To the bus stop on time...

The bus was late this morning, real late and everyone was pissed. I wonder if the people who get mad at the late bus are the same people who hate to go to their jobs, because for those people a late bus should be a blessing. Sure, it could lead to your boss getting mad and maybe getting fired but if you don't like your job that should be a good thing. It's easy for me to say, I like my job and I like being late for work so it's the best of both worlds, but the people who always throw a tantrum when public transit doesn't move according to plan seem to always be the kind of people who wake up not wanting to go to the office. It would be refreshing to see a completely packed #22 bus pull up to the stop with no capacity for more riders and hear someone say, "Dammit, I have to wait to get to work," or something less corny but along those lines. Instead it's usually, "I hate my job and since it's the main focus and largest consumer of my time I don't like the majority of my life and this late bus which I have no control over what-so-ever being late gives me one more thing about which I can be pissy," or something along those lines. Again, it's easy for me to say since I work I in an office environment that's more "get the work done at the specific time it needs to be done" job and not the "punch in at the top of the hour and push a pencil and look busy until 5pm" job. Not sure if I'm supposed to use quotes there or not, but I hope it conveys my point, point being people should relax. This is obvious and very cliche but so, so true. Things could be worse.

Even though I was late due to the bus I was excited that I would have been on time if the bus was on time. Usually I show up the the stop late and it doesn't matter if the bus is on time or isn't, I'm late and it's all my fault. I figured today to be the same and was surprised when I made it to the bus stop in time. I had a late night last night which featured the following, not in chronological order:
-a $4 bottle of wine which I feel obligated to buy last Friday and felt I had to get rid of last night by myself
-A girl at Borders reading a comic book which instantly excited me and then it was a killer let down when I found out it wasn't a comic (it had been raining and my glasses had water on them)
-two bottles of beer which I found in the fridge around midnight when I was looking for OJ which I drank telling myself that I need to ease back on the weeknight alcohol so I better get rid of these last two bottles so tomorrow night my fridge will be empty of temptation
-cutting my toenails
-cutting my fingernails
-feeling a huge sense of accomplishment after the toenail/fingernail cutting
-walking to the bookstore and smoking a cigarette, which I don't often do but I had one and only one and with my growing ideas of eliminating temptation I figured I should get rid of it and thought it a waste to just through it away
-chasing a cigarette with a piece of apple Bubblicious
-walking towards my favorite Thai restaurant on Lincoln and then turning myself around while telling myself that I don't need to spend the money, I have food at home, but still spending $7 (about what I would have spent at the restaurant) on one of those frozen but "healthy" Thai meals that comes in a bright plastic bag and found in your grocer's freezer when I only went to the store for orange juice
-enjoying dinner because that bag of frozen Thai was delicious and worth it
-sitting on my grandpa's old couch in my new apartment with the windows open as it rained and rereading part of On the Road which I had been talking about with a friend earlier in the week, all the while a little drunk which may seem very cliche and I can't deny that, I almost didn't include it in this post (essay? article?) but I decided that anyone who wants to thumb their nose at that last sentence can go fuck themselves, this is my story and last night was pretty much perfect, besides most of this stuff didn't happen the way I'm writing it, it says "fictional" at the top of this page and I'm just trying to make this text interesting

It was a night of indulgence and I didn't really earn it but that's how it goes. The DJ on the Current just referred to Minneapolis as a concrete jungle and yesterday's New York Times had a couple of great articles about walking through Manhattan. The day of work has gotten me in the mood for an after work walk, which will probably be interrupted by an after work nap. The problem with a walk is that it reminds me how much I like cooking up a gin and tonic in a plastic cup and walking/wandering Lincoln Park, but alcohol isn't supposed to be in the cards tonight. The problem with the nap is the reminder that naps are always good but naps are only great if taken after mowing the lawn, and I have no lawn.

Chicago is my favorite concrete jungle, especially on rainy days, but each day I miss not having a lawn a little bit more and more and more.

And more to come...