Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Once upon a time busses ran on a schedule...

I thought I'd be cheap and ride the bus to work, this morning. One's due at the stop in front of my building at 8:25am and it would get me to where I needed in time to be there a bit early. So I go out to the bus stop, where a couple other people are waiting...and nothing. Nothing. Finally, 10 minutes after the bus was due a passenger called to find out when it would come and was told it had passed, already. At 8:27. A lie. A flat out lie.He told the person on the phone so, and the only answer he got was, "Next one's due at 8:55."

I called Lyft. Cost me $12 but I made it to work on time, and that was with a guy who was driving very, very carefully. Then, this evening, I decided to see how long it would take me to walk back to my place. According to Google Maps I live 3.8 miles from where I work, and it should take me 1 hour and 21 minutes to walk. So I set off, even though I knew a bus was due at the stop I needed at around 5:35, according to the bus company.

It was 8 minutes early. I watched it drive by and checked my watch. Couldn't believe it. Either the schedule was changed and no one at the bus company was told, or the drivers just do their own thing, up and down and back and forth. Can't trust a company that lets that happen.

I'm not a speed walker, but neither am I slow, still it took me just over an hour and a half to do...which I guess isn't that far off the mark. Of course, it was cold and windy, but I had gloves, a hood and an umbrella to use as a walking stick. It worked out okay.

I even had dinner, en route, at a Boston Market (and deducted the time I spent eating from the tally). Their food's on the bland side, but they had BBQ sauce; slathering that over roast turkey actually worked out good. The meal is still a bit overpriced, but I was hungry and it filled me. And now I'm ready to soak in a tub for a while and read Adrian McKinty's Falling Glass, one of his Northern Irish crime novels.

Tomorrow my car should be ready, so I'll be out late, again. I'll be using Lyft to get there...and I think I'll use it to get to work, too. It's cheaper than renting a car, by 3/4, and works better than Uber.

Now tired be I...

No comments: