Thanksgiving Break has begun! The snow is gone and so it's mostly just been wet, wet, wet. It's kind of pleasant even so.
I only had one class today, so I took advantage of my free morning to get some things done, like homework, showering, tidying up my room, and stuff like that. Though, Demetria left early before I had the chance to say good-bye to her. I hope she has a safe flight and enjoys her time with her family.
We were let out early from lifespan development as a Thanksgiving treat. I took several online surveys about my class experiences (My horticulture teacher even said he'd give us a few extra credit points for it) and I had an assignment for lifespan that was due tonight, but I finished it a few days ago. College homework, I've found, is not so difficult to manage as long as you work at it regularly and don't let it pile up. It would have been a nightmare scrambling to get everything finished now if I had been procrastinating. I think as of right now my work merely consists of finishing my write-up for the rat lab, completing that relevance project for behavior analysis, and of course studying for my upcoming quizzes and finals. That's not so bad.
I've been drinking a lot of milk lately - and using it in cooking - and my one gallon was running low. Shortly after lifespan development, I got online and studied the bus routes. I really wanted to get a Little Caeser's pizza, which is something I haven't had for about a month and a half when I visited my family. Some people like turkey for Thanksgiving, but I'd prefer pizza.
I figured that the pizza would keep me fed for awhile, this way I would have plenty of food for when the stores shut down for the holiday, and one pizza wouldn't cost more than buying a turkey and having a lavish feast, so win-win. I'd been saving some coupons, but they all expired at the end of October, and none of them were actually related to things I wanted to buy anyway.
None of the bus routes seemed to go past Little Caeser's, though. I found one that was close, but it was across the street and down a ways, so if I rode the bus to it then that would be the last stop before the transit center, and I'd have to wait for it to come all the way around again. I studied the routes a little longer, wrote down a few notable buildings I would pass, and headed out.
I jumped off the bus at Lee's and bought my gallon of milk, some Pop Tarts, and some bananas. My hope was that they would all fit in my empty backpack. The milk carton did not, even without the other things in there with it. Well, now I know. It was a good attempt.
Then, I walked. I knew it would be at least twenty minutes, if not twenty-five, by the time the bus came back to Lee's. Then I would have to switch buses at the transit center and wait for another five minutes. Not happening, especially when I would only be riding for another stop or two. And sure, I had Google Docs, but I wasn't about to waste time. I was curious- how far was the pizza place?
Turns out it was a ways, but I got good exercise to work off the calories I'd be eating. And I had light gloves in the pocket of my coat. I slipped them on and the milk was easier to carry that way. Plus, I found out my fingers still register on my phone screen while I'm wearing them. Nice.
I walked a straight course for a very long time, and the first turn I made was actually when I could see the building across the parking lot. It was a drive thru, apparently. I skirted the cars and circled around. All the windows were completely blacked out. To my surprise, as I rounded the corner I found that I recognized the area. Just across the street was Michaels. This was the area where Demetria and I went to Walmart. So there was a bus stop here. Oh.
I got my pizza. The guy behind the counter was amused when he saw me and asked if I was interested in their two-for-one milk deal, or something. It took me a second, but then I realized this was because I still had the carton with me from Lee's. The better way to go about this would probably have been to ride the bus, buy the pizza, and then buy the milk, and then go to the bus stop, but now I know.
The bus stop in front of the Walmart is ridiculously far away from both of the nearest crosswalks (and from the Walmart too). Little Caeser's was near the crosswalk, so of course that meant it also was far from the bus stop. I had a backpack, a pizza box, and a milk carton, but I made it work.
The bus always seems to take forever to reach that stop. I even had my app so I knew when it was coming, and it was late. I honestly think it might have been faster to walk back the way I came, even though it was quite a ways... but then again, I have been wrong before, and it would not have been fun to lug that gallon of milk and that box of pizza. I rode the bus for several stops until it finally reached the transit center. Then I changed over to the bus that would take me back to Blue Square. We rode for a few stops, and then a small group of people stepped on. Even though I was near the back and they sat in the front, the stench of cigarettes hit me hard and didn't leave until I finally got off the bus. Oh, why do people decide to start smoking? That can't be fun.
I had to keep careful watch out the dark windows so I could pull the yellow cord in time to stop at Blue Square. Mostly I could only see my reflection, and I had to lean past the pizza box I'd put on the seat in order to peer out the window, but luckily the Stadium across the street from Blue Square was glowing, so it wasn't hard to figure out where I needed to get off.
Made it! Cue the adult achievement badges! And I had the apartment all to myself. The trip had taken me about an hour and twenty minutes. Shockingly, the milk was still somewhat cool. The pizza was also cool, unfortunately, but luckily I have a microwave. That was all right. I'd almost brought a cup in my backpack so I could eat pizza and drink milk at the bus stop, but I ended up forgetting to by the time I was out the door. Maybe another day.
I ate pizza while I worked on my rat lab report. I have three and a half pages of it finished, and an outline for the rest of it. It takes time, but I'm getting there! Actually, I've done just about all I can do with it until I hear back from the TA about a few things, and maybe from one of my group mates so I can double-check some numbers I think were mixed up.
I guess I'll set it aside for a day or two and work on my relevance project, since that's due on Monday and the rat lab isn't due until December 12th. At least a fair chunk of it is done, so I'll have less to balance along with my finals later on.
