Numbers are so important – even slight differences can have disastrous results. As a computer programmer I know how pedantic computers can be about little things like numbers. Even a slight change in a phone number can result in some very confused callees. This week I found the same thing with bus routes.
It could be because I’d had very little sleep the night before or that I’d been distracted at a crucial time but the result was I arrived at the end of the line in a cul-de-sac in an obscure Sydney suburb without a way out.
I’d been to a breakfast event in Sydney and then a meeting with a lady with whom I’d done some database work for a large corporation. She was leaving after 27 years in the one company (having been retrenched) and we were catching up for a farewell coffee.
Usually, I get the bus from Wynyard but since I was at Circular Quay (a significant walk to Wynyard) I decided to be adventurous and get a bus from the Quay to North Ryde (which is our current home).
After checking my TripviewLite phone app for what bus to get I found the 506 stopped almost at the door (well one street away anyhow) for home. Perfect! Also, the app told me when the next one was due and I had a wait of about 10 minutes.
While I was standing there, a lady came to me asking for directions about which bus she needed to get. Being the helpful type, rather than send her to the enquiry booth, which was just behind us, I pulled out my trusty app and found the list of buses which would work for her.
While I was doing this she kept telling me not to miss my bus.
Once I’d told her what she was after I looked up to see what I thought was my bus just pulling up. Unfortunately, while the bus I was waiting for was a 506 this one was a 504. As you can see, there’s really not a lot of difference and so easy to get confused – well it was for me anyway.
I boarded the bus and, as the journey was due to be 56 minutes, settled down to making ‘important’ phone calls, sending messages and emails. I did notice that the bus was travelling the route I expected and so was happy I’d be home soon. WRONG!!
Being preoccupied with ‘important’ work I failed to notice that the bus was no longer travelling my expected route and didn’t catch on until the bus emptied and the driver announced it was the end of the line.
I then found I was somewhere that, even though I’ve lived in Sydney for a very large part of my life, I had no idea where it was. I could see some familiar landmarks in the distance so I knew I was about a half hour drive from home.
Going through the list of possible actions gave me the options of: finding a new bus or ferry to continue in the direction I wanted to go; waiting for the bus I’d just got off to go back into the city and start again; call Danita and see if she’d be available to go for a little drive.
Option 1 wasn’t available and the prospect of the time spent to return and start again seemed incredibly wasteful so I decided to try option 3 – call Danita to save me.
Unfortunately, she was very busy and after calling her phone a number of times and always getting her voicemail, I sent an sms asking her to call me, which she soon did.
After explaining my predicament (in a suitably humiliated and self deprecating way) she agreed to collect me but asked if I could start to walk to a nearby main road. Thankfully, my phone has GPS and navigation and so I headed off. Due to the fact I was travelling at walking speed and the GPS expected me to be driving it would repeatedly and persistently tell me (in a particularly nagging way it seemed) to turn left, take the next exit or whatever.
The upshot was, by the time Danita reached the place I was, it had been a very big walk. Combined with my walk across the city, from the breakfast to my meeting, I’d done quite a bit of exercise that day. Perhaps all this was my karma for not wanting to walk from Circular Quay to Wynyard in the first place?? Anyway, I figure I’ve now got exercise credits to last me at least a couple of weeks or maybe a couple of days. (And, as Danita has pointed out – I owe her big time!)
So, the key to all this is – don’t get distracted while waiting for a bus when there are multiple options of which to get AND make sure the number on the front of the bus is the one which matches where you actually want to go.
So, until the next adventure – have a wonderful week.