As it turned out though, we pulled into the station at exactly 2:00 PM. I got my suitcase and headed out front. No Para-Transit bus. No problem, and in fact I was relieved that they weren't there and waiting for me. I called Bruce and we were talking. At 2:14, (according to Bruce), the bus pulled up. By this time I was glad to get inside, sit down, and relax. We made a stop to pick up one other person and then the driver brought me home. I learned a valuable lesson that day though. My apartment building is part of a complex, which in itself is new to me. Apparently, all the buildings look alike. The driver asked me a few questions about the building, and I just didn't have the answers for him. So, he dropped me off at what he thought was the right building. I went in. There was a man there who was being really helpful and was holding doors for me and things since I had my suitcase, so I didn't have the opportunity to try my key until I got to my door. The building felt wrong, and it just didn't have the smell that I've become used to smelling; food things, so on and so forth, but the layout was the same, so I figured that maybe it was just a change. The first thing I noticed was that there were things taped to my door. I found that odd, but figured that maybe the kids across the hall had decided to decorate my door for the holidays. I put my key in the door and turned it. Nothing. I realized then that I was most definitely not in the correct building. I went back outside, hoping that maybe the Para-Transit bus was still there, but no, he'd gone on to his next stop. So here I was, wearing a huge backpack, hauling a suitcase, and I had absolutely no idea where I even was. I placed a call to Para-Transit and was put on hold. While I was waiting though, I heard what I thought was the Para-Transit bus engine. A couple of seconds later, the bus pulled up in front of me and the driver came out. He said that after dropping me off, he'd seen the correct building and realized that he'd made a mistake. Needless to say, I was glad that he'd come back. I asked him then what kind of signage was actually on my building since all these places appear to be the same, and he gave me information that I'll remember for the duration of my stay here. SMILE! When he dropped me off this time he walked with me to the door and made sure that my building key actually worked before leaving. When I walked in and down the ramp, the familiar odors of apartment living that I've gotten used to here hit me, and I knew that this time I was home. The guy made a mistake, but he corrected it, and was extremely apologetic about it. I've had very good service with the Para-Transit here so far, and the fact that this even happened shows to me that the drivers do try to make sure that they do the right thing. The other thing that it really told me though is that I could really use some kind of GPS solution again now that the program I was running on my cell phone timed out on me. SMILE!!!!
But, I'm home, it's all good, and nothing bad happened. And, now I know how to direct people to my building.
