Since I had all of zero blog-worthy links in the previous post, I thought I would throw this in for good measure.
...the government sent hundreds of pager-sized radiation detectors to ten cities, including San Diego, as part of the effort to detect and prevent dirty bomb attacks.
There comes a time in every early 90s Hyundai Excel owner's life when he or she has to make the ultimate decision, and when I smelled the acrid smoke of some sort of electrical fire followed by the inability to crank said car of mine while in the middle lane of traffic at a red light, I knew that I faced this decision: life or death. When my newly found mechanic (who happened to be at the corner of the previously mentioned red light) told me that to breathe life back into the car would cost me $400, I have to admit that I was ready to see how much my favorite charity would give me as a tax write-off. But not quite ready to jump back into the world of car payments, I knew this decision would mean that I would re-join the public transportation world. Not a difficult decision after all. I chose life.
And if I wasn't quite sure I'd made the right decision, my trip on the #2 bus to pick up my car at the garage confirmed it. For almost a year after we moved to this neighborhood, I took the #2 to work. This line is pretty much the Mississippi River of transit routes, passing through the heart of San Diego through some of the not-so-nice areas before dumping one right in the middle of downtown. At the time of day I had to take it today, there is rarely a seat to be had. One ends up standing in the aisle holding on for dear life as the bus driver hits every pothole and swerves past every slow driver possible so that her day can end on time. And there always seems to be the one wheelchair-bound patron waiting to further pack the aisle as people make room (and no offense to the wheelchair bound, I assure you). In my 2 riding days, I saw it all: old men fighting, crack deals consummated, and, well, consummation of sorts. Today was just your ho-hum #2 ride. I made it safely to the mechanic and paid for at least a few more months of not having to take the bus.
posted by Jeff 1/07/2004
