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North And South

2009-12-26 - 12:44 a.m.

Egad - a Saturday entry? Yes indeed.

===

Did everyone survive their Christmas? Excellent.

Mine was fine as well. And of course it wouldn't be Christmas without some drama...

===

First, the prep.

I woke up on time (!), showered, shaved, dressed, and fed the kittehs. I was planning for a 9:45 leave time so I could swing through Del Taco and get breakfast.

Then I went to load my iPod shuffle...and it wouldn't load.

I checked the switches and re-connected it. iTunes promptly informed me that something was corrupted and I needed to restore the whole unit. I did that, and then re-loaded everything...which made my departure time 9:55.

I knew - KNEW, mind you - that if I went to Del Taco I'd miss my train. And I was NOT going to let that happen. So I went to 7-11 and got a sandwich and a soda instead.

Drove to the station and got there six minutes before departure. I was well into the second half of my sandwich when the train arrived. I quickly finished eating, boarded, and found a seat.

Which leads into the second part. When I went to check my train ticket to confirm my departure time, I found that there was no time stamped on it. It was an unreserved ticket...which as it turns out meant I could take ANY train. But that also meant that I wasn't sure when the northbound train would be leaving when I wanted to go home.

Oh well. One disaster at a time.

===

When the train pulled into the station at Oceanside, my ride wasn't there.

I grabbed a train schedule from a kiosk and went to a spot where (hopefully) I would be seen. Just as I was pulling out my cell phone, my step-dad pulled up. Seems he'd been driving around because HE didn't know where to pick me up either.

We chatted about politics as we headed to Escondido. We disagreed on some things, agreed on others...including our opinion of Nancy Pelosi.

A lot of the family was there, including some relatives I hadn't seen in a couple years. The food and the conversation flowed. Gifts were exchanged, but that's always been a bonus for me. The family time and the insanity therein is the best part.

Well, that and the fact that my aunt Nikki is, in my words, "a cookie bakin' fiend".

===

So according to my schedule, the train would leave at 4:52. At 4:20 I said my goodbyes and, armed with Zip-Loc bags of cookies for me and turkey for the kittehs, I climbed into my mom's car. While we drove I regaled her with the tip jar story. She was appropriately shocked at what had happened and agrees that it was likely the DJ (although I continue to state that we have no proof of this).

This time, however, traffic was not on our side. We pulled into the station and watched as the 4:52 left without me.

The next train was the 6:10. So I sat in the station and listened to my iPod and played Super Mario World until about 6pm. Then I went outside and watched for the train (I was NOT going to miss this one). Again I was able to grab a seat almost immediately and had the car mostly to myself.

At 7:37 I walked back into my apartment. The kittehs got their turkey and I got to relax.

I STILL haven't seen A Christmas Story this year.

===

So now it's the Day After. There will be sales all over the place.

I may - MAY - leave the apartment. I'm debating going to Disneyland. But shopping? HIGHLY unlikely.

Be seeing you.



===

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