Timing is Everything

Good timing can lead to profits, large downlines, reduced stress.

Bad timing can lead to losses, jumping on the bandwagon too late to get more than a handful of referrals, increased stress.

In my offline life, timing is probably more important than it is in my online life.

I had an interview for a bookkeeping clerk position at 10:30 am  this morning, and needed to catch 2 buses to get there (I also needed to catch 2 buses to get home for a total of 4 buses)

I had excellent timing all morning long, even though the first bus I had to catch (across the street from my house, a 5-10 minute walk at most) was at least 20 minutes late (it turns out the driver was training a new driver).

The second bus I had to catch at the transfer station was right on time and I waited all of 2 minutes.  The third bus I needed to catch arrived at the bus stop about 2 seconds after I got to the bus stop. The last bus was at the transfer station when I got there.

So I left my house at 9:20 am and was home 2 hours later--not bad for 4 buses and 4 5-15 minute walks.

I should have continued on with the plan for the morning (to go grocery shopping and get some copies made) but unfortunately I chose to take that fourth bus and come home.  My rationale was that my shoes were killing me and that I didn't want to wear a dress all day long.

My good timing did not last for the afternoon errands.

The bus that stops in front of my house was on time or anyway just a few minutes late.

The next bus that I needed to take from the transfer station to the copy shop wasn't late, but since all the buses run every 40 minutes (every 80 minutes on Saturday and not at all on Sunday) I had a fairly lengthy wait for that bus.

And my timing completely fell apart at the copy shop. The bus I needed to catch back to the transfer station reached my stop (in front of Carls Jr) at 12:52 pm; unfortunately it was 1:08 pm by the time yours truly reached that stop. Again these buses only run every 40 minutes, so I had a nice long wait with no place to sit other than the sidewalk.

I reach the transfer station and I got on the wrong damn bus.

The routes for buses with Bend Area Transit mean that one bus is serving two routes (for example the #3 Newport bus becomes the #1 South 3rd Street bus).

The bus I needed was the #6 Bear Creek bus; the bus I got on said it was that bus, but apparently the driver hadn't changed the electronic signs to reflect that it was really the #2 Brookswood/Downtown bus.

That error cost me a good 20 minutes, although I did get to see parts of Bend I never even knew existed (and now I know which buses to take to get to the libraries--#6 to the eastside library, and #2 to the downtown library).

I decided that I couldn't do my shopping in 8 minutes which was when the next bus to get home would leave from Hawthorne Station (the transfer point for ALL routes)--particularly when it takes 5 minutes to walk to Safeway from the bus stop.

So I was resigned to another 20 minute wait (or more) after I finished shopping.

Another thing that added immeasurably to the joy  (NOT!!) of the shopping experience was that I forgot my large reusable bags; they are more environmentally friendly than Safeway's plastic bags and they are much larger than the Safeway bags so they carry a lot more stuff.

They are also  much sturdier than the Safeway bags (even though I had my groceries double bagged by the checker and took the cart to the bus stop itself, the bags still started to tear within a few minutes of getting off the bus).

The reusable bags are also much easier to handle than the much smaller  Safeway plastic bags especially when I normally have a 5-10 minute walk from the store to the transfer station and then another 5-10 minute walk from my bus stop to my house.

By the time I got home I was ready to scream or shoot something (its a pity I sold all my dads guns 3 years ago, or maybe it isn't, as I threaten to shoot lots of things!).

I will be happy when BAT can afford to offer more routes and less time between buses. But if BAT wasn't here at all, I would be walking everywhere -- so I am counting my blessings somewhat.  Another blessing is that all these "baby walks" (that's what I call a 5-10-15 minute walk) are making my legs stronger and helping me to lose weight.