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The Saga of Basil's Bus ride

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
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So yesterday, due to the snow, my wife needed our all-wheel-drive Santa Fe to run around on some errands. So, she took me to work in the morning and was then going to drive back into town and pick me up at 5:30. But I decided to save her the trip and take the bus (park and ride) that runs from the Uptown station (a couple blocks from my work) to Edgewood, where we live (the bus stop is about a mile from my house). I had never taken this bus before, but decided to do it just to save my wife the extra trip to town.

So I get on the bus and pay my $3 for the one-way trip. There were exactly 3 other passengers on the bus (I'll leave the discussion of the efficiency of this operation for another day). There were a couple other stops along the way, and as we were nearing the stop on Sedillo Hill (pronounced sed-E-oh) about 5 miles from Edgewood), I called the wife and told her to head out for the Edgewood park and ride stop as I would be there shortly. Well, plans changed when the bus turned into the parking area at Sedillo because the bus got stuck in the snow right at the entrance. It would not go forward or backward - it was completely stuck!

So at this point I called my wife (took a few tries to get her to answer her cell phone) and told her to drive out to Sedillo to pick me up. At this point I noticed that the other three passengers were not having any luck contacting anyone to rescue them, so I offered to give them rides since I was going in the same direction. Of course they all lived in Moriarty, which is 10 miles beyond Edgewood. I finally got home at 7PM! What fun!
 
No good deed an' all that.
 
Planes, trains & automobiles

12/27: My daughters friend was heading back to Denver, via Chicago.(Priceline cheap flight)
plane was diverted to Indianapolis due to weather: bus ride back to o,hare took 7 hours.
only to find out the next available confirmed seat will be Jan. 2, 2016.
no rental cars available ( he's only 23 anyway & can't qualify, but he was hopeful to find someone like Basil heading SW to give him a ride). No luck.
trains were over $1500 & would take days.
he was still on standby, sleeping at the AP.
to top it off airlines will not help stranded passengers out, if it's weather related.
holiday travel is just great.
 
Planes, trains & automobiles

12/27: My daughters friend was heading back to Denver, via Chicago.(Priceline cheap flight)
plane was diverted to Indianapolis due to weather: bus ride back to o,hare took 7 hours.
only to find out the next available confirmed seat will be Jan. 2, 2016.
no rental cars available ( he's only 23 anyway & can't qualify, but he was hopeful to find someone like Basil heading SW to give him a ride). No luck.
trains were over $1500 & would take days.
he was still on standby, sleeping at the AP.
to top it off airlines will not help stranded passengers out, if it's weather related.
holiday travel is just great.

Yuck! Well I had it easy! BTW, PT&A is a great movie! Laugh out-loud every time I watch it (which is often since I have it in my iTunes collection).

"Those aren't pillows!!"
 
I agree, PT&A is hilarious.
I think Candy & Martin were the perfect actors for that movie, those two made a Great comedy team & that movie was ideal for their styles.
 
Planes, trains & automobiles

12/27: My daughters friend was heading back to Denver, via Chicago.(Priceline cheap flight)
plane was diverted to Indianapolis due to weather: bus ride back to o,hare took 7 hours.
only to find out the next available confirmed seat will be Jan. 2, 2016.
no rental cars available ( he's only 23 anyway & can't qualify, but he was hopeful to find someone like Basil heading SW to give him a ride). No luck.
trains were over $1500 & would take days.
he was still on standby, sleeping at the AP.
to top it off airlines will not help stranded passengers out, if it's weather related.
holiday travel is just great.

Guy - just a thought. Amtrak from Charleston SC to Denver via Chicago: $391.

Tom M.
 
$391.00!?
wonder what train he was looking at?
i wouldn't mind a train ride to Denver.
 
Reminds me of going to a conference several years ago. Flight was at 2pm, airport is about 40 min away. Left the house a couple hours early with the idea of grabbing a sandwich at the airport before boarding. Halfway round to the airport, where I couldn't get off, they had decided to close the highway to sand blast the underside of a bridge for painting, sat in traffic for an hour. OK, still had time. Get to airport parking, get on the terminal shuttle. Goes about 50 feet, smoke starts pouring out of the engine compartment. Everyone off and stand there watching it burn and waiting for another shuttle. Get on another one sent out and get to the terminal just in time to board. I make the plane, my luggage doesn't. Told at the location it will be in on the evening flight and sent to the hotel. That night, no luggage so I call the airline. Oops, they forgot to load it on the flight, but promise it'll be there in the morning. Mid morning, no luggage. Again missed the flight. Sorry bout that, but they don't offer any compensation for time and trouble, policy I'm told. Finally get my stuff that evening after spending the first day in the same clothes I flew in wearing. If I had more religion in me I might have thought I was getting a message from above telling me to just turn around and go home...
 
A couple of years ago my DW went to a conference in Hartford, CT, at the same time I was going to the Healey Rendezvous. Her flights were delayed by weather and instead of arriving a day early for the conference she spent the last leg of her "flight" on a bus from New York to Hartford, arriving at 9 AM without sleep as the conference was starting. I had no trouble. I told her that next year she should travel in a "reliable British sports car."
 
So sorry Boss. Anyway you did a good thing to take those folks to Moriarty. Good way to end 2015!
 
So sorry Boss. Anyway you did a good thing to take those folks to Moriarty. Good way to end 2015!

Is one of the neighbourhoods in Moriarty called Sherlock Homes?
 
hooboi... glad I was between sips, bro.
 
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