this is why i don't take public transport

today was one of those 37C days. fortunately i spent a good part of the day in the air conditioned room at work cleaning and enjoying lunch and wine with co-workers. after i finally got out of there (we were finished cleaning by 1:30 but it was after 4 when i left) i rode home in the hot wind and decided it was too hot in the house so i thought i'd take a tram into the city and go christmas shopping. first i went into the 7-11 across from the tram stop to get a 10x 2hr ticket but they were out so i ended up just getting a single 2 hr ticket (costs more per trip). i went back across the street and waited with the few people that looked like they'd been waiting a while. finally a tram came by (one of the new air conditioned ones) and we got on. i validated my ticket and sat down. the light changed but the tram didn't move. then the driver got out of his compartment and went to the back of the tram to the other driving compartment for going the other way. he backed the tram up a bit a couple times. then he got on the p.a. and said the tram was stuck. a minute later we hear the radio announcement that was going to all the trams "due to a defective tram on nicholson at glenlyon, all trams heading to east brunswick will need to terminate at north fitzroy". we all got off. i was a bit stressed at this point cuz it was almost 5pm and i had an ebay item that needed to be sent via express post TODAY and i needed to get to a post office to get the express envelope and post it in one of the yellow post boxes by 6pm. i started walking and got to the north fitzroy post office just before they closed and managed to post it. then i had to keep walking (in the 37C heat-- with a "windchill" factor that definately made it in the 40s) to get to where the trams were leaving from to the city. i waited a few minutes there for a tram. a few minutes after i got on the tram engine stopped and the lights inside went out (why they're on in the middle of the day i don't know). then the air conditioning stopped. i was just about ready to get off and walk the 25 minutes home at this point. after a few tries the tram was up and running again though so it was good. it took me 50 min to get into the city!!! normally it takes 15-20 by tram. once i got there it was good. i got zac's gift, got something for his aunt and uncle and a gift for the kris kringle on his dad's side. now we just gotta find something for his nanna. coming home my ticket expired part way back. i figured if an inspector checked it i would just give him the whole story about the tram getting stuck and that i would have been home before it expired if it hadn't taken 3 times as long as it normally would to get into the city- and then i would just hope they accepted that as a good enough reason.