Red-B Rider: Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? (1.15.10)

A quickie today because the baseball media guide deadline is quickly approaching and I’ve got some ground to make up. That’s part of the reason I had such a strong will to get to work this morning. See, I fell on the ice on my way to the bus stop. Part of me wanted, so badly, to lay there and let my warm coffee cover my body. A passing car even slowed down to make sure I got up – either that or they were snapping a picture with their camera phone. Please don’t forward that email to me today if that’s the case.

I’m glad I decided to get up and sweep the sludge from my dress pants. I made a new friend on the bus today, and ironically (only if you read my last post) he speaks French. His name is Celeste and he comes to the Red-B from Cameroon. I can check another country off on the Red-B world tour map, and I actually know where it is because I drew an outline of the African continent on the back of a receipt and had him draw in his country. I’m still amazed, and thankful, at how diverse and (NERD ALERT!) exciting my bus experience has been. We didn’t talk about much outside of Cameroon’s soccer team in the Africa Cup and some of the usual get to know you questions, but I’m sure I’ll have more to come.



I’ve figured out my French student connection’s name, Audoin (Ahh-Dwan or Odd-one, if you prefer my wife’s phonetic spelling). We’re now shaking hands and wishing each other good days after we hop off at our stop. Nothing exciting really, but again, I’m sure there will be more to come.

I missed Dallas a bit today. He used to drive the Red-B before getting bumped for the Yellow-G in December. He’s been my favorite driver thus far and we developed some kind of friendship over the last six or seven months. It was sort of like meeting for coffee every morning and talking about sports and life, only I was the one drinking coffee and he was driving a bus. I’m sure he was blaring Teddy Pendergrass today in honor of the music legend’s passing. Perhaps I’ll get up early next week or hop on the Yellow-G at lunch today to catch up.

I find it peculiar that I spend my days writing releases with AP-style leads, yet can’t get to a point quickly – if there even is one – in a blog post. I guess this is a slightly different animal and I have yet to tame the beast. Maybe I’ll begin including an AP-style lead in every post (buried today):

“NORMAL, Ill. – A Bloomington man fell on a patch of ice this morning but survived to encounter an international assemblage aboard the city bus while lamenting a neglected relationship and the death of Teddy Pendergrass.”

That’s enough musing for now. I encourage you to pursue excellence today…I’m trying. See you in Uptown Normal at :35 or :55 after the hour.