Monday, October 10, 2005
murphy's law
So I was supposed to get on a train last night at 8:39 PM in San Josè and wake up at two in the morning in Chico to go to class at nine. Well. Let me tell you about murphy's law.
I got there with my sister with about 10 minutes to spare; pretty good for a train. I haven't got a ticket yet because I'm a slacker, so I wait in line with just one person in front of me. Made in the sade, right? Turns out that the woman is complaining to the person behind the counter because she did not have enought time to get her handicapped, wheelchair-ridden daugher on board the train, yet the attendant sold her a ticket anyway. The woman wanted to get on the same train as me. The poor girl behind the counter was helpless, she just sat there and took it from this very angry woman. All the while I am trying to butt in and buy my ticket. Well, I'm pretty timid as we all know, and I definately did not want to get on the angry woman's bad side and watched the clock tick. Finally, I kid you not, at 8:38 - one minute to go - the woman storms out of the building in a yelling fury, and I walk up to the girl at the counter who is by this time almost in tears. Nope, can't sell me a ticket, I won't make it.
Lame. So I buy a ticket for the first train in the morning, at 6:30. Spend the night at my sisters and wake up at 5:30 to give us plenty of time. Again, show up with 20 minutes to spare when I realize that crap, I forgot my wallet in the murky haze known as waking up without a shower. My sister races back and returns with 2 minutes to go. With the wrong wallet. Her roommate left his wallet and keys on the same table, and my sister grabbed the wrong set. So no worries, I figure I can catch the next one at 9 and just say screw class and work today.
I get on the bus to Oakland, the train to Sacramento, and the bus again to Chico. Then, about 2 miles north of Marysville (less than an hour from Chico, my place of residence, this happens:
They called the mechanic to come in from Sacramento to fix the blown tire, and I called - who else - Stassia to pick me up and give me a ride the rest of the way. I can only imagine waiting for the mechanic. He probably would have gotten stuck in traffic or something. As it was, I arrived in Chico at 5:30 PM with an expected arrival at 3 PM, but having planned on arriving at 2 AM. Gotta love flexibility.