2009-05-15 Rant: why does the BlackBerry make it so easy to accidentally delete draft emails? I got dropped off at the bus station in plenty of time for the very late 2:35 pm GreyHound. Five hours later I was disembarking sixty-five miles away. Temecula to Santa Ana takes a long time when you have to go to San Diego first. I can now state with some authority that Greyhound is not as much fun as Amtrak. The buses have no suspension. Not since the Key West passenger ferry have I received such a paint-shaker throttling. The smells were not unique, but they were distinct. The bus driver wore a face mask and occasionally attempted really bad jokes. At one point he pulled the bus over on the interstate because somebody was apparently talking on a "CB phone". I don't know either. Unfortunately, the guy behind me used the opportunity to strike up a conversation. Though he verbally speculated several times that he must be boring me to death, and though each time I let him know that he was correct, the guy just kept talking. On and on. He talked about cell phones and remote-control cars and radio frequencies and game consoles and emulators and VHS and Beta and laser disc and his stereo and TRS80s and movies and all of his twenty-three years of accumulated wisdom. He finished up by asking if anybody had ever told me that I looked like Bill Gates. "No, you are definitely the first." The ride south to San Diego was nice (accept for the bus, of course). The green mountains with their many orchards are very scenic. Going north to Santa Ana I got a peek at the Pacific Ocean. I consider it a good trip when I can see both oceans and the Gulf. From the Greyhound terminal in Santa Ana I could have taken a metro bus to the airport, but I had twelve hours to kill, so I walked. As the sun was setting in that hispanic community, I idly wondered if I'd get mugged. I didn't. Now I will camp at the John Wayne airport. I'll be flying out in the morning.

Santa Ana