I woke up this morning and caught the TO bus and got a connection to the same Conejo Connection commuter bus that I had taken for 5 months. It was nice to feel myself again in familiar surroundings. I never had a problem with the bus ride, only what happened outside of it once I arrived in Camarillo. I thought that after my sentence was over that I would show up and give Marco and Esther a gift certificate to Target. Now I'm glad I didn't, otherwise, my prodigal return would have felt awkward.

It's different now, though. Even as I was waiting for the Thousand Oaks bus, noticing the sky change from blue to gray, I still felt the freedom of choice stirring over me. Yesterday, I rode my bike from the house down to the most residential of routes (making various lefts and rights, passing parks and schools, etc) in order to find an apartment that I could hopefully rent on a month-to-month basis while I attend court-imposed counseling.

It was good, though, for me to have such positive taxi experiences the past couple of days, because it's led me to just use that as an option instead. I figure that $15 a day (cab fare from Thousand Oaks Blvd to my house) easily trumps having to pay $1000 for some shitty apartment somewhere. Even if I take a cab every day, I still come out ahead. So that's why I'm back on Marco's bus, albeit with a fancier pair of pants.