Raging Out At... Bus Driver Trickery

It has been brought to my attention that the shady renegade vans I take into Manhattan daily are run by thieves and liars. And no, I did not see that coming.

Every morning, I take the renegade van into work instead of taking NJ Transit. The reason for this is three-fold. One, I was once hit by a NJ Transit bus, so screw them, am I right? Two, it costs two dollars with a ticket instead of an unreasonable 4 dollars. And third and most importantly, I am HELPING the economy by providing income to something other than the monopoly that is NJ Transit. Ok, it's mostly the saving 2 dollars thing, but still. I'm a patriot if you think about it.

There is actually a method to these renegade vans. I'm not just hopping on a random piece of public transportation hoping to get where I'm going. I know better than that. (I could end up on this random Peanuts-decor rape van I saw over the weekend. ) Now I am aware there's a language barrier between the driver and I most of the time but I follow the rules, people. Not always my strong suit.

Actual rape van spotted on Manhattan street

All the vans cost 2.50 without a ticket, but if they go to Gate 51 you can buy a ticket for 2 dollars. That dollar a day it saves me is totally helping me save up to buy this. Most of the vans that don't go to Gate 51 will still accept your ticket as they're always desperate to fill up with passengers. Being the responsible consumer that I am, I always ask the drivers before getting on the van. And they ALWAYS say yes.

And then you arrive in Manhattan where the drivers turn into said thieves and liars. This morning (not for the first time, may I add), I hand the driver my discount ticket only to have him inform me that he does not accept tickets and I need to hand over 2.50. Hell no, dude. We already had this discussion. It's practically like an iron-clad written contract. I'm not getting swindled out of 50 cents. You don't get to just corner me and humiliate me in front of the other passengers. I'm not easily embarrassed and plus, who carries cash anymore, anyway?

So instead of starting my day peacefully, it inevitably turns into warfare and I'm not backing down. He threatens to take me all the way back to New Jersey and I tell him to go right ahead. If he does that, he's only wasting space that could be taken up with another passenger he can hoodwink out of their 50 cents. Go right ahead, dude. I don't even want to go to work anyway.

Ultimately, I win the battle but I'm still losing the war. I'm up my 50 cents until this evening's humiliation rolls around. It's only a matter of time before every NJ resident regards me as the miser.

grievance: coffee cups in the media

I do understand how strange a title this is for a grievance and that it's not altogether clear what the hell I mean by this.  Every time you see someone with a cup of coffee, or tea, or what-have-you, depicted in the media... ANY television show, movie, etc., anything which is scripted, for some reason, they don't think to actually put some kind of fluid into the cup.

This may seem like a silly grievance but it really, really bothers me.  And it's just SO ubiquitous that I'm enraged pretty much every time I watch TV or see a movie.  The reason it just boggles my mind so violently is: SO much time is spent on filming shit.  And there are props PEOPLE.  And a lot of time, I'm sure, it's difficult to get exactly the precise prop which is desired.  So to have it all fucked up over the non-putting of fluid into a coffee cup or mug is just so egregiously offensive.

The reason is because a cup filled with coffee moves on a different trajectory than one which is empty.  Try it yourself.  I'm sure you'll see.  So, people go into coffee shops and buy coffee and then whisk about with this "full," brand new cup of coffee.  And even drink from it.  I'm fine with the non-drinkage.  It's not spatially upsetting.

How do movies like Avatar exist with such precision and detail and then eff it up because they didn't put any water into the damned cup?  Pisses me off royally.  This one especially since I find Anne Hathaway so damned irritating:

Who holds coffee like that?  Not this broad:

-moon

grievance: mercury in retrograde

I really don't know too much about astrology.  I really don't.  But I kind of like it.  I suppose because it gives some purported larger meaning to things which happen to us.  It's a little too flimsy a concept into which for me to buy, however the fact that there are real forces associated with planetary phases (most notably the tides which correspond with phases of our moon) makes me kind of feel "okay" with attributing things which happen in the lives of us insignificant peons on earth to this.  But apparently Mercury is in something called "retrograde":

So, now I shall address this: the strangest damned stuff has been happening to me.  ALL of it has been incredibly GOOD, save for one unexpected, mild disappointment, so it's not as if I am complaining.  (An aside: what the hell is "save for"?  From where did that "idiom" (I'm not sure it's really an "idiom," per se) come?  As my high school Latin teacher used to say... Thus I digress.)

The point is that I'm just a little baffled by all of this stuff going on.  I've become reacquainted with people whom I'd entirely written off... I've had unexpectedly wonderful things happen career-wise... and I've had people start acting in ways altogether antithetical to the ways in which they'd acted a mere few weeks ago.  While, again, these have all been pretty amazing things... the reason this is a "grievance" is because it makes me feel wholly helpless as to my life's path, because it's not like I didn't deserve these good things (some more than others), but the simultaneity of it all just... well... as eloquent as it is... FREAKS me out.

Stop moving weirdly, Mercury.  Thanks.

-moon

P.S. It's been so long since either stars or I blogged that, happening upon all of the "labels" we have for our blogs, I kind of want to label this one with "being taped to a couch" because I'd forgotten how funny it is.  I think I will.  Eat it, logic.

grievance: technology making me suck at blogging

I've been looking through my Twitter and Facebook accounts recently because I need to start being a better human being with regard to splaying my life all over the internet, when it dawned upon me that often times, many of my status updates and tweets are mini grievances.  One-line grievances.  With no witty, insane digressions.  Just my being angry.  And I realized that I've become lazy and no longer have the energy to even BLOG.  Ridiculous.  So, I am vowing to get back to blogging, especially because it has been vocalized to me by some people that they miss the blogs.  

Today: What the HELL is George Bush DOING while Obama is speaking? He's like swaying and, I think, trying to get closer to the spotlight. And they just zoomed in ON Obama, I can only surmise, because Bush was being a legit creepo!
1/13/10: 24 Degrees AGAIN?!?!?!  Forget this.  I can't even.  I'm bring my Snuggie to work today.  Hideous
12/23/09: New Rule: You're not allowed to say my BlackBerry sucks & your iPhone rules if during that text ya make 5 typos.  Seriously ppl GET KEYBOARDS
12/23/09: Eek.  I thought that I'd want Zach Braff to be on Scrubs forever, but yeah, no.  It's time ta go.
12/16/09: Walking behind a woman smoking a clove cigarette.  WHO smokes cloves?!?!?!  Ah, smells like being 13.
12/14/09: The elevators in my office building are SO whack.  A. They take forever and B. At any given moment, I could fall to my death.  Bad news.
12/12/09: The show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" is SOOO whacked!!!  How do you NOT know you're friggin' pregnant?!?!
12/9/09: Crap!  How do I look decent for holiday parties tonight with what's going on outside?!?!
12/2/09: Disgusted by the 24-38 vote against Marriage Equality.  Only 24 voted for?  What is this State?
11/29/09: Ugh hate waking up to a missed call at 3am without a voicemail from a number I don't know.  Creepy.  Like, what, I can't call back NOW?
11/28/09: "The City" is legit the worst show on television.  I took a hiatus from it about a year ago and just tried to watch it.  Not even watchable!
11/26/09: Why are cheerleaders dancing to Chris Daughtry?  It looks weird as fuck.
11/16/09: "Ftw" makes me rageful.  Sorry.
11/14/09: Ok why does my MacBook tell me to update iTunes like every 4 days?  Enough, dude.
11/11/09: In case anyone was wondering... Strep Throat can still bite me.
11/10/09: Does anyone else think it's weird that the twins on Girls Next Door wear the same thing every single day and sleep in a bed together?
11/9/09: Why does #gossipgirl think it's okay to portray a 26 year old as having run for and won a Congressional seat? ...in Manhattan?  Yeah.  Ok.
11/9/09: Why does fkn Facebook keep telling me to "Make Facebook better for him/her!"???  It's not my fkn problem he/she can't keep up on his/her shit
11/6/09: I hate unprofessionalism.
11/3/09: I do NOT understand Stuyvesant Town.  Neither does Tim.  Seriously.  It makes zero sense.
10/29/09: I really can't stand it when I'm standing by the elevator waiting and someone comes up and hits the button.  Do you think I didn't already?!
10/11/09: Pee Wee's Big Adventure is insane.  And kindof frightening as an adult.  Bro is WAY too into his bike.
10/4/09: Life keeps sucking.  Just walked into the kitchen to find 2 inches of soap and water covering the entire floor.
9/29/09: Apparently my hair "looks good like this."  I know this because my doorman decided to let me know.  Awkward.
9/28/09: Walking with my blazer over my head 'cause of rain and a small male child on the street who was doing PIROUETTES just said "hey Lady Ga Ga."
9/22/09: Just saw a young girl on 1st ave and 14th street wearing a bathingsuit.  On September 22nd.  EVERYTHING fail.
9/20/09: As much as I separate love both Blondie and the French language... Lordy loo.  Debbie Harry's French in "Sunday Girl" is trash.  Sorry.
8/30/09: Damn you, Time Warner Cable.  True Blood is pixelated and un-watchably recorded.  Suck it.  I hate you.
8/24/09: What happens when you put "irrespective" and "regardless" together?  NOT A WORD.  See also: "irregardless."  Ugh.
8/19/09: I abhor people who whistle.  I have bitter, longstanding enmity for them.  Gross.

I'll post some more later.

-moon