Life Has A New Route

This is a really short post, simply because I'm tired and ready for bed. But in the last few weeks, I've sat next to some interesting characters on the bus. These characters include Inspector Gadget and Harry Potter. Use your imagination.

A Life on Route 435 Update

I suppose I should change the title to Life on Route 36, since that is the bus with all the weird people. Route 435 is actually mostly business people who are normal for the most part.

Anyway, today I wore a short white skirt. Bad mistake. It rained (it was supposed to be nice . . .). I took the bus to meet my grandma for lunch. On the bus to Chinatown, some weird Hispanic/Mexican/Spanish/Latino guy sat next to me since the bus was crowded and it was the only seat open. No problem with me, but he was sitting really close to me. After a few people got off the bus, he decided to move. At first I was excited that he moved, until I noticed that he was staring up my legs (remember I was wearing a short skirt). Yeah, disgusting pervert. Anyway, then finally more people got off and he moved to the front of the bus.

On that same bus, another dude was sitting sideways. Close to me. Very close to me. And he was whistling for a l-o-n-g time, I swear he was trying to get my attention. Then my handy cell phone came out and I started texting my friends about the ordeal. What the . . ., he was peering over my shoulder trying to read my texts!

Anyway, that was my day. Creepy men. They're my favorite. And for you who cannot sense sarcasm for anything, that was a joke.

Life on Route 435. Again.

Today was interesting. First off, it was hailing this morning so it made waiting for the bus miserable (I was wearing a skirt and it was windy and cold). I woke up a bit later than usual today, so I was putting my makeup on at the bus stop. As I was putting my eyeliner on, some super friendly lady walked up to me. "Good morning," she said. "Can I get you to read this magazine? We're trying to get people into their Bibles." I knew right away she was probably a JW, so I asked her, "What is your organization?" And sure enough she was a JW. I told her I wasn't interested and she walked away.

Nothing too much out of the ordinary in terms of the bus ride down to work. I walked on the opposite side of the sidewalk this morning so I could purposely avoid that newspaper man who is ALWAYS there on the corner of 4th and Union.

On my way to the bus stop to come home some dude was walking and he had--not kidding--5 watches in his hand. Not on his wrist, in his hand. Dangling. Like he jacked them from someone or something sketchy like that. Anyway, I was trying to avoid getting too close to him since I was paranoid that he was stealing people's watches from off their wrists (even though I don't currently wear a watch). Well then he started talking. I've gotten really good at pretending like I can't hear the person who is talking to me (it's easy to do Downtown since the street noise is so loud and there are people everywhere). "Hey, is that Chanel for her perfume you got on?" he asked. Well I don't know how he could smell anything on the street, let alone the perfume he thought I was wearing. Oh, and since I woke up late today I didn't put mine on. And for the record, I don't wear Chanel!

So today wasn't too horrific, but like most days I came home with stories to tell of the weird people I "met" while going to and from the office. Later.

More stories

Today my sister drove me to the office this morning, so I don't have any stories from the morning commute (and anyway, the riders on Route 435 are pretty normal, it's the route on the way home that is full of weird people).

But this afternoon I met Kristine and my grandma for lunch in the ID, so I took Route 36. As I got on, some dude (apparently drunk) was yelling so everyone on the bus could hear him: "My apartment, I don't know, my apartment, I don't got my apartment." Well, sorry dude, I don't know what happened to your apartment, but I don't really care.

On that same bus, something smelled horrible. Like pee. I figured it out that it wasn't the bus that smelled that way, it was someone on the bus. Once he got off it was fine (almost).

Then tonight after work, I took the Route 36 again but this time I took it to my grandparents' condo. As I was walking from the stop to their condo (about three blocks), I heard this voice. I looked around and saw nobody. Oh wait, I saw someone on his balcony. And yep, it was that man talking. To me. "Hola ¿Quieres venir aquí. Te ves tan linda," he probably said. (It was hard to hear, but I know he was talking to and about me.) Oh, and that roughly translates, "Hey, want to come over here? You look so pretty." Thanks, Google Translate! Anyway, so he kept talking as I was walking past. He was waving and blowing kisses. Not kidding.

I made it to my grandparents' safely and then Kristine and I drove home. So there is today's excerpt on my life on Route 435.

New Series: Life on Route 435

A *certain friend* of mine told me to write blog entries about my experiences on the public transportation system, so here you go. I'll try to update this series as funny, odd, random or scary things happen while I'm on way to or from the office (some entries may include things that the street bums say on my way to or from the office from the bus stop).

So far, some big burly man told me as I boarded the bus, "Hey girl, you look like Cleopatra!" What? Really? Do I really look like Cleopatra? Then if that wasn't bad enough, he tells the girl next to him, "Doesn't she remind you of Cleopatra? She does, huh?" Yeah dude, whatever!

And then, the next day a bum on the sidewalk was trying to get me to buy one of his newspaper things (you know, the small papers nobody knows about and the ones that are filled with random biased news you never knew could be classified as "news"?). I guess he thought I was too interested in my lunch (which I was), because I ignored his, "Hi!" His second attempt? "Why hello pretty lady!" OK, so maybe my outfit was cute that day, but umm . . . .

Well, that's my first entry in this series, "Life on Route 435." More to come.

Some still don't get it!

This is a random post about confusing words. With life in general, but more specifically with my work on a newspaper, I've seen many of these words used incorrectly. I'm sure you have too.

Do you mean to say . . .

• effect or affect
• to, too or two
• there, their or they're
  
• complimentary or complementary
  
• stationary or stationery
  
• witch or which
• brake or break

The list could go on and on, but the point I want to get across with this post is to make sure you know which form of the word you want to use, and use it correctly!

Word of the day: Assistant

I stayed up way too late last night (or this morning) watching old episodes of The Office. If you're familiar with that show, Dwight always says his job title is "Assistant Regional Manager" when it is really "Assistant to the Regional Manager." Big difference? Yeah.

Well that example along with my ongoing job search made me think of the different ways we use the word "assistant." I saw a job posting for "Assistant Editor" which is obviously different than "Editorial Assistant." The two words that make up those jobs are pretty similar, but the jobs are quite different.

What are other words that are used like "assistant" that have similarities yet strong, obviously differences when placed in certain word order?