That's a Lot of Friendship

With a subtitle of: Sleeping Sitting Up 😊

After an accidental small "win" during my next-to-last overnight Greyhound Bus trip [read: sleeping time] where, because I happened to be sitting in one of the last seats toward the bus's back end, I sprawled out over both of the seats on the side of the bus where I'd been sitting. I curled up &, since I had this packed in my carry-on, & therefore accessible & out, I had it wrapping me up - for an added bonus, I also tossed it over my face & head enough to block out the lighting the bus offered, especially when it would stop for its few short breaks.

I learned, from a nearby passenger, that whenever our bus would reach a stop at a station & pick up one or two more passengers, & they'd walk all the way to the back of the bus & see me (& there was one other passenger who'd done the same as I did right behind me), they'd turn & pick to sit with the next passenger over who didn't have someone sitting immediately next to them; essentially the two of us sleeping curled up, taking up two seats each, were left alone to continue our slumber.

This was an immense win & total turn of events from my near frozen-first-night post (click here). To top it off, the following night, when I realized the final overnight bus ride would be a full load of passengers, & that there'd be no way to replicate my previous night's curled-up-slumber.

A gregarious one, I chatted with a few passengers also waiting for their bus while at the final station as there was a nearly forty-five minute layover. In doing so, a highly anxious female inquired with me about her ticket. She was certain that her next bus, because her next layover was one in the same with my final destination, that we would be riding on the same bus. I couldn't confirm that & highly encouraged her to speak with a station associate. Somewhere in that process another passenger got her even more anxious.

Then I checked with a station associate in order to confirm in exactly which boarding line I belonged. I was so excited to board, I at first didn't get into the correct line. 😏😅 Whoops! 😂 I then got myself into the appropriate single-file line & happened to find myself behind a young man headed back to Ireland who'd spent the past three months as the oldest counselor (& definitely the tallest too! He was super tall!) at a kids camp. He'd already aged out as a counselor, yet since it was the final summer he had, post college graduation, he'd been awarded one more final opportunity to be with the camp's kids.

He introduced me to the line-up of these, handmade from these he wore on his lower left forearm. He knew the name of each child who'd made him one, & which one they'd made; he knew each child's story. It was amazing also, because obviously he could've told me anything, made up a likely name for each bracelets creator; he could've even actually just bought these, yet he didn't.

It was genuinely apparent that he did not. That each was made through a process where he made them one, & in turn, they made him one. They may have even picked out the colors & patterns they'd use together. Just like a snowflake, no two could stories, or children, could possibly be the same.

He'd genuinely loved his role as camp counselor & expressed sincere gratitude for spending the additional, final Summertime with his given role.

Sometime after we'd chatted about the purpose of our journeys, we dozed off. Well, he managed to. As tall as he was, over in the window seat, he managed to slouch in such a way that he was out rather quickly. I, on the other hand, overall enjoying the freedom the aisle seat can provide, also had to concern myself with not falling off the seat. That's because the seat my new Irish friend had selected, the one where I'd followed him feeling confident that in sitting next to him, I'd be with good company, happened to be a seat where the aisle's armrest simply wasn't there. So I was comfortable, I just had to pay a different kind of attention whenever the bus moved in certain ways.

After struggling for well over an hour, possibly much longer, I found myself dozing out enough by process of leaning over, my hands & forearms braced on my quadriceps & my head using my hands & forearms as a pillow. It sounds weird, yet it actually worked! And that truly is the most important part!

When we'd woken up due to the driver announcing our arrival in the town (which was my final destination) my Irish seat partner talked about how, when he'd woken for a moment & seen how I was sleeping, he was surprised. I told him I felt the same about how he'd managed to sleep, & so well, being so lengthy & next to the window.

Alas, I was so excited to finally be in my town-of-great-familiarity that I didn't even need help yanking my carry-on from the overhead (the handle on it tended to continue getting caught & be difficult to budge).

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While Sitting Back & Relaxing

Yesterday I wrote about these & these. It was my original intention to focus on the brilliance of the former. Well, I technically did do that. And, at the same time, I realized hours later that I didn't address one of the bigger "awesome" qualities about it & why I intentionally had it "packed" & at easy access.

I used quotes because it essentially wasn't packed. Being a jumbo clip (versus a medium-sized clip or the smaller ones typically used just for hair deco - envision these tiny things) it fits adequately around the strap on my shoulder bag, so it was with me, just not necessarily packed. 😂

One detriment to using any of these, especially where they sit directly on the backside of the scalp, is that the wearer is essentially unable to relax their head; they cannot "lean back" or sit straight up (maintain good posture) in a high-back chair while wearing one of these. These yes, these no. 😂

However, with the convenience of being able to twist my long, thick, wavy curly hair up & put it in place in one, quick, flawless gesture, as well as squeeze the claw's grip at any moment, allowing the same mane to fall back down against the nape of my neck & beyond, & still look just the same! Very nice! & Sharp too!!

That's the brilliance & top selling point for this. After all, when you're riding a Greyhound Bus (or whatever similar activity there may be) & wish to look presentable, being able to quickly & flawlessly switch between a comfortable "up-do" & leaning one's head back against a transportation seat's headrest - whenever - is a rather welcome option.

This also goes back to why these weren't necessarily the most adequate for this task. This is why I mentioned the "crimping" they cause at the folds of the hair (especially when sweat's built up & there's more of the hair's natural oil within the strands than might otherwise be the case [i.e., when one's been traveling on a Greyhound for 36+ hours or when one's recently been running or been otherwise extensively active]).

They are great & I did find my way to them by happenchance. I essentially needed a hair tie to pull back a ponytail, where one of these wouldn't do; it's not big & expansive enough for hair as long & thick as mine (with all of the excessive winding around mine tends to need in order to be completely up & out of the way), so I reached for one of these which I'd had on hand for whenever I might want to keep the wisps of hair from falling across my head's frontal section (which I've never actually done).

Instead rather, I, not doubled it over, I "tripled" it over &, because of it's -particular elasticity (it is an elastic headband 😄), it could wrap around & over, with great success & without concern of excessive wear & tear or damage (like these would). Essentially the added thickness of this elastic seems to take away from it's long-term general durability & therefore, also the effectiveness & longevity in use, in comparison to these.

It's the plastic of the claw which makes it so difficult to wear while allowing one's neck to relax. It's not being able to pull this flawlessly out of the long locks it's wrapping up & has the ends tucked within gracefully & eloquently leaving the wearer looking simultaneously presentable.

Then again, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, one's presentation is of personal opinion as well as a relative one. 😏😉😊

So sit back & relax (to the tip-top of your head) & watch the butterflies fly on by. 😏😄

Disclaimer: The person's head in the image in the top left is not mine, although we are similar as brunettes.

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Homeward Bound

"Homeward bound" took another day due to the way I'd initially set up my "round trip" options. Originally I wasn't too thrilled that I'd have to wait around that one more day; I really just wanted to "get back" already. At the same time, not having to drive back, eat, instantly pack up, sleep, & finish the final threads of packing all within a matter of less than 24 hours, did work out well.

The bus ride back would begin around the start of a typical work day no matter, so unless that would've been different & I'd have been able to board the bus the afternoon or the evening prior, I ultimately had the best set up I could get.

As I forced all of my belongings to fit in their appropriate pockets I recalled the lessons I'd learned while on the initial bus ride. I did not pack my only long-sleeve shirt into my checked luggage bag; that was definitely a lesson I'd learned the hard way! 😂 I would be guaranteed a better bus's night's sleep simply by not having to fold my lower arms into the sleeves of a short-sleeve cotton t-shirt for basic (I use that term rather loosely here) comfort as I sat completely upright not on the aisle, instead next to the window constantly considering how cold I was & how it appeared that essentially everyone else on the bus was getting their REM's.

I also made sure to pack the few remaining snacks I had, a few of these, & a few of these (they are both organic 😏), in the upper portion of my carry-on luggage bag. I'd learned on the way to the marathons that sucking it up & spending a dollar or two on a few bites of protein would go a lot farther for me than keeping around "continental" grubbing options. Yes, they do work; no, they do not sustain. Not for this particular sort of purpose anyway. 😋


One winning decision I'd made for the initial bus ride that "really won" so much so that I never considered not doing it on the return trip: this. Yep. I typically have one of these around, especially when I will be running & this (because it holds a lot & my hair is that long). More importantly, however, a large "perk" is that in winding & twisting my hair around & then up in its grasp, if anything I'm enhancing my hair's wavy curl.

Whenever I just use this it works. I mean, it does hold my hair back, & very well at that. In fact, it's essentially a more secure hold than this! However, it tends to crimp. And to leave a line. Possibly one that's rather faint. It's still a "line", or a fold in my otherwise simply wavy curly head of hair. It's "sporty", which is why it does work so well while I'm running. (Cause it especially wouldn't make much sense to wear this while I ran a marathon!)

In wearing this, rather than one of these, I've accidentally fallen on a really great idea because it can wrap around for as many repetitions as needed; it won't stretch out & break, at least not nearly as quickly, as these will. So wearing this while I'm running is always a positive solution.

Wearing this while I'm traveling or interested in looking, well, a bit nicer works for the win because I can simply "unclip it", or, I suppose, "ungrip it" just the same. My hair can then fall right back down & into place hanging far over one or both shoulders. And instantly it's essentially impossible to recognize that the this had even just been in my hair! 😃

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Personalizing The Backend

For quite some time now I've been interested in a personalized license plate. I've gone so far as to visit the .gov website & see what fun I could make of my hobbies or other fun phrases & words in order to have something other than the drab randomness of that which had been randomly assigned to a vehicle my parents' had years ago.

To explain that further, once I was able to drive & on my way with all of the independence that goes along with it, the vehicle which I drove happened to essentially be a third vehicle in my parents' household. As the younger sibling, no one else needed a spare vehicle once I had graduated from college & therefore that third household vehicle remained mine. I ultimately turned it in for what became what has been my only "brand new vehicle" purchase (rather than all of the rest which are "new to me, certified used vehicle" purchases), & with that simply transferring the already existing license plate.

It's an obvious old plate as it looks to have been through too much (& trust me, I do no off-roading 😂). The decrepitness of my vehicle's plate in no way relates to my long-standing desire to personalize a plate for my vehicle's back bumper; it's mere coincidence!

The first time I saw a plate which read "I Pass Gas" I burst out laughing. I was being driven home by a former boss from a work party & that boss happened to once-upon-a-time live on the same street where I was then living. We were about a mile's drive from my house, at a somewhat major intersection & this vehicle was turning away from the same street where we remained. I couldn't see it anymore as I chuckled. My at-the-time boss laughed at it too, adding that he'd seen it before & the state just south of us as where it originated.

I've since learned that, as long as no one in your same state has selected your preferred personalization (& at this point, there's someone in this state that does have "I Pass Gas" on their plate as well), & as long as it's not "inappropriate" (I'm guessing slang & vulgar are what they rule out), then there's a good chance that - for under $100, you can have "his" & "her" initials donning your vehicle's backside! Just what you've always wanted, eh?

Definitely not me!!! 😄 In fact, I can't figure out why anyone would wish to have ALF CMF (so I just named this fictional couple Albert Lee Fisher & Carol Marie Fisher 😎). I mean no disrespect. I also don't wish to have my last name on a front door mat, yard sign, or my mailbox. And on, I believe, just about any license plate, it'd be completely obvious that it's his initials preceding her initials. Not that I'm a feminist (I'll let you decide your thoughts on that from reading any of these posts), however it's an unqualified standard.

On a lighter note, a fun one that I remember seeing in a church parking lot I frequented: ANT EEK (Get it?: Antique) If memory serves, that vehicle belonged to an older woman who epitomized volunteering & supported all that made that church, Church. She essentially lived at church & no one actually knew where her home address was to be. In fact, I wrote her a "Thank you" card for her support of something for myself & a small group. A friend working in the church's office ultimately dropped it in her mail slot located there.


In any case I've played around with plenty of options, yet most of what I come up with is too long or simply doesn't make enough sense in any shortened form for the seven or eight characters I'm able to shift around. Combining running & yarn has been a top option, yet YARN RUN has a much different meaning than what I'd be intending. 😂😏😄


In this great populated city where I live sports are a dear love. I've never been one to follow the sports. I joke that if I find myself with insomnia, then a sporting event would be a grand way to relieve my ail. 💤

At the same time, & I suppose gratefully so, I'm in the general minority on this quality. Most everyone around is proud to have something like this. Probably because it costs so much less & is much more available than personalizing a license plate! Especially with only so many possible alterations to the team names & colors before it would just appear, well, eye-roll-worthy. Besides, & here I am stereotyping my life-long hometown, I'm not sure most of the die-hard-ers would figure out to make use of the .gov site & step up their back bumper that extra bit.

 So I've had this, which is a magnet & is one step closer 😂 in my humble opinion, to personalizing my back bumper. While completing my double marathons (Saturday, 26.2, Sunday, 26.2) mid-Spring, I picked up another magnet in a goodie-bag, one like this (just 26.2), so I added it opposite my original magnet. Then I had a "light bulb moment" & realized that maybe I should a relatable plate frame to balance out these magnets - although in much the same light as, well, "unconfusing the 'huh?' of 'Yarn Run'." And so I found this.

Now yes there is a strong chance that, while in wait for "just the right letters" to creatively (no, Creative is also already taken too 😂) sparkle in my mind, I may, I just might, contently pacify myself with this, or something quite like it. And it's blue too. 😍

It's not just the old folks who concern themselves with where they've parked in the shopping center's lot; I've all these "labels" donning my backend & I've a chain of crocheting wrapped around my rear view mirror to clue me in from that end. And someday a personalized plate will be mine entitling me to skim back bumpers in a whole new way (even though I prefer everything about a "pull through"! 😜

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Wrist Gizmo

This device has increased my confidence. It's encouraged me & provided me with much needed security. Looking back at these first two sentences I write as if it's a love story & that I've fallen in love with this inanimate object I fasten atop my wrist while I run. --So maybe I have. 😏

Being totally honest, I'd gotten rather used to locating places where I could just loop rounds & knew that the distance was roughly a mile...in so that I'd mentally keep track of "approximately" how far I'd run & be content with that accrued mileage.

With this I find myself concentrating on other things. Like the important things. Such as pumping my arms (which is easier since I include strength training nearly daily), good runner's form, realizing that that the runner or runners who've just passed me - that I could pace with them for a bit, that when the mile marker on this sounds off, I could glance at it for the encouragement...That, if I'm running laps around a building, lake, parking lot, track, etc., rather than nauseate myself actually keeping track of how many laps I've run around [insert random particular location here] (which, because I've managed to lose count in the past 😓), I can just glance down to my wrist & quickly learn of my progress.

Or...if I'm itching to feel good about my progress, & I'm nearing, say a five mile mark, I can glance down & see if I'm at about the time I'd think I should be &, if my body [read: my mind] is in the mood for it, adjust myself accordingly & maybe accomplish something great & new in the remaining short mileage until I do. Otherwise, glancing down at my wrist would only prove counterproductive in the case that I'd be hoping to learn that I'd not been running with such poor form & pace, only to find out that the cement feet & general sluggish-ness I'd feel would've been all too true & then I'd be getting myself down & out about it.

I'd had another wrist tracker, & with most things in life more recently I've learned something that's of reasonable quality is sometimes worth the little extra effort. Besides, when I'd attained the original tracker, I simply could not afford the better ones, so I found myself bidding online for one. What I'd won was a tracker that didn't sit properly in its charger - as in, it needed to be held in place, or pushed down into place atop the metal disc to continue charging. I'd find random things that would sit consistently without gravity getting in the way. Though on that tracker there wasn't a GPS & the length of my stride was considered a factor (& my stride length is anything but consistent).

I'm not of the faster runners in so that I particularly looked for a tracker which would have a longer time frame (definitely beyond six hours). I initially choose this eight hour tracker, it being advertised as a "small size" tracker, then changed to the ten hour tracker of the same design (just "larger") after being counseled on a social media platform that these tracker's do lose time & that "eight hours" won't be eight hours after a while.

I've been thrilled with my selection thus far (not even mentioning in this post each of the "bonuses" for which I particularly enjoy it) & as I'm completing my very first back-to-back marathons in less than a month now, I'll be wearing this (insert link again) around my wrist. And I'll have confidence. 😊 (Even though said confidence will be from reasonable preparation & not just from wearing a suitable tracker!)

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