Back in the Saddle Again

I got back to New York Friday afternoon with no problems whatsoever flying. Woo hoo. I didn't even have to sit around during my layover. It wasn't really a layover as much as it was get to the other end of the airport as quickly as possible so that I didn't miss my plane. I literally walked up to the gate and walked on to the plane. There were more people traveling on Christmas Day than I expected. I originally planned on taking a cab back from the airport, but decided I should save as much money as possible. I decided to take the bus back which ended up being an adventure. I've taken that bus many times now, and every time it's crowded and slow but definitely worth $2 versus $45-50. While I was waiting for the bus I called a car service out of curiosity and found that there was one car service that would have taken me home for $35, which wasn't bad but still considering the bus was only $2 it wasn't worth it. I had a Good Samiritan right off the bat who helped me put my bit suitcase under the seat below him and made room for me. Our bus wasn't too crowded once the bus driver closed the door, but then a taxi trapped us into the bus stop. By the time we got free another wave of people had shown up, and the bus driver had to let them on. People kept piling in with all of their luggage, and the bus was full very quickly. The bus driver kept yelling at everyone to keep moving back, and everyone on the bus kept yelling at her to stop letting people on the bus that the bus was full. She finally decided that they were right and no one else would fit on the bus when the next bus showed up. The buses were running every 15 minutes on Christmas Day so this is how long we were trapped there. People opted to get off our bus to get on the less crowded bus behind us, and one family tried desperately to get off but after some confusion with our bus driver they stayed on. That family ended up standing in front of me along with a woman who showed her crazy side about 20 minutes later. We got out of the airport and down the road when suddenly this lady looked at the man and his family who tried to get off the bus to make more room for the rest of us and said "ummm hmmm, you are the kind of people who killed that guy at Wal-Mart. You crazy people trying to run people over. You just the kind of people that killed that guy at Wal-Mart. You don't have a heart. Ummm hmmm." I'm not sure what bus she was on, but I can assure you that the family did not push or shove or even try to necessarily hurry off the bus. They just simply tried to get off a crowded bus to make room for other people. I felt so sorry for the guy. He just looked at her and apologized and tried to explain that he was trying to make the situation better. I'm sure he and his family had a lovely Christmas in New York.

I spent the whole weekend sleeping as did Maggie. I found out today that the family who was taking care of her stayed up until 3 a.m. every night, which explains why she was pretty much passed out the first 24 hours I was home. Today I'm back at work and trying to think of ways to retire at age 26 while I'm photographing objects.