The Bus-Game Experience

My previous blog was inspired by my recent experiences in catching the bus, including tonight's.

Just for fun, I now treat the catching-the-bus experience as a game of "Making It (On Time) or Not". Usually, I leave class before or at exactly 9:30 pm which gives me enough time to get to the nearest bus stop before 9:50 pm, the scheduled arrival of the bus. It is the only one that goes straight to the San Fernando Valley at night, where I could then catch another bus that drops me off a few blocks from my place. The next bus after 9:50 comes at 10:50 pm - an hour's wait and parallel to an eternity of punishment for me.

If I miss the 9:50 bus, I have the choice of waiting for the next one for an hour (10:50) or going a different route via Hollywood and taking the Metro Red Line (Rail System). This latter route takes 3 rides instead of the usual 2. Experience has shown that there is not much time difference whether I choose to wait for the 10:50 bus or go through Hollywood. I still arrive between 11:45 pm and midnight just the same.

Since I leave class at about 9:30, I usually get to the stop at around 9:40. In such cases, I always hope that the bus would arrive earlier than the scheduled 9:50 so I could get home earlier. If it does, then good.

These past classes, I could never get myself to leave at 9:30, let alone earlier than that, because of our Database Management project. I get to leave at just past 9:40, in which case I had to do a half-sprint all the way to the bus stop hoping that the bus arrives on time (if I am on track to make it by 9:50) or a little late (if I can't make it by then). Just being a few seconds late doesn't cut it. If I am still on the other side of the street and the stoplight still says "Stop" for pedestrians, the bus will most likely not wait for me and proceed through the green light.

The meeting before last, I left class later than 9:30 and was able to get to the bus stop at about 9:46. There was still hope for me since the schedule says 9:50. But alas, the bus might have gone too early (something that I would have liked if the situation was different) since I ended up waiting for the 10:50 one.

This recent meeting, I again left late at way past 9:40 pm. And again, half-sprint I went to make it to the bus stop at exactly 9:50. It turned out that the bus was a little late, arriving at about 9:52 or 9:53. I made it this time.

Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.

So I made it on time but the second bus I rode going home stunk, literally. That counts as a minor loss but what the heck, I still won, in this particular instance.