I'm writing this on an eight hour bus ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. This isn't the first time I've made this trip, probably won't be the last, but nevertheless, these stages never change.

1. Denial

"It won't be so bad," you tell yourself as you manage to snag a window seat and hope no one sits next to you. Sure, it's an eight hour ride, but you can sleep and read and be fine. You won't even notice the time passing.

2. Irritation

So someone sat next to you, and of course it has to be someone who smells and lops over the divider between your seats so y'all are a bit too close for comfort. Not only that, but the bus is going as slow as possible because the driver doesn't want to press his gas pedal.

3. Boredom

You're stuck on the bus for eight hours, you can't sleep because there's no way to make the situation you're in comfortable. The book you brought just won't hold your attention and you've lost all signal going through the middle of nowhere in maybe the Central Valley? No? It's still NorCal and you've got six more hours to go! Good luck!

4. Contempt

You've had to pee for the last hour and a half, you're starving, and your butt is numb. When are you getting to this rest stop they've promised you? You're still in the middle of nowhere. Everything looks the same, there aren't any signs telling you where you are, and you're officially miserable and hate this bus. You never want to ride a bus again, MUNI included.

5. Relief

You're finally there! Eight plus hours finally over. You can stand and stretch and let the blood flow back to your butt. Maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought. You get to go home and eat some good food, lay in a comfy bed, and cuddle with your dog.