listening to the boss

Bruce Springsteen for those who didn’t get the reference. He has 2 types of songs. Really goofy 80s jersey get up and dance tracks, and really really amazing soulful tracks. I’m listening to the latter. It was a pretty bad weekend. Friday I was way too tired to go out, and didn’t have any plans anyways. However saturday was one of my good friends’ birthday. Rewinding a bit. My car’s brake light has been coming on all week, and I waited until the weekend to take care of it to avoid the hassle of getting to and from work. So I go friday after work, and they’re swamped. So I come back saturday afternoon (slept in). I dropped the car off around 1:30, and they said it would be 3 or 4 hours. So, I decided that I didn’t really feel like sticking around for that long. It was a really nice day, so I figured I’d just walk back home. Well, first of all, I underestimated the distance just a bit, and it didn’t help that a shortcut I took turned out to be a longcut. So it took me a little over an hour to walk back. I then come to the brilliant conclusion that there’s probably a bus that can cut down on at least some of my walk back. They call me and say the car will be ready around 7:30 or 8, right as they close. So I look online and there is a 7:41 bus headed almost all the way back to the shop. So I wander over to the bus stop. Sure enough, 7:41 on the dot a bus pulls up. Of course I had forgotten what number bus I needed, so I asked the driver, "is this the route that goes down sepulveda?". He says yes so I get on. He then doesn’t turn at Sepulveda at all, and continues on the way we were going. I figure out pretty quick that this is not the right bus, so I get off 2 stops later, but i’m now a couple miles away in the wrong direction. Fucker. I still don’t understand what was up with that. It’s not like nobody has ever asked a bus driver a simple question like that before. So I walk back to near my apartment, and at this point it’s 8:15 or so, so the shop is closed. I end up not being able to go meet up with my buddy, so I miss out on his birthday. Not cool. Sunday I get up, and go look online to make sure I have the right bus. It’s number 183. I even write it down on a post-it and put it into my pocket. I’m taking no chances this time because I just want to go get my car back. The bus is supposed to come each hour on the hour. I’m at the bus stop at 11:50. 2 other buses come between 11:50 and 12:15, but no 183. At this point I say fuck it and start walking. However, as I’m passing the next stop I see the 183. I wave it down and hop on, relieved to avoid the long walk. What happens next? Of course this bus doesn’t go down Sepulveda either. It turns off after 1 block and starts head the wrong direction. This time i’m quick on the trigger and hop off before it takes me too far out of the way. So after all that, I end up walking back to the shop. What did I learn from all this? 1). The metro website’s information is wrong about bus numbers, bus routes, and bus times. The trifecta of crap. Even calling it "information" would be a lie. 2). While I like walking, it’s a lot more fun when it’s planned. 3). I hope my car never ever needs any maintenance again. 4). don’t trust the bus drivers here.