Yesterday evening's ride home was interesting. It was rainy and messy. I couldn't leave work early, but I wanted to try to get the 5:30 bus so I wouldn't have to wait half an hour for the next one. At 5:30, I hurriedly scrounged an umbrella from Lost and Found. When I got out to the street, I discovered that the one I had grabbed was in tatters. I ran back in with it, dropped it in a trash can and tried again. The second one had a big hole in it, but even though it too was trash can fodder, I was determined to make it work. I saw the bus pulling in just as I got to the station. I was relieved, but a bit wet, especially the bottoms of my pant legs and this dampened my mood.
When the moms and kids got on from the daycare center, there was at least one young mom in a very bad mood. There were a lot of loud, sharp reprimands to the little ones. I can certainly identify, because when my kids were little, I had my frazzled moments. I probably never yelled this at my 3-year-old, however: "Wipe yo' damn face." I might have thought it, but never yelled it. When they got to their stop, the mom hoisted her son up by the neck of his jacket (scruff of the neck springs to mind) and yanked him off the bus. She told her other little one to jump.
We zoomed on down Haywood Rd. Suddenly, I was knocked in the head. "Sorry lady," the young woman behind me said, lurching over me to hit the yellow "next stop" strip. I said, "You could have asked me to hit it for you." I doubt she heard.
I wonder if all rainy days on the bus are like this?
Showing posts with label Asheville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asheville. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Three Weeks and How's It Going?
It's been 3 weeks now, so I think it is time for some reflection about how my experiment is progressing. I'm pleased to say that, as far as work goes, I have succeeded so far. I've managed to ride the bus or carpool every day. Adapting to the bus schedule has become much less chaotic!
Leisure activities on weekends are harder. For instance, I wanted to see Obama in Asheville this Sunday. I would gladly have ridden the bus, but there is no bus service on Sunday. So I did drive to that. I parked a mile away, but still, I drove my car into town. I also combined two shopping trips with it. I would have combined one more, but Amazing Savings is not open on Sunday. I am having serious Amazing Savings withdrawal, but I'm probably saving money by not rushing out every few days to Amazing Savings to see what I can buy to save money!
Having my consciousness raised about how much I use a car is a real drag. I really don't like to think about it. At the same time, I am happy to be using public transportation. I just wish it were a little more convenient. For me, it couldn't be cheaper, now that I can flash my county ID and get a free bus ride! So that's great!
Here is a link to an Asheville bus entry on a blog that Ken found: http://hightechsurvivor.blogspot.com/2007/06/better-than-no-bus-at-all.html
Leisure activities on weekends are harder. For instance, I wanted to see Obama in Asheville this Sunday. I would gladly have ridden the bus, but there is no bus service on Sunday. So I did drive to that. I parked a mile away, but still, I drove my car into town. I also combined two shopping trips with it. I would have combined one more, but Amazing Savings is not open on Sunday. I am having serious Amazing Savings withdrawal, but I'm probably saving money by not rushing out every few days to Amazing Savings to see what I can buy to save money!
Having my consciousness raised about how much I use a car is a real drag. I really don't like to think about it. At the same time, I am happy to be using public transportation. I just wish it were a little more convenient. For me, it couldn't be cheaper, now that I can flash my county ID and get a free bus ride! So that's great!
Here is a link to an Asheville bus entry on a blog that Ken found: http://hightechsurvivor.blogspot.com/2007/06/better-than-no-bus-at-all.html
Sunday, September 28, 2008
burning that gas
Saturday:
Yesterday, we set out to buy groceries. We really tried to see if it could be done via bus. Amazing Savings? Only if you're willing to walk 1/2 mile to the store, and 1/2 mile back to the bus stop with your groceries. For us, that would have meant three bus passes to get there, and three bus passes to return home (I bought eleven passes for seven dollars). Mind you, we would also have to take a bus to downtown (a twenty or thirty minute trip that would take ten minutes in the car), and another bus to Sweeten Creek Road. Needless to say, any savings that we might realize at the store would be offset by the cost of the bus tickets @ 6(7/11)= $3.82. I know that tickets for children are available at reduced cost, but I had none on hand. I'm not about to estimate the time required for such a trip. Three hours? Four hours or more, probably.
We swung by Earth Fare next, but the best path happens to be via the river and then up Craven Street. Luckily we were in no hurry. We stopped for at least five minutes, probably ten minutes, for a train. I enjoyed looking at all the boxcar graffiti, but honestly it would have been very annoying had we been in a hurry.
Sunday:
For entertainment in the morning and early afternoon, we walked over to Vermont Avenue for their annual (?) block party. We don't live on Vermont, which is one of the prettiest streets in West Asheville, but we live close enough that we could sneak in. I highly recommend the annual block party. If your neighborhood doesn't have one, start one. Cakewalk! Bag toss! Ping pong! Live music and a bicycle parade! I laughed; I cried. Well, I actually didn't cry.
The Asheville Transit Authority does not run buses on Sundays. So, with a child due to return to his mother's house at 4 PM Sunday, what's a man to do? I cranked up the Toyota and headed over to Montford.
I'm blogging from Asheville Pizza and Brewing on Merrimon Avenue; after the evening here, I will drive home.
After all, while most of the Asheville gas stations are out of gas, I still have half a tank. For the time being.
Yesterday, we set out to buy groceries. We really tried to see if it could be done via bus. Amazing Savings? Only if you're willing to walk 1/2 mile to the store, and 1/2 mile back to the bus stop with your groceries. For us, that would have meant three bus passes to get there, and three bus passes to return home (I bought eleven passes for seven dollars). Mind you, we would also have to take a bus to downtown (a twenty or thirty minute trip that would take ten minutes in the car), and another bus to Sweeten Creek Road. Needless to say, any savings that we might realize at the store would be offset by the cost of the bus tickets @ 6(7/11)= $3.82. I know that tickets for children are available at reduced cost, but I had none on hand. I'm not about to estimate the time required for such a trip. Three hours? Four hours or more, probably.
We swung by Earth Fare next, but the best path happens to be via the river and then up Craven Street. Luckily we were in no hurry. We stopped for at least five minutes, probably ten minutes, for a train. I enjoyed looking at all the boxcar graffiti, but honestly it would have been very annoying had we been in a hurry.
Sunday:
For entertainment in the morning and early afternoon, we walked over to Vermont Avenue for their annual (?) block party. We don't live on Vermont, which is one of the prettiest streets in West Asheville, but we live close enough that we could sneak in. I highly recommend the annual block party. If your neighborhood doesn't have one, start one. Cakewalk! Bag toss! Ping pong! Live music and a bicycle parade! I laughed; I cried. Well, I actually didn't cry.
The Asheville Transit Authority does not run buses on Sundays. So, with a child due to return to his mother's house at 4 PM Sunday, what's a man to do? I cranked up the Toyota and headed over to Montford.
I'm blogging from Asheville Pizza and Brewing on Merrimon Avenue; after the evening here, I will drive home.
After all, while most of the Asheville gas stations are out of gas, I still have half a tank. For the time being.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Spilt Milk Angst and Flexibility Woes
So, if you were driving down Brevard Road this morning at 8:21 am, you might have seen me trotting to the bus stop, piece of apple pie in one hand, travel coffee mug in the other, trying to have breakfast on the run. My hair was NOT brushed and my contacts were NOT in and the food didn't taste as good as it does when I'm sitting down! I was afraid I might not make it to the bus stop in time, but turns out I had 4 minutes to spare! I brushed my hair when I got there. Couldn't quite get my contacts in though.
As the bus started pulling away, a young woman came running from the grocery store with a bunch of filled grocery bags. The driver picked her up. She scrambled onto the bus and said, "You could have helped me." I wasn't sure who she was talking to. I thought maybe someone she knew on the bus. After she got off at her stop, her milk had leaked onto the next seat. (A nice person helped with her bags getting off the bus.) Then I started feeling guilty. Had she been talking to me in particular? Of course any of us should have jumped to help her. But she didn't seem to be struggling...she seemed to be managing...but then I thought, man she had already bought groceries this morning before I had even brushed my hair. I will be more aware next time. (She had eggs in the bags too. I hope they made it home.)
The bus filled up again.
Now for the flexibility problem: I need to stay at work till 6pm this evening. A bus going my way leaves at 6pm. It would take me 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. The next one does not leave until 7:30. Sometimes I wouldn't mind hanging out in town for 1 1/2 hours, but since this time I didn't arrange to have anyone to hang out with, I'm not too thrilled with the idea. I emailed some folks from the Share the Ride site to see if it would be possible to get last minute rides out of town...so far no luck, but hey, I still have an hour or so before the hour of reckoning!
It's the end of the work week and I have met my goal for the week...through carpooling and Asheville Transit. It took some adjustment...but I am looking forward to next week!
As the bus started pulling away, a young woman came running from the grocery store with a bunch of filled grocery bags. The driver picked her up. She scrambled onto the bus and said, "You could have helped me." I wasn't sure who she was talking to. I thought maybe someone she knew on the bus. After she got off at her stop, her milk had leaked onto the next seat. (A nice person helped with her bags getting off the bus.) Then I started feeling guilty. Had she been talking to me in particular? Of course any of us should have jumped to help her. But she didn't seem to be struggling...she seemed to be managing...but then I thought, man she had already bought groceries this morning before I had even brushed my hair. I will be more aware next time. (She had eggs in the bags too. I hope they made it home.)
The bus filled up again.
Now for the flexibility problem: I need to stay at work till 6pm this evening. A bus going my way leaves at 6pm. It would take me 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. The next one does not leave until 7:30. Sometimes I wouldn't mind hanging out in town for 1 1/2 hours, but since this time I didn't arrange to have anyone to hang out with, I'm not too thrilled with the idea. I emailed some folks from the Share the Ride site to see if it would be possible to get last minute rides out of town...so far no luck, but hey, I still have an hour or so before the hour of reckoning!
It's the end of the work week and I have met my goal for the week...through carpooling and Asheville Transit. It took some adjustment...but I am looking forward to next week!
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