Whizzing through the Big Easy, or "The Irony and the Ecstasy"

Phaedrus and I had been planning for over 3 months to visit New Orleans together during my Spring break, if his abstract for the APS meeting/conference to be held there got accepted for a presentation. But, alas, I had to wrap up looking at the Crescent City in a day and return to work, because I had been working on trying to get results for a conference abstract submission myself, that was due the end of that week.

To the tune of "Oh Susanna":

I come from North Carolina
As sleepless as can be
I am going to Louisiana
My true love for to see

I was working all night
Ere the Saturday I left
Still wondering
With a sigh

Could I get some results,
And catch my flight
For my deadline
Was a week nigh

Oh DRC deadlines
How wicked can you be?
I come from Carolina
And go to the Big Easy

I still decided
That I would go
Coz some progress
I thought I'd made

And planned to not wait
Till Wednesday
But come back
On Monday instead

The night I reached
I was still tense
Coz my lasers
had not lased

Bourbon St was fun
(and so was Hubby Dear)
but new plane tickets
whizzed in my head

While Maison played jazz
and showered beads with pizzazz
All I could think of
Was This

If we got too late
with my new flight plans
My DRC deadline
I'd miss

So we booked a new ticket
For me to be back
Much earlier than we originally
projected

And that I wouldn't even wait
For Hubby dear's talk
Certainly got me
dejected

We came back to our hotel room
After a night of fun
And said let's
look at our email

And there those emails sat
Mocking me, having caught me
Hook, line, sinker
and Pail.

DRC deadline's been
extended
By not a mere week
But two.

And they think I deserve
a break from work
And hoped I'd seen
My Big Easy plan through

And another email
with my new confirmed flight
on good ol'
Travelocity

Thank you so much for
booking with us
We'd be glad to help you
In a jiffy

And thus the irony
And the ecstasy
Of a planned trip that was
Cut short

Was the sun this hot
That I froze to death?
Crescent City, Don't
you cry

Oh dear Big Easy,
Oh Don't you cry for me
For no matter what,
I will be back for more
bonhomie and chicory.

Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver!

Today I missed the last bus (C1-East-West) that goes close to where I park my car. This was at 2.00 am in the morning (okay so it is 4.40 am now!). Another bus, (C4-West-Central) came by the West bus stop. I asked the bus driver if there was another C1. Nope, he said, the last one left 10 minutes ago.
So I got onto this bus. It would come close to the original bus stop, but not quite; I'd just need to walk a little more. I was all prepared to pull the bell to what I thought would be the closest stop to walk from, when the bus took a detour from Central after dropping off passengers, and went onto the very street my car was parked on. Now I didn't know why he did that but it really looked like he was planning to go in a different direction...more like East, instead of looping back to West according to the bus route. "Sir, sir, my car is parked right here, so it would be great if you could stop drop me off here." "Oh,you inquired about going east, so I thought I'd drop you there and then get back to my route!"
We are not talking a small car or van here...it was an entire honking(!) bus that took a detour off it's regular route to drop of a student who had missed her last bus.
Thank you, Mr. Bus Driver!