Unlike the first time I tried to take the bus to work, yesterday the bus actually came. Whether or not this was a good thing, though, I’m not sure, because it was the most crazy crowded bus I’ve ever been on in my life! Reminiscent of the Tokyo subway – seriously, people on the outside were pushing the back doors shut because otherwise they wouldn’t close. Full of kids headed to Uni High in west L.A. – what this says about our local high school, I can only wonder – loud and obnoxious and not exactly the sensory experience I had hoped for at 7am. Silly me, with my fantasies of sitting and reading a book.

I ended up standing, awkwardly, with ten pounds of laptop on my back, trying to reach the grab rail that is just a teensy bit too high for those of us shorter than average, from my corner all the way to Santa Monica. And ended up, of course, with my back in pain the whole rest of the day.

The ride home, on the other hand, was dreamy*, and if I could catch a morning bus that would allow me to sit and read the entire time I’d be all over it. I think further experimentation is in order, but not this week, since my boss has whomped me with another unreasonable deadline, so staying at work into the wee dark hours is a likely prospect. Darned work, getting in the way of my attempts at eco-friendliness!

*Dreamy, except for those STUPID televisions they have on the buses. WTF? Is there anything more depressing than being part of a captive audience for dreary news stories and subprime loan scam advertisements? Please.