Monday, January 23, 2006
MiKi's BACK!!!
Yup... she's back home after 70 days apart. It was pretty hairy. I was asking people for rides, mapping out bus routes to and from places. Which by the way, I've gotten pretty good at. Thanks to metro.net.
If only that bastard of an ex-boss didn't lay me off the day I charged up my bus card with $10. I spoke to Greg at the autobody on a Thursday and he told me MiKi would be ready in about two weeks. So I figured I should charge up the card with enough funds so that I wouldn't have to carry around change. Little did I know I would be stuck with a card worth $10 because bossman decided to up and fire me on the following day, Friday.
The kicker: a few weeks prior to this "recharge". One of the buses ate my $5 during a recharging. The bus driver gave me a form to fill out for a refund check to be mailed to me. I finally get the refund, except it came in a form of a bus card worth $5. F'n doh!!! Wasn't really loving metro.net at that moment.
Anyhow, I got the call from Greg at 4 PM today, telling me MiKi was ready to be discharged and I had until 5 PM to pick her up or wait until tomorrow. Of course I'm going to pick her up today. I whipped out ONE of the bus cards and grabbed the Big Blue to Westwood and Pico. Where I transferred to the Culver City 3 Line. A few stops later, I noticed it was heading North.
North.
Toward Century City, not Culver City.
I spoke to the bus driver and he told me I was on the right bus but going the wrong way. He let me off at the next stop and wished me luck. By now it's 4:35 PM and I'm running out of time. The stupid clock from the show "24" appear before my eyes.
I crossed the street to the other side and waited for the next bus. 4:50 PM it arrives. It's the same bus. The same driver. We laugh about it and syncronize our watches. I tell him the shop will wait until 5:15 PM and he reassures me he'll get us there on time. In fact, the bus stops right on the corner of the auto body shop and he's confident we'll be on time. Just for shits and giggles (but kinda seriously) I tell him, "Don't pick up anymore passengers on the way there". He laughed it off and told me not to worry.
5:05 PM, I arrive at Autobody Masters of Culver City. I saw MiKi in the lot of misplaced steel. I resisted the urge to go over and hug her, instead I headed into the office to announce her discharge and finish the paper work. I must have been glowing with happiness because the mechanics slowly gathered around MiKi as Greg discribed what she had gone through. He promised me to email me the progress photos.
I put the key into the ignition. Reminded myself I needed to depress the brake and clutch so I don't stall out in front of all these guys and make an ass out of myself. They all give me the thumbs up as I left the lot.
On the drive home, flashbacks of that infamous night in Koreatown drifted in and out.
I don't think I shifted beyond the 4th gear all the way home.
If only that bastard of an ex-boss didn't lay me off the day I charged up my bus card with $10. I spoke to Greg at the autobody on a Thursday and he told me MiKi would be ready in about two weeks. So I figured I should charge up the card with enough funds so that I wouldn't have to carry around change. Little did I know I would be stuck with a card worth $10 because bossman decided to up and fire me on the following day, Friday.
The kicker: a few weeks prior to this "recharge". One of the buses ate my $5 during a recharging. The bus driver gave me a form to fill out for a refund check to be mailed to me. I finally get the refund, except it came in a form of a bus card worth $5. F'n doh!!! Wasn't really loving metro.net at that moment.
Anyhow, I got the call from Greg at 4 PM today, telling me MiKi was ready to be discharged and I had until 5 PM to pick her up or wait until tomorrow. Of course I'm going to pick her up today. I whipped out ONE of the bus cards and grabbed the Big Blue to Westwood and Pico. Where I transferred to the Culver City 3 Line. A few stops later, I noticed it was heading North.
North.
Toward Century City, not Culver City.
I spoke to the bus driver and he told me I was on the right bus but going the wrong way. He let me off at the next stop and wished me luck. By now it's 4:35 PM and I'm running out of time. The stupid clock from the show "24" appear before my eyes.
I crossed the street to the other side and waited for the next bus. 4:50 PM it arrives. It's the same bus. The same driver. We laugh about it and syncronize our watches. I tell him the shop will wait until 5:15 PM and he reassures me he'll get us there on time. In fact, the bus stops right on the corner of the auto body shop and he's confident we'll be on time. Just for shits and giggles (but kinda seriously) I tell him, "Don't pick up anymore passengers on the way there". He laughed it off and told me not to worry.
5:05 PM, I arrive at Autobody Masters of Culver City. I saw MiKi in the lot of misplaced steel. I resisted the urge to go over and hug her, instead I headed into the office to announce her discharge and finish the paper work. I must have been glowing with happiness because the mechanics slowly gathered around MiKi as Greg discribed what she had gone through. He promised me to email me the progress photos.
I put the key into the ignition. Reminded myself I needed to depress the brake and clutch so I don't stall out in front of all these guys and make an ass out of myself. They all give me the thumbs up as I left the lot.
On the drive home, flashbacks of that infamous night in Koreatown drifted in and out.
I don't think I shifted beyond the 4th gear all the way home.
# posted by Unknown @ 10:12 PM 
