Megabus...was a Mega Bust! (wait, no...)

For a whopping $5.00, I scored a round trip bus ticket from Harrisburg, PA to Toronto, Ontario! yes, you read that right... $5.00, I wouldn't have been able to spend that little money on gas to get me there! So what's the catch? I've devoted much of my free internet time in the last few weeks trying to determine just that! Trip advisor, yelp, you name it....I read scores of reviews trying to figure out how in the world they could charge so little for so much!

The website boasts double decker buses, wi-fi access, power outlets, and reclining seats!! Um, sign me up! And to sweeten the pot, they're currently promoting the service by offering 200k free seats using the promo code on their site! (I didn't even have to google it...sweet!)

So what's the catch?

Catch #1: bus stop location
After purchasing my $5 ticket, I searched on the site to find out where I'd catch the bus. In retrospect, that should have been part of my decision making process. Pole #32, between the Toys R Us and Great Escapes Movie theater at the Harrisburg Mall. Not sketchy at all.

Because of the incredible parking lot- pole - bus stop system....I rushed to catch a bus that almost landed me in Philly. Not Toronto. No signs, no ticket machine, no P.A. announcement that your bus is boarding, nothing. You just throw your bag on the bus parked at pole #32, and hop on. Luckily the bus driver took a break from her cigarette to let me know the bus was going to Philly. I grabbed my bag and moseyed over to the nearest curb, rolling my carry-on behind me, and made myself comfortable as I waited for the Toronto-bound bus to arrive.

Catch #2: single decker bus
To say i was "Highly disappointed" when the single-decker bus arrived would be an understatement. Fortunately its on-time arrival lessened the blow a bit. Now I just had to stomach the idea of an 8.5 hour bus ride, at the same level of all the non-megabus bus riders we'd pass on our trek north. What's so Mega about a single decker bus?

Catch #3: why, wi-fi, why?
Okay, so the wi-fi thing didn't pan out. I was so prepared...I had my work laptop, my iPad, iPhone, personal phone, and tons of websites bookmarked that I'd saved for my reading pleasure! Ugh. Te wi-fi was definiteky there...just wasn't working. False advertising, Megabus! Luckily, I packed my verizon mi-fi, a mobile hotspot! Yes, xfinitytv app, I WOULD like to catch up on the latest episodes of my guilty pleasure, "Big Love".

Catch #4: the bus drivers are robots
There was a huge accident with fatalities that closed a major road in Harrisburg. We were five minutes away from pole #32...and BAM! Bumper to bumper traffic!!! For the next hour, we were at a standstill, which was followed by another hour of sitting on the side of the road in front of the exit we were supposed to take. We waited there for dispatch to give us the green light to take the detour. For safety reasons, blah blah blah, dispatch wouldn't allow us to go any route that wasn't previously approved by The Man. Dispatch never gave us a definitive answer so all the passengers took it into our own hands and called customer service to complain that dispatch was ignoring us instead of giving us a new route! Two hours and fifteen minutes after boarding the bus, we had made it less than five miles. Finally, our bus driver convinced the police to let the megabus go thru the closed road. We had a police escort and were the only vehicle allowed to travel on the highway. Plus 1 for megabus.

Catch #5: Clearing customs as a group sucks!
Flying is a beautiful thing. When you cross the border, you're only subjected to the customs shenanigans for which you deserve. But not on Megabus! The thirty or so passengers had to go thru customs together...and could only cross the border once all were cleared. Someone should have told me that the megabus is a breeding ground for anti-war protesters and anarchists! Long story short, we waited on the megabus for nearly an hour while one of our fellow passengers was interrogated by way of a 'secondary inspection'. awesome. I overheard the customs officer say, "so how long will you be here saving the world?". That would have been funny if we weren't already three hours behind.

Catch #6: they're concerned with your safety...which is more like a catch 22!
Basically put, the bus door kept opening up while we we're driving. For the ten minutes leading up to the border crossing, we couldn't drive 100ft without the door flinging open. The bus driver made an executive decision to drive with the bus door open until we got to the border. Once there, he advised us that we'd either have to wait for a replacement bus (it's now almost 11pm by this time), or beg the Megabus driver ahead of us, also at the border waiting for a crazy anarchist to be interrogated, to allow us to pile on to their bus and hitch a ride to Toronto. Thankfully, he obliged. And Hallelujah, double decker bus! It was just as I had imagined it! ANF the wi-fi worked. :-) ...for the first ten minutes anyway.

So, we made it to Toronto in just over eleven hours! And as crazy as the ride may have seemed...I plan on doing it all over again tomorrow for the return trip home! Assuming the wi-fi is working, maybe I'll even look up possible destination spots for my next megabus trip!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Getting the hang of this...

I've given up things like fried food, pizza, dessert, and even facebook for Lent in the past. And that's always been doable. If I can give up facebook for 40 days...surely I can give up grains, dairy, and legumes right?! Eghh...maybe.

So, here's the difference: moving toward a Paleo lifestyle is a little harder when Jesus isn't involved...and when it's forever, and not just 40ish days. To say I've followed the diet flawlessly would be a lie. It's tough to give up grains and dairy. Legumes, not so much - I've never cared for the legume family. I LOVE cheese. I LOVE bread. Even better = Cheesy Bread. (sigh) But, the decision I'm making to move toward Paleo is one that will be worth the initial struggles and hassle.

Broiled salmon is one of my faves. Here's a picture of my dinner last night. I broil the salmon after first rubbing it with olive oil, minced garlic, a tiny bit of sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. I then squeeze half a lime over it and pop it in the broiler for about 15 minutes (or until the garlic browns a bit). One of the things that helps me the most is the fact that I buy peeled garlic loves from the farmer's market once a month and mince, mince, mince until I have a supply of it to last me for a while - definitely a time saver in the long run! I also cooked up some fresh asparagus - nothing special, just boiled it 'til it was just right. And the salad on the left is made of tomato, cucumber and onion, all chopped. It was lacking a bit in flavor, so I minced some kalamata olives and threw it in the mix. Delicioso! I used the other half of the lime on the salmon...for good measure! I used to top this meal off with feta cheese (just because I like it)...but the cucumber salad was my replacement. Weird choice to replace cheese - but I think it worked. I was satisfied without feeling stuffed...and really felt energized.

I took a trip to the farmer's market this morning and stocked up! Oh, I miss living in walking distance to that place...but the 20 minute drive is well worth all the goodies! For less than forty bucks, I got a ton of veggies, fruits, half a cooked chicken (by the Amish...yummy!), a lb of ground turkey, and a lb of ground turkey sausage. I even had some pork and shrimp kabobs there for lunch =) What a fun way to spend the morning!

I had planned on eating the other half of my salmon filet for dinner tonight, but quickly abandoned that idea in pursuit of making spaghetti squash for the first time. Yum. And as I started to think about it, I figured why not make full blown spaghetti...like I normally would with regular noodles? And that's exactly what I did. Here are a few pictures from my spaghetti squash adventure:

Unlike my traditional spaghetti, I didn't add any sauce at all. I was a little nervous, but the juices from all the turkey and veggies made the perfect sauce and consistency!! The pasta was DELICIOUS! Seriously. It doesn't taste exactly like real noodles...but it's not very far off! And you don't even know you're eating SQUASH! Crazy! But I loved it! The best part about it is that I made enough sauce to last the week. AND I only ate about a quarter of the spaghetti that came out of the squash...so I have plenty of leftovers for lunch this week! Woo Hoo!

Not only did I have a super delicious meal for dinner...but it was completely PALEO! Did I mention that all of this came after enrolling at my neighborhood Gold's Gym....AND working out!

I can do this =)

Happy New Year!

I'm pretty sure that 2011 has the potential to be one of my best years yet. It's weird how turning 25 can suddenly put life in to perspective, quickly and clearly. Very clearly.

For me, 2011 will be a year of Fitness: Physical. Financial. Personal Relationship. All of the above. Although I've spent my entire life striving for perfection (or at least being able to master the facade), I'm ready to finally "just be". Just be me, just be who I want to be, just be happy. With or without the ridiculous, unrealistic expectations set be myself and others. I'm actually giddy at the thought of releasing the expectations and doing what I love most. It'll be interesting because that means starting by first determining what exactly that is...and the surrounding myself with the people who can support me along the way!

I'm excited to get my financial world in order. In many ways, I'm in a great position because I have virtually zero debt. Thankfully, I escaped college without student loans, haven't gotten tied down to a mortgage yet, and am driving a 9 year old car...things could be a lot worse. On the other hand, I'd like to prepare for the future big purchases: home, new car, wedding, and even vacations! This year will be great for my finances. I'm planning on cutting out the extras...and getting back to the basics so that I can spend my time focusing on my goals. In the meantime, time to take a good friend's advice...and start my "side hustle". Stay tuned.

Physical fitness will be super important for me...not just for 2011, but moving forward. I feel so much better when I take care of myself, and I plan on following a workout and diet regiment that will allow me to do that! More on that to come!

Also, I plan on really focusing on key relationships in my life. This could be its own entry...but to write too much, would do a disservice to the thought. Basically put, I want to make sure my loved ones know exactly how much they're loved.
:-)

Finally, I'd like to be more positive. I'm going to start thinking a bit more before speaking, and hopefully do a better job of filtering some negative comments. I tend to focus on negative things quite often, so I look forward to paying more attention to the nicer things in life!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

How could anyone mistake these two?

I suppose it's easy to confuse these two people, if the guy on the right would've never taken off off those god-awful Star Trek glasses. But he did...for 23 years straight on one of the most beloved children's shows ever to grace network television, The Reading Rainbow.!!

Actual text conversation with an individual whose identity will be kept anonymous (to avoid the much deserved hate mail that would follow, for not knowing the difference between those guys, should said identity be exposed):

Anonymous: (at a sportsbar, watching football)
Me: (Sitting at home, watching ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas movies)

Anonymous (3:23PM): I think one of the actors from the cosby show is sitting next to me. I don't know his name.
Me (3:23PM): Which one do you think he is? I'll look it up
Anonymous (3:26PM): He's black
Anonymous (3:26PM): Might not have been the cosby show. First name starts with an L? Def him.
Me (3:27PM): First real name? Oh gosh...you're definitely not the person to know black actors! Sheesh!
Anonymous (3:28PM): You prob dated him :-)
Me (3:29PM): Touché.
Anonymous (3:33PM): He was the guy on sesame street.
Me (3:35PM): Savion Glover? Guy with dreads?
Me (3:37PM): This guy?

Anonymous (3:39PM): Definitely him! Ha - that's funny. He was pissed and I tried to placate him. Silly actors.
Me (3:41PM): Oh please! You were probably too afraid to even say hello!!
Anonymous (3:43PM): Come on! Say hello to a douchebag? Please.
Me (3:44PM): Bahaha. Well, I don't think Levar Burton is a douchebag at all. "But you don't have to take my word for it" <----Shameless Reading Rainbow quote.

One of the coolest things I've seen in Hershey...

I was on the phone with my mom, when I kept hearing what sounded like ambulance sirens. I mentioned it to her, and started to get really concerned when I noticed the noise was getting closer and closer. I finally ran into the living room and looked out the blinds...only to see one of the neatest things!!

I should mention that I live up a hill, on a dead end street....so the fact that the fire truck found its way into my neighborhood, made me ecstatic; I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning!!

I should also mention that this does NOT make me enjoy the Winter any more. It still sucks.

Okay, so maybe my blog title isn't as relevant anymore...

I realized tonight that the title of my blog meant so much more before all the crazy things that make electricity not such an immediate need anymore. It became especially clear to me as I retired to my bedroom tonight, carrying my laptop, iPad, work iPhone, and personal cell phone. Nice. And, should my electricity go out again, and the batteries die in each of my nifty gadgets...I happen to have a wind-up flashlight I can use to traverse through the dark shadows of my apartment until I find my backup iPhone/iPad charger; and should that be stolen by some battery stealing bandit...I also have an emergency solar battery, with convenient usb adapter, that'd come in handy! If all else fails, this apartment building has outside electrical outlets...so my phone will always get the charge it needs.

In any case...checking fb without electricity isn't quite as hard as it used to be. And, for that matter, my stories aren't as "rock bottom-esque" as some have been in the past. But, not to fret...a new year is upon us...there's no telling what's in store in 2011!! ;-)

Just a random thought.

C'mon, Friday....almost 26 more minutes!!

Ugh...it's that time of year again...

You know what's worse than snow? Shoveling it.  Worse than ice? Scraping it.

(That's a picture from last year...my first snow shoveling experience)

 

Today was the first morning I had to scrape the ice off my window. Not the first freeze. But the first, "are you kidding me - I'm going to be late for work -why doesn't my defroster work better" type of ice scraping! Bad start to the day. Luckily for me, my inaugural winter was one of "PA's worst"...so this year doesn't seem quite as treacherous as last year's. ::knock on wood::

 

For starters, I own a coat. In my defense, i used to think I owned a coat when I first moved up here. I quickly realized that was but a mere windbreaker. It now lives in my cube...for days when the indoor temperature is just a tad chilly. I now own several coats: A long, black, wool peacoat; a short, red, fashionable, wool coat; a trendy, green, super warm short coat with a hood; and my newest additions: 2 down coats that I purchased this year. One is a shorter, brown Calvin Klein down coat. The other is a longer brown, down Marc New York coat. They're both fairly similar  - but the latter will be especially great for my trips to Toronto! I also am smarter about wearing gloves, scarves, and hats this year.

 

I cannot forget two recent purchases: my new heated ice scraper, and my new, arctic guard winter windshield cover...which will reduce my chances of needing to use my heated ice scraper!! Love it. Not looking forward to using the aforementioned...but definitely looking forward to seeing their results!! =)

 

Well, gotta run. I need to get enough sleep tonight to build in about 20 extra minutes for possible ice scraping, car warming, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't put up the arctic shield tonight...soooo....keep your fingers crossed that the ice isn't too bad in the morning. IF it is...I'll be sure to take a picture of my heated ice scraper being put to good use!!

 

Happy (almost) Friday!!