Friday 23 October 2009

[edit 10/25 145a]

• 03:12 we are getting a 10-min break in Tifton FL #

i probably drove my seatmate Tom crazy, but i had restless leg syndrome big time! i just couldn't sit still! that's probably why he got his own seat at this stop, but he remained friendly in his kind of burned-out way.

• 03:23 got some coffee!!! #
• 03:29 banana split cappachino--yum! #
• 06:22 wake up in Ocala to get a cup of coffee and a smoke #

I settled down after getting some coffee and slept soundly till this unwelcome awakening. this stop was at a Pilot truck stop kind of place. the coffee section was bewildering! perhaps i accidently chose coffee with extra caffeine or something, but i really didn't feel good for an hour or two. i'm thinking it was the coffee jitters, for the first bit of suffering from the jitters i'm not feeling very good and wondering why. My former seatmate Tom came to me to see if i'd testify that i had seen he'd had a bus ticket, because he could no longer find it. i had definitely seen it, for what that's worth, which is nothing, but when he had moved to another seat, i thought i had seen a greyhound envelope on the floor. he thought he had already looked there, but it was his ticket, right where i had seen the envelope.

• 08:24 in Orlando for more than an hour. i actually needed to get off the bus, i'm not feeling good since being blasted awake in Ocala #
• 08:29 the failure of my samsung blackjack ii is a major disappointment of this trip. i've pretty much only been able to use while it's plugged in #
• 08:31 yep way too early RT @davesib @DyNama wake up in Ocala to get a cup of coffee and a smoke. waking up pretty early aren't you? #
• 08:57 i reported what appeared to be a hypodermic needle on the floor in the men's restroom, and a girl asked me if i party. #
• 09:00 i replied "huh! i'll be staying with my parents" as if that means no partying #
• 09:19 there's a black guy here who carries the saggy pants thing to an extreme. his belt is buckled below his butt #
• 09:43 leaving orlando, next stop is kissimee, then ft. pierce, my destination. ft pierce will be a meal stop for everyone else, there's fast... #
• 09:44 food in the station. this is actually the 1st stop at fast food so far #
• 09:52 in Atlanta i got a new seat mate, Tom, but he too left me when a seat opened up #
• 09:54 in Orlando, i got another seat mate. we both have a suitcase that wont fit in the overhead rack of this style bus. i'm straddling mine #

this guy said he was going to Ft. Lauderdale with a Jamaican accent. our suitcases no longer fit in the overhead racks so he stuffed his suitcase in front of his seat too, but i had the window seat which locked in my left leg and he pinned my right leg with his suitcase and leg! my right foot wasn't even touching the ground for a while! eventually i pushed and got a tiny bit more room, but my right leg was still held really tightly between my suitcase and his leg and he wouldn't give me any more room!

• 09:58 just saw my first palm trees! #
• 10:00 just saw a white heron in a tree #

it was probably a crane.

• 10:23 leaving Kissimee #
• 10:27 yes, down here for a vacation. in Kissimmee, heading south RT @NICOLENICHOLS @DyNama First palm trees! That's exciting! Are you in Florida? #
• 12:03 i have reached my destination! happy travelling! #

even when we got in to Ft. Pierce, i said to my seatmate "this is my stop" and he raised a finger and said "not yet". i don't really know what he was thinking but eventually he let me out. I was welcomed by Mom & Dad and we had lunch at the Arby's there.

• 16:21 settling in at my parents' house. already washed the clothes i travelled (slept) in #
• 16:47 3wks, enuf time to really catch up. my sis lives nearby too RT @_7654_ @DyNama it looks like you are digging in for a long stay ... #
• 20:36 friday night at the senior citizens clubhouse: pina coladas for $1! woot! #
• 21:37 my parents got a new HD TV and watch non-HD shows stretched to fit cuz they think that's the way it's supposed to be #
• 21:43 @davesib will do. thanx for the sandwiches, they got me thru #
• 21:46 @NICOLENICHOLS no disney for me. we'll just hang out #

my sister Kris dropped by after work so i'm seeing her for the first time in a year. she works 2 days a week in a jewelry store. she was talking to her youngest daughter Nat on the phone when she pulled up so i even got to say hi to her. Kris called me a few days before i left town, which is actually her first phone call to me in years! we honestly have a warm relationship, we just don't talk much on the phone. i usually keep up with her and her family by news from our parents.