Great News for the R Line

More Than 2,000 Passengers Ride Raleigh's New Downtown Circulator.

Oh goody.

Exactly what my neighborhood needs on the weekend. More underage sorority girls!

Wolfline offers shuttle to Glenwood South on weekends.

Daaaaaaaamn. That's cold, yo!

Injured Good Samaritan Gets Ticket For His Trouble.

This was not me. I swear.

Angry Passenger Douses Bus Driver With Coffee.

The Bachelor, Vareigated Yarn, and The Shameless Plug.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in front of Amy Number One. She talked to me for a few minutes, as usual. Suddenly, she leans forward and grabs the back of my hand to try to pinch me. All she got was mitten, so it didn't hurt.

Moi: Hey! Amy, don't do that!
Amy: I won't try to pinch you anymore.
M: You shouldn't pinch anyone. That's not nice!
A: I won't pinch anyone anymore. I'm sorry, Meg.
M: Thank you, Amy. It's okay.
A: Please forgive me, Meg. I'm sorry.
M: I forgive you, Amy.
A: I'm a nice person. Meg, I'm sorry.
M: I think you're a nice person.

And so it went. She apologized a hundred more times. I forgave her a hundred more times.

This morning, I got on the bus and sat in the seat next to her.

Amy: I'm not going to pinch you anymore.
Me: I appreciate that, Amy.
A: I'm a nice person.
M: I think so.
A: I want people to like me.

She had her word search book open.

A: Bachelor. asking me what it means.
M: A bachelor is a man who is not married.
A: A groom.
M: No, a groom is a man who just got married.
A: A husband.
M: A man is a bachelor first then he becomes a groom then he becomes a husband.

I pulled out a scarf I'm knitting.
A: What are you making?
M: A scarf.
A: For who?
M: It's for me.
A: What color is it going to be?
M: It's a bunch of different colors. There's brown, orange, blue and green.
A: Variegated. what??! where did that word come from??!
M: Exactly. I start putting scarf away.
A: Are you going to work on it when we get to RTP?
M: No, because I have to go to work. I'll work on it later.

Brief pause. Act II.

A: I'm a nice person.

A: What other kinds of things do you make?
M: I make lots of stuff. Sometimes it's for me and sometimes it's for other people.
A: My birthday is October 18.
M: Mine is October 5.
A: Are you going to make me something for my birthday?
M: I might. But if I do, I can't tell you because presents are supposed to be a surprise.
A: I didn't ask.
M: Okay.
A: I will not ask people for presents anymore. I'm a nice person.

Technically, she didn't ask me for a present. She asked if I was going to make her a present.

Oh, sure. He looks all sweet and innocent.

I took Elvis to the vet this morning for a second check up on the ear mite issue. He needed another squirt of medicine in his ears. He really is a happy cat. The vet's office was busy this morning...by the way, I love that my vet is open on Saturdays. We sat in the lobby for a few minutes with several BIG dogs. Elvis was totally cool. He was sniffing noses and making friends like he was at a cocktail party, through the mesh side of the carrier, of course. They had a room for us and we waited. Elvis is an investigator. He must check out everything. And I mean everything. We waited for about 10 minutes in a different room than last time. He thoroughly scoped out the Purple Room and found it to his satisfaction, mostly.

He climbed up on the table and was facing me. I was sitting in a chair, with my back to the wall. All of a sudden, Elvis' eyes get huge. He stands up, arches his back and makes ALL of his fur stand on end. He's looking at the wall above my head. I stand up and turn around to see what the threat is. It's a picture of a cat peeking around a wall on a poster for some kind of medication. I pick him up and bring him closer to the poster. He starts hissing and when he's close enough, the claws come out and he starts swinging. He picked a fight with a picture of a cat. I put him back on the table, but this went on for a good five minutes. No joke. He has lost his mind. There were other pictures on the wall, but this was the only one that was life size. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. We saw a nurse today, so as I was laving, I told the vet and his wife, who runs the practice, who laughed just as hard.

Tough Guy weighed in at a whopping 5.06 pounds today. Look out! He's dangerous. Especially if you're two dimentional.

Strange News, con't.

Woman OK after bullet ends up in her hair weave.

iTunesU

By this point, it's been well established that I am a nerd. I am okay with this. Clearly you are too since you keep coming back to read this blog. So, that said...

I think by this point, we're all pretty familiar with iTunes, right? Download music and movies, tv shows, music videos and games to play on our computer, iPod or iPhone. Last night, I was poking around on iTunes and happened to come across iTunesU. Colleges and universities can upload lectures either in audio or video format, which are then made free to the public, whether students or not. I knew that such a thing was possible, but didn't pay that much attention to it.

Last night, I found an eighteen part lecture on Astrobiology and Space Exploration with Professor Lynn Rothschild at Stanford University. I am in the process of downloading it right now. Last night, I went to bed two hours later than planned because I sucked into the first lecture with Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. It was so fascinating.

Also at Stanford, I found a ten part lecture series on Charles Darwin. I am also downloading a lecture given by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and a lecture by Peter Singer on animal equality. I'm guessing not many of you will know Peter Singer. He is widely considered one of the greatest modern philosophers and the father of the animal rights movement. In the mid 70s, he wrote a book called Animal Liberation. To say that book had a profound effect on me is an understatement. I also listened to a little bit of his lecture last night as well.

I would highly recommend you look into this. It seems as though almost every topic at almost every university is represented. You're sure to find something you'll like.

If you build it, they will come.

WRAL, a local tv station, reports that the Downtown Circulator is up and running.

I will take a ride one night this week and this weekend, which I will report here naturally.

No energy to blog.

Hey, y'all, I'm still around. On top of getting laid off, having a bum knee and everything else, looks like this cold I've had off and on for about a month has turned into a sinus infection. I've got some antibiotics and lots of OJ, hopefully I'll be good as new. I've been going to bed around 8 o'clock every night. Elvis is not happy with me. I'm either at work or here sleeping, then i'm in bed at sundown. He's a little stir crazy.

Just wanted to let you know I'll be back soon. I've just had no energy to type.

Big developments on the Bus, folks.

I've been keeping something from you, dear readers. I was keeping a secret until I knew for sure, so as to not jinx myself and my good fortune.

I found out yesterday I was accepted into culinary school. Whoopie! Seriosuly, I am thrilled. It's a baking and pastry program here and I start in May. I'd like to invite you to visit my other blog, Meg In The Kitchen, for a long and rambling post with all the juicy details.

As you all know by now, I was laid off last Friday. My last day will be May 1. This also mean that will be my last day of bus riding with all the crazies you know and love. I will still keep this blog active after that and occasionally post since I will still ride public transportation. During the summer I will transition over to the other blog to report on my culinary adventures and invite you all to come along.

I just wanted to give you all a heads up, just incase anyone suffers from separation anxiety. You'll be okay. We'll get through it together.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge 2008, the trailer

The Krispy Kreme Challenge

Overall, I enjoy living in my neighborhood. I can walk all over downtown, I'm close to all the bus lines, and there is no shortage of bars and restaurants around. I get to see lots of parades go by. Sometimes, I wish I didn't live in this neighborhood. Tomorrow will be one of those days. The Krispy Kreme Challenge goes down and back up Hillsborough Street. Somehow I missed this last year. I am not looking forward to 5,000 people vomiting outside my apartment tomorrow. I am deciding if I will take pictures, or even venture outside until the City hoses down the streets. I'm about a mile from the Bell Tower, so it could be ugly.

By the way, y'all can watch it on ESPN in HD.

[edit] I just looked on their website and am happy to report that they are running through the northern end of my neighborhood. Yay! I think I'll walk over with a cup of tea after all.

Megan and Irony have ended their relationship.

I've been around. I swear. It's just been a tough week.

Last Wednesday, I fell as I was leaving work. I slipped outside and landed on my left knee. Hard. It still hurts a lot. I filed a worker's comp claim Thursday morning and went to the urgent care Thursday afternoon. It still hurts a lot. When I went back to the UC for a follow up, the doctor treated me like I'm totally faking. She gave me 800mg of ibuprofin to take every three hours. Since I value my liver and kidneys, I've opted to deal with the pain and only take one of those a day. I go to an orthopedic clinic on Friday. The irony is it was my turn to handle worker's comp. Sigh.

On Friday, I was told I'm losing my job on May 1st. Yes, I am noting the irony of losing my job on May Day. I had another conversation about this yesterday, which did not go so well. I don't feel like going into it here, but I'm pretty angry about the situation.

On Saturday, I took His Highness to the vet. He had earmites and worms. Ah, the joys of adopting a shelter kitty. We got treatment for both in the vet's office. He is doing well. He weighs in at a whopping 4.5 pounds. I was advised that my flyweight prize fighter is too skinny. Partly because he's so damn active, partly because he's still growing, and maybe the worm issue might play a part too. He's a good eater. He ate a black bean tonight, just one. We're not worried right now that he's too skinny.

Alright, I'm tired. The dishes aren't going to wash themselves. I'll be back soon. Love to you all.