Bus Rider

I am fortunate in that the Renaissance Center and General Motors have a bus service available for employees. With my house roughly 30 miles from downtown, it saves immensely on gas and wear/tear on my truck not to mention the relax time during the ride. At $75/month, it is quite a deal. It also is key that I have a boss that will allow me to work from 7-4 each day. If a conference call or meeting from hell is dragging on too long, “sorry, I have to catch my bus.” It has saved me a few times.

For those that are wondering if I’m actually riding the “short” bus, I’ve attached a few pictures of the bus and my driver, Nosh, who I believe has only been in the U.S. for a short time. He may have a thick Russian accent but damn can he haul some ass during rush hour weaving in and out of traffic. My only gripe at him is that he waits for every last person to arrive in the morning (patience isn’t one of my strengths). When that clock strikes 6:25 a.m., it’s time for the bus to go! I know things can happen for someone to be late but when you are consistently late, I have a problem with you. I give dirty looks to the chronic stragglers and sometimes will look at my watch while they walk by. One time last year I even printed out the schedule with a note attached to it saying something to the effect of “I know you don’t mean to be late every day but it’s not fair to the roughly 60 other people on the bus who have to wait for you.” It worked and a few others on the bus told me thanks.

The bus makes stops at Milford Rd, Schoolcraft College (my stop), and Telegraph/I-96. The same people ride each day so you get to know all of their habits. The front of the bus is a pack of ladies who jibber jab the entire ride. The back of the bus are the sleepers. I’m usually somewhere in the middle with my radio headset going, blocking out the world (sounds about right, eh?). We have one lady who will change seats three or four times when she first gets on the bus. There are two ladies who must have knitted enough items to clothe a small country. There is one guy who stares at his lap top the entire ride, another who ties fly fishing lures, and a few who absolutely must lean their chairs back into my legs even though they are only five feet all. All in all though, the whole experience is not too bad.

"I Do" Club - New Member

I’m sorry I’m late reporting this but I wanted to give kudos to a fellow Seadog who got married this fall. Dave McVeigh has joined the “I do” club with his new wife, Mardy. Mardy McVeigh, that has a nice ring to it. I can hear the sports announcers now, “Mardy McVeigh for two!!!” Or the Price Is Right announcer, “Mardy McVeigh, come on down!!!”

With Dave joining the “I do” club, let’s see who that leaves in our group who haven’t made the jump….hmmm….oh yeah…..ME!!!!! I’m not sure if I can leave my post as president of the GDI club but stranger things have happened.

Congrats Mardy and Dave!

21st Annual Merrill Hall Christmas Party

Last Saturday was the 21st annual Merrill Hall Christmas gathering at Lucy and Mike Weaver’s home in Portage. The concept started in 1986 with a couple of dorm rooms scraping their returnables and whatever was left from their cafeteria job paychecks and exchanging gifts to each other. As I was living in the ever so spacious Western Island apartments (insert sarcasm) in 1986 and bolted for Michigan State the following year, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing this spectacle during its inception. I’ve been told there were some outstanding gifts in the early years. There was everything from a pack of Swisher Sweet cigars to some Hendrix material. Everybody was kind of poor but definitely merry I’ve been told.

Amy and I checked into our hotel around five on Saturday with intentions of grabbing a bite to eat locally before heading over to Lucy and Mike’s place. I spoke to Jim M. earlier and told him that he and his un-tethered group of husbands (posse of five – scary) were more than welcome to join us. Jim advised they were on the fence in either getting something to eat or heading over to the party. With that, Amy and I headed out for a bite. After heading further north than I expected before seeing a place worth hitting, we ended up at Shakespeare’s Pub and Restaurant in Kalamazoo. We weren’t sure if we would have to listen to some Shakespeare reading before eating but after seeing the many televisions with sports on, that thought quickly vanished. While eating, my phone rang with a call from the un-tethered group of husbands advising that nobody brought directions to the Weaver’s and needed help. Five people and not one had directions or a phone number at the Weaver’s??? Sad. It’s amazing these guys were able to dress themselves. The crazy part of the whole thing is they were just driving by the place we were eating when they called. Come on over! After a good meal, our two car caravan headed to the gathering.

The party was a great time. It was a nice blend of former Chippewa’s and a circle of friends from that group. The food choices consisted of Al’s pulled pork sandwiches, some pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, a cheese ball, and assorted deserts. Good stuff! As it appears to be an ongoing tradition with these parties, the garage became the ideal gathering place. Before the gift exchange, word spread on Eric’s need to wear a cape for some reason (Captain Beam?). Lucy was able to pull a cape out and off Eric went in gathering the group and spreading good cheer.

After the gift exchange, a band of Mike (on guitar), Jim (on bongos), and others belted out the verses to many songs, however, the group fell a bit short in actually completing an entire song. After “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” it was all downhill. One song everyone did join in was a birthday sing-a-long for Mark C. The big 41! Congrats Mark.

I don’t think there was any donkey-ness unless I was the one making an ass out of myself. As it becomes more difficult these days to gather the entire group, it is great that at least one day a year we ALL can get together with the entire posse and giggle about the past, appreciate the present, and look forward to the future. Happy Holidays!