Public Transportation Junkie

Before January 7, 2013, if there would have been an award for “Least Likely to Ever Ride Public Transportation” I would have won hands-down (#DivaStatus).  The race wouldn’t have even been close.  In fact, I shocked myself the first day I rode The 46 and needless to say, I pretty much hated those 15ish minutes on the ride to work.  But since then, I have had a complete change of heart towards public transportation.

Click “Follow By Email” to stay updated on my transformation to a public transportation junkie.

Always Save the Best for Last

Hello readers!  I regret to inform you that I will be going on hiatus until my next co-op in the fall semester.  I know, you may be shedding some tears, I practically am, too.  I'm currently trying to find a new topic to blog about.  Want to help me out?  Leave a comment below.

So here's the thing, I've saved my very best luxury vehicle story for last because it is my favorite.  While it may be super embarrassing, it's quite funny to look back on.

Let me take you back to about week 2 on my co-op.  I was wearing my huge puffy coat - probably wasn't needed, but I'm always freezing and it gave me some protection walking down Calhoun.  I was running a bit late, so I remember literally throwing everything in my bag and placing my phone and membership card for The Met in my coat pockets.  I was sprinting to the bus stop, probably looking like a fool, but that's pretty much besides the point.  As I neared the corner at The 46's stop, and I reached in my pocket to pull out my card...  and it wasn't there,  PANIC.  The 46 was pulling around the corner, so I took off back to my apartment as to avoid the embarrassment of not having my card.

As I walked back, I searched the sidewalks and the street for the card, but it was nowhere to be found.  Fear was truly setting in and when I arrived back at the apartment, I searched far and wide for the pass with no luck.  I knew I was going to be late for The 46, so I went out searching again on my way back to the pickup area.  I grew more disheartened when I had to call my mom for advice on how to handle the situation.  Needless to say, I was freaking out and needed to calm down.  Just as The 78 was coming around the corner, I decided I wasn't going to pay to take it downtown.  I walked back to the apartment, again, in hopes that my roomie was still there.  As I was walking, I happened to look down and see my Met pass (I knew because the girl pictured on it looked strangely like me) lying near the curb.  I bent down to picked it up and.......   RRRRiiiiiPPPP!  The squat I had chosen wasn't exactly conducive the the multiple bags I was carrying while wearing jeans.  Thank goodness for the puffy coat.  Otherwise, Calhoun would have got quite a show that morning.  

I was so relieved about finding my pass, and it was even better when I found my roommate hadn't left for work yet.  She was willing to drop me off downtown, but I definitely needed to change my pants first.  

A huge thanks to all who have helped make this blog a success.  I look forward to more adventures in the fall!

In the meantime, keep living your dream!  

The Struggle Bus

Today, I decided The 46 is The Struggle Bus, emphasis on The (pretend like you are saying The Ohio State University.)  Not only are my fellow "friends" shambly in the mornings, but The 46 has been struggling lately. For instance, last week, my driver couldn't get the back door closed.  He tried closing it and opening it around 20 times, and when that didn't work, he decided he would just turn The 46 off in the middle of the road.  No big deal. 

Today, though, it was an extra shambly mess.  Since it's raining outside, it was super smelly on The 46.  Like ew.  Thankfully, some of the smellier "friends" got off quickly.  But, The 46 was practically falling apart before my very eyes.  One of the windshield wipers just stopped working, and it just happened to be the one on the driver's side.  Guess I shouldn't worry about that?  My driver was also having quite a hard time getting  The 46 to start back up after each stop.  He had to push on the gas and brake multiple times.  It was a bit worrisome.

Needless to say, while it was certainly a rough morning for The 46, I arrived to work safe and sound.  Second last day of co-op!  And happy birthday to my UC rider friend!

Keep living your dream!  

#TBT Bus Drama

Remember that time when I went across The Pond to Ireland?  And all the weird things about Europe?  Well, I wanted to share another with you.  It's probably one my favorite moments from Ireland...

So it was the first night in Dublin for me.  We went out to Howth, a town located right on Ireland's coast.  We took a train ride out to Howth, where we enjoyed views of the ocean and then we traveled up to the top of the cliffs to see as much of the country as we could. 

As it soon started raining and grew extremely cold, we decided to head in to the local pub for dinner and some warm drinks.  The locals were so friendly and kept talking to us, which made it hard to eat our food while it was still warm, but by far, this was one of the best nights in Dublin.

After dinner, we got on a Dublin bus that would get us into the city.  We figured we could just transfer to a different bus when we got back into the city.  Well, as I mentioned before, it was my first night in Dublin, so I fell asleep on the first bus.  My classmates woke me up at the stop where we would soon transfer.  It was seriously so cold out at the stop and I was still in my state of delusion.  While I can't remember which bus we were looking for to take us to the hotel, I do know exactly how the next couple of minutes played out.

So, I'm used to having my personal drivers always there and ready to take me to my next destination.  They always know exactly when and where to pick me up.  Well, let's just say the public transportation system in Ireland is nothing like my personal driver.  In Dublin, public transportation is so efficient and everyone uses it.  And they know how to use it.

We were standing at the stop, well under the Dublin Bus Stop sign, waiting for a bus to pick us up.  Instead, we kept watching them zoom right by.  Could they not see us?  Were we actually at the right place?  I kept telling my classmates that we clearly needed to find a different stop because this one was not legit. 

This old lady was walking past, so we asked her which bus we should take.  She had absolutely no idea how to explain it to us, so we tried to relieve her of her explaining duties, but she just wouldn't give up.  She kept trying to help us, but it was not helping at all.  In fact, she just kept blowing her smoke into our faces.  Gross.  Finally, we convinced her that we knew what she was talking about and she left us alone.

A young man (he was actually attractive) arrives at the bus stop.  I asked him if it actually was a bus stop, and I'm pretty sure he gave me the weirdest face, but I was having serious doubts about where we were.  He was like "Uh, yeah."  I said, "Well, obviously it's not because we've watched six drive right past us without stopping."  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the young man raised his hand and the approaching bus stopped for him.  Lucky for us, he also got the bus we were supposed to travel on to pull over.  Thank goodness we didn't have to ride with him into town.  Talk about YOLA. 

So, on that note, keep living your dream!

Personal Space

If you know me, you may be aware that I am not the most "huggy" person in the world. 

My family used to tease me about it (my cousin still reminds me of it) but as a kid, I never gave hugs, or if I did, it was more of an air hug, with my arms slightly touching the other person and my butt out as far as possible.  It was an awkward position, no doubt. 

As a young grade school student, I played basketball.  Since I was super tall for my age group, every year, I had the pleasure of being the center.  I was always being bumped by other players, and while I could take it for a while, my anger and annoyance would overcome me and I eventually just would push back.  Somehow I always got the foul.  Needless to say, I gave that sport up pretty quickly.

And so I digress.  It's the middle of the afternoon a couple of Fridays ago, and The 46 is packed.  And when I say packed, I mean it.  I was lucky enough to nab one of the last seats.  The 46 has two different types of seats, some that face forward and others that face the inside of the bus.  I chose to sit on one of the seats that faces inward, mainly because there was one seat in between this older woman and me. 

Of course, someone just has to sit there.  And by someone I mean this lady, her kid in a stroller, and her two-week-old (the older lady asked) baby tied around her front.  So she plops down, one buttcheek on the seat and the other... in my lap.  In my head, I'm thinking, "Alrighty then.  Thank you.  Yes, this is comfortable, thanks for asking.  I really love when my "friends" sit on my lap.  You aren't crushing my leg or anything."  I really kept hoping that she would be getting off soon, but no instead, she rode all the way to the stop near school with me.  Awesome.   

Luckily I was able to focus on my breathing and text some of my friends from school to keep me from hyperventilating from my "friend's" butt touching my leg.  So if you were one of those texting buddies, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  But for real.


Keep living your dream!  And never leave one open seat! 

The Crazies

I’m alive!  No, you don’t understand, for real, I’m still alive.  I made it to the office.  Who knew that would be such an accomplishment? 

At some point in our life, we are go a little crazy, right?  Some us go crazy in our youth – the pressures and stress from school, friends, organizations, and lack of sleep.  Others get hit with the crazies right before they have that midlife crisis.  And others, well... they may just be certifiably crazy. 

It was just another Wednesday morning (Happy Hump Day, by the way!) when I stepped onto The 46, and took my seat across from a lady.  I generally don’t get a chance to check out my “friends” before I choose my seat until I get myself situated.  This was certainly the case today, because I would have picked a different seat. 

I looked up at the lady across from me.  She was wearing black gym shoes, jeans, and... A hospital gown.  Oh, and a Walkman sort-of-thing with one side taped so the batteries would stay in.  Fabulous. 

Remember how my personal drivers always stop at that randomhouse / grocery mart on the way downtown?  Well, of course the driver needed to stop today, leaving my “friends” and me with this woman.  I soon realized why no one, and I mean no one, was sitting around her.  I’m just reading through The Skimm (sign up, and you will love me forever for all the wit and sarcasm found in this daily news report) and this woman starts talking.  Apparently she was talking to me, cause she said, “Hey you, where you going to?  I’m gonna start driving this bus.  We need to go.”  Oh no, please Mr. Personal Driver hurry up, please, please, please.  I was stuck between a rock and a hard place – I had two options:  stay on the bus and hope she doesn’t start driving, or get off on Vine and stand by myself to wait for The 78.  And the better option is???  Neither.

Thankfully, my driver was back with his bottle of water and we were on our way.  The lady kept talking so LOUDLY about how she had to wear the gown because no one gave her any other clothes (don’t mind the fact that there was a bag of clothes sitting right next to her, but whatever.)  She was also cussing up a storm, and my driver told her that her police escort would be waiting for her at the Findlay Market stop.  Now, let’s just say I was a bit naïve thinking that this was perfectly normal.  Maybe they had worked it out beforehand, I don’t know.  But I was incorrect in my assumptions.  The lady started freaking out about how she wasn’t causing trouble (minus the fact that she wanted to drive the bus less than five minutes ago) and started fake crying.  As we approached the Findlay Market stop, my personal driver was on the phone with The Met’s Headquarters and was getting the police.  I have no doubt that my mom really enjoyed the text that said, “OMG, I’m about to watch the lady right across from me get arrested!”  NOT. 

As the woman realized that he was not joking about the police, she continued her fake crying and talked about how mean my driver was since she didn’t have any clothes and it was so cold outside.  Well, while those are valid reasons, it’s actually hot outside, so good try.  As she sauntered down the street, my driver called The 78 driver to warn him of the lady in the hospital gown. 

Thankfully, the rest of the ride was uneventful, but I could not be more happy to have arrived at work.

Keep living your dream!  

Homeward Bound

Well, today was the last day on the island.  We all had a fabulous time and spent way too much money (maybe enough to pull Ireland out of its bit of a recession).  But all that aside, I wanted to give a quick summary of the week here.

Obviously, some of my fellow travelers were here to see the St. Paddy's (that's how they say it here) Day Parade.  They had a blast watching people walk from all over the world.

When we arrived on Monday morning, our first stop was at The Bald Barista - a fabulous coffee shop.  And yes, he actually is bald... and he has a tattoo on the back of his head that says "The Bald Barista."  To each his own I suppose.  We then walked around St. Stephen's Green, which was absolutely beautiful.  Guinness Brewery was the next stop.  Most of us opted out of the full pint of free Guinness, as we really couldn't handle its strong flavor.  But, the city views from Gravity Bar were absolutely breathtaking.  Later that night, we hopped onto a train to Howth, a small town on the coast.  We hiked (I know you are finding it hard to believe I even went outside) up a large hill to see the rocky hillside coasts.  We ate at a local pub, socializing with swanky locals. 

On Tuesday, we toured the National Museum and the National Gallery, to give ourselves time to catch up on Ireland's history.  We then proceeded to Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral to learn more about how religion has shaped the history of Ireland.  At Christ Church, we were able to explore the crypt, which contained a mummified cat and rat - gross, I know.  On Tuesday evening, I attended the Abbey Theater's production of King Lear.  While I was quite tired, I was able to get into the play after the first fifteen minutes.  Considering we were the fourth row from the stage, it may have been embarrassing if I had fallen asleep.

Wednesday morning - trip to Wicklow, the mountain country.  We first rode to Malahide Castle, and while some members of the group thought the word Malahide reminded them of formaldyhyde, I can attest that it was nothing like that awful smell.  The desserts served at Avoca were fabulous, and we ate those first.  We brought our sandwiches on the bus - that was quite interesting.  One classmate found a stick in his piece of bread... Yes, you did read that correctly, a stick.  You thought you ordered a turkey sandwich.... Err, no, you really just ordered two slices of plain turkey. Moving on.  The mountains were fabulous, and a friend and I were able to sport the ever famous UC pose in the middle of the Upper Lake at Glendalough.  A ghost tour completed our Wednesday activities.  While waiting in line to head to the most haunted place in Dublin, two young boys were creepliy lurking near our group.  They then proceeded to throw rocks at us.  These kids were certainly not the typical, super-friendly Dubliners we had met previously.  The kids asked us if we were from America, and one of the my fellow travelers frankly replied saying, "No, we're from Canada, and we eat little f****** like you."  Scared the living daylights out of them.

On Thursday, we went to Trinity College to tour the Book of Kells.  We also visited the Long Room, which was a library containing over 200,000 books, many of which probably haven't been opened in the past 500 years.  The stick-in-the-sandwich friend and I posed outside Trinity College doing another UC pose, and we're pretty sure the Trinity student thought we were the weirdest tourists ever.  A few of us then went to Kilmainham Gaol, the prison that was used during the Easter Uprising of 1916.  It was a fantastic, but also quite sad, tour.  Our professor suggested we check out the old hospital right across the street from Kilmainham.  On our way to the hospital, we passed an art museum, a building with a facade similar to Kilmainham, but we could not find this old hospital.  We asked for directions, and we were sent up this giant hill... to the real-life, functioning hospital... yeah.  We obviously got out of there as soon as we could, and took a bus back to Dublin City Center.  We got on a bus, the 46A, which would take us to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced as Dun Leery).  It literally took an hour and a half to get out to the harbour town, but we met some local school children along the way.  They were hurling players, and stick-in-the-sandwich friend got a pretty sassy remark when he asked the one boy if he was a hurler.  Yikes!  Dun Laoghaire may be the coldest place in Ireland, and the wind whips right up off the ocean.  The waves were so high, and the wind kept pushing us closer to the water.  After a warm dinner, which we paid for in mostly coins (it was embarrassing, but my roommate needed to get rid of some change) we got on the train, which cut down our transportation time by over an hour.  We then headed to see the Woman in Black at the Gaity Theater.  It was.... interesting.

This morning, we went to Kildare, which is horse country.  We were able to see the Irish National Stud Farm, a place to breed and train the next champion horses in the racing world.  The facts and figures of operating such a place are ridiculous, but the horses were beautiful.  We got to see a horse that was born yesterday.  It was awesome!  We took the scenic route back to the hotel, and ended the night with last-minute shopping activities and a group dinner - an interesting potato soup, salmon, and a variety of desserts. Gelato rounded out the evening, where we ran into some young guys from England.  As soon as they dissed One Direction, we peaced out, leaving them behind in the dust. 

Although it rains evey day in Ireland, there is nothing better than getting to experience the city, the beach, and green spaces all at once.  This has been a trip I will never forget, filled with many great people and wonderfully hilarious stories. 

Keep living your dream!

The Oddities of Europe Continued

I've decided a week's time is just not enough to completely understand European differences. 

Yesterday I complied a list of things about Europe that I'm struggling with.  After another day of walking around, here are a couple more:

5.  Euro coins (I generally just lay them out on the counter and have the server/shop owner count the correct change)
6.  The lemon (Did I ask for a lemon in my water, my Diet Coke?)
7.  Smoking (It's everywhere!)
8.  Ice (Upon arrival, I forgot the Europeans like warm drinks.  I ordered water the first day at breakfast, it had 1 ice cube...  The second day, they put more in once they realized we thought it was a bit warm.  Now, they always ask if we want extra ice, aka the normal amount given in the States)
9.  The accents (I love them, when they talk slow enough to understand.  The cab drivers - they talk so so so fast that generally I have no idea what they are saying)

Well, that's all for now, but with three full days left, I'm sure there will be more.  Let's hope I can start to get a handle on things!

Keep living your dream!

The Oddities of Europe

****PLEASE GO VISIT MY NEW BLOG****

Things I just can't quite get used to:

1.  Cars on the opposite side of the road (pay extra attention when crossing the street!)

2.  Steering wheels on the opposite side (it's just very odd)

3.  The Euro (can I really justify paying that much?!)

4.  Co-Ed Bathrooms (that's just plain awkward)

Thank goodness I haven't had to pay to use the toilet (yes, that's what they are called in Ireland - pretty abrupt  ehh??)

Keep living your dream!

Let the Fun Begin

The party has arrived in Dublin!  And by party, I mean the lovely people who got to spend an extra night with me in Cincinnati.  

We had an easy ride to Newark, and had great views of New York City, followed by an extremely long flight to Dublin.  We arrived this morning at 5:30am, 1:30am USA time.  After two hours of sleep on the plane, I realized being tired was easier to deal with than a stiff neck.

First thing we do upon arrival in Dublin (besides Customs, checking in and breakfast) is coffee of course!  We went to The Bald Barista (highly recommend) and he opened his shop an hour early for us!  So delicious and he even makes coffee art for you!  

I had a great day exploring the city - the sights, sounds, people, and food.  We also had a grand time at Guinness, although many of us weren't too fond of the beer itself.  

While I have many other stories to share, you'll have to wait for another day.  I'm too tired (I fell asleep on the Dublin Bus...) but I will update you with stories and photos soon!

Keep living your dream!

Off to Dublin... Tomorrow

Greetings from... the hotel at CVG Airport!  HUGE shoutout to the fabulous hotel managers and shuttle drivers at the Double Tree Hotel.  They couldn't be any more accommodating.  Plus, who knew that hearing the words "Here's a password for free internet access" could completely brighten your day?  Thanks, fellow Westside resident manager!   

What a day it has been!  I decided to try out a new method of transportation, as The Met isn't exactly equipped to travel across The Pond. 

Unfortunately, our aircraft didn't want to make the journey today either.  As we were boarding the small jet, a malfunction occurred.  After four hours of attempting to get 20 of my classmates and I on a different flight from CVG to a connection at another port to Dublin, I am currently sitting poolside with 5 other classmates at the hotel.  Guess I should have brought that bathing suit.

  

While the rest of our class is currently flying on a squishy, extremely long flight, we are enjoying our novels on lounge chairs at the indoor pool.  The young children from the soccer team are playing (loudly) in the pool.  Those were the days.

We're hoping to get to Dublin by Monday, but until then, happy St. Patty's Day and pray for no snow!

Keep living your dream!

PS... Have a private jet?  Would you mind flying us to Dublin?!  Let us know!

And We're Off... Almost

Hello friends!

In less than 24 hours, I'll be in the air headed for... Newark, New Jersey!  Not what you guessed, I'm assuming, but good try.  I'll be off to Dublin soon after.

Need to get a hold of me while I'm celebrating St. Patty's Day in the heart of Ireland?  Here's what you can do:

- Tweet at me (and follow my journey, here)

- Email me (if you don't have my email, you don't need to contact me)
- Viber with me (FREE international texting - only when I have Internet access... LHPers this will be perfect for Asia 2014)
- Skype me (remember Dublin is 4 hours ahead)

Don't worry, I'll also be blogging, so check back often!

Peace and blessins, friends, peace and blessins.

Keep living your dream!

The Chauffeured Life... Dublin Style

So here’s the situation.  In three days, I’m leaving the country.  But, do not fear!  I will continue sharing details of my oh-so collegiate and chauffeured lifestyle, but from Dublin, Ireland!  I’m going with my class to explore the city of Dublin through works of art, architecture, and the written word. 

It will be interesting, that is for sure.  We will have personal drivers, personal tour guides, and they even provided us with membership cards for the Dublin Bus – not as awesome as my personal driver on The Met here, but it will certainly do! 

So now, not only do I need to keep track of my membership card for The Met and the new card I’m testing for The Met, but also this super bright Dublin Bus card.  Oh goodness!

Keep living your dream!

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Think back to the day you got your first phone – whether it was Christmas Day, your birthday, or just a time when your parents decided to gift it to you.  Remember how your were totally and completely obsessed with finding that perfect ringtone, alarm ring, and texting beep?  And then about a week later, you found it to be too much, so you turned your phone completely on silent?  Don’t deny it, it happened to the best of us.

Well today, I jumped on “The 46” but luckily, I was early enough to the stop that I didn’t have to run like a maniac.  Of course, today, I got the personal driver that stops to pick up food from his house/a random mini-mart?  But that’s beside the point. 

As we neared downtown, a “friend” whipped out her phone (a flip phone, of course).  So you know how we just discussed your annoyance with all of the ringtones?  Well, either this lady just got a new phone, or she just really super enjoyed enjoying everyone who had the pleasure of hearing her beeps, rings, and music.  Upon the initial flip of the phone, I felt as though I was listening to magical, rainbow unicorn-loving music.  Then, she proceeds to hit a button… BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.  You have got to be joking!  Upon the closing of the phone, the magical music played again, followed by a very random almost-ring-but-not-quite-ringtone-ring.  Let’s just say, it was a bit shocking when I heard it, but she made no move to reopen the phone.  Alrighty then.

Keep living your dream!

Shameless Plug

Hello Readers!

It's that time of year again.... time for RELAY!  As part of the committee and Luminaria Co-Chair, I want you to consider signing up as a participant or donating in honor of a loved one who has battled cancer so that someday (hopefully soon) we can live in a cancer-free world.

So why not join a team, sleep outside (yes, this is the closest thing to camping I have ever done in my whole life), and have a blast walking the luminaria-lighted track with friends!  Sign up here to participate, donate, or purchase a luminaria in honor or support of a loved one!

Thank you for your consideration... But seriously, sign up!

Keep living your dream!

MIA

I feel like I'm neglecting you.  I haven't blogged in almost a week.  BUT.... let me explain.

Wednesday - it snowed like crazy.  Well, more it just came at the perfect time for me to "work" from home. I was actually at my home-home, not on campus, so I enjoyed the day eating sweets with my sister who was off school.

Thursday - I just decided to get a great night of sleep at home-home, and my dad drove me to work in the morning.  So it was like having a personal driver, only better.

Since I've been majorly slacking, I felt as though it was duty to write about my Friday night.  My roommate asked me to be her date to her sorority's formal, so of course I agreed to go!  

Unfortunately, their hired driver was not as efficient as my personal driver.  We went the most random way to our destination, and trust me, plenty of comments were made about this.  I have to agree, as a valued patron on The Met's system where I get picked up and dropped off at great locations, that the chosen routes were pretty inconvenient.  

Other than that little mishap, the night was awesome, but unfortunately, it's back to the corporate grind in the morning.  Goodnight!

Keep living your dream!

March 5th, or April 1st?

April Fool’s Day decided to come early. 

My friend and I arrived at our pickup location early today, since we had missed “The 46” yesterday.  We waited there for quite a bit, and our driver was MIA.  Since we are members of The Met’s elite club, we were able to access the schedules made by our personal drivers.  Sure enough, the our pickup schedule had been modified… clearly to accommodate the other riders more than us.  Major college student problems.

So, now our driver on “The 46” (who just happens to be the ferocious waver – just like I had predicted) arrives at 7:29am at approximately the same time as “The 78”.  This poses a major problem, as missing the first means missing the second.  I feel as though I may need to change drivers, or else, I will have many more morning exercises on Calhoun.

Keep living your dream!

Stranger Danger

Picture this:  you are driving down the road and you pull up and stop at a red light.  You turn up the radio a bit, and look out your left window, only to find the driver of that car staring you down. 

Why yes, indeed, this did happen to me this morning.  My friend and I hopped onto “The 78” at 7:30am.  “The 46” was nowhere in sight, so we assumed our driver was 4 minutes early or 10 minutes late.   

Now you must understand that both “The 46” and “The 78” take the exact same route until they reach downtown.  Taking “The 46” is much more convenient for my friend and me because our driver has the ability to drop us off right outside our offices.  When we take “The 78”, the driver is not as accommodating, and makes us walk a whole two blocks to get to work.  He doesn’t understand that we are still sleeping, and without our morning dose of caffeine, we don’t really have the energy to put in the effort.  But I digress.  

We were nearing the point where the routes split, and I happened to look out the window only to see “The 46”.  Are you kidding me?!  Where did it come from?!?!  How had we missed it?  I look closer to see a different driver, not my personal driver with the accent.  And better yet, this driver was staring at our luxury vehicle.  Directly.  At.  Me.  Waving his hand ferociously.  My parents always told me to avoid strangers, so that’s exactly what I did.  He’s not my driver, so I classified him as a stranger, heeded my parents advice, and totally blew off his hand waves.

With my luck, tomorrow, he’ll be the substitute driver for “The 46”.   

Keep living your dream!

GIVEAWAY : Ride The Met

It saddens me that many of my school friends don’t have their own personal drivers.  Most have cars on campus, but that means they have to drive themselves to work, to the market, and to other various places.  If only they knew what they were missing.  With a personal driver and “The 46” or “The 78”, I can enjoy a peaceful ride without having to worry about traffic, ice, snow, or angry drivers on the road.

I recently went to a training session at The Met (the private vehicle operating company) because I am helping to test out a new membership card program.  Basically, The Met gave me a $50 gift card to try out new routes with friends.  What’s in it for you?  A free ride on a private luxury vehicle with me!  Woohoo!  We can go anywhere in the Greater Cincinnati area. 

Here’s how it works.  You can earn chances by participating in the following activities:

• Include a URL to this post in a Tweet
• Post about it on your Facebook page, by including a URL
• Follow Collegiate and Chauffeured by entering your email here
• Leave a comment – I’d love to hear about how much you want to ride with me!

Keep living your dream!  

The Road Less (or Most) Traveled

I just read a tweet quoting Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken.  I like to believe that I have taken many un-traveled roads in my life, but this morning, I decided against it.

I awoke to a very icy-coated landscape outside my bedroom window.  I was a bit worried about the state of the sidewalks, so I chose to wear my Sperry Topsider duck shoes.  Thank goodness!

I slid, literally slid, out the door of the apartment stairwell onto the sidewalk. I knew it would be quite an interesting walk to the pickup stop.  I think I walked approximately 6 feet on the sidewalk before I realized it would be much easier to walk on the road, which had been salted quite well.  I literally walked down the middle of the street because the sidewalk near the stop was extremely slippery.  

It was a little awkward cause I think I may have been in the way of some drivers.  Sorry, I'm not sorry.

Keep living your dream!

Who's Your Daddy?

My poor friend.  She totally missed “The 46” this morning.  Our driver came at 7:22am, and unfortunately, she didn’t quite make it to the stop on time.  I’m sure she got to enjoy quite a nice ride on “The 78” with the fabulous driver who always stops for a snack break.

I hopped onto “The 46” and was greeted by my always-friendly driver (insert sarcasm here).  My membership card worked today – woot woot!  I slid the card and began walking towards an open seat near the front.  As I started walking, he pulled away, and instead of gracefully sitting down, I slid (or should I say I was forced by speed and velocity) right into the seat.  I'm sure my “friends” all got a good chuckle out of that. 

I got settled in and took a quick look around.  Because my driver was early today, many of my “friends” were missing and “The 46” was quite empty.  A few people were hanging out in the back, and one of my “friends” wass sleeping up front, pretty near to me.  I pulled out my phone to read through the emails I received overnight.  I read through a quite witty email from The Skimm about Minnesota beating up on Indiana… Here’s a quick quote from the email:  “Hoosier daddy? Minnesota."  

As I completed my reading, I heard some grunts coming from the front of “The 46”, my sleeping “friend.”  Talk about awkward.  She then followed with a couple of “whats” and “ohs”.  Hmm, guess it must be a pretty good dream if she feels the need to sleep talk and allow all of the other riders into her thoughts.  Thanks for the offer, but I’d really rather ride in silence.  She awoke with the buzz of her cell phone, and preceded to stick the phone in her hood so she wouldn’t have to hold it.  What is wrong with these people?!

Keep living your dream!

A Non-Traditional Morning (Cont.)

Hello readers!

I figured I should continue on with my story from Thursday morning, since I left you with quite a cliffhanger.

So sure enough, I totally missed "The 46".  I was so late that I didn't even see my ride driving down the road ahead.  Oh well.  

If I would have made it to "The 46" I would have missed out on quite a sight. Check out that hair...  I love pink, and I'm also considering a new hair-do.  Should I go for it?

Keep living your dream!

Warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT

It's only 8:03am, and I've had a whirlwind of a morning.  

Woke up at 6:17am, and I knew I would be moving quite slowly today.  I'm not sure why, but man, I couldn't motivate myself to do anything.

I went through my daily morning routine:  my hair, my teeth, my face, my clothes, etc.  I decided to try out a Pinterest recipe... Maybe I should have actually read through the directions.  Instead of having a breakfast fruity-peanut-buttery quesadilla, I ended up with a bag of mush.  Whoops.  Next time, I'll just eat the peanut butter and fruit, no quesadilla.  

Did I mention it was raining?  Well, it was.  I walked outside with my friend, still carrying my bag of gross, and we were hit smack in the face with rain and wind.  Carrying that bag really made my hands super cold, and the real question is, was the taste really worth my freezing hands?  No.

We get to our stop, praying we wouldn't be late.  Luckily, the rain cause a bit of a delay, so for once, we didn't have to run.  "The 46" arrived, and my friend went in first.  I slid my membership card, and got the dreaded "Card not valid" message.  I tried again and again.  And again.  Then the driver tried.  And he tried again. I was pretty much SOL.  He asked me what was wrong with the card... how should I know?  Do I look like a membership card specialist?  No.  He allowed me to take a seat on "The 46" but I was instructed to speak to the people at school about this issue.  Would I even know who to talk to?  Again, no.

And then it hit me.  I volunteered to try out a new membership card program, so I bet the deactivated my card.  Well, gee, that's super awesome considering I don't get my new card until Thursday.  So that's pretty great.  I'll get to face the same problem tomorrow.

Today's lesson:  don't try anything off Pinterest, and choose your volunteer opportunities carefully.  

Keep living your dream!

And happy birthday to my favorite sister!

Lost? Not Really

J.R.R. Tolkien once said, "Not all those who wander are lost."  But sometimes, they actually are.  

My "friends" always amaze me.  Every day, I am greeted with another interesting story on board "The 46."  Although my nice luxury ride is recently new (the extra cash from co-op was certainly helpful), some of my "friends" have been riding in these luxurious vehicles their entire lives, yet they can never remember when to tell our driver when to stop.  How can you not know when you need to get out???

One of my favorite stories from the ride today.  A "friend" needed to get off in between our special drop-off locations.  He started yelling at our driver, and when we had stopped at the next location, my "friend" asked the bus driver how he was supposed to get back to his preferred location.  Our driver looked right at him and said, "You get off here, and walk right on back down to where we came from."  A little sass, I love it!

Keep living your dream!

A Non-Traditional Morning

This morning, I decided coffee was more important than catching “The 46”…

For the first time ever, my alarm did not go off, probably due to the fact that I forgot to set it last night, but that’s still under investigation.  I woke up in a bit of a panic, but thankfully I was able to quickly touch up a few strands of hair and I was good to go with that part of my morning.

With my hair finished, I quickly pulled together an outfit and a lunch. 

I’m not sure what prompted me to make a cup of joe, but it sounded good on a cold morning like today.  Please note, it was 7:14am and I leave my humble abode for “The 48” at 7:17am.  I heated up some water, poured the coffee powder into a to-go cup and sat down at the kitchen table.  I knew I had plenty of time before the water was finished so I packed my work bag and then decided I should write a thank you note.  Reader, I know what you’re thinking “SERIOUSLY?!  Who writes a thank you note at 7:17am?”  It was important, okay (sassy emphasis on “okay”).  Halfway through the note, I checked the time:  7:16am.  Panic set in, but the coffee was not finished, so I carried on (while I tried to keep calm) with my writing. 

As I signed my name on the note, the water finished heating.  7:18am.  Quickly stirred the powder and water, pulled on my coat, grabbed my bag and ran out the door. 

In order to catch “The 46”, I knew I would have to speed walk (running would cause spilled-coffee burns).

To be continued…

Keep living your dream!

Cue the Drama

Let me start by saying that today, my driver decided to arrive early, again.  My riding friend missed "The 46" by a good 7 minutes, so now she has to ride "The 78".  So I was looking forward to a ride of utter silence, just me and my thoughts...

"Gurl... Like omg!  Just so much drama about her boyfriend.  I'm just like... I'm done." - Nurse Rider #1

"Like I said I have to go to work.  People aren't responsible.  I guess the neighbor told..." - Nurse Rider #2

Oh please, friends, avoid the drama!  Gurls seriously keep it to yourselves.  The whole vehicle doesn't want to hear your drama.

Oh for goodness sakes, Nurse rider #2 forgot to tell Nurse Rider #1 that their friend was pregnant... How could she forget that?!?! 

Just got the "Now entering Downtown" message over the intercom on "The 46".  Thank goodness!  I can't take anymore of the drama.  These ladies are worse than women at a garden party in the 1950s. 

Keep living your dream!

Did I Just Agree to Be Your New BFF?

Hello all!

I certainly hope you all enjoyed a day of relaxation yesterday, or your day of work if your chosen corporation did not feel the need to honor our great Presidents.  Sorry to all of you, but let's just say, I personally had quite an eventful, yet relaxing President's Day - thanks for asking!

Back to the corporate grind today - woo???

I arrived at the stop a bit early today, because my driver thinks it's fun to arrive ahead of schedule and leave me behind.  I'm also really trying to cut down on my early morning workouts (which is bad since working out more frequently is one of my Lenten goals) so I knew I needed to leave my apartment with plenty of time to spare.  I think I arrived around 7:17am today just to be sure I would catch the bus, so needless to say, I was in the company of me, myself, and I.  While my own personal thoughts are quite entertaining, I was glad to see a couple new "friends" arrive at the stop a few minutes later.  What a friendly woman!  She talked my ear off, and while I couldn't understand half the things she was saying, I smiled, nodded, and hoped that I hadn't agreed to anything, like babysitting her school-aged child. 

Before I forget, I should tell you that the bus arrived at 7:29am, so my new "friend" really chatted away.  Normally, I'm the one dominating a conversation, but today, I gladly shared the role with my "friend" - this may or may not be attributed to my state of still-half-asleep.

Keep living your dream! 

Blinded by the Light

*** Take note:  This blog post was not based on an experience in the 7:19 am to 7:46 am time period. ***

Make new friends, but keep the old.  Some are silver, and the others gold.

The simple lyrics bring back fond memories of my childhood days, but today, they brought about a whole new meaning.  

Today, I went in to work only to find out I could work from home.  I gathered my belongings, but before walking to wait for the luxury vehicle, I bought myself Starbucks.  I purchased a Venti Nonfat Caramel Latte, because I just knew that I would be seeing gold.

Let's just say the 8:45 am luxury vehicle "friends" are quite different than those still half-asleep on the earlier ride.  When I hopped into the vehicle upon it's arrival at the station, I was immediately blinded by a shining light - a "friend" in a hooded, fur, gold coat.  What a sight!  I can't even imagine what he paid for such a lovely and warm coat.  My "friends" certainly do have some interesting tastes in fashion!

Keep living your dream! 

Spring Cleaning

I’ve met many new “friends” on my morning adventures, yet today, one man stood out.  Picture this:  you’ve just entered the luxury vehicle and taken your seat.  You read a couple text messages and emails on your chosen mobile device, and suddenly, you have an urge to look up at your surroundings.  You see all of the “regulars”, and then there is this one man… with a purple vacuum…  Hmm.

Who brings a vacuum on a luxury vehicle?  It’s not clean enough for you???  I mean, I have pretty high standards (and by that, I mean extremely high), but you don’t see me with a vacuum. 

I was in shock, but to each his own, I guess. 

Maybe I was daydreaming, or would that be classified as earlymorningdreaming?

Well, whatever it is, keep living your dream!

Shananigans

It's all fun and games... until someone gets in trouble.  Then I get to chuckle to myself.

This morning's ride was quite entertaining.  It started out in the usual way - quiet and relaxing.  Well, as relaxing as the ride can be with a driver who is constantly slamming on the brakes, but you get the point.  

I make eye contact with two very young "friends" and I know I've started trouble.  They smiled to themselves, and started belting out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The ABC's... Oh joyous.  Many "friends" turned their iPods/cell phones on and put their headphones in.  It was almost as if I had my own personal concert of childhood songs!

We pull into the vehicle station, and the girls are still singing.  Their mom (she has had headphones in the entire duration of the ride) hears the younger girl and tells her to control herself.  Lady, where have you been the past 20 minutes?!?!  

While the girls may have been a bit off key, I was happy to have a bit of morning entertainment to brighten my week.  Happy Hump Day!

Keep living your dream!

A Morning Jog? I Think Not Part II

One of my close friends, he also has a personal driver, but he frequently rides to work on "The 78", the luxury vehicle I took Friday after my personal driver on "The 46" left me out in the cold.

So anyways, this morning, while I'm sitting on the bus, I receive a text from my friend about how annoyed he is.  His reason:  "The 78" personal driver stops at his house every morning to pick up food.  I immediately text him back for a bit more clarification about the driver, only to confirm that indeed he is not stopping at the store, but instead his home.  You have got to be kidding me.  How can he have time to run home while he is on the job?!  Nobody's got time for that, especially when I'm being paid by the hour.  Gotta get in and get out.

Here's to hoping my friend clocked in on time!

Keep living your dream! 

The Pregnant Man...

Hmm....  I'm not even sure how to describe this morning's ride into work.  

This week, one of my best friends from school is back riding "The 46" with me.  Today, she was surely welcomed back with open arms.

When we boarded "The 46" it was around 7:25 am.  It was a beautiful spring like morning outside, so we didn't even mind the wait, although our hair was quite messy.  We took our seats, after swiping our cards (they even have our pictures on them, so cool, I know) and hoped for a peaceful ride on this Monday morning.

The ride was anything but that.  One of my “friends” was having quite a loud conversation this morning.  He started preaching to this couple, but honestly, I’m pretty sure he wanted us all to hear because he was practically screaming at the top of his lungs.  We got to learn about my “friend’s” preacher, his beliefs, death, and how he thought he was a pregnant woman.  Well, alrighty then.

“The 46” came to a screeching halt, and the man was called to the front to see our driver.  Since he refused to move from his seat, our driver had to come back to him to ask him to get off the vehicle.  Let me quickly interject that our driver is foreign, and has a bit of an accent.  My pregnant man “friend” decided to start talking in Spanish, acting as though he couldn't hear the driver telling him he needed to exit.  My pregnant man “friend” also told us that he would not exit the vehicle until we got him a translator to translate the driver’s faint accent.  My “friends” were getting antsy and started yelling about being late to class and work.  It was quite a scene.

So in my head I’m thinking, “OMG NOW I’M ANNOYED BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN SITTING HERE FOR FIVE WHOLE MINUTES!!!”  Finally, I think it was because all other riders were annoyed and yelling, the man got off (insert rude, harsh, derogatory comments here).

After he exited, we were all trying to stifle our laughs, but that didn’t last long.  Chuckles grew louder when my “friend” who had been sitting directly across from the pregnant man told us she didn’t even realize he had been talking directly at her.  I’m amazed that she had the ability to tune him out!

To end this morning’s post, here’s a quote from my “friend”:  “Everyone dies, but not everyone lives.”

By the way, I was so frazzled from this incident that I totally forgot summer class registration went up inline this morning, so BIG thanks to my roommate for the reminder! 

Keep living your dream!