Bus Frustrations: Last month when I went to my job interview, I boarded a 461 bus at Broadway heading into the city. I figured I’d have to walk the several blocks from Town Hall where it terminates over to William Street. Instead the bus driver informed me that the 461 now turned up Park Street to the Domain, meaning it stopped right by the new place! This was great news. I verified on the fancy new printed bus stop sign that the 461, 480, and 483 all used the new route. On my first official workday two weeks ago, I happily flagged down a 461 only to notice “Town Hall” still listed as its destination. Hm. It terminated there and I had to walk. The next day was the same. I went to the website to see what the heck had happened, only to find this cryptic notice that the new route has been suspended “indefinitely.” Last week I finally got mad enough to send them a complaint.

“Can you please advise WHY the 461, 480, and 483 buses no longer travel on to the Domain? … I looked it up on the site and I can see the notice. Are there any plans to reinstate the route? Why extend it for such a short period of time, print it on all the bus stop signage, and then stop service??”

I finally got a reply back today.

“These services have been temporarily curtailed from going to THE DOMAIN due to a safety concern by the bus union. They will terminate at Town /Hall. Sydney Buses is attempting to resolve this matter as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

Interestingly, this all but confirms the rumour I heard over the weekend that the drivers were complaining about junkies hassling them on College Street. But hello, all the Eastern Suburbs buses go that way too! Why the sudden safety concerns for drivers just on these three lines? It’s really annoying.

Whoa. AskMeFi goes Hitchcock! “Is my husband trying to kill me?” She certainly makes a pretty convincing case for it. Of course, hundreds of people are chiming in that she’s probably just paranoid and should see a therapist, which is good advice. But man, yeah, if the Snook suddenly suggested we get large life insurance policies and then go sailing and hiking in sparsely populated areas, I’d be creeped out too!

Moorgate Street Macadamia!
Last Monday I headed over to Michael‘s to pick up our veggie box and we got to talking about the neighborhood’s “food for the future” plan. There are lots of new fruit trees and vegetables and herbs over near Myrtle Street, but so far none over on Moorgate. Michael mentioned that he still had a macadamia tree that needed planting, and did I know of a spot? That night I sent him a photo of this bare spot in the sidewalk, where a previous tree had been damaged and dug up by the Council. “Perfect,” he said. “Come by Friday night and we’ll plant your tree.” So we did! He and I set to work with shovels and a pickaxe. (“Wow, so the Council gives you permission to bust up the footpath if necessary?” “Um… Let’s just be quick about it.”) We actually met like half a dozen neighbours in the course of the planting, all of whom thought it was a great idea and pledged to help with watering. Michael let me do the honours of actually planting the macadamia. He suggested we should add some more plants and perhaps a sign to make it look planned and cared for, which should hopefully reduce the chance of somebody vandalizing it. Today, the Snook and I added mint and parsley near the base along with a sign that I painted. (“FREE HERBS – Please leave some 4 others… and help water!”) I think it looks really cute! I hope the rest of the street likes it.

Hey, remember the murderer that nearly ruined our trip to Dubbo three years ago? He’s still on the lam and has been breaking into people’s houses to steal equipment! CREEPY.

Thanks to the Guitar Hero: World Tour community website, you can now see stats for our band, Prof Death n Dr Jonz. (Just click on the band tab.)

Letterman’s Top 10 George W. Bush Moments. Only five more days… (Link courtesy of Daring Fireball.)