If I'm waiting for a bus that still is being constructed ... I'd take the old bus to work every day.

Precisely.

I'd consider Perl6 to "be there" when...

Both the places I live at are stops well short of the stop you consider "there". Perl 6 has already passed my "weekend" place, which is when I have time to help. I expect to hear it approaching my other place, which involves a non-demanding production project, within about a year. I see several other interesting stops on the way prior to the destination you are considering, but to each their own.