Here are some thoughts flowing hither and yon in my linguini today:
To tell the whole story in a bottle will take too long. Shall I just say that I spent the night in Houston and had a cardiology appointment yesterday at the VA Hospital? It amounted to talking with a physician’s assistant who said I needed another echo-cardiogram. Why couldn’t they just tell me to get the test? I already had one echo and it showed I had some enlarging on the right side of my heart. The cardiologist I had dealt with previously said an enlarging on the right side wasn’t anything needing attention right then and there. The doctor’s suspicion was that it had to do with my sleep apnea. I had recently received a new CPAP machine, a computer memory card I sent the sleep folks said I was still showing a high incidence of sleep apnea. Jeez Louise. It’s always something. I’m facing possible toe surgery and any kind of surgery does not make me do flips of joy. And neither does any kind of heart abnormality make me want to dance.
Continuing my story, I found that using the Houston Metro light rail is a pretty good way to get around in conjunction with the bus. That is at least true for most areas I normally travel around Houston. The rail is expanding with two lines under construction and two others planned. Right now the system is a 12.8-mile route that includes stops ranging from the northern part of the city to just outside the I-610 Loop South along Fannin Street. Just prior to the Loop and Red Line terminus is a stop just outside NRG Stadium and the “old” Astrodome.
I found living in and around Dallas for a time that good public transit systems keep time with little deviation. Dallas became a much better city to navigate once the light rail was finished. It has been years since I rode a city bus up there. Houston also has a decent bus system, hopefully the expansion of light rail will make the transit system gel much better. As it is now, I am able to get around on buses in Houston and jumping off at rail stations to take me to another point somewhat faster.
The wheels of the bus go ’round and ’round … though not too quickly. I’m talking about Greyhound in Houston, not Houston Metro. I rode the bus to Houston and back to Rose City – a tiny spot on I-10 — just east of Beaumont in Orange County. It is designated the “Beaumont-Vidor” bus station. I have no idea why they moved the station way out in the middle of nowhere from what was, at least a bus station, on Magnolia Avenue in Beaumont.
My bus back yesterday got going 30 minutes late. It isn’t a big surprise. Some people at the Houston Greyhound station are, well, let’s just say they aren’t pleasant people. They wanted me to show my ID three times before boarding the bus. It would have been four times had the security person been at his area. I waited a minute or two, he never came, I just walked in. The Greyhound lady, who must have had a rough commute on her broom that morning, said those tickets printed at home as I presented can be easily copied. My question, the little bucks one gets off the price, what really is the advantage?
Once the bus was about to leave — a new driver getting OJT with the driver who drove on my trip to Houston — the decision was made for a late-coming Mamma, her baby and the baby Mamma’s Mamma. Baby Mamma asked one dude if he would move so she could sit down with her little baby. He said no, which he really shouldn’t have done. But the Baby Mamma then unleashed a shrill attack on the stubborn dude, calling him all kinda ghetto names. First, the experienced driver told the two parties to get off the bus. Nobody wanted to move, so the invisible security guy came up inside the bus. He was joined by some other guy who looked as if he might be a U.S. Marshal or a undercover cop and finally got the parties off the Greyhound without any rough stuff. But the Greyhound folks decided after talking to the guy who had argued with Baby Mama to let him back on the bus. Meanwhile, Baby Mamma, Baby and Baby Mamma’s Mamma were “outta there.” What a freaking mess! Can’t we all just get along?
Well, I’m back in B-town, what I don’t call Beaumont. I am about ready to leave this place, but that’s another story for another day.
Oh, at least Greyhounds have electric plugs to recharge phones and other devices these days! And both Greyhound and Metro have mobile apps. Not the best in the world, but somewhat decent.
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