The Glamorous Ex-Pat Life

Ahhh, the excitement and glamour of living in a big European city. Mom and Dad said they would keep Maddie tonight, so Skip and I headed out in the rain and cold to go to dinner and a movie. We walked down to the end of our street to catch the 94 bus. And it doesn't come. Doesn't come. Doesn't come. And it's raining. Oh, wait. Here is the 272. It will take us to the movie theater, too. The route is a bit longer than the 94, but at least we won't be standing in the rain. As we get on the bus, I realize that I have dropped my bus pass somewhere along the walk to the stop, so I dig up two pounds for the trip and make a note to cancel my pass when we get home.

My dad gets out in the rain to see if he can find the pass, but to no avail.

Traffic is awful. The bus crawls through the streets before stopping well before our destination at the East Acton stop and announces that this bus terminates here. So we get off in the rain and wait for another 272 bus, which comes in about 20 minutes. So, off we go, into more traffic. When the bus gets stuck in traffic just shy of a stop and as passengers get impatient, one braniac hits the emergency exit button so he can get off. That makes the driver have to turn the bus off for a couple of minutes to get the door to re-set. Then after about two more stops, the driver informs us that everyone will have to get off at the next stop and he will not be going all the way to Shepherds Bush (our destination). We get off with all the other angry travelers and wait for ANY bus that will get us to Shepherds Bush. Turns out to be the 283.

The movie theater is probably about three miles from our house and it took us over an hour-and-a-half door to door to get there. At least dinner and the movie were good and we when we came out it was no longer raining. Woo Hoo! After about a 15 minute wait for the 94, we head home.

When I log onto the London site where I manage my bus pass, I can't log in. My password or user name is incorrect. So I get them to e-mail me my user name. It's the one I used. I ask them to e-mail me a new password. I use the correct user name and this new password that I've just been sent, but still, I can't access my account. And no one is available by phone until 8 a.m. tomorrow.

Ahhh, life in the big city. Lots of fun to be had, but you better be willing to work for it!