A quarter of an hour, a quarter of an hour

onwards what a difference it makes.

A change to my routine for a few weeks due to a later than normal start time for work.  A bit of experimentation to see which combination of buses would best suit the new start.

First bus fifteen minuets later than normal, even emptier than the normal bus , the world a bit lighter but other than that not much alteration.

Give it a further fifteen mins and more of a change, more people in the bus station (and I regrettably find myself now feeling proprietorial about my window ledge!) and sight of the poor soul making the first cleaning pass of the day.  Now I think on it there is less mess in the morning to be cleared up now there are no seats,  I guess it was being used for late evening or very early morning junk food feasts judging by the mess often left.  Does not appear to be as popular a venue for that without the seats.

New characters appear to wonder about, a school boy (in uniform) waits each morning for the same bus as myself, not to get on it but to meet his friend. Given it is still an hour and a quarter before school starts, that is arriving early, perhaps a breakfast club?

Setting off with the sky dark blue not black and arriving with the light makes me feel the year is flying by.  Of course by the time I revert to my former hours things won't have progressed that much.

Happily for me so far my seat on the bus is still free and I do not appear to have usurped it from anyone else. Less happily the later start also requires a later finish!

When green amber and red are no guarantee..

as much as I appreciate the pedestrian traffic lights and the guide to safety they represent it must be remembered that as people remain part of the equation it is not a perfect system.

Both the driver and the pedestrian play fast and loose with the rules at lights.  Although it must be said it is most likely the pedestrian who instigator of an incident or not who will loose any resultant altercation.

I am super cautious, I wait for the little green man who lights up after the red light for the cars, and then I look both ways and then cross.  Even this caution is no guarantee, one evening in heavy rain (so I was wearing a white waterproof outfit, top and trousers, so fairly visible) I came to my favourite set of lights.  Pushed the button and waited, the lights changed, amber to red and a white mini van pulled to a stop on my right, I looked to my left no vehicles approaching green man beckoning and I started to cross. Just short of half way I had the strong feeling I should stop, I did and in that moment a grey car whizzed over the crossing from the left in front of me and sped off into the darkness.  The driver of the white van and I exchanged shocked looks and then I finished (luckily) my journey home.

At the T junction lights nearer to the bus stop it is mainly the pedestrians who take the gamble to nip across against the lights, they risk all their future years to gain a few minutes or even seconds.  I refuse to cross unless my little green friend is there.  I get particularly distressed when those flouting the rules do so with children, or pushing a buggy, pram out into the road first.  Oh and the cyclists can be just as bad (the crossing forms part of a cycle path) deciding time after time they can whiz across just as the lights are changing.  So far they have been fortunate and so have I, as I do not want to witness the potential result of such folly.

Given that I use the crossing at least twice a day five to six days a week and most days someone just can't wait, I fear the odds are ever increasing that I will witness an accident there.  

Too early!

I forgot that on 2nd January the bus was on Saturday times so I arrived at the bus station too early. A lot too early as the first bus was not due for almost three quarters of an hour later than the bus I had arrived for.  Of course I was early for even that.

So decisions, walk home wait a bit then walk back or just wait.

Well I was well wrapped up and it was not too cold but standing that long did not appeal. As previously noted no seats here any more and Santa did not bring any new ones for Christmas. However, there was the option of the window sill.  Was it wide enough for a bottom perch, or high enough not to make my legs ache.  Might as well give it a try, if it was no good there would still be time for the walk home and back again. 

So down I sat, and sat I stayed, it was better than I had anticipated and less chilly.  Kindle to hand the time went by and when the bus arrived my knees still worked enough to get up and get on with my journey.

Window sill or seat?

Having tried it once I have used that option since (although happily not for such an extended period of time) mind I would still prefer there to be seats both for my convenience and for those who's knees extra are less likely to respond positively to sill perching.