The Crimson Ride of My Life

Well, I'd about given up on being able to tell you anything interesting (being that my days usuall aren't). I'm so glad I held off on my blog post for the day, this way I can tell you about the Crimson Ride of my life.

The University had a health fair for the faculty and staff today. It started at 8:30 this morning, but because I had class at 9, I didn't think I would end up going. Mostly because I do not like to do things of this nature alone, and I knew my friend and co-worker Annie was going in the morning. Well, at this health fair, they were giving away free flu shots, free vision tests (by Wal-Mart), free glucose tests, free hearing tests, and a panoply of other free stuff. After my class, I talked to Annie to see how she fared, and man, she racked up. So, I decided that I would go too. I mean, they gave us 2 hours of work time which we could use solely for the purpose of going to the health fair. So, why not?

Well, this year, the University went from a driving campus to a "walking campus." What that means is that they implemented a whole transit system for the University. This also meant that they removed about 60% of the faculty/staff parking outside of the building in which I work. Which is why I now come in at 7 a.m.... to ensure I get a parking place. But, once again, I digress... So, part of this adventure of going to the health fair was figuring out the transit system. Because there is no one bus that goes directly from my building to the location of the health fair (which was not in "friendly walking distance," even in the best of conditions, much less in 50 degree weather -- yes, it finally got cold in Alabama). So, I learn from Annie, that I shold take the Gold Bus and that will take me to the parking deck. Then from there, I take the Blue 1 Bus. Well, I went outside of my building and waited for 10 minutes for a Gold Bus. It did not occur to me that maybe Gold 1 wasn't the fastest bus. So, I just got on, because I'd been standing in the cold for 10 minutes. And what ensued is what I will forever dub "The Crimson Ride of My Life." Okay, I think this bus driver was on something. First of all, he pulled up next to another bus and spent about a minute talking to that bus driver. Then he pulled off and I swear I've never heard a bus pushed to those limits, speed-wise. I mean, he wasn't FLYING, or anything, but I could definitely tell that the bus was being accelerated faster than it had time to respond. Although he was not going super-fast, we must remember that this is a huge bus and we are talking about a huge University campus. So, anything over say, 25 mph is going to be significant. I think there were a couple times when I saw the speedometer hit 40. Which was quite a feat, considering all the stops and turns he had to make. This was not a smooth ride, as he would accelerate continuously until the stop sign, and then slam on the brakes. I held onto the bar next to my seat the entire time. Oh, and to give you an idea of how fast he was going, we ended up down by one of the dorms and sat there for 5 minutes (no joke) because he was "ahead of schedule." Gee, I wonder why. Although slightly scared for my life, I was laughing the whole way, because all I could think about was the blog post I would write as the result of it :). So, I finally make it to the parking deck where I need to catch the Blue Bus. This entire transaction (from the time I left my desk until I get to the parking deck) has seriously taken me no less than 30 minutes. And for the record, I could have walked to the parking deck in about 5. Lesson learned (in fact, I did not wait for a bus from the parking deck to my building on the return trip, but instead decided to hoof it -- good thing, too, because the Gold Bus that showed up at the parking deck that I would have taken was being driven by this same driver). Anyway, the trip to the health fair from the parking deck was not nearly as exciting or "blog-worthy."

The health fair was neat. Sadly, a lot of the booths were closing up by the time I got there, but I was still able to have the following tests:

• Hearing test (I passed)
• Blood pressure test (117/72 -- she said was very good)
• Glucose test (92, not fasting -- she said this was awesome, because the general rule is to have a blood sugar level between 60 and 110 FASTING)
• Body fat percentage (bad... I will not share, but I will say that I would be much closer to being "healthy" if I was between the ages of 60 and 79) -- oh, this might have helped inspire me to walk back to my building from the parking deck :).

They had a free cholesterol test too, but they were actually drawing blood for that one, so I passed. I figured I showed enough bravery and courage by allowing them to pop my finger and draw blood for the glucose test :).

For free, I got:

• toothbrush, floss, and plastic toothpick things, and toothpaste
• contact solution
• a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A ice dream (we had to spin a wheel and see where it landed... they had free sandwich coupons on there, but I landed on the ice cream)
• half of an Arby's roast beef sandwich

When I got back to my floor, I went in to talk to Annie. I told her about how I ended up riding the Gold Bus all over campus (practically). She said hers went the same route, the only problem she had was that she figured her bus driver was crazy. Hahaha.... Turns out it was the same bus I had gotten on, and so therefore, the same driver. See, it wasn't "just my imagination (once again)... running away with me" :).