"SIT DOWN BUS DRIVER!!!"

Preface –

The entry for today will consist of 3 sections, all of which have a common theme. I just wanted the readers to know in case there was some confusion about the direction in which this particular blog was going. Read it as 3 separate submissions if you will.




Part 1 of 3 -


During my years at Texas A&M University I was a Transit Operator, which is a fancy title for “Bus Driver,” similar to when people use the phrases “vertically challenged” in reference to short individuals or “sanitation consultant” to describe one that cleans toilets. But yes I was a bus driver, I obtained and secured a Commercial Driver’s License, and no I do not still have one, so don’t get any ideas. I drove for the University and transported students on-campus, off-campus and on occasion chartered certain groups to specific destinations. Being a transit operator was a lucrative student job that provided well for me and I can say that I enjoyed my experience with transportation services. After dominating the routes and perfecting my bus driving skills I was promoted to a training position and was responsible for those aspiring to become transit operators themselves. My time on the routes had become very rare and the majority of my work was split between training and driving the para-transit vans (these were specifically for those who required special accommodations due to physical or mental conditions; I met some pretty extraordinary students and professors on these days). Sometimes, I would even pick up Kendall in my mini van from class and even though we jokingly accuse her of riding the short bus, for these instances she just happened to be at the right place at the right time. However, I can only imagine what people must have thought of Kendall as they were traveling to their next class in the most trafficked area of main campus…







One of my most rewarding experiences as a bus driver was when Texas A&M sent 10 busses down to San Antonio to aid with Hurricane Katrina Relief. A group of fellow drivers and myself left College Station at Midnight and went to Kelly Air Force base to help with refugees who were arriving by plane coming from the Superdome in New Orleans. It was a long trip with very little sleep, but definitely worth it! And although I have retired from being a Transit Operator, I still on occasion sport the Transportation Services Polo and relive the good ol’ days!



Bus Riding Etiquette 101 – Part 2 of 3 –


This next section is dedicated to a cause we all feel strongly about and that is Etiquette…this may be present in a future document which I cannot comment on too heavily since it is still in its beginning stages and I do not wish to ruin it for our fans… However, I feel it necessary and appropriate at this time to educate society on what is acceptable and unacceptable bus occupant behavior…



Bus is approaching a stop –


Occupants inside the bus who are wishing to exit should remain in their seats, the full stop of the bus has the ability to propel one forward in the standing position (Read up on Newton’s laws, I think these may be fitting, if not disregard).
Occupants outside the bus…do not crowd the doors, let the people on the bus get off, the bus driver will not leave you if you are already standing at the stop. They are required to have perfect vision and if one does not they are require to wear corrective lenses. And if that isn’t enough, if the requirement for corrective lenses is indeed needed then said individual is also required to supply a back up set of corrective lenses. So needless to say; THEY SEE YOU.
Those approaching the stop wanting to ride…do not continue to mosey along up to the stop, the driver will not wait if you do not show haste, plus it is just rude to the other riders, we are on a schedule and no it isn’t your schedule. “If you run you ride, you walk you wait”




While Riding the Bus –


Do not ask the driver how soon they are going to leave, they will leave when it is time to leave
Do not throw your stuff around and take up multiple seats, the bus is not your room at home
Follow the rules that are prominently displayed throughout the inside of the cabin…if it says stand behind the yellow line, stand behind the yellow line. If it says do not stand in the stairwell, do not stand in the stairwell…pretty simple. Just like if there was a sign in front of an entrance to a pond that stated “Do not Swim in Pond due to Hazardous chemical spill and oversized man-eating piranhas” you wouldn’t swan dive in, I didn’t think so.



Do not let out an obnoxiously exaggerated sigh when the bus is at Red Lights, stuck behind traffic, waiting for pedestrians to cross (this brings me to another point, if you are a pedestrian, don’t walk in front of the bus at a non-designated cross-walk, seriously), or stuck at a railroad crossing…there is nothing you or the driver can do about it.



If you get on the bus at a “stop and go stop” and the bus is primarily empty, if you enter in the doors by the driver, do not walk all the way to the back of the bus, this takes a lot longer than one may think, especially when you are the driver having to wait to take off from the stop to keep from propelling your face into the back seat.



Finally and probably the most important rule…do not talk on your cell phone in the bus the reasons are two fold…
1. It is annoying, no one cares about what grade you got, who Johnny kissed the night before, or what you are going to wear to the party that night.
2. It is annoying, there is a lot of noise on the bus and this requires you to speak loudly because you can’t hear them speak you think they can’t hear you. Yelling about how Karen wet the bed is TMI for other occupants plus I don’t think Karen will appreciate it either.



“Lindsey has a life size cut out of Homer Simpson”

– Part 3 of 3 –




So far in this entry, which has become quite lengthy, I apologize for the novel it has quickly turned into; I have discussed my experience as a bus driver and bus riding etiquette. This final part’s relevance is tied to the hours of operation a transit operator such as myself experienced. I preferred to get my routes over with in the morning and then attend class, therefore I would usually work a first shift, and these shifts began around 6AM. Needless to say I was up pretty early in the morning and always before my lovely roommates (at this time who were Kendall and Lindsey). Also, due to my early rise I was usually pretty early to bed as well. One night as I was deep in slumber Kendall and Lindsey who were still awake, obviously very bored, decided to cause mischief which would directly affect me...



Here is my story…



It was 5AM Wednesday morning, it was spring and before daylight savings time so it was still dark outside. I had to be at work by 5:45 that morning and had a 15minute drive to campus from our duplex. As always in attempt to maximize sleep I was running late. I had allotted myself with just enough time to brush my teeth and put on my usual “I don’t have to think too much about this” transportation services representative outfit which consisted of jeans, close toed shoes (these are required) and my transportation services polo. Don’t worry I had showered the night before and I wore deodorant. So I gathered the necessary materials I needed for the day, I grabbed the keys to my Explorer and was ready to head out. The door to my room opened inward so while opening the door I was turning off my lights because energy conservation is very important to me and to my surprise there is Homer all up in my face (remember in our first blog entry I mentioned how Lindsey owned a life size cardboard cut out of Homer Simpson). At 5:30 in the morning, when it is dark and you are half awake and open the door to a giant Homer a lot of things go through your mind. First you panic because you have yet to realize that it is just a card board version of Homer in front of you and not the evil individual who has broken into your duplex to rob and murder you. Second, you hope that you did not just pee in your pants due to fright because you don’t have another clean pair of jeans or enough time to change because you are already late for work. Third, you think about how much you dislike your roommates whom you can hear snickering in their beds after hearing you yell out of fright. After I came too and got over the initial shock of Homer standing in my door way, I punched him in the face, stepped over him and verbalized the statement of “Not Funny Guys” loud enough for them to hear, knowing they were awake and scared, if only they knew what my inner monologue was yelling…

4:30 or so that afternoon rolls around and I get a call from Lindsey Steckel, having forgotten the incident from the morning I answered with my normal answer, “Hey Hoe.” A timid Steckel on the other end responds with “hey, do you hate us?” Apparently Kendall and Lindsey were both on their way to the rec-center where they were lifeguards and Kendall, to chicken to do it herself, made Lindsey call me. In the end we all laugh about what had happened that morning, them more so than me, they got the extra laughs in that morning. Homer however was never the same due to the face disfiguration from the punch to the nose. I feel bad he had to suffer because of immaturity and practical joking; we all know he had no control over his whereabouts that morning. We could all learn from this experience.

Black Thursday

Let me take you back to a time when I was crazy….It was my third year of college and I was infatuated with this boy. Let’s call him “Ryan”. He was a swimmer and as I was a lifeguard (how cute); I’ve seen more of Ryan than I have of most people-Speedos leave little to the imagination. From the first time I saw him I had the biggest crush on him…and guess who shows up in my Spanish class which met FIVE DAYS A WEEK? Ryan! And his equally crazy (in a different way) friend, let’s call him “Joe”. We hit it off from the beginning and before I knew it, we were hanging out; what can I say, I have a special knack for “getting in there”. Every day after class we would go sit in our “secret” place and chat, read, study, share stories and music… the types of things people do when they’re MFEO.

After a while, I felt it necessary to introduce Kendall to both Ryan and Joe. She is an important part of my life and I felt that they (I didn’t want to omit Joe, but really, my focus was RyRy) were climbing in importance every day. They had all heard so much about one another and it was the natural progression of our relationship. The four of us had great times together; always laughing and making fun of each other, among other things. One day, Ryan and I were involved in witty banter and I was eating a bag of grapes whilst he ate his cheetos (we always ate our home-brought snacks together. Again, how cute). I asked him for a Cheeto and he made a snarky comment but then threw one my way, a clear sign that he loved me. A few minutes later he asked me for a grape. I, being so mature, responded in jest and then decided to give him one. [Sidebar: It should be noted that there was a white wall behind Ryan’s perfect head, and this was my target. And also noted that I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn if I was standing two feet in front of it]. I hurled the grape at him, closing in on the 90-95 mph range, fully intending to hit the wall space above his head. Rather than hitting my target, I pelted the love of my life in the eye. With a near frozen grape. I could see our relationship slipping through my fingers at that very moment. I profusely apologized and tried to convince him that I really hadn’t meant to do that; I then sat back in my chair with a sheepish look on my face for the remainder of our time. Shortly after, Joe asked me for a grape and then did a “duck and cover” using his backpack as a shield. Little did I know that our relationship was doomed from that moment. After that Thursday, Ryan no longer came to hang out after class; we no longer spoke, barely even made eye contact. No more music recommendations (until a year and a half later…see my profile and the comment about the Explosions in the Sky vinyl record), no book-sharing, nothing. I was vapor to him.

After the wounds healed (mine, not his) I was able to look back with fondness of our times and even deemed the moment that our relationship changed forever. This is how Black Thursday came into being; the Thursday that changed my life forever. Thank God Kendall and Joe were there as witnesses; no one would ever believe that I massacred, and subsequently ended my love, via a grape.

Another Crazy in the Group

Heather Ammann is a 24 year old, but is not a single white female…sorry boys, she is engaged. She will be getting married next December after her fiancé Tyler finishes school!

Heather actually went to Mississippi State in Starksville, Mississippi where she played Soccer. She is currently pursuing a career in teaching and has fulfilled the requirements for her Alternative Certification. Heather has always been deemed the "Crazy" of the group and her Verbal Barrier is pretty close to being non-existent. She loves animals and is an active member of PETA (or at least she receives daily emails from the organization), in fact, it has been confirmed that in case of a fire Heather wouldn’t hesitate to save her cat Buddy before any one of us. I can’t make this stuff up, that is straight from the horse’s mouth. "Straight from the horse’s mouth" is a form of expression and is in no way me calling Heather a horse, in case some of you were confused. However, based on Heather’s love for animals and because she used to competitively ride horses the expression is quite appropriate. I apologize for the tangent. Heather is the last remaining blonde of the group, meaning she actually has blonde hair it has nothing to do with her inability to understand witty jokes and, furthermore, a scratch and sniff sticker at the bottom of the pool would not lead her to her death. Heather will fulfill any dare like a champ and usually the least afraid about what others will think of her…however if we ever get caught and kicked out of the movies for using the electronic ticket purchasing unit to buy movie tickets at the discounted Child price instead of the required Adult price it will be Heather’s fault.

Entering the blogosphere

Blogging has always been a foreign concept to me, I didn't understand the idea and how it was so highly accepted by the greater part of society. Therefore I always strayed from participating in all forms of the word. Recently our close circle of friends was inspired by the world that is Blogging and has decided to form a "Group Blog" While the main purpose of this blog is to share our Crazy notions amongst ourselves we hope that it could potentially be enjoyed by others

You may be wondering about the title we have chosen, not conventional I know and a tad verbose, but we believe that after a few entries the inspiration in which it was derived will be easily explained. It is a quote from the TV Show "FRIENDS," Joey delivers the line in Season 4 the episode, "the one with the jellyfish", when Monica, Chandler and Joey are explaining the awkward and embarrassing situation they encountered while at the Beach. We happened to pop in this episode while waiting for the season premier of Gossip Girl to begin, followed by the second episode form the new season of The Hills...don't judge us.

I guess we should take this time to make some introductions so you can get a glimpse of the direction in which this blog could go. The main bloggers you will encounter, in no particular order, will be myself, Audrey Bass(like the fish), Lindsey Steckel, and Kendall Vinson. Throughout the duration of this blog, guest bloggers could include but are not limited to, Anna Ferris, Heather Ammann, and Hollie Oden. Kendall and Lindsey will have free reign to make any amendments necessary to the following profiles...

Blogger Profiles

I will begin with myself...I am a day into being 25 years of age, single white female (always wanted to put that into written form on a document viewed by others). Graduated from Texas A&M University, December of 2006 with a Bachelors in Business Marketing and Minor in Communications. You can always count on me for a sarcastic one liner, Anna brings out the best in me, she will attest to it. I attend the Village Church with Matt Chandler. I am the proud owner of a 4 month old German Sheppard Puppy named Layla. I drive a Saab sport Combi (better known as a Station Wagon) with a Thule bike rack, which I logically manipulated my work to install for me for promotional purposes. I enjoy road biking and mountain biking and am contemplating taking up Kayaking. Along with Lindsey, we are currently in training for the Rock N'Roll Half Marathon in San Antonio, Tx. I record and watch "All My Children" everyday. Currently reading "Can You Keep A Secret" by Sophia Kinsella, and digging into the book of Colossians.

Lindsey is 24 years old, also a SWF! Graduated from Texas A&M University, December of 2006 with a Bachelors in Communications and Minor in Business. She is a consultant with BearingPoint in the oil and gas industry and she travels quite a bit for work so is usually out of town during the week, but lucky for us she is racking up tons of airline miles and hotel points for the future. Lindsey is the heavy reader of the group and you can usually count on her to be reading 2 to 3 books at a time, but she always has great recommendations. She single handedly put us all on to The Office. Lindsey tells the greatest stories, the kinds that never get old, or less humorous. She owns a life size cut out of Homer Simpson and an actual Vinyl Album of Explosions in the Sky. A great thing about Lindsey is that she always brings an educated opinion to the table about everything. Lindsey attends Prestonwood Baptist Church. Hopefully soon Lindsey will acquire a Road Bike so I will no longer have to ride alone and based off recent events I believe Lindsey will not be joining me in the Kayaking venture.

Kendall is 24 years old (but will soon be joining me in the Quarter Century Club), and you guessed it, SWF!

Sidebar: maybe this blog will help us to determine the reason for the abbreviation SWF...

Back to Kendall, she too graduated from Texas A&M University, December of 2006 with a Bachelors in Communications and Minor in Business, she went on to earn her Masters in Education from Texas A&M as well. She is a Junior High Speech Teacher/Coach at our Junior High Alma Mater. We have begun to notice a slight drop in maturity the more she is at school. Kendall also attends the Village Church. Kendall is a Live Music Seeker and always coordinates the ticket acquiring for great concerts. In her younger days she was known for her ability to track down the bands and stalk them at hotels/tour buses. Famous encounters include JC Chasez from the band N'SYNC, and the bands Our Lady Peace and Default, she can credit most of these stalker episodes to her older and possibly crazier sister Summer. Kendall is the best about finding the most addictive TV shows in the lineup and gets us all hooked. She is the most morally sound of the group and acts as our conscience a lot of the times. Kendall comes up with a lot of the Crazy ideas for the group and her favorite restaurant is Taco Bueno (she is a true Bueno head). She is a leader for Young Life in Carrollton and in her spare time enjoys writing Rap songs. Kendall's boyfriend Johnny was recently relocated to Thailand.