Buses

I have been looking forward to living without a car. I've had a car since I was sixteen, and now finally I will break free from that dependency, yes? Living a more minimalist lifestyle, fewer material possessions, fewer luxuries...oh yes, this certainly doesn't come without its pains.
I am a very proactive person, always on the go, always somehow being productive. I'm also very punctual. This is partly because I am very organized and partly because I don't like waiting on others and hence don't want to cause others to wait on me.
Well, waiting on a city bus sure does throw a kink in such a lifestyle.
It's not merely the waiting, but the uncertainty of the waiting--never really knowing if/when a bus will arrive. Never really knowing when I need to leave in order to arrive to a meeting on time, or never knowing when I can tell a person I will be able to join them after my previous commitment. Basically never knowing how much time to allow for an activity.
Uncertainty. Waiting. Not a good combination for someone like me. But I'm learning...
One remedy is to bring a book along. This helps matters, but only slightly. It helps during the journey on the bus, but not the waiting for the arrival--for you must be ready to flag down the bus in time or else it will zip right past you. And, well, actually once on the bus, I am still trying to learn the identifying markers of when to ring the stop bell and begin my decent down the winding staircase on the bus in time my needed departure. (Climbing down the stairs while the bus is in motion with these drivers is not a safe venture, let me tell you...and certainly not with one hand occupied by holding a book...)
So now I've just taken to talking to myself to bide the time. Okay, not really.

Now then, there are bus itineraries so that you know which bus stops where...but these are not accurate. Bus 75 was supposed to come in 10 minutes, but after 35 minutes, I decided to walk to another stop around the corner and get the 46a, which is supposed to come every 6-8 minutes. Wouldn't ya know, I'd see two 75's go past right after this? Oh well, I knew it was a gamble. Meanwhile, I waited at the new stop for over an hour (unable to read my book, because any minute the bus could zoom around the corner). Finally someone came and told me that between 4-7pm, the 46a takes a different route, since it's traffic time. What?? I checked the bus information posted, and there was no mention of this. Urgh.

I do love being able to walk to many places. This is such a freeing feeling, going about on foot. Carrying my groceries back to the house (learning how much weight I can handle per trip...), leisurely stroll to the bank or local bakery.

I do love not having to do repairs on my car. I once needed new tires for my car in the States, and I remember being so perturbed that I was forced to spend a large sum of money and chunk of time out of work in order to get this taken care of, since I was so dependent on a car to get around to my various commitments. No longer is that the case. Ahhh, freedom from that control on me. I also like not seeing the automated withdrawal of car insurance payments from my bank account, and not keeping such a close watch on gasoline prices.

Perhaps waiting for the buses is good, it's making me slow down, smell the roses (or the persons thrust up against me during rush hour...)