I'm afraid my life this week has revolved around public transport and all of its glory, or perhaps little of it's glory. Most eventful was yesterday: the ticket machine at my stop was not working, so, having no cash, I had to hop on ticketless. Having already been caught once without a ticket, I was a bit nervous (I really embrace 'straighten up and fly right' when not doing so costs me money!)....and sure enough, the ticket miesters showed up before I arrived to Geneva. Despite my protests, I was still issued a ticket - which made me madder than a hornet. They told me that I just didn't know how to buy a ticket - so I made them go with me to a ticket machine so they could see me exhibit my ticket-buying intelligence. Sure enough, I would have graduated from that school - but the ticket was already issued, and they went on their way to ruin someone else's life.

The nice thing about life in Geneva is that schedules are, shall we say, flexible. I could have rushed off to be on time to work (heck, it was already 9 am), but I could not let the indignation go, and loving the pace of this life, decided, I didn't have to! After waiting on queue in two offices (don't I already sound Euro-ish?), I found the right office to talk to. Insisting they check the broken machine was no easy feat, but in the end, they did, and I achieved the impossible in Switzerland - they voided my ticket!

A joyful side note: the process of voiding the ticket (which is issued via a high tech, hand held machine) was a bit fascinating. With a computer right there on the counter, the agent wrote out the excuse letter in long hand on a sheet of paper, and then when it couldn't get any richer, opened a drawer that revealed a dozen different ink stamps, which he carefully tested (yes, it still stamps after 40 years!), adjusted the date, tested again (stiiiilll works!), and then stamped my letter. Then signed the stamp. And let it dry. I breathed a sigh of relief when he used an actual copy machine to make a duplicate. But, how cute!

Arriving triumphant to work over an hour later, I learned that none of the 7 or 8 people I told my story to had ever had a ticket voided! Even more thrilling!

On the way home, I received Swiss payback. Completely immersed in my iPod and magazine, I looked up after a longer-than-usual stop to realize, quite literally, I was the only person on the bus. Which was odd. The driver was making some announcement in French, but I always ignore those - apparently, he was telling everyone to get off the bus. I contemplated just staying there to see what would happen - would he get up to usher me off? Would he take me to me desired stop? Would I end up in the bus graveyard? - I begrudgingly got off the bus. And realized, I had no idea where I was. Garminless, mapless, and Frenchless, I decided the best strategy was to walk to the next bus stop, and continue to the train terminal. Unfortunately, the bus I chose went somewhere completely different. After 4 stops, I bailed off and tried to get my bearings - which wasn't so bad, but still it was an interesting 30 minutes or so of 'exploring the city' before I found the train station.

All told, it was almost 3 hours of 'commuting' that day...needless to say, Jay chaffeured me the next day.