Stairs? What stairs?
I was determined to finish my final yesterday. After slipping and falling down in the intersection of of SE 39th and Powell-grrrreeeaat, I caught the bus downtown and, arriving at the shuttle stop, found one other girl waiting there. We waited and waited. The shuttle was late, assuming it was coming at all. Some ski shuttle cruised into the stop, but no one appeared to be waiting to catch it. We waited and waited some more for the Lewis and Clark shuttle. We began losing hope. "Hey, if I can talk the ski shuttle guy into driving us to Lewis and Clark, would you be down?" I asked the other girl. "Sure," she replied. But no. The shuttle driver was expecting one passenger. But it was okay, our actual shuttle showed up a couple of minutes later. The amiable driver, Rafi, gave us his phone number, so we could call and make sure that the shuttle was still running when we were done with our exams. It's snowing so hard that there's virtually no visibility. SE Portland across the river? Doesn't exist, sorry.
Finally! I had managed to successfully get to school to complete my final. I got set up, took off my shoes (my toes were really cold), and commenced. It was Civil Procedure, the one I was really dreading, but it actually wasn't bad. None of them were actually that bad.
Test completed, I head out to the shuttle stop, and called Rafi to confirm. No answer. I left a message. I checked my email. Uh oh. Campus sent out an email saying that the shuttle was no longer running. Crap! Now what? Should I attempt taking Trimet? As I was debating this, the bus I would have needed drove by. OK, nevermind, I guess that's not an option. I decided that a cab was the only way back home. I got through, but was on hold. Forever. And ever. And ever. Finally someone answered, and said that they would send a cab out to pick me up, but didn't know how long it would take. Then Robin, the girl from the shuttle ride to campus came outside. She had called Rafi a few minutes ago too, but he called her back. The shuttle was running! Yes! He should be here in 35 minutes Hmmm. I don't cancel the cab, but instead figure I'll just take whichever arrives first. Robin and I hang out in the student lounge, waiting, and making small talk. She's a 2L. "What do you want to do with your law degree?" I ask. "I'm not sure...I'm really interested in civil rights...or maybe I'll be Portland's first transgender mayor...." Wait a second, transgender? I never would have guessed. I have a ton of questions, but fear it would be impolite to ask, so I don't. But the thing is, she has a girl voice. Not an affected girl voice, but a true girl voice, girl mannerisms, etc. Guys I've met who've had sex changes still seemed like guys who were trying to look like girls. But she didn't. She was tall, and had big hands and feet for a girl, but other than that, totally a girl. She must be one of those rare people who actually was born with both parts, like Jamie Lee Curtis! Whoa. Laura's first transgender friend.
The shuttle arrives before the cab. We embark, and I realize just how much the weather has intensified.
WHAP-A-WHAP-A-WHAP-A
The chains on the shuttle were loose. They were so loud! Robin commented that they had a good beat. That's one way of looking at it. I try calling Radio Cab to cancel my taxi request. I'm on hold again. I put my phone on speaker phone, but I can't really hear anything over the whaping of the chains. I give up. My phone is VERY low on batteries. Maybe someone else will take my cab instead. Hopefully.
Nearing downtown, Robin tries to talk Rafi into dropping her off at her apartment, since she lives downtown. She succeeds. The shuttles winds its way through downtown, and on into the Pearl District. I hop off near Mio Gelato, and trudge a few blocks to the stop for the 17. A woman is standing there, I start to ask her if she knows when the bus will come, but anticipating my question, she cuts me off, saying that my guess is as good as hers. OK. I call Bruno, asking him to transit track the bus, to make sure I'm not freezing my toes in vain. It's 2.1 miles away. Not too far. We continue to wait, I get impatient, and call Bruno again to check the distance. .6 miles! It's almost here! Off in the distance we can see. I get on, relieved that I have a way to get home. But wait! What's the bus doing? It's going the wrong way! Oh, no worries. Trimet had set up a little maintenance station on a different street, and a chain on our bus's tire was broken. Chain replaced, we're finally on our way. The windows are iced and dirted over, no one can see out. Finally we hit 39th and Holgate. The next segment of my journey begins. It's incredibly cold and windy, snowing heavily, with little pellets pricking my face. The snow is so deep and powdery that it's like walking through sand. It's dark out. My toes are frozen. My thumbs are frozen. It's the longest four blocks I've ever walked. I finally reach my house, but so much snow has accumulated that the steps are non-existent. Bruno opens the door for me; I look like the abominable snowman. For the record, I left home at 9:45 that morning, my test was three hours, and what time did I finally make it home? 5:30 p.m. That's right. It was a long, cold day.
Here's some photos I took last night:
Notice how much snow had drifted up against our front door!
This morning, I noticed that Chompsky was practically buried.
Here's our backdoor snow drift. Pretty impressive.
1 comment:
Is the 17 closer than the 9 to you?
Congrats on getting your finals done!
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