10 Down, 4 To Go!

I realized that I neglected to issue an official countdown email last week. Oops! I have hit the double-digit mark with the number of weeks that I have been working here. In some ways, it is really hard for me to believe that I am down to just four weeks left to work here. And it is a little hard for me to think that I have been working here for ten weeks. Although there is plenty of stuff that I miss from back home that I am ready to return to!
So to start out week number 11, I had the privilege of a 2-hour commute to work on Monday morning. It took a good 90 minutes for me to travel what normally would take about 20 minutes. Apparently the Bridge was closed. Completely shut down. So we sat on Military Road (the main road in North Sydney) for a long time, slowly moving forward. The dispatcher kept coming on, giving updates to the bus driver. They were not letting any buses get onto the Bridge.
The bus driver finally started yelling back to everyone that he wanted to change his route so that we could get out of traffic. Some people got mad and got off of the bus, but the only way we were getting into the City was to get on the train, and this guy was trying to get us to the train. Good for him! He finally got to a road where he could turn off, and we sat in traffic for a little while longer. Eventually, the guy found a break and took off. I think he was going twice the speed limit, because it was tough to hang on while he was whipping around. But again, he got us to the train station as quick as he could, so I’m not going to complain.
We got to the train station, and boy was I glad. I had been standing the entire 90+ minutes while we were waiting on the bus. Of course, I had to stand there and wait through three trains because they were so packed full. With the buses off the Bridge, everyone was riding the train. In fact, if you had a bus pass, they were letting you on the trains for free. (They really weren’t checking – they just opened the gate up for everyone. If I had been one of the suckers who bought a train ticket, I would have been pissed!) So it was jam packed on the platform, and everyone shoved on to the first two trains headed to the City. I stood back and waited, and just my luck, the third train coming through was completely empty. Sometimes patience is a virtue…
When I finally got to Central station, the exit dumped me out on the other side of the station. So I had to walk around the station and figure out how to find the road where my client is located. But I can’t complain. I found the way pretty easy, and I even found $5 on the ground outside the train station. Excellent! At least the $5 covered half of the cost of my lunch that day.
While I was on the bus, I had heard a report that a garbage truck was overturned on the Bridge, and the Bridge was closed while they cleaned up the mess. I looked online when I finally got to work, and I learned that the truck had flipped because the driver was swerving to avoid where two cars had collided head-on on the Bridge. One of the car drivers was pinned in his car for an hour, and the medics had to work to get him out. This accident is honestly the first bad on I have heard about while I have been here. And, in case anyone is wondering, the Bridge is a bunch of open lanes that they designate to go certain ways based on traffic flow. In other words, of the eight lanes, more of them are open headed into the City in the morning and out of the City in the evening. So there are no highway dividers, and the lanes are pretty narrow. Luckily no one died, and from what I hear, the people who were stuck in the traffic mess were pretty considerate about the whole situation, since the accident was so bad.
The rest of the day went by pretty quick. But being an hour late to work makes the day that much shorter, I guess. I had to go into the office for second shift, but the audit was supposed to wrap up on Tuesday, so no more late nights! Hooray! Of course, I ended up going in both Tuesday and Wednesday nights to take care of some other things. Hopefully I will be able to take advantage of the 4.30 client closing on Thursday, since that day will be the last one where I will be at the client. Well, I’ll be there Friday, but I have to go into the office for a meeting Friday evening. Yippee.
Tuesday and Wednesday went pretty smoothly. Although Wednesday morning led to yet another commute adventure. I managed to catch a bus that went all the way from my place to Central Station. Go figure: It takes longer to get there by bus than it does for me to get off at an earlier stop and catch the train. Who knew? However, I have to say that the extra 15 minutes was worth it. The funniest part of my morning was the bus driver. I got on the bus in a crowd, and didn’t really see him at the time. The seat I grabbed faced backwards. So I didn’t notice the guy until I turned around towards the end of the route to see where we were. The bus driver had blue and purple Mohawk. What an awesome sight to see your bus driver sporting the true Mohawk! I got off the bus, and headed through the tunnel that led to the other side of Central station, and there was a guy in the tunnel who was playing the accordion. I can honestly say that I cannot remember ever seeing someone play an accordion in public for money. And the guy was actually pretty good! Well, let me qualify that one. His playing sounded pretty good. But I have no clue what would make a good accordion player versus a bad one. Although something tells me that anyone dropping money in his accordion case probably doesn’t know the difference, either…
So I don’t have much in the way of stories so far this week. Sorry! I hope to have some better stories after Thursday and Friday nights. A group of us is going out tomorrow night at my local pub here. We have the Thursday Night Supper Club, and everyone wanted to try my place out. So I am sure it will be fun, and I should have something to tell after eating with these folks.
For now, you guys will have to settle for the latest mX update! I still have some back issues from last week, but I am holding on to those in case I need some stories over the next couple of weeks. For now, I will provide you with the best of the best from the past three days…
TEXT VENTS:
“In love and hot, who cares how hot Michael Phelps is, he’s American.” – Geoff, The Shire. OUCH! Tell me how you really feel about those of us from the States!
“To Theresa with the big brown eyes. Can I take a picture of you so Santa knows what I want for Christmas?” – Arun, Belmore. Isn’t it a little early to be thinking of Christmas…?
“If you wear a suit to work, how many suits do you need? Is it all right to wear one suit all week, every week” – Kevin, Campbelltown. Who ARE these people?
STORIES OF THE DAY(S):
Four masked men, armed with sticks, threatened the bar staff at a pub in the UK and forced the bar manager to open the safe, taking a substantial amount of cash. As the robbers were leaving, the pub customers started throwing pint glasses at the robbers. The robbers got away, but I have to wonder if the fine UK customers made sure they quickly chugged to empty the glasses before throwing them…
California cops have uncovered (literally) a tunnel used by a drug gang that goes from Mexico into the US. The entrance was 60 meters from the border, went 8 meters deep, and was 120 meters long. But what really gets me about this one is the fact that the tunnel had lighting, ventilation, and air conditioning!
A Chinese man was told that the 3-year-old $85 debt he owed his neighbor would be forgiven if he swore to God that he didn’t owe the money. So this guy swore to God that he didn’t owe the debt. A minute later, the man was hit by lightning. (No worries – he was taken to the hospital and expected to make a full recovery.
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
So I hear that Pamela Anderson and Michael Jackson have been seen together sneaking around in Malibu, as they are rumored to be dating. So I have to ask – What does happen when life-size plastic Barbie and plastic Ken (both true to the exact model and anatomical form of the dolls) get together? I doubt this one is true. They supposedly have hooked up. But with the amount of collagen in her lips, and the amount of plastic surgery on his face, there is no way that the two of them could even move their faces to pull off a kiss! But if they had kids, would the kids look more like Polly Pockets or those little green plastic army men?