12:30 PM, Jul 23, 2008
Transit Validation
I left the office at almost exactly 5pm, and found a parking spot by the curb in a posh neighborhood about a block from the bus stop at 63rd and Ward Parkway. I wonder if there are any legal implications with leaving my car in front of a wealthy person's house overnight. I would guess that such people would have an itchy dialing finger for claiming "OMG abandoned car" to the police.
Also, my car sticks out like a sore thumb on that street. There wasn't a single other car parked anywhere on the curb. It made me think that maybe it wasn't a legal parking spot. But as I walked to the bus stop, there was a sign that denoted that from there to the end of the street, no parking was allowed. So I have to assume that my car being well short of that sign is legally parked. Even so, I'm still a little worried about NIMBY residents getting upset about my dusty car occupying "their" street.
That aside, the bus commute was marvelous. Literally three minutes passed between the time that I walked from my parked car to the bus stop and the time when the bus rolled up and swung its doors open at me. I cheerily climbed aboard, swiped the pass for which I've been paying for almost two years, plopped myself into a springy seat, and bounced my way north in air-conditioned comfort.
I got off about three blocks from my house, and without having to work up any real resolve, went to bed earlier than I have in probably a year. I left the house at 8am after a leisurely shower, to catch the 8:24 bus at the transit plaza. It takes me maybe eight or nine minutes to walk there, so I stopped at a coffee shop right around the corner from my place that I didn't know was open. I picked up a microscopic plastic bottle of orange juice for $1.65, and drank it as I waited for the bus.
I may have to be a little less choosy with the route I take in the morning, because the 51 got me to my car in time for me to get to my desk at about 9:15am. That's alright for an occasional occurrence, but not every day. Luckily, Brookside is a pretty popular area for north-south buses, so I'll be able to take my pick between the 51, the MAX and the 57. I watched two or three MAX buses and one 57 roll by before my 51 came along(right on time).
My car was exactly where I left it the previous day. I will reveal more revelations as they occur to me.