I Miss Bus 29 :-(

Some of my first posts were little stories that happened on Barton Hills Bus 29, which ran through our old Barton Hills neighborhood (and on to the Zilker neighborhood, then directly through downtown to UT.)

Bus 29 was the coolest bus -- it only held 20 people (30 on a really busy day, but we'd be squeezed in like sardines) and it was usually the same people every day, and we'd have the same 2 or 3 bus drivers and we all got to know each other.

My favorite bus driver was Kevin, who would talk to everyone, get us talking to each other, gossip about whoever wasn't on the bus that day (but it was good gossip, not malicious stuff), etc. At halloween he'd pass out candy, and one time he even had a picnic for the passengers of Bus 29! How cool is THAT!

The last time I rode, it was sort of sad -- Mary who worked at Schlotzsky's corporate offices no longer seems to ride (perhaps moved, downsized, new job?); Janet from the Chem dept. has retired; Kevin hardly ever is assigned to 29 anymore; a few others have moved away from the neighborhood; I didn't see the woman who works at Central Market (who works with one of my favorite physics majors, Javier); Susan from Rhetoric, but is now in Classics or Liberal Arts drives to work now; -- only Scott (not my Scott -- but the guy who is referred to as "Man on Bus" in an earlier post) and "Happy Hour Guy" seem to be the only holdovers from the Golden Era of Barton Hills Bus 29.

I don't even know what bus I can take to work now (although I need to look that up, what with the fact that I do have a 15 year old car, gas prices going up, etc.) I do know that the buses that go through Western Trails don't go directly to UT -- I'll have to -- gasp -- transfer, which will take up more time which means I'll have to -- gasp -- get up earlier. Well, I am going to wait until it gets a bit cooler to attempt this. The buses that go through Western Trails are behemoths who roar through the neighborhood without charm or personality. But who knows -- perhaps Kevin got promoted to "driving the big guys" and I'll see him there?