... and there was much rejoicing... yay. :(

So, I got my new bike two nights ago... yay?...

I've been corresponding with this guy from Craigslist.com about the perfect bike for a few days now. It's a pink beach cruiser with a bell and a basket! Adorable, right?

Wrong... I was bewitched by the pink siren-call of it's lovely pinging bell and the fact that it works at all!

I've been using a transitional, blue kids beach cruiser that has no air in the tires, and whose seat can't extend high enough to sustain my "long" - ha - legs. Oh, did I mention, the left peddle fell off yesterday afternoon on my way to the theatre? Yeah, and I had no idea that on most bikes, the opposite peddle is threaded the opposite direction. So, actually, "righty tighty, lefty loosey" doesn't apply for the left peddle of a bike! So... I stripped the peddles threads. Damn. Unfixable, probably... unusable, definitely!

That happened and then this guy said he could meet me at UCI with the bike on his way home from work - I think he's a nurse or a doctor or somet (aka "something") - but when I saw this bike, and it was tall enough for me, and it was pink enough for me, and it had a basket AND a bell! I fell in love! And it was like what always happens when I compromise, the $120 just flew out of my wallet and into his pocket!

So, now, problems with the bike:

1) It's so freakin' HUGE!! I should have picked it up to measure the weight of the beast! I could barely pick it up to put in on the night-bus that night. (Well, that and I was trying to lug TWO bikes all the way across campus! By myself. Dumb.) The night bus has a prong-type bike rack, - an old school bus - different from the more contemporary city buses.

2) It's only a single speed. I wanted a multi-speed and I compromised. Single speed makes it difficult to go up those even tiny hills. And I will be riding it a lot, enough to get my exercise without making it harder on myself with single-speed!

3) This is the big one; the BIG problem. I was doing fine all week; scarily fine, with auditions, with callbacks, with classes starting and all, a new roommate, new living conditions. I should have been terrified this week, and I wasn't! A'toll! (aka "at all") But there I was, yesterday afternoon, attempting to put my new pink beach cruiser on the AV (Arroyo Vista) shuttle bus... and it doesn't fit! It's too big! Too long! The back tire barely fit in the slot, but the front tire was about 3-4 inches from where it needed to be to be properly secured!

So, the bus driver said I could put it into the bus itself, but there were so many people in there that I wouldn't have been able to fit, with my honkin' new bike. There was a guy waiting for the next bus, though, that said he will be driving the next AV bus, so to wait and he will let me on with the bike first, then I can take it to the back of the bus and be out of the way. Okay, so I waited. I was fine. Disappointed that my brand new bike wouldn't fit, but still not upset.

The next AV bus comes and stops way far ahead of where I'm waiting... I HATE it when they do that; it's like they are doing an experiment to see what raging piranha we will turn into in trying to mount the bus. jerks. So, as soon as the bus passes me, I see this swarm of human piranha book it for the bus, about 5 yards from me. They wouldn't let me through, so I went into the street and around the bus that way. By time I got to the front, the driver I had talked with was waiting for me and said there was no more room.

... Wha!! What the what!!!!! That's when I lost it. Well, as the bus was driving away, I started to tear up. All the things started to flow through my mind.

"You compromised! You got a single-speed when you specifically said you wanted a multi-speed!"
"You didn't pick it up! It's too heavy for you!"
"It doesn't even fit on the bike rack!"
"There's no room in the inn!"
"And you paid a full $120 for this giant, heavy, PINK mistake!"

That was not fun. I think it was like the rest of the stress of the week had finally broken through. I really felt surprisingly calm all week, in the midst of sooo many things going wrong, or my being late, or whatever, but this incident with the bike was like, "You can't do anything right, can you, Lizz?"


So, I waited for the next bus. What else could I do? It was the middle of the afternoon, uber hot outside, scorching sun, and me without the energy to ride all the way across campus on my new mistake.

Where I was standing should have been where the next bus stopped, but there was a Ride-A-Long type bus in the middle of the bus stopping area, so the bus decided to stop behind it instead of in front of it. Where I wasn't, basically... story of my entire life. So, I ran up to it with my heavy bike, stopped it in front of the bus, pushed my way through the crowd and begged the driver to let me on with my bike because I've been the first one here waiting for a bus since two buses ago and it doesn't fit on the rack. He said yes, so I hurriedly got my bike and pushed through as nicely as I could, which felt incredibly rude, but at that point I probably would have drowned them with my tears before letting anyone on the bus before me.

I got in just in time, because there was literally only room for me left. That is, without the bike, so trying to also fit the bike was murder. He could barely close the doors without me squishing at least two people. Big sigh, but fewer tears.

The ARC was the first stop, and my stop, thank goodness. So, I got off with my bike and a million other students upset with me that I squished them. And I as I was walking away from the bus, a guy with a bike he had just got from the bus's bike rack mentioned, "You know there's a bike rack, right?"

I told him it didn't fit.

"A bike bigger than mine! Wow." He was a pretty big guy, too. Not round, but really tall. So, I knew what he meant when he said that.

And we started talking just a bit as we walked up the path to AV and the crossing for what I think is Vista Del Campo. It was a sweet meet cute. I said somet about having more hope in our generation than I should have - what with no one letting me onto the bus twice because they ALL wanted to secure a spot for themselves - and he said somet strange as we parted. I started to walk away and he said, "Nice talking with you," and I said, "Nice to meet you... Wait, I didn't actually meet you. I'm Lizz." "Jack." Firm handshake. "Nice use of words." "Bye."

What? "Nice use of words?" What does that even mean?

Oh well. Maybe he was nervous. Because I'm a girl and soo incredibly fascinating and intriguing... HEY! Stop laughing. I could be those things. :)

Anyway, regardless of why he said what he said, or the fact that I had to go through the depths of bike-bus hell to meet him, he was sweet and charming, and I may never meet him again, but he made that part of my day that much better. I probably would have been stewing until I got to my house and bawled my eyes out in my empty room (Joyce went home for the weekend).

I think it's interesting though, on that "meeting new people" note: Well, firstly, I'm proud to say that I appear to be approachable! I love it when people come up to me and ask for directions. It means I look like I know what I'm doing and where I'm going, but also that I'm not so arrogant that they feel uncomfortable to ask for help from me.

I've had four or five people in the last week ask me how to get somewhere. They are usually shy-type girls.

But also, it would appear that the only people who are introducing themselves to me (with the exception of the InterVarsity girls and people at info booths for clubs) are guys! What? That's weird and I am not used to that. I think I've met about 6 guys already. I only really remember two because they had to do with the bike situation and they were the most recent, but why are only guys introducing themselves? I need girlfriends. Oh well.

Bye for now. Gotta go study up for Edward II callbacks! Woot! I mean, "Zot!" I mean... I don't care.

I got called back for Isabella and the King's Neice for Edward II, which is apparently a big deal.

And I have to find a new phone because the inside to my EnV3 died or something cause it only shows blackness! And I need a new bike, but there's NOTHING in Irvine! All the Targets and Walmarts and Costcos are in other towns, too far for me to bike without knowing I will get terribly lost.

Going now. Maybe to Albertson's to get bagels, lox, and cream cheese. That sounds good. Food...