Time for another trip to visit the family in Florida. My parents go the Europe in May to celebrate their 60 years of marriage, and I'd like to see them before that. My brother and his wife went down for a week in March, so it's my turn. Besides, i can be unemployed in Florida just as well as being unemployed in Ohio! Since, in the words of a Styx song, I have nothing to do and all day to do it, i might as well have a long and leisurely stay, so I decided upon 3 weeks, which actually is no longer than i used to take when I was working. Travel will again be by Greyhound bus--what can I say, I don't really mind it.
Sunday 3 April 2011
- 19:08:19: getting ready to go on vacation. i think i'm all packed, except for my computer
- 19:56:28: dammit, i can't find that battery-operated charger for my phone. there's a place it's supposed to be but it's not there
- 20:02:14: you still working, @loudtweeter? i havent got any tweets sent to my blog for a couple weeks
- 20:56:44: computer off! next stop, Florida!
- 23:09:44: i'm here at the cincy bus station, a full hour before i board
- 23:10:33: my friend got me here at 1035p and just left
- 23:41:37: departure time less than 1/2hr (@ Greyhound Bus Station) http://4sq.com/hfceB0
Monday 4 April 2011
- 00:17:34: @Breathless1974 thanx, Taby!
- 00:18:48: we are hitting the road! in 24hrs i'll be visiting the parents!
- 03:11:25: had a meal stop in London KY
- 03:18:54: bus is full. i'm a seatmate w/a big young man who takes a little more than his share of the space
- 03:26:45: i got a breakfast sandwich & coffee but of course i had to let sandwich go cold cuz i needed a smoke too
- 03:27:53: got a little sleep b4 the meal stop but the bus is too warm & i cant seem to get comfortable
- 04:56:15: layover in Knoxville TN
- 05:00:47: I'm at Greyhound Bus Station (100 E Magnolia Ave, NE, N Central St, Knoxville) http://4sq.com/gVJHDI
- 05:09:01: some but not all of the seats on our bus have outlets for recharging phones and putas
- 05:09:47: lots of ppl traveling tonite. perhaps i should have left on monday night
- 05:10:37: knoxville station is full at 5 in the morning
- 05:13:54: just showed 1 fellow traveller where the charging station is & encouraged a woman to take a seat that had a coat in it
- 05:50:27: @yourgirlnxtdoor an excuse to eat fruit juice or candy sounds like fun, no?
- 05:55:30: my seatmate had made a few flirty remarks to the pretty girl across the aisle. at Knoxville he move to another seat, & the girl joined him
this seatmate was the only one that really talked to me on the trip. he was a young black man who listened to his music and every so often who sing a line from the hiphop song out loud, a line that usually included the n-word. when he was flirting with the pretty girl, he even asked me my name, saying to her "you need to charge your phone, just tell--what's your name?--just tell DyNama and he'll switch places so you can use the outlet at our seat." later, i made a comment about not wanting to ruin his chances picking her up, but he laughed and said "I got enough woman troubles in my life, I don't need any more!" that was before they sat together, so later i said "she even moved to sit with you!" and he just grinned and shook his head.
This was Atlanta. i've heard it's one of the busiest Greyhound stations, but i've only had trouble here.
- 10:26:02: huge station, tiny smoking area
- 10:40:49: attractive young lady just walked by wearing sweats w/the pockets turned out
- 10:58:28: they had us florida-bound ppl go to gate 8 and took the 1st 45. i was number 47.
- 11:09:40: they came back for the 1 in front of me, so i am 1st in line for the next bus. 1st loser, yay me!
- 11:12:59: a guy behind me overheard that our 11a bus wont be leaving till 125p :(
- 11:23:20: what a dumb idea, @cnn, this "choose the news" thing
CNN spends more time telling us about 3 stories to vote to get on the air than it would take to actually air all 3 stories!
They seem not to understand the concept. People get killed in protests over something someone who has freedom of speech says. At the mo, it's about a Florida preacher burning copies of the Koran, previously it was about publishing cartoon depictions of their historic religious founder. They seem to think everyone owe
s some respect, some obeisance to their religious figures--even non-believers! if we had to pay obeisance to every single deity believed in by humankind, we'd get nothing done!
- 12:39:27: about 10 of us got bumped off the 11a bus. the next bus on that route is the 715p. but if we're not 1st in line, we could get bumped again
- 12:40:33: seating is 1st come 1st served, no priority even for ppl bumped
- 12:43:28: at this mo tho, they wont even tell us what line to get in
- 13:31:03: the other 3 bumped passengers & i are on a bus going to savannah, ga. it's a lateral move but allegedly will get us there sooner
- 13:32:34: the other guy who was move active claims the boarding call included my final destination in Fla.
- 13:32:54: more active
Yeah, one guy, i never got his name, who was wearing a Jerry Garcia Band t-shirt, was the one who kept bugging Greyhound people to tell us what to do. What bugged him the most was their not telling us anything and seeming mostly clueless. They kept saying they couldn't officially change our route to Savannah GA because the adjusted mileage was more than 120% of our original route, which apparently is a no-no as the fee is based at least somewhat on the length of the trip.
- 13:36:03: atlanta to savannah to orlando would not usually be the best route, so that seems to indicate an accomodation on greyhound's part
Greyhound putting my destination in the list of cities the Savannah bus serves would be an accommodation, since I'm pretty sure people don't usually go through both Atlanta and Savannah to get to Florida.
- 13:37:42: if we had waited until 715p, they said they would feed us. now we have to buy our own dinner
- 13:38:29: we are rolling, only 2-1/2hrs after we expected to
- 13:40:08: i think i overheard some pretty girls talking about my failwhale t-shirt that has my twitter name printed on it, but they didnt tweet me
- 14:04:21: @davesib ouch [Dave said he was at work but had no work]
- 14:05:56: @davesib i used to tease Chad & Mike McConn that when thing were slow we ought to just pick lots at random & survey them on spec
- 15:13:57: we're here at Macon, GA
- 15:19:44: i have a half dozen clip-on sunglasses but i forgot them all
- 15:26:36: I'm at Greyhound Station, Macon, GA (63 Spring St, Macon) http://4sq.com/fq9zxg
- 16:33:22: took on passengers in Dublin, GA, but didn't get a break
- 16:43:08: i got a new seatmate in Dublin
- 16:44:04: @davesib thanx Dave *fingers crossed* [Dave hoped the rest of the trip went without trouble]
- 18:29:22: i'm here in savannah. i got off 1 bus & immediately got on the next 1! i wasnt in savannah 5 min!
- 18:42:21: this driver is completely protected by a lucite shield that's been lined w/curtains
- 18:44:03: IOW he sees no one, & no one sees him, while working. he works most of his day in a place that looks like a shower
- 19:40:29: Brunswick, GA, stopping at a qwickee-mart
- 19:54:36: a quick stop. i got a smoke, the 2 eastern europeans wolfed down a cpl of coneys
- 20:00:57: all i've had to eat since that 230a brkfast sandwich is pretzels and chocolate
- 21:39:55: have over an hour wait here in Jacksonville, so i had a pepperoni pizza. 2 guys bummed cigarettes.
i happened to notice microwave ovens in most of the Greyhound stations on the way down so i got a personal-sized pizza expecting to be able to microwave it if it wasn't hot enough...but Jacksonville bus station didn't have one. :( most of these restaurants in the bus stations also have signs saying refills of soft drinks were
50¢ and i conspicuously got a refill, but the checker lady was preoccupied about a baby grabbing things and never put her hand out.
- 22:31:05: i always forget about security on Florida buses. since i'm reboarding the same bus, tho, all my luggage, carry-ons were already on the bus
- 22:33:54: i grabbed an empty seat only to promptly get another seatmate
- 22:34:42: @SagDec15 even farther, to Ft Pierce
- 22:36:41: pulling out of Jacksonville, heading to Orlando
- 22:39:52: actually just leaving (@ Greyhound Station Jax) http://4sq.com/gaZN3X
- 22:42:30: i think he said we get to Orlando at 115a, leave there at 215a. no rest stops betw Jax & Orlando (except 5min at Daytona)
- 22:44:20: @SagDec15 yeah, half my family lives there. the mountain has to go to mohammed!
- 23:37:03: @SagDec15 3 weeks! a leisurely getaway.
- 23:40:32: i got a new seatmate even tho i think there were empty doubles, but just now, while barreling down the road, i got up to get my pillow...
- 23:41:14: & my seatmate left to find another seat
Tuesday 5 April 2011
- 00:16:55: got a few hits on a smoke at Daytona, and got a teen for a seatmate. i cant win!
- 00:18:47: confirmed we get into Orlando at 115a, leave at 215a. that means i'll get into Ft Pierce around 430a
- 00:20:28: i probably wont call my parents for a pickup until 5a. i'll be about 4.5hrs later than i was supposed to be
- 00:22:17: i chose cincy for departure over chillicothe cuz the total trip was 24 vs. 31hrs. getting bumped made the trip 28hrs
