Nothing to See Here

Well, as you may have noticed, I haven't posted recently. There isn't really much to talk about. So, here are the highlights.

I quit my position as bus monitor and have gone back to being substitute bus driver.

I was monitoring on one bus with great kids, but I didn't really get along with the driver. As people we had no issues, I just wasn't happy in general. I really miss those kids a lot. A few are now Facebook friends, although I REALLY need to learn Spanish.

I tried moving from that bus to another one, thinking perhaps a different driver would make things better, someone maybe closer to my age or with a different way of doing things. I was so wrong. For two weeks or so I tried this new bus. On the same day I received that position, I was contacted about a driver position, but it was out East (15 miles from home- I'm a bit leery of committing to a bicycle commute that large, even if Jamie didn't have reservations for me regarding the route and my safety) for much less hours per day. I'm kicking myself for turning it down, hindsight being what it is.

In this second bus, I was even more unhappy. The kids were less able to communicate, and again I had a clashing personality difference with the driver. I guess I'm not really a team player like I thought. So, after giving it what I think is a more than fair attempt to make it work, it was just a simple matter of writing a note and finishing out that day's afternoon run. It somewhat bothers my that it takes so long for me to realize this sort of thing- my husband was the one who supported me in making that decision because I guess I'd been coming home with a bad attitude. Even the office personnel, almost all of whom I admire very highly and already think of as family, told me they could tell that something wasn't right, that my "bubble was burst". I think there's a saying about a heart and a sleeve that might apply here.

My position as substitute driver is a bit more restrictive than others. So far I've asked to only be considered for routes out of the West base, which is the one close to home within an easy 25 minute bicycle commute. Jamie should be promoted to manager soon, so maybe the shifts in income won't be so noticeable.


Thanksgiving break was uneventful other than a group bicycle ride I attended with the Longmont Area Beginning and Returning Cyclists Meetup group. I installed my new cycle computer and light set the day before. I rode 19.05 miles with the group with winds at around 10mph, gusts up to 24. With the trips there and home again, I totaled 26.67 miles on Zoomie. We started and ended at the Lefthand Brewery, and I had a root beer before leaving. Sprecher root beer doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup in it, and it was very tasty- the perfect treat for my first successful group ride, and longest distance ride ever!

And of course, Thanksgiving was great. You can see photos on photobucket in a temporary album HERE.

With all the time off, I've been sleeping too much. I should set a little battalion of alarms to wake me up at a decent hour so that maybe I have some motivation to do something other than sit at the computer and find television shows on Netflix to waste time with. On the bright side, I discovered a great movie called Serenity and a related tv show called Firefly. The bad part is that there are only 14 episodes, because that show is my idea of fantastic. Great effects, great costumes, wonderful characters, humor and excitement and fighting. Spaceships and wild west collide in a perfectly reasonable fashion to make a show I could watch back-to-back for hours. It rivals House and Stargate for my favorite shows ever.

Wednesday I have a field trip, so I'll be pedaling to the office to figure out the details, and see if there are any open routes to bid on. My alarms will be set from now on. Perhaps I can get some sewing done, or spend time getting Grunt used to a bike trailer so we can go someplace fun. We'll see.

Happy Monday?