things have been status quo on the 13.  everyday people riding an everyday bus to everyday places.  i did learn this week, though, after i had pulled some ibuprofen out of my bag to take for my headache, that one can use pillfinder.com to id any pills one is given by anyone "because, well, ya just never know.  that could be cyanide you are taking."  when i mentioned that i had taken the pills straight from the bottle, i was told that we live in a socialist society (i was not sure how this had anything to do with anything) and i could be being fooled.  true, i thought, as i downed those oblong, bluish pills anyway.  there have been lots of drunk people on the bus lately; Hot Chocolate Lady being only one of them.  Blood in My Urine Guy! changed his seat to sit in front of me the other night.  Unfortunately, he did not look before he plopped down and so sat on the professional lady's laptop bag; something went CRUNCH.  she pulled it out from under him and strained to sit closer to the window.  he kept falling asleep on her and she kept nudging him off of her.  at one point she nudged him so severely that he almost fell off into the aisle, but he aroused and righted himself.  i was amazed when he woke up moments before his stop to reach around the back of the lady (she quickly sat up VERY straight) to pull the wire to signal the bus to stop.  bert told me ("i got one for ya!", he said when i got on at the end of my day) that he picked up a lady this week who boarded with a hockey bag and made her way to the back of the bus.  he noticed her talking to someone (although there was no one else on the bus at the time) as she read a book.  he had to stop for a wheel chair passenger and when he went back to the back door to let the person on, he noticed that the hockey bag lady was leaning over.  she had a papier mache head on the seat next to her.  when he asked her what it was?  she said it was her boyfriend.  a first for him.  today was the first time i experienced a bus breaking down.  we had to wait 20 minutes for a ripta mechanic to arrive to determine we needed another bus to pick us up.  more waiting.  as we picked up passengers on our way to providence they were pissed that they had had to wait for the bus.  no one seems to have any sympathy for a bus driver that has to deal with old buses.  i got to listen to a conversation about obamacare ("he is making us pay more for healthcare!") and gun control ("they can take guns away, but i can always get a gun.  you need one?")  yep.  everyday people riding an everyday bus to everyday places.