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Greyhound to Waco? Do I Dare?


phdhorn

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Have to make a long story short by not including the story.  Basically I have to get to Waco and pick up one of our cars at a service station - let's just say I'm paying for the sins of others.  It seems that it's a waste for the wife to drive me up there and back. So we looked into... god help me.. taking the bus from Austin to Waco, then Ubering over to the service station.  Bus is about $30, Uber is about $13.   I mean I could do it, but...

- Would I die of busAIDS or something?  I mean has anyone taken a bus in the modern era and lived to tell about it?
- Would that be like the most hideous fate to befall me?  Would I get shot and then eaten on the bus by a bunch of zombies?
- Is the poorest, trashiest slum of Rio de Janiero spotlessly sanitary compared to riding on a Grayhound?
- Should I kill myself after getting off just because I actually had to ride a bus to... Waco (another feather in my cap).

God, I'm so fucking depressed even writing this.  Does anyone have any experience on riding a bus?  I haven't done it in 30 years and it was not especially wonderful back then.
BTW, if any of you schmos are driving on Friday to DFW or any point up 35 starting with Waco and have room, let me know.  I'll buy a six-pack and give it to you.  

Gulp...

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I too a greyhound from Phoenix to Yuma a few months ago because I’m too lazy to drive and can’t fly in. It was fine; I plugged my iPad in to the onboard outlet and watched DTVnow the whole way.  The bus was cleaner than most planes I’ve been on recently. 

Edited by SDG
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It helps if you speak Spanish. Greyhound with an open seat next to you is legit. Greyhound with the plus sized guy that gets gas station hot food with condiments...not so much.

Man the fuck up. It's two hours of your life. Beats going to the Houston or Dallas hub I'm sure.

Last time I tried was Dallas to Wichita. Just thought I could relax, but it was when the Moore tornadoes blew through and a  hour drive turned into an 10 hour bus ride. I have remained done.

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Is there a MegaBus?  My wife took one to Houston for $1 rather than drive.  It was fine.

I've ridden Greyhound more than I care to admit, and it was never good nor bad.  It's a bus, full of people who take the bus, like you.  Ha.  Stopping for 10+ minutes at random gas stations, etc. was as annoying as any other aspect.

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From a $ standpoint it's gotta be cheaper to have her drive you, and the time commitment outside of rush hour ain't that big of a deal (see your post count). Ya it sucks but it's 2.5-3 hours out of yalls lives, you can jack off to hurricane porn the whole way there

and yes, I've ridden the express route mut a few times along with megabus, no real difference honestly. 

Edited by bluto
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1 hour ago, RiceOwl said:

I road greyhound Houston-Austin once, about 4 years ago. It was fine. Not great. Not bad. Mix of normal people who aren’t drive for whatever reason and some poors.

Nothing scary though. 

You went to Rice but don't know "road" vs. "rode"?

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Don't you have a friend that could pile you in his rig early Saturday morning, pound some coffee, stop for breakfast tacos and then road trip it up there?  Sounds like a golden opportunity for shenanigans.  You could end up in Coushetta on a bender and up $10K. Who knows?

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6 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

Amtrak.

 

Leaves Austin @ 0930, gets into McGregor (the L end of Wacko) around 2 hrs, 20 minutes later.  $ 19.00.  Use station codes "AUS" & "MCG" when booking.

 

$ 19.00. 

 

$ 17.50 if you're an old.

This would seem to give you a better story.  Tell people you took greyhound and they will react with fear.  Say you took Amtrak, and I bet they ask many questions.  

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Fun fact - they don't x-ray anything put on the bus and they don't check cargo any other way, so if you want to mule anything in the world from Austin to Waco, this is your chance.

Sure, take the bus, what's the worst thing that can happen...

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6 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

Amtrak.

 

Leaves Austin @ 0930, gets into McGregor (the L end of Wacko) around 2 hrs, 20 minutes later.  $ 19.00.  Use station codes "AUS" & "MCG" when booking.

 

$ 19.00. 

 

$ 17.50 if you're an old.

Uber from McGregor would be more expensive, but yeah this is the right option. 

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7 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

Amtrak.

 

Leaves Austin @ 0930, gets into McGregor (the L end of Wacko) around 2 hrs, 20 minutes later.  $ 19.00.  Use station codes "AUS" & "MCG" when booking.

 

$ 19.00. 

 

$ 17.50 if you're an old.

Thanks ROFL, I'll look into it.  We did check for trains and didn't see anything but I like that ide-er a lot.  Plus the car is SW of Waco on U.S. 84, which is straight into McGregor.  Plus my wife has a good friend there who might be able to eat lunch/uber her back.  Or me.

10 hours ago, JohnnyRage said:

Man the fuck up. It's two hours of your life. Beats going to the Houston or Dallas hub I'm sure.

LOL, the bolded part is true, although I don't think I'm being a sandy vagina.  Just checkin' my options with the homies first.  You're right, I'll survive.

1 hour ago, Lat22 said:

Get a friend (or your wife) to drive you up there. It’s an hour and a half for godsakes. 


As to this: 1) wife's birthday is Friday and I'd fucking hate to have her spend it on a Greyhound going to Waco, even if it's for a minute and a half.  2) No one I know will drive me up there, or at least hasn't come forth.  And why should they.  Because for them it'd not "only be an hour and a half"; it'd be closer to three-and-a-half by the time they went up and back.  And, 3) oh, we already did that on Sunday (went up and back to fetch the "sinner").  It's a fucking TOTAL drag on your day to do that.  It's like asking your friends to help you move a piano up four flights of stairs.  I did that once.  Never saw the other 3 guys again, still haven't.  You don't like someone?  Tell them you'll buy lunch to help move a piano.  They'll be gone faster than the Roadrunner.  I imagine asking for a ride to Waco (and back on their own) is much like this.

Thanks gents, I will look into the train.  Or the bus.

Edited by phdhorn
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I did it, for the same reason as you.  Was a very eclectic mix, all people.  Bus driver had to remind a couple of guys not to tell dirty jokes around kids, but that was it.  I "dressed down" a bit, in work clothes and Carhart, and had my usual Beretta Tomcat.  All was good.

Was an interesting experience.  You had a girl who I'm sure was a truck stop stripper, a greasy guy with a scraggly moustache who I'm sure was a serial killer, some families with small kids, and a guy who looked and acted like Frank Calliendo.  Most of them were going somewhere else for a better job.  The guy who sat beside me was a hispanic kid moving from Oregon to Chicago to work at a Chinese restaurant.  At the end of my 5 hour ride, he offered to buy the book I was reading (Munich.  Great book*).  I gave it to him and asked him to give it to the next guy when he finished.  Dude was so grateful.

To you question, I'm sure you'll be fine.

*I had not finished Munich.  I got up to the part where Steve was killed by that lady from the bar.  How does it end.

Edited by Parliament
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3 hours ago, bluto said:

Why would your wife have to ride on the greyhound? 

 

And ive heard much worse stories about Amtrak in Tx as passenger trains have to yield to freight. Like type of shit where aus/dallas takes 10+ hours

I don't think that's correct.  Passenger trains get priority over almost all freight except certain weird shit like orange juice.  Military can jump priority but it's rarely done.

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Just now, Jade said:

I had a guy with a shiny grill offer me a job when I was waiting at the greyhound bus station. He said I could make a thousand bucks a night. 

did said job involve moving to california?

Edited by elfenix
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I'd rather spend 2 hours on Greyhound than 2 hours on an airline these days.

Pro tip: don't befriend the guy already on the bus who wants to talk. You may find out 30 minutes later that he has been carrying on a verbal war for the past few hours with the driver, and then he tries to draw you in as his ally right as the driver pulls into a gas station and offers to kick both your asses out.

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Oh, so the resolution:

Wife is going to go up via Amtrak and meet her friend for lunch in McGregor.  Then go over and get the car and bring it back.  I'm off the hook.  Supposed to be a 9:30 depature but - shocking I know - it's an hour late.  I'll run her down there about 9:15.

Of course not before she mistakenly thought we would both be taking the train.  I said, "well see, how it works is that if only one of us goes, the other doesn't have to.  Or else we'd just drive together to get the car, which is the fastest and cheapest.  This way one of us doesn't have to go."

She said, "oh yeah, okay.  That makes sense."

I said though that since it's her birthday if she really wanted me to go for the "adventure" (I've been on that route, it's no adventure) I would.  She said no, she'll call her friend and they can meet up.  So that's the plan today.  I triple checked to make sure she wasn't pissed or thinks that I'm trying to weasel out of it (well on that one she'd kind of be right) but she seems relatively upbeat for doing something "different" for her birthday today.  Let's hope it's not one of those wife things that she pulls out of her ass down the road somewhere to use when she's pissed at me - despite the fact that i quadruple-fail-safed to make sure she really wanted to do this.  She seems good to go.

Thanks for the suggestions - and the laughs.

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Update:

Fucking train is delayed 3 1/2 hours (yay Amtrak!).  Won't leave now until noon.  Bus leaves at 2:30 but fuck that.   Too late in the day.

We're driving, leaving in 20 mins.

Hey, why didn't I think of that first?  FML.

Edited by phdhorn
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1 hour ago, phdhorn said:

Oh, so the resolution:

Wife is going to go up via Amtrak and meet her friend for lunch in McGregor.  Then go over and get the car and bring it back.  I'm off the hook.  Supposed to be a 9:30 depature but - shocking I know - it's an hour late.  I'll run her down there about 9:15.

Of course not before she mistakenly thought we would both be taking the train.  I said, "well see, how it works is that if only one of us goes, the other doesn't have to.  Or else we'd just drive together to get the car, which is the fastest and cheapest.  This way one of us doesn't have to go."

She said, "oh yeah, okay.  That makes sense."

I said though that since it's her birthday if she really wanted me to go for the "adventure" (I've been on that route, it's no adventure) I would.  She said no, she'll call her friend and they can meet up.  So that's the plan today.  I triple checked to make sure she wasn't pissed or thinks that I'm trying to weasel out of it (well on that one she'd kind of be right) but she seems relatively upbeat for doing something "different" for her birthday today.  Let's hope it's not one of those wife things that she pulls out of her ass down the road somewhere to use when she's pissed at me - despite the fact that i quadruple-fail-safed to make sure she really wanted to do this.  She seems good to go.

Thanks for the suggestions - and the laughs.

For a PhD you’re not so good at taking test. Looking forward to you contributions to the divorce thread. 

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1 hour ago, phdhorn said:

Update:

Fucking train is delayed 3 1/2 hours (yay Amtrak!).  Won't leave now until noon.  Bus leaves at 2:30 but fuck that.   Too late in the day.

We're driving, leaving in 20 mins.

Hey, why didn't I think of that first?  FML.

Now that you're going with her, you know for sure she won't be having sex with anybody.

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