Missed Connections: Trader Joe's

January 21, trader joes - m4w - 36 You were some sort of jumpsuit

Hollis-Amtrak to Emeryville, approx. 10:56am - Dog Accoutrements

Dog accoutrements: It's inevitable that people will dress up their little toy breeds, but is it necessary to put a dog backpack on a perfectly respectable purebred German Shepherd Dog who isn't a service animal? Debase yourself with a man purse if you insist, but don't do it to the dog.

Lover's Rock: A meat-n-potatoes looking guy surreptitiously rocking out to Sade's "Sweetest Taboo" on the radio. His inner whatever was really struggling against the repressive American machismo upbringing.

Celebrity Love Child: Dude looks like he's a hybrid of Justin Long (a.k.a. annoying Mac guy) and Cousin Larry from Perfect Strangers.

Hollis-Amtrak to Emeryville, approx. 11:01am - Eviction

Eviction: A few BART Police cruisers with lights flashing and what looked like a Caltrans truck, probably dismantling a camp of homeless people under the BART tracks right next to the MacArthur BART station. Two people sitting at the nearby bus shelter with shopping carts piled with their belongings. Not that any time is good for an eviction, but winter/rainy season is the worst time these people can get kicked out of a place they call home, isn't it?

Hollis-Amtrak to BART, approx. 5:05pm - A Couple at Odds

A couple at odds: The man says, "SHUT UP." The woman says, "Don't tell me to shut up. I bet you're eaten up by the guilt." Man walks away. The shuttle arrives. Woman gets on the shuttle by herself. Man gets on just as the shuttle is about to leave. Woman: "I thought you said you'll be back in a minute, you sunnovabitch." He whispers something, they laugh and semi-make out.

A couple at odds, the sequel: As the shuttle pulls into the left turn lane by Pixar, the woman says "So Pixar did move out!" (referring to the company's 2004 threat to leave Emeryville if it didn't get approval to expand by constructing three new buildings on its campus) Man whispers something and she asks, "So Disney bought Pixar?" More whispering, then an aha moment: "Ohhhh, so Pixar bought Walt Disney!"

Missed Connections: Hollis cyclist

January 11, hollis bike rider with guitar strapped to back - w4m Dear cyclist, you have been served with a "notice."

Hollis-Amtrak to Emeryville, approx. 10:01am - Music on the EGR

Music on the Emery Go Round: Most shuttle drivers play KOIT or some other adult contemporary soft rock station. Today, the driver was playing what sounded like a Bollywood soundtrack on casette, but he popped it out before the shuttle reached San Pablo. We hope it wasn't because he thought the riders prefer soft rock. What he played was infinitely more interesting than the Luther Vandross song we've heard upteenth times on the Quiet Storm. There is also a driver who plays KCSM jazz on the Hollis route. That's better than the velvet Gitmo soft rock torture, too.

Missed Connections: Trader Joe's, Starbucks

January 9, A Man and His Dog - Near Starbucks - m4m Stranger in a red truck

January 10, Twas the day before Xmas and at Trader Joes - m4w He could cut off his ear and e-mail it to her?