Days like today

On days like today,
the sun seems to set - just a little earlier..

On days like today,
the stars seem to shine – just a little less brighter..

On days like today,
the smiles seem to come – just a few minutes later..

On days like today,
the heart seems to feel – just a little sadder..

On days like today,
you wait for a tomorrow – that promises to be, just a little better.

The wheels of the bus

I've always been a bit apprehensive about public transport.

Now don't jump the gun and think I'm being hoity toity, with my nose in the air or I think scandalous things happen on the subway or even that you get robbed on trains.

That's not what I'm saying.

For some reason, travelling alone on buses in particular, has always freaked me out. Especially the ones which have seats facing each other, you know, 2 on either side? Yeah, those. I remember as a kid, some weird lady in the train kept staring at my face as I sat as close to mum as possible. I ventured a smile, but no such luck. She kept glaring at me out of the roundest eyes I had ever seen. I think I even started to cry! Now when I think about it, perhaps she had really bad eyesight or something. NOW, I can make all the excuses for her, but back then when I needed it, I probably thought she'd jump out from under my bed in the dead of night!

Anyway, I think that may be some sort of deep rooted reason for my dislike of buses.

Today, after much thought and discussion (yes, sometimes public transport warrants that for me, thank you very much!), I mustered up the guts to take the bus home. It's about, say, a 45 minute drive. A colleague who stays in my area, stayed back so that she could travel with me, help me learn the ropes, so to speak.

The whole thing was a mini adventure fo me.

We walked to the bus stop, constantly turning back in search of and then craning our necks forward to the traffic ahead, to make sure we hadn't missed it or weren't going to miss it.

Once we saw it approaching, Lux (my colleague) hastened me to a particular spot on the pavement, which she informed me was the exact place in front of which the bus would stop so that the door would be right in front of us. (I made a mental note to carry chalk next time to mark out these all important spots.)

The bus stopped, exactly where Lux said it would and we were the first two in. There was this gadget on the side of the door which Lux slid her bus pass into and charged it. It beeped, rather loudly. I looked quizically at the driver, safe behind his glass door, asking for a buss pass. In the time that it took for me to ask, him to hear me take the money through a tiny hole in the glass and then to actually give me the bus pass (hidden away in some secret location behind aforementioned glass door) at least 9 people charged their cards at the beeping gadget and rushed past me.

I finally got my pass and found Lux who had saved me a seat, bless her. We were in the seats that were opposing the direction of movement and it kinda messed with my head for a few minutes, but as the knowledgeable one on my left said, I got used to it. I marvelled at the bus, my journey, the view, even my handrest for a good 10 minutes! Lux and I spent the rest of the journey getting to know each other. We got home in no time and got off at the same stop. Just before we could get off, Lux reminded me that I needed to get my change back from the driver.

Sheer genius, I tell you. *grin*

After we got off, we walked together for a while before going our seperate paths home.

I quite enjoyed my trip home today and look forward to more. I look forward to reading on the bus, listening to my ipod, collecting my thoughts, perhaps sketching even. (oh, you can't eat on the bus, who would have thought?! The other day, a mum was feeding her son a bag of crisps. The driver played a message on the sound system stating that eating while on the bus was a no-no! Imagine that. Lux told me. I'm convinced she's the all-knowing bus Goddess)

So I'm over my apprehesion. Thanks to situation, circumstance and an unexpected friend.

Bridge over troubled waters

Today's been one of 'those' days.
I was down today, quite low in fact. Lower than a potato spud buried deep in the ground.
I HATE days like today. With a passion.

An annoying, persistent cough didn't help.
A bad nights sleep didn't help.
A tough day at work didn't help.
Colleagues who wanted to give me a hard time at work didn't help.
Unusual repeated power cuts at work didn't help.
(notice how many times that dratted 'W' word pops up?)
Bad traffic on the way home didn't help.
A bit of a doozy at home didn't help.

But thanks to the miracle that is the world wide web, I got to chat with mum.
And man, did that help.


As I was typing, a song popped into my head. Funny how the brain chooses to rest on songs from your past that are somehow so relevant in the current moment.

Here you go. I sang the Nana Mouskouri version in my last year at school. Who knew it'd come back today.
May the lyrics come back to you too someday - just when you need it the most...and encourage you to reach out to the one person who can make it all ok.

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side, when times get rough
And friends just cant be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

When you're down and out, when you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you.
Ill take your part.
When darkness comes and pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Sail on silver girl, Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine, all your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine. If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.

If you'd like to hear it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91FSASEJlU

Thank you Ma.
Love you.