted. But I kept my focus, paid and got the hell out before I spent all of my money. Then back on the 66 and downtown.
Had lunch at the market little Chinese place that serves stuffed pastry--I do not remember what they're called, damn. Then on the 11 bus to Travelers, a little shop just across the freeway that sells Buddhist and Hindi stuff. I looked around there for awhile making mental notes on what I might like to buy sometime, not this time but sometime. I have been on a quest for the perfect Buddha statue, not that they aren't all beautiful, I'm just looking for the perfect one. Good thing I didn't find it today cause I couldn't buy it. Back on the 11 and downtown.
My feet were beginning to hurt. I had bought some hiking boots last year and at the time they were very comfortable, but my activity level went way down at the end of last year and I gained a few pounds and it seems that a couple of them were in my feet. On the way back to Tacoma, I decided to go to REI, use my 20% discount and my dividend and buy some another pair of boots. I found a nice pair that were extra wide for my fat feet that cost $150 but with the 20% and dividend they were $60, so I bought them and headed home.
I tried them out on Monday. I took a hike on the South Fork Skokomish trail scouting out places to flyfish. Nice hike, comfy boots. Life is good.
So its been a few days since this all happened. Guess I'd better post it. I'm a sucky blogger.
The bus was about half full when I got on. I walked to the back and sat in the only empty seat on the bus. And there was a reason for it being empty. There was a time when I was a savvy bus rider, but I have lost most if not all of my mass transit skills. As I sat in the seat I quickly realized two things: 1) The seat was over the wheel well and 2) there was about 6 inches of leg room. This is a deadly combination. But I had made my choice and I would have to live with it. I did, however, have the seat to myself. No one in their right mind would try to sit with a 6'4", 280 lb man in that seat. I pretty much had to sit sideways.
There were these two girls in there twenties sitting in front of me. One had eyes that looked like two tarantulas perched on her eyelids and while we rode she brushed more and more mascara onto her already saturated eyelashes. The muscles around her eyes must have been in great shape to hold up all that goo. Tammy Fay would have been proud. Her friend was going on and on about her boyfriend. I normally try not to eavesdrop but she was using the word "like" with such regularity and so rhythmically that my attention was drawn. That particular dialect, the one that replaces "he said" with "he was like" drives me up a fucking wall.
I got off of the express bus downtown and took the 70 up to the U district. Holy shit, the driver was in training and I think this was his first time out of the bus barn. The guy training him was giving constant direction and oh my god it was the slowest trip ever. He jerked his stops, he jerked his starts. I was sitting in one of the front seats, you know the ones where you sit sideways and every time the bus took off this poor little girl kept sliding over to me. She was very embarrassed (and pretty cute), she said "I'm sorry" every time it happened, I just laughed and said, "no problem." It took about 65 hours to get from downtown to the U, jerking and stopping all the way. Again I say, holy shit.
Back when I went to school at UW I used to fill my pockets with unsalted peanuts and troll for squirrels in the park. It used to be that if you made loud "kissy" noises the cute little furry rodents would come running. With this in mind, I had brought along a pocket full of nuts. But there wasn't a squirrel in site, so I left the nuts on a stump and roamed around campus for awhile. The trees on the quad were in bloom and very pretty.
Hopped on the 66 up to East-West Books to buy a new meditation cushion (this was the purpose of the trip all along). Found what I wanted, actually found a lot of things that I wanted. But I kept my focus, paid and got the hell out before I spent all of my money. Then back on the 66 and downtown.
Had lunch at the market little Chinese place that serves stuffed pastry--I do not remember what they're called, damn. Then on the 11 bus to Travelers, a little shop just across the freeway that sells Buddhist and Hindi stuff. I looked around there for awhile making mental notes on what I might like to buy sometime, not this time but sometime. I have been on a quest for the perfect Buddha statue, not that they aren't all beautiful, I'm just looking for the perfect one. Good thing I didn't find it today cause I couldn't buy it. Back on the 11 and downtown.
My feet were beginning to hurt. I had bought some hiking boots last year and at the time they were very comfortable, but my activity level went way down at the end of last year and I gained a few pounds and it seems that a couple of them were in my feet. On the way back to Tacoma, I decided to go to REI, use my 20% discount and my dividend and buy some another pair of boots. I found a nice pair that were extra wide for my fat feet that cost $150 but with the 20% and dividend they were $60, so I bought them and headed home.
I tried them out on Monday. I took a hike on the South Fork Skokomish trail scouting out places to flyfish. Nice hike, comfy boots. Life is good.
So its been a few days since this all happened. Guess I'd better post it. I'm a sucky blogger.
posted by Mark at
8:24 AM
1 Comments:
Hom-bo!!! That's it! Thank you, that was driving me nuts. And that was the place where I ate. Veggie hom-bo and veggie eggroll.
And getting lost on mass transit is part of the adventure.
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