Chaos ensues

So there I am in my favorite line, behind some shuffly old man and just jumping to go home (me, not him). The Dublin train showed up and we all started moving up and sort of over, but not really, actually, it was kind of a mess. The shuffly old man took it upon himself to be Mr. Nice Shuffly Old Man, and stopped halfway in line (so I stopped too), and allowed this lady to get in front of him. I think he thought she was getting on the train. Regardless, there was no need to be so nice. No need whatsoever.

Why?

Because he also let other people in front of him, which means I was now further back than I was when I first got in line. So I huffed, and I got in front of him too. I thought the first girl was with this guy that was standing next to her, but when the next train came, she got on and he didn't. Mr. Shuffly got on. So that left the line cutter man in front of me, when technically, I should have been in front of him, no thanks to Mr. Shuffly.

Against my better judgement, I stepped into a gap that was created by the line cutter man and the train. Hey, I was really there first. There was no way I was going to let this guy cut in front of me. He just stood right next to me, and I just stood right next to him as I completely ignored that fact that he was there.

And I got on the train first.

You better believe it.

When this gal wants to go home, she goes home.

Strike talk

I just feel like venting about the strike possibility. More because I was told today that AC Transit could very well go on strike at the same time. It's being hinted at, but I can't find any solid truth to it. I planned on taking the bus to work if BART was on strike. If AC Transit goes on strike, I guess I'm working at home (that's the plan at the moment).

Why oh why oh why oh why oh why must these things happen?

It was suggested to me to car pool if AC Transit strikes, but I'm sorry, I do not want to be trapped in a car with strangers.

If I was a serial killer, I would certainly use this as my method of trapping and killing people: "We're all going over the bridge!!!!"

Or, better yet -- what about those people who hand out food samples on the street? Every think of doing this as a great way to kill a whole mess of people in one day? Ah, yes, think twice before you grab that breakfast bar from that seemingly innocent and peppy looking gal on the corner.

Stupid things I do sometimes

I like red. I don't wear it much, I didn't have it much in my life, but when we bought our condo, I decided I was going to have a red kitchen. This means buying red kitchen items since I haven't gotten around to painting it red yet. I bought this (one big one -- not two big ones -- I couldn't find a picture of a singular big one -- hence the usage of "this" and not "these" (that's for my momma)). I also bought some other items in this line. I have quite a few red items now. I'm red and I'm fancy.

So last night I was making chili. I thought, wow, perfect time to use my red casserole pot thing that's been sitting in the corner for a couple of months now. I heated up the pot on the burner while I cut up my onions. Then I started thinking...was it that I couldn't use the pot in the oven or the burner? OH MY GOD. It's the burner! I took it off the burner, turned it over, looked at the bottom (which was now a toasty brown color) and read that you should only use it in the oven and microwave. Oops. I quickly put it off to the side where it quickly made a loud cracking noise and did just that -- cracked. Into three pieces.

Now this is where things get interesting. I'm not a dumb person. In fact, I often call myself a genius (and I am, I am!). I'm just not "there" sometimes, and I end up doing really dumb things.

Dumb thing #10,388,677: I looked at the cracked pot and I thought to myself, I wonder how hot the pot would have to be before it would crack?

Yes, that's me. Conducting science experiments in my kitchen, with my own flesh.

I reached over and touched the side. Nothing. Felt cool. I reached inside and touched the bottom of the pot. For the first 2 seconds, I felt nothing -- it still felt cool. Then, suddenly, my poor finger tips were on fire (not literally). Instead of putting them under cold water right away, I looked at them. Yup, that's me again. Then I put them under cold water.

My husband came home, and I was in a bad mood at this point because I killed my pot and my fingers and I realized I didn't have anymore ground red chile. I looked at him and told him not to touch the pot because it's HOT. HOT. He asked what happened. I told him I'd rather not talk about it and to leave me alone. He insisted on knowing. I said I apparently used it in a manner I wasn't supposed to, and to leave me alone.

Us geniuses like to wallow in our glory.

My day of curses continues

Okay, I guess bad-mouthing BART so much was going to get back to me. As I wrote earlier today, I knew my Translink card wasn't going to work on the way home, but I tried it anyway. A big, loud BRAAAAAAAAAP emitted from the machine, and it told me that I needed to stay overnight. I always wondered if I did stay over night, if that means I really can use my Translink card the next day, but how the heck would it know? I immediately turned and walked to the BART ticket machines. They changed them a few years ago so that patrons could pay with ATM or credit card. For some reason at this station, the machines only take ATM cards. Lucky for me, I have an ATM card! I put my card in the first machine. It said it didn't recognize my card. I took it out, put it back in. Same thing. Again. Same thing. I moved to the next machine. Same thing. The next machine, same thing.

I never carry cash. If I do, it would be at the most 5 bucks. So, of course, I had no money. I couldn't use my Translink card, my ATM card or my credit card to buy a BART ticket. I had to go and get some money. Which means missing my train.

I called my husband and left him an incoherent message basically stating that I didn't know when I would be home because of what just happened and I had to go find some money. The stupid thing with doing that is: 1. It's a guarantee that I'll be home before him regardless of how late I am. That's just how it's always been, and I don't see it changing anytime soon. And 2. It's not like you can't get cash pretty much anywhere. I just freaked out is all. I like to do that from time to time.

So I walked 2 blocks down to the Walgreens, bought myself 2 candy bars (had to get 2 because if I got one and my husband saw, he would be sad that I didn't buy him one), got 20 bucks over and then walked back to the BART station to buy my ticket. I tend to walk fast, and I ended up missing my train by about 1 minute or less. So that means it took me 15 minutes to walk to the BART station from work, try 3 machines, leave incoherent message, walk down 2 blocks to Walgreens, buy candy bars, walk up 2 blocks, buy BART ticket and get myself downstairs. Not too shabby. Just stinks that I missed my train by a minute or so because I had to stand there for 15 minutes waiting for the next Fremont train.

What a topper to a lovely day of transit nightmares. At least I'll be able to go home and relax and forget about it all.

No way. Life's never that simple.

I got to our condo and was driving closer to where my parking spot is when I saw it. Two work trucks -- one in my spot and one in the spot next to mine. And no workmen in sight. So I called my husband and left another one of my famous messages about how I can't even park in my spot now!!!! I was stopped in the parking lot, and there were two ladies and a kid getting stuff out of a car. They kept looking at me like I was crazy or like I was going to run them over, but I was only flabbergasted that today, of all days, someone would be parked in my spot AND, AND -- we don't even know what to do about it. As far as I know, we're out of luck in these situations. Since I saw them acting like I was going to kill them all, I waited for them to cross and then drove slowly around and then to the front of the complex. Luckily there was guest parking available.

I called the HOA office and left a very pleasant message (really!) asking them to let us know what we're supposed to do in these situations because this is the first time it's happened. Hopefully we can get a number to call for towing. My husband called me back and asked me what happened. I said nothing. I wasn't going to find the workmen and tell them to move and waste my time. I just parked somewhere else. Go ahead, beat me up world, I don't care. Let me just lay down so everyone can take their turn kicking me!

My husband came home soon after and talked to the workmen who were now outside. They said they'd only be there for another half an hour. Did he want them to move? He said no. Go ahead, park there. We went grocery shopping, which takes over an hour for us, and when we came back, they were still there. So I asked my husband if he asked them to not park there tomorrow, and he said no, he didn't think of that. And besides, it's not their fault that they parked there. It's the condo owner's fault who was getting the work done on their condo. They aren't paying for our mortgage! This is what he's going to tell the HOA today. I'd rather know how to get the person out of my spot regardless of how they got there and who's really responsible. It's not his spot, so he's going to fight the good fight.

I told him that if I came home tomorrow and they were in my spot again, I was going to park in his spot. Then we'll see what happens.

Translink card (or, curses pt. 3)

This morning I was telling my husband that BART's contract is up on the 30th -- and then wondered if that meant the strike could occur on the 30th? I have the 1st off, so if they striked on the 1st, what did I care. But I do care about the 30th. There are a couple of things that annoy me about the strike -- 1. The money I'll have to spend on bus fare when I have money sitting at the ready on my Translink card, and 2. that I'll be getting home later than I'm used to. Seems like I'll be spending most of my days just trying to get to where I need to go and not enjoying life.

I does really bother me that I'll have to pull out cash to buy bus fare, more now because we don't have the extra money for doing this, really. All our money is pretty much allocated for something already.

So off I go to BART. No big problems today. I parked in the back like I wanted to on Friday. I may just park back there all the time now -- you get to leave the parking lot via a traffic light. Very nice. No one even sat next to me this morning. Things seemed to going so smoothly. I got off at the Montgomery station, like normal, and walked through the swing gates. As I reached over to scan my Translink card, I noticed it said "Out of Order." Being the human that I am, I still tagged my card.

I stood in front of the station agent booth until one of them noticed me. I asked if the reader was really out of order, and she told me it was and that I should get it fixed or something. I'm still not even sure what our conversation was about. She was sure that it would be fixed in an hour, I think, and I was trying to get her to understand that I could no longer use my card unless I could tag it now (which still doesn't make any sense to me). Not that she cared or could even do anything so that I could tag my card.

So what does this mean? Now I have to send in my Translink card to get it "fixed." Which means I have to pull out extra money to buy a BART ticket. So, regardless of the strike or not, I'm still out extra cash! Curses!

Parking nightmares!

Okay, not exactly a nightmare, but confusing as all heck, I'll tell you.

I decided I didn't like the front side parking lot because

1. it's not easy getting out -- a lot of tight squeezes and bizarre "no left turns" and people wandering aimlessly
2. a lot of foot traffic on the sidewalk as you're trying to exit (almost hit a guy on a bike)
3. hard to get all the way to left turn lane from the exit

So I decided that this morning I would park in the back, near the back entrance. That way, I could get out without so many hassles AND I wouldn't have to walk too far (now why would I want to do that?). I got confused when I turned onto Walnut, and I ended up turning left into the same front parking lot. No big deal -- I can just drive through the parking lot to the back one. I turned to the right and headed towards the back and was told I couldn't turn left again (different sign). So I turned right and ended up where I started. I took a quick look around and realized you can't get to the back from the front on this side of the parking lot. How stupid is that? The only way to get to the back is by not being confused (I usually am all the time) and turning left from Walnut at the second entrance. So, my choices, as limited as they were: pull out, make a u-turn on Walnut and go to the second entrance or just park there again. I just parked there again. Since BART's pretty dead that early on Fridays, I didn't have any people trailing me like I was an 80-year old driver, and I could take a look around. That parking lot has to be the most confusing "you can't go this way, only that way" parking lot I've ever been in. Really bizarre. I'm not sure if it was always like that or if they designed it that way with the resurfacing, but I'll tell you, it is really confusing.

And to top all this off -- the parking in the back that they've sectioned off still hasn't been worked on. Why section it off if you can't start working on it??

The wind has caused an overall free-for-all back there anyway. Most of the yellow tape they strung between horses has broken since the wind knocked the horses over. And since no one's actively working on the resurfacing back there, people just drive between the horses to get where they need to go. Parking lot anarchy!

Parking on Wednesday....and this morning.

Yesterday was no fun getting out of the BART parking lot, so today I decided to park in the front and newly paved parking lot.

I had to kill time yesterday before going to my 6pm appointment to get my new specs (took all of 5 minutes of me putting them on, looking at myself, wondering if my specs were really that wide the first time I tried them on, the girl taking them away and chatting up a fellow male co-worker in the back room while I sat staring at myself in the mirror wondering if I should brush my hair or just let it continue to run amuck and finally her coming back with my glasses, me putting them back on, saying they're fine and then leaving -- this I had to make an appointment for), so I decided I would go to the Hub shopping center to look for two things: a mirror to put in our hallway or a woobie. If you've seen Mr. Mom, then you know what a woobie is. If you haven't, go google it and the first site that comes up will give you your answer (cool beans! -- for mom). Everyone has a woobie, they just may not know it. Even my cat has a woobie.

I thought that I could drive all the way across the back parking lot to Walnut, but when I walked to my car yesterday, I realized I couldn't. I would have to turn left onto Mowry and head that way to the Hub. As I got closer to my car, I noticed a lady was getting into the car next to mine. I walked behind her car to mine when I saw that she wasn't even trying to not hit my car with her door -- it was shoved right into the side of my poor little car (which has suffered its fair share of bumps and bruises because of the BART parking lot -- who knew my car was really black underneath the paint?). I sighed and continued to the driver's side of my car. I sighed again. The idiot who parked next to me on that side must of had a rough morning or was drunk or wild raccoons got loose in his/her car or something -- not quite sure, but they were crazily tilted (not in my benefit, of course) and parked really close to my car. So, I had to be the lady that just left, and I opened my door and let it rest against idiot person's car door while I got in. I had a real reason, though. I did! (If no one else was around, I would have gladly given the idiot car a few whacks with my door -- for good measure -- but there was a man getting into the car right in front of me).

And because I didn't plan where I parked very well, I had to go all the way up the aisle, turn left, go all the way down that aisle until I could make my way to Mowry. I told myself not to do this to myself tomorrow. After a million and a half years of driving what should have been a 5-minute drive, I finally got to the Hub. I had to wait at almost all the lights and at one of them during two cycles. I killed my time, got my specs and went home. Didn't buy a mirror or a woobie.

I told myself to park in the front today so I can get to Walnut and make my drive home a bit easier. Since I don't know the lay of the land, and I had a bunch of loony drivers behind me that did, I got nervous and I kept driving until I hit the carpool area of the parking lot. Oh well, I thought, I went to far. I turned right and almost passed it! The last parking spot for the regular BART folk! Take that, loonies who were driving behind me like I was an 80-year old lady. I had to walk even farther today, and I'm starting to regret parking there because I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get into the lane I'll need to be in on Walnut when I leave, plus when I got to the platform and looked down, there was a ton of parking in the back parking lot -- which may have been a better choice. And closer. I am lazy, you know. So who knows what tomorrow will bring.

More gripes

I just don't understand how a whole public transit system can stop just because people want more money to do their jobs. The average BART operator makes 100K a year: about 67K in pay and the rest in benefits. Hello? That's bad? You want more? Just think about all the people who can't strike. Who have to go into work, day in and day out, settling for a tiny little raise each year (if that). I think the ability to strike when it can affect thousands of people shouldn't be an option. Save your strikes for companies that can easily replace you.

So yes, the union folk voted to strike if it comes down to it. And it probably will, but hopefully our wonderful governor will do one good thing and make them work for another 60 days while everyone "cools off."

I'm just annoyed because I will still have money being pumped into my translink card even if I can't take BART (it's not worth trying to stop it during the process) and I'll have to fork over money twice a day for the bus. And who knows if I'll even get home. I know I'll get to work because it's pretty early when I leave and the first stop is mine, but going home? Seems like it would be every person for themselves (sounds like a BART line) -- especially since the next bus will be by in 40 minutes.

Maybe I'll go on strike if BART goes on strike! What if we all went on strike? Heck, I would be really happy with 67K a year plus 33K in benefits. When does the cost of living just turn into plain greed? Come on, how hard is it to announce stations all day long and look out a window?

Parking & Strike

I hate BART right now:

1. I had to park far away and walk. Gasp. Walk!

2. The BART employees are voting on a strike or not this week.

Enough said.

Stupid Hertz Rental Cars!

Okay, it's bad enough that the parking situation in Fremont is dwindling down to nothing pretty quickly, but to add that the stupid Hertz rental car area is being moved from the side front parking lot to the prime parking spots in the back is just too much to take! Stupid Hertz already took over the best parking lot area at that station years ago, so I think if they want to repave their area, then they should do it without taking more parking spots from the BART patrons.

When I parked in the back today, I saw the signs, and I kept thinking, man...those look familiar. But I couldn't figure out why. Are they going to have valet parking? Then it hit me...those are the signs from the Hertz parking lot! Damn Hertz!

I wonder if anyone will park in those spots today? When I left, no one dared go near them. No one would want their car rented.

So begins my drama

But it begins on Wednesday. Got one more day of good, easy parking. I have no idea where I will be parking on Wednesday and for the next weeks. Are they going to block off the lanes? Can we still freely drive around? What about those that are being picked up in the front? (may be me this week too, I think.) Oh, the drama.

And why is it taking them 2.5 months to finish this??? Whatever happened to working around the clock?

Invisible Girl Strikes Again!

I often call myself invisible girl because:

1. People bump into me and don't act like I'm there.
2. I get ignored the most while in a group of people at a restaurant.
3. At my old department, I would often get "forgotten" about because I "sat in the back" (yeah right).
4. I'm the weakest link in any line by default.

I was really glad to leave work today. Feeling good, looking forward to my "date" with my husband (pizza here we come for the first time in months!), nothing can go wrong.

Wrong....again.

As I was standing in my line, minding my own business as usual, this weird-o, stinky guy stood right next to me. Oh, not again, I thought to myself. How many times does this have to happen to me? Obviously they feel a presence, otherwise I'd be knocked over at some point, but almost every day this month, someone has been coming out of no where and standing right next to me instead of behind me. So now it looked like this stinky guy knows me for darnsake because he was right next to me. Ignore, ignore, ignore...

The Pittsburgh/Baypoint train arrived and me and the guy in front of me moved up and over, allowing people on the train. Suddenly, chaos ensues and stinky guy was now in the front of the line. What? How'd this happen? We all kind of stopped and stared at him, but he just stood there, like this was the most normal thing in the world to do. I really think some people think that if the next train is for them, then that means they get to stand in the front of the line. And no, they aren't one of those special people -- they're just off. Something about their brains doesn't register social courtesy.

The Fremont train was the next train, and the stinky guy got on in front of everyone else, including yours truly. Since I'm invisible girl, I had to calm myself down and just face reality -- we were all getting on the train and there were plenty of seats, so be invisible and hope for the best. But I had to wonder, was there a sign on my back saying: I'm invisible, go ahead and ignore the fact that I am really here?

Stinky guy took the train all the way to Fremont, and somehow I got off the train before he did. Surprised he didn't walk right through me.

Finally got me answer....

BART is repaving the parking lots. All of them. For 2.5 months (supposedly). So, I feel sorry for those of you who start at a later time than I. Hopefully none of you gets any bright ideas and goes into work earlier. Keep my spot at the ready!

And on a sadder note (or is that on a more sad note? I'm sure my editor will tell me (aka Momma)): BART and employees are in contract talk nightmare again. And I told myself last time this happened that the next time it happened (was that really 3 years ago? or 2?), I wouldn't be working in SF anymore or taking BART, so it wouldn't matter.

Looks like I may have to make friends with the bus...luckily it stops right across the street from where I live. Only downside is getting home so late, but beats trying to drive (and I do stress "trying") into SF. Like that would ever happen....

I shall certainly stay tuned.

Oh, and I got my answer by going to the hidden table area in the Fremont BART station where they store news features. Good place for them because I know all of us who take BART know about this mysterious corner by the station agent's booth. Oh yeah....

Parking

On Monday I drove into the BART parking lot at Fremont and immediately noticed that the big parking lot at the front of the BART station was closed off. Interesting. Then I noticed the parking lot right in front of the station turned into the handicap parking. Even more interesting, but made sense. I drove my usual u-turn around the horseshoe to get to the other side of the parking lot. The small lot was full (I was doing so good lately at getting a spot), so I had to head to the back. The parking in the back wasn't that bad, so I parked and forgot all about everything.
When I got to Fremont in the evening, I noticed that the large parking lot in the front was completely sectioned off and there were some straggler cars parked (probably from the weekend) but no one else. I told myself to investigate this. This could be a sign of bad times.

On Tuesday, the same thing happened, and I had to park in the back again. Sigh...okay, I'll have to walk a bit further. I again told myself to investigate since I forgot. Guess what? I forgot again.
So this morning I looked up BART.gov to see what was going on because you'd think if they're going to cut off a huge portion of the parking at a station that normally fills up by 10am, they'd think about posting something in their news features. Nope. Nothing. At least nothing that I could find.

I got to the BART station this morning and the parking lot was still closed off. I took my usual route around the horseshoe, the smaller parking lot was full again, so I headed to the back. It was like a BART parking lot nightmare. I guess more people go to work on Wednesday than any other day. I'm there early in the morning, so us early morning drivers kind of take over the parking lot and just drive willy-nilly however we want to. I do the same. So I took my usual route up the first lane to make a u-turn to my usual back parking lot spot. As soon as I headed up the lane, a lady in a gigantic SUV turned into the lane. I was annoyed, mad, crazed! I needed to get to my spot! So I stopped and sat there. Then I realized I was going down the wrong lane. And that I usually get mad at those who do that. So I had to back up after spending a few moments of us staring at each other. She continued down and then turned into the next lane while I went straight ahead down the wrong lane and turned in my normal lane and parked. So there.

When I got up to the train, I spent some time marveling at the amount of displaced people there were. Shutting off that front parking lot was really doing some damage to the peacefulness of early morning BART parking lot driving. It was like watching an ant colony. I wonder what the people who take BART at 9 or 10 are doing for parking? Maybe I should come to work even earlier so I can get my good front spot back.... Nah.

Back to school

I had to go to school today to learn the finer points of PowerPoint. I got to sleep in 10 minutes extra, take a later train and still got to SF way too early. Spent some time in the nearest Starbucks (there really is one on every corner -- just about) until a stinky homeless man convinced this very overweight lady to give him money and her pastry. Instead of being grateful and leaving, he sat down near her (and me) and proceeded to chat her up. Big mistake on her part, but whatever. As soon as I decided to leave because of his stink, the manager came over and told him to leave -- even though he had a Starbucks bag o' pastry in his dirty little hands. The homeless man was smart enough to ask why (and not in that weirdo, homeless person sort of way -- just like a normal person, which I'm assuming he is if he washed off all the dirt and stink on himself). The manager paused, and so did I because I wanted to hear what he was going to say, and he said something that I couldn't hear (darn!), and the homeless man said, "okay" and left. So did I.

No eye contact as I passed him on the street -- sorry, buddy, just bought a condo and I need all the pennies I have.

PowerPoint class. The class where, yet again, I am viewed as a genius and an expert even though I'm really not. The teacher told me during the lunch break that he was sorry the class was going so slow and that it was for beginners, really. I smiled. Gee, thanks for thinking I'm a genius! Let's see...I took an online class where I almost failed the question and answer portion, which then didn't help me one iota in preparing a mock PowerPoint presentation for work. I just fiddled with it until I finally made enough happy mistakes so that I finally do know what I'm doing.

Lucky for me, I listened to my manager who insisted I didn't need to go to the first day because I would be bored. I really didn't think I needed to go to the second day after messing with PowerPoint for a few weeks, but I went anyway. The class is structured as "modules," so that the student could pay for whichever module they felt they needed to learn about. I was signed up for the full day -- modules 5-8.

Since people could pay for whichever class they wanted, that meant people who weren't there in the morning could show up in the afternoon. This happened for module 7 (org charts and graphs, oh my). This gal walked in and surveyed the land and decided that sitting next to me would be the best place to be. Oh no, I thought. I really hate it when there is enough open space for us all, but because of that darn herding instinct we all share as humans, there is always that one person who feels the need to sit next to another person. It always seems to be me. The tables were set-up so that two people could sit at them with their own computer terminal, and in between each student terminal was a monitor showing what the teacher was doing. This eliminates using an overhead and massive amounts of squinting. I'll tell you, if I had known that this was going to be the set-up, I would have sat all the way in the back. Even with my contacts in, I'm still fairly blind the farther away I am from something, so I sat in the middle.

So the girl sat down and started to remove her many classroom tools from her bag -- notebooks, pens, more notebooks, more pens. She was spread out in front of her terminal and in front of the shared monitor. Sigh....a note taker. I stopped taking notes about the time I started at my current company. Of course, this hasn't always worked out the best for me, but I've gotten by with just my brain for a really long time, surprisingly enough. When I started my new job, my notes consisted of scribbling a folder name and that was pretty much it.

We had some time before class started, so gal started looking at Craigslist.org (I wasn't looking....just "noticed"). The teacher came back into the room and he started to mess with the files and slowly started the class. Since I had already sat through 2 of these happy, fun modules, I knew what was in store and had already second-guessed his moves. So I was clicking on files and updating my presentation and looking like the genius that I am. Can't say I'll remember everything I did, but as long as I looked efficient while learning, everything will be okay.

Gal next to me was still looking at Craigslist, and soon gal realized class had begun. She tried to catch up (our teacher goes really slow too, so this shouldn't have been too hard), but she couldn't figure out where he was and what to do. So...she.asked.me.

Periods to stress annoyance.

She was now my personal nemesis for the moment.

I immediately had school flashbacks. She was the type of person in school that I dreaded and hated yet seemed to always attract. You know those people -- they come in late to class, and they spot you (me -- nerd), see the obviously empty seat next to you and plop their lazy butts into it. They expect you to:

• tell them what they missed, or
  
• let them look at your book (which could turn into a whole semester's worth of looking if you don't watch out and do something about it quickly), or
• ask you for your phone number so that when they "miss" class, they can call you because of course you've been in class since day one and haven't missed one class yet, so you'd be the perfect person to call for a quick lesson via the phone, or
• give them your notes every day so that they can photocopy them and maybe give them back (I did take notes at one point in my life)

OH NO. NO. I'm not gonna play your stupid "hold my hand because I was looking at Craigslist" game. But what can you do? Ignore them? Tell them, "I don't know? I'm just as confused as you are," while you're clicking way and matching the teacher's actions all the way? Man, I was busy looking good and second-guessing what the teacher was doing! Leave me alone! Why me? Why'd you got to sit next to me?

So I did what I always do in these situations, I mumbled loudly the file name the teacher just clicked on and then stared at the monitor in between us. Luckily, the teacher heard me, and since he was happy whenever anyone was confused because that meant he got to teach them something instead of just messing around with PowerPoint while we watched, he asked her if she needed him to go over it again. Thank goodness. Now I can go back to looking good.

Needless to say, she didn't ask me for help after that. Not even when she didn't understand why she couldn't open a file when she already had it open. Not even when she got lost during the chart explanation. Nope. I was worthless and mumbly. But just think, if I had been nice, I could be talking to her on the phone right now, teaching her what she should have learned. Maybe I can start a side-business? I am a genius, you know.

Line Anarchy

So it's finally happened.

Blatant line anarchy.

And right in front of ME!

I got into my usual line this evening, right behind this weird man who was hopping around and acting jittery (I can't stand being around jittery people). He was hopping around so much that I couldn't really figure out which line he was in, so I sort of stood behind him and hoped for the best. When the next train came, he turned around and looked at me, hopped himself forward and cut in front of this lady who was in the same line but off to the side a bit. Not a lurker, just a drifter.

Hmm, I thought. I wonder if she's even going to react to his line-cutting. Nope. Nothing. Just stood in the same spot. I've cut in front of people who don't move up with the line and just stay right in the middle. If they don't want to follow the flow, then that's fine, but don't go holding me up. So I don't blame the hoppy man, but that put me directly behind the lady. So yet again, I was in line that held the possibility of having line anarchy.

And then it happened.

I was standing there when all of a sudden this girl came out of nowhere and stood right behind the lady, which was right next to me since this lady was lingering off to the side. I turned my head and looked at her. And stared at her. And kept on staring. I was well prepared to ask her, "What are you doing? The line ends back there...," but she never looked at me.

Not knowing which train she planned on getting on (the next one wasn't mine), I was yet again prepared for a fight. Who the heck does she think she is?

The next train came, and the line anarchist somehow cut in front of everyone who was in my line, including Mr. Hoppy. She just plowed right in like the train came specifically to pick her up. And no one said a word.

And the kicker was that she got to sit down on a packed train. She was young. There was no need for her lazy, line anarchist butt to sit down.

Life must be tough for her. Especially since all of us other people seem to get in her way.

Curses! pt deux

Seems not only do I curse myself, but I can now curse others. Yes, I have magical cursing powers. After posting my story about curses, the following occurred:

My husband called me to tell me something in the morning. So we talked, and then I asked him if he was going to be home about 7pm, like normal.

He answered, "No, I'll be home at 6:30."

"So, 7, then," I responded.

He laughed, "No, I'll be home at 6:30!"

I told him he always says that but comes home at 7 or later. He told me he didn't have to to the books for the day shift, so he can just leave at 6:30 (we don't live far from where he works).

I said, "We'll see about that. What if you have to stop some crazy customer from attacking employees? Hmm?" (Yes, this has happened. He didn't make it home until way past 8 that night).

He laughed and said he'd make sure the customer knew he'd have to cut it short and that he had to be home by 6:30. I told him to give me a call and I'd speak to the customer if this does occur.

We laughed. We got off the phone.

I got home and was watching my latest Sex and The City DVD to arrive from Netflix. I figured I had two episodes to get in before he came home. At about 6:20 I played with the idea of actually starting dinner, but I decided not to. At 6:30, when no husband showed up, I decided to watch another episode of Sex and The City. At 7, I heard the door opening and here enters husband.

I looked at him. He looked at me.

He announced to us (cat and I): "You jinxed me!"

He looked okay, so I didn't think he actually got attacked by a customer, so I just stared at him and waited for the rest.

"So it's almost 6:30 and I'm getting ready to leave, when guess what happens?"

"I dunno...customer attacked you?"

"No...........because of you and you jinxing me, Ken came in!"

Ken is the owner of the store my husband runs.

"Oh," I said.

"You and your stupid jinxing. Luckily he noticed I was ready to leave so he said he'd cut it short!"

I dragged him into the room with the computer, brought up my BART tales and pointed at the latest post, Curses! (My husband never reads my blog -- and if he secretly does, then this is one way to find out).

I walked out.

Glad I can pass my good fortune along.

Curses!

Since I've been cursed with curses and being self-cursed, I worry about curses (read my posting about the 10-car train). You can't ever think, Wow, BART's been running smoothly....the train hasn't been taken out of service, haven't had to get on a cattle car train, haven't been stuck in a tunnel for a while, and hey, it's been a couple of months since I was attacked by the loony lady! Nope, I can't think like that. And I'm really not a paranoid person. This is just how my life is. Curses and being invisible are my curses in life.

So yesterday I was minding my own business as I was going down the escalator in Fremont. Since generally I am invisible girl, I figured I was just as invisible then as I was in the past. I know some of the station agents on "good morning" and chatting terms, but I don't know the evening Fremont station agent that way. I still figure she's never seen me so I flash my Translink card around like a loon so no one will yell at me for going through the swing gates. When you get to know the station agents, you don't have to worry about that. You can just walk in and out. But when you don't know them, you have to watch yourself. I'm always afraid I didn't make myself noticed enough and that someone's going to run out of the booth and tackle me.

I scanned my card on the card reader, and the station agent was looking at me, so I looked at her, and she said, "You know, your card is the only one that works all the time."

Needless to say, since I thought I was invisible, this threw me off.

My brilliant response was, "Oh!"

She countered with, "Yeah, everyone else seems to have problems with their card except you!"

"Oh! Well, I've had problems," I told her. I seem to carry guilt around with me wherever I go, even with my Translink card working better than others.

"Really? You never seem to have problems."

So then it hit me. She cursed me!

"Now you've cursed me!" I told her. "Now I am going to have problems!"

She looked at me like I was a loon (I'm starting to think I am), and told me she hoped that wasn't the case.

I'll tell you, when my fancy new green Translink card croaks, I'll be making a visit to her. Curses....