Road to Jersey

This was quite the adventure for me. It took place two weeks ago when I went from Watertown NY to see my girlfriend at Monmouth University. I took a bus from Watertown to Newark. This trip was January 15, 2006 from 935am til 700pm.
The fun began when an Indian family decided to play musical chairs around me. The kids wanted Mom to sit with them, then Dad, then neither. At various times they wanted the row all to themselves. Dad eventually had enough and sat back to play some soccer game on his PSP. Well their adorable infant decided to puke all over the floor of the bus about 10 minutes into our 90 minute trip. And for such a tiny baby it was a good puke. The loud drunk puke you can hear echoing down the halls if you’ve ever been to college.
We then stop at a rest stop. I didn’t have to pee, so I sat in my seat while the rest of the bus exits to… a rest stop with no rest rooms. Not a pot to piss in for all the eye could see. The driver just wanted a smoke break and well, fuck all y’all.
Syracuse was Syracuse, nothing of note to report. I spent the ride from Syracuse to the Port Authority station in Manhattan switching between looking out the window and reading a book. When Manhattan was in view, wow. At 27 this was my first view of Manhattan. Amazing, I just wanted to wander around all day to a musical montage. But I only had 2 hours to spare before I had to be on my connecting bus. I marveled at the skyline and thought immediately when going through the Lincoln tunnel that that would be an amazing (amazing as in really fucked up, would be dramatic very bad thing) place to have a terrorist attack.
We get to the Port Authority and I am lost, beyond lost. I felt like a scared kid his first day of school. I didn’t know anyone, I had never seen any of it before. I look at the board that says arrivals and departures, much like an airport, and can’t figure it out. There’s my bus, and a time, but it doesn’t tell me where to go. I must have looked lost because a man came up to me and asked where I was going. I said Newark and he said, “follow me.” The guy was wearing a very similar coat as the Greyhound drivers wore, so I just assumed he was one too. Wrong. Halfway through our journey, the man turns to me and says, “see I know this place pretty well because I’m homeless. I make money by helping people out, such as yourself, and they give me money for a sandwich or something.” Ah shit. I had, literally, $2 on me. And half of that was in quarters. I apologize, and tell the man that this is all I have. I even open my wallet for dramatic effect to show him that I was not hiding any $20s or $50s from him. I give him the two dollars and he goes off on his merry way. I still had a little less than two hours to kill and could have stopped outside to look at Manhattan for a few. But no. At 6 foot 1 and we’ll say well over 200 pounds I was scared shitless. I stayed right by my door looking around me to make sure I wouldn’t get shot. Yeah, there was no cell phone service in there either.
In better news, the Cinnabon across from my door had this amazing looking pretzel cinnamon bun hybrid. The knot of the pretzel was a cinnamon bun. I would have bought one, but, you know.

More updates about this trip in the next couple days.
Spring 2006 semester updates after that.

Stolen from Nathaniel on MySpace. 52 things about me.


52 Facts About You


1.) Name: Kevin

2.) Age: 27

3.) Birthday: 05/13/78

4.) Birthplace: Long Island, NY

5.) Location: split between Watertown and Potsdam, NY

6.) Sign: Taurus

7.) Have Kids: no

8.) Relationship Status: in one.

9.) Hair Color: black or comic book blue

10.) Height: 6’1

11.) Long Hair or Short Hair: short unless I have no money, which is always

12.) Religion: Catholic with questions

13.) Ethnic Background: 75% Irish, 25% French

14.) Occupation: old student

15.) Pets: none yet

16.) Proudest Moment: Having something I wrote performed/printed.

17.) Have a Website: dieseldecent.blogspot.com where you should be reading this

18.) Do You Smoke: no

19.) Do You Drink: Rarely, 99% STR8 EDGE

20.) Eye Color: hazel

21.) Piercings: no

22.) Tatoos: not yet, possibly later

23.) Overused Word: “just”

24.) Missing question, so um I don’t like marshmallow peeps

25.) What Country would you like to visit: Japan, Ireland, England

26.) Ever Been In Love: yes

27.) Last Movie You Saw: Watched part of X2 today, before that Narnia

28.) What Famous Person Would You Like To Meet: Wrestlers, Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison, anyone that can help me be successful

29.) Have Any Siblings: 1 brother 2 step sisters, not wicked ones

30.) Like To Camp: I like it proportionally to the amount of work I have to do times the number of bug bites.

31.) Ever Broken A Bone: chipped two front teeth, have falsies in now

32.) Dream Job: Jenna Jameson, oh not that kind of job, writer for WWE or Marvel

33.) Do You Live In a House or Appartment: dorm or mom’s house in the off seasons

34.) Favorite Sports Team: I have neither the time or patience for sports. I’ll cheer the Yankees but that’s more a family thing than anything else.

35.) Favorite Music Genre: Rock up until emo hit.

36.) Favorite Movie Genre: Anything with a fucked up ending.

37.) Do You Belive In God: I believe in God but not the church

38.) How Do You Like Your Eggs: scrambled and mixed up with bacon, homefries, and ketchup

39.) Favorite Drink: Non-Alcoholic: moutain dew code red or baha blast
Alcoholic: back in the day, vodka and cran

40.) Worst Fears: being alone

41.) Foods You Hate: cottage cheese, hummus, olives

42.) Favorite Flowers: whatever you bring me

43.) Do You Own A Cellphone: yes

44.) Favorite Disney Movie: does Pixar count? Mighty Ducks thanks to my brother.

45.) What Do You Hate: people without a basic knowledge of the world (# of states, who’s the vice president, etc)

46.) Candy or Flowers: candied flowers

47.) Morning Person or Night Owl: I’m doing this in the middle of the night.

48.) College Plans: 2 bachelor’s masters, time off, PhD

49.) Do You Live With Either Of Your Parents: seasonally

50.) Are You Outgoing or Shy: both, depends on the person

51.) Is The Glass Half Empty or Half Full: half full if its beer, empty if its milk

52.) Your Best Feature: thinking differently in either humorous or creative ways.