First Day.

Well my first day at the Natural History Museum has come and gone. I can tell you it was one of the most memorable days of my life. ALL OF IT.
The day started as most of mine do, got up had a cup of coffee, took the dog for a run. Showered, cleaned, got ready. Ran to Target to grab a new belt, got some cash and headed for the bus stop at the West Covina mall. I actually made it there in plenty of time, parked my car where it would be visible by cameras lest someone tried to steal it. I even remembered to take the stereo out so no one would want to steal it. Caught the early bus. Caught the second early bus in front of the central public library. Got to USC in PLENTY of time. It was after all only noon. Plenty of time to grab a quick bite, walk around and then head across campus to NHM.
(I got all excited cause there is a Freebirds now at USC. Which btw if you have never had a burrito from there, try it! You will not regret it. It's like Chipotle but 10 times better!!! )
Well of course all the food places are going to be busy, its noon! However I was able to score some food from one of the food trucks parked outside of Starbucks. MMM Carne Asada tacos. Yummy! As I am chowing down, I realize its already 12:50pm, and I am supposed to be across campus in 10 minutes. Now if you have never visited the campus or do not know your way around all that well, you would not know that that is hard to do. I basically ran 3/4 mile across the campus to NHM.
And I was late. About 10 minutes actually. I am NEVER late. But I had to stop and change into professional shoes. What you think I took the bus, walked all around USC AND ran across the campus in high heels? Yeah right. I wouldn't have been so late if I had worn different shoes, but oh well.
The day went splendidly. I will also hopefully be starting training on the new dinosaur exhibit that will be hitting this summer as well as all the work I will be doing for the library.
I was also able to meet almost all the people that make up the Research and Collection department in the NHM. There are so many departments, and so many people, I know I will not be able to meet them all at once, but it was still really fun!
Anywho, four hours passed incredibly fast, and I was off work. I was meeting my friend Irene for dinner and drinks, but knew she didn't get off work until around 6pm. So I wandered around USC for a while. Didn't make it to any of the libraries, however I did finally see the place where my parents got hitched.
I had dinner at The Lab. They serve their beers in beakers, and their Trojan Blonde is one of the best beers ever. Well It might be, but I am a BIT biased when it comes to USC. :) :)
Drinks and dinner were awesome. Three rounds and 4 hours later, I realize that I should start heading home. It does take a fair amount of time to get back to my car. It is at this point that I realized, the last bus had already come and gone. Irene was going to have to drive me to a pick up point for the silver streak. No problem, I tell her to drop me off at Union Station. Everything is fine and dandy until I realized that I cannot find the pickup point. I ask the guard, he told me, I proceeded to go over and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. After waiting until almost 11:45 at night I finally decided to take a Metro bus to the El Monte station. At which point the bus driver tells me, the pick up point for the silver streak changes after 8pm, to the other side of the freeway. Is there signage at the original site? No. Is there a note on the website about this? NO! Well I finally get to El Monte and realized, the last bus that could take me to West Covina pulled out as we were pulling in.
Did I freak out? Not at first, but eventually. I called my mom so many time I cannot even count. Left a freaked out message on her voicemail and the home machine, tried to think of a different bus that could take me home. The entire time this is happening an older gentleman, mid 50s, is trying to persuade me to let him take me to my car. Now am I that stupid? Once upon a time, yes, now no.
I finally realized my mom's friend David T stays up late at night and is fond of me. What a real gentleman that guy is! I called, I was in tears- a little hysterical, he said he would be there in 15 minutes. He was! What a sweetheart! Although I wonder if any man can resist a girl who is crying and said she is stranded in a strange dark place with a random guy smoking a joint next to her trying to get her to come home with him. Scared as I was then, I can totally laugh about it now. It was quite funny. The guy with the joint, telling me how he needed money to buy diapers for his kid, the mouse running right next to my feet, and the weird old guy trying to get me to go home with him. Great story now, one that I will laugh at for years to come!


I will be taking the bus to LA most of the time, so I am sure I will blog again about crazy bus riders. TTFN!