hummingwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hummingwolf) wrote2007-01-31 04:59 pm
hummingwolf) wrote2007-01-31 04:59 pm
Entry tags:
Yesterday
If you have to get up early, it is nice when you get the chance to walk in morning light as lovely as yesterday's light. I really do like the beauties of the morning world; I just don't like having to wake up early enough to experience them. But I do remember being a morning person, once upon a time a long long time ago when the world was young. Anyway, yesterday a.m. was a lovely, cool spring winter January morning and it was reasonably good to be alive.
Unfortunately, I had someplace to be, I had taken too long dodging the morningobstacles housemates, and I was rather later than I had intended. So, unfortunately, I ran part of the way to the Metro station. I say "unfortunately" because, while I do quite well when it comes to walking round the neighborhood, running abuses muscles in a rather different way, not to mention the nasty things it can do to one's knees. In spite of the burst of speed, I still got to the station just in time to miss the train I'd wanted to catch. Still, the next train might get me to my intermediate destination in time to catch the bus I needed--or so I thought. In all honesty, I'm not sure how I managed to miss that bus, but miss it I did. Since the bus line was one of those rush-hour-only sorts of things, he next bus on this route would be in about six hours. There was a county bus route that looked like it might conceivably get me to the office, but I only had a Metro SmartPass with me, which the county buses don't (yet) have the ability to accept. I called the SSA office, asked someone there if they knew of any other ways for me to get to the office, and was nearly convinced that I wouldn't be able to make this appointment at all.
There should be a law requiring all Social Security offices, social services offices, and other things for poor people to be located in places with good bus service, dang it.
Scrounging around in my purse, I eventually found enough change to get me to where I was going, only about an hour late. I'd been warm enough all the time before I got to the office, but for some reason once I was inside where it was noticeably warmer, I suddenly felt overly cooled. Since I was late for my appointment, they warned me that they might not be able to see me for another hour or so, but they were quite nice about it. I spent some time reading (Glenn C. Altschuler, All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America, which was entertaining but not terribly deep) and some time resting with my head on my purse in my lap. Also observed some of the many people waiting in the lobby. One of themwaiting looked almost exactly like Iggy Pop would look if Iggy were less ravaged by years of hard living. A couple (with the woman doing nearly all of the talking) were wondering how the man of the couple had managed to have the wrong information in his file for fifty-five years. Something I wondered about--which I also wondered about at my hearing in November--is why the Social Security Administration uses the particular photographs of the President and Vice President that it does. Surely there must be a picture of Cheney somewhere which doesn't make him look Satanic, but that one hanging on the wall was not it. Unlike Cheney, the people working in the office all seemed quite pleasant and helpful. When they finally ushered me into a surprisingly nice little cubicle to show them my financial records, it was all pretty painless (though they do want me to bring in more papers for them within the next couple weeks).
Went outside. Felt cold. Figured I could survive the wait for another Metrobus, though, since I did see a sign with a route number I recognized as being one that I shouldn't have to wait more than an hour for at most. Ah, yes, I am an optimist. When the bus didn't arrive as soon as I'd expected, I entertained myself by calling up the phone number on the bus stop sign and listening to Metro's automated system telling me when the next bus was going to show up. A while after that, I decided to talk to one of their live employees instead, who told me when the next next bus would show up at the stop the system told her was at the intersection where I was standing. If you've guessed that that bus didn't get there either, you're right. At this point, worn out, freezing, and leaking a bit from the eyes, I produced some change out of thin air (I could've sworn it wasn't in my wallet before that point) and got on a nice warm county bus. The rest of the trip was without inciden. Got home hours later than I should have and collapsed in bed.
Note to self: Whenever you have to go to the SSA, always make sure you have enough change to ride the county bus both ways.
As I was walking home from the station, it occurred to me that we should be very happy people can't read each other's minds, because, at least in my case, my stream of consciousness tends to be made up of various pop songs alternating with rather embarrassing daydreams involving certain people in passing cars, jumbled bits of worry, and the rare bit of rational thought.
A couple hours later, I woke up, realized that our bathroom had nearly no toilet paper, further realized that nobody but me was going to buy any, and so went out for a walk. Floating past a yellow moon, there was a cloud in the shape of someone riding a broomstick. At least, I think that was a cloud.
In dreams last night, walking along one of the Anacostia tributary trails, I saw a pair of adult ducks with a group of ducklings. Soon after that, a black goose and a white goose with some black-and-white goslings walked past. Then the geese started mating with each other (or possibly attacking each other), getting all tangled up and drawing the goslings into one big ball of confusion which transformed itself into a pair of huge, bright, multicolored bulls and a pair of huge, more muted, multicolored cows. Not sure what my subconscious mind intended to do next with the beef of many colors because that's when I woke up.
Unfortunately, I had someplace to be, I had taken too long dodging the morning
There should be a law requiring all Social Security offices, social services offices, and other things for poor people to be located in places with good bus service, dang it.
Scrounging around in my purse, I eventually found enough change to get me to where I was going, only about an hour late. I'd been warm enough all the time before I got to the office, but for some reason once I was inside where it was noticeably warmer, I suddenly felt overly cooled. Since I was late for my appointment, they warned me that they might not be able to see me for another hour or so, but they were quite nice about it. I spent some time reading (Glenn C. Altschuler, All Shook Up: How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America, which was entertaining but not terribly deep) and some time resting with my head on my purse in my lap. Also observed some of the many people waiting in the lobby. One of themwaiting looked almost exactly like Iggy Pop would look if Iggy were less ravaged by years of hard living. A couple (with the woman doing nearly all of the talking) were wondering how the man of the couple had managed to have the wrong information in his file for fifty-five years. Something I wondered about--which I also wondered about at my hearing in November--is why the Social Security Administration uses the particular photographs of the President and Vice President that it does. Surely there must be a picture of Cheney somewhere which doesn't make him look Satanic, but that one hanging on the wall was not it. Unlike Cheney, the people working in the office all seemed quite pleasant and helpful. When they finally ushered me into a surprisingly nice little cubicle to show them my financial records, it was all pretty painless (though they do want me to bring in more papers for them within the next couple weeks).
Went outside. Felt cold. Figured I could survive the wait for another Metrobus, though, since I did see a sign with a route number I recognized as being one that I shouldn't have to wait more than an hour for at most. Ah, yes, I am an optimist. When the bus didn't arrive as soon as I'd expected, I entertained myself by calling up the phone number on the bus stop sign and listening to Metro's automated system telling me when the next bus was going to show up. A while after that, I decided to talk to one of their live employees instead, who told me when the next next bus would show up at the stop the system told her was at the intersection where I was standing. If you've guessed that that bus didn't get there either, you're right. At this point, worn out, freezing, and leaking a bit from the eyes, I produced some change out of thin air (I could've sworn it wasn't in my wallet before that point) and got on a nice warm county bus. The rest of the trip was without inciden. Got home hours later than I should have and collapsed in bed.
Note to self: Whenever you have to go to the SSA, always make sure you have enough change to ride the county bus both ways.
As I was walking home from the station, it occurred to me that we should be very happy people can't read each other's minds, because, at least in my case, my stream of consciousness tends to be made up of various pop songs alternating with rather embarrassing daydreams involving certain people in passing cars, jumbled bits of worry, and the rare bit of rational thought.
A couple hours later, I woke up, realized that our bathroom had nearly no toilet paper, further realized that nobody but me was going to buy any, and so went out for a walk. Floating past a yellow moon, there was a cloud in the shape of someone riding a broomstick. At least, I think that was a cloud.
In dreams last night, walking along one of the Anacostia tributary trails, I saw a pair of adult ducks with a group of ducklings. Soon after that, a black goose and a white goose with some black-and-white goslings walked past. Then the geese started mating with each other (or possibly attacking each other), getting all tangled up and drawing the goslings into one big ball of confusion which transformed itself into a pair of huge, bright, multicolored bulls and a pair of huge, more muted, multicolored cows. Not sure what my subconscious mind intended to do next with the beef of many colors because that's when I woke up.
no subject
no subject
::hugs back::