Tell me about your commute

Mr Flibble said:

Presumably this wintertime panorama will include the summertime* of people who live below the equator?

Because from your phrasing I'm imagining snow in say Fiji. Which I think might be unlikely (given it apparently has not happened in in recorded history. It says here).

Or are we imagining a different panorama?



*Or equivalent season

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No, Flibble. Mrs. Claus does the Southern Hemisphere, not me.

Mr Flibble said:

Presumably this wintertime panorama will include the summertime* of people who live below the equator?

Because from your phrasing I'm imagining snow in say Fiji. Which I think might be unlikely (given it apparently has not happened in in recorded history. It says here).

Or are we imagining a different panorama?



*Or equivalent season

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I think this might explain why I never get any visits from Santa Vito Santa I'm so confused.

shakeysix said:

Xelebes-- Four Strong Winds makes your part of Canada sound so romantic. Maybe it's just that I have the geriatric hots for Ian Tyson.

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Oh don't worry. We commute on fertilizer barges.

Aha, the cowboy! I admit that I actually have taken a horse to school before. And through the drive through. (I fit the Texan stereotype frightening well on that account, I'm afraid.)

I live near campus, so I walk 15 minutes in the morning to get to class. But considering campus is 300+ acres, by the end of the day I've walked for an hour and a half! I'll occasionally use the bus, but not much.
To get to work, however, I have to drive 30 minutes there (sometimes at 4:30AM) and the drive back is much the same. Boring. ^^

Helix said:

I think this might explain why I never get any visits from Santa Vito Santa I'm so confused.

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Special night, beard that's white, cap on head, suit that's red...must be Santa Vito!

Because I work at an institution with more than one campus, my commute differs from semester to semester.

During the summer, it takes 1.5 hours on bus/rapid transit to get to the campus where I'm needed. That's three hours a day commuting, but at least I'm going against the rush, so I always get a seat. (And I tend to get a lot of outlining done in my notebook during the summer months, albeit in horrible jittery-scrawl-whoops-dat-was-a-big-bump handwriting.)

During the spring and fall, it usually only takes 50 minutes to get to work, also with good prospects of getting a seat. After the summer months, I freakin' looooooove that commute.

shakeysix said:

So you can work on the commute? I work too, mentally going over scenes and dialog. It does strengthen my memory skills but if I can't write it down as soon as I get to paper and pen or keyboard, it all fades--s6

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That's what I do too -- brainstorm it while I'm vacantly staring out the bus window. However, like you, it will fade if I don't write it down, so I have a little notebook I scrawl the good stuff down in.

I can't do too much of that, however, since I'm prone to getting motion sickness if I try to read/text/write on a moving vehicle.

shakeysix said:

I won't even try to read on a porch swing because of motion sickness. Would have made a miserable sailor--s6

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Nah, not so bad with Dramamine and pieces of plain bread and gingersnaps!

I didn't know I was prone to seasickness when I joined the Navy, although in hindsight it should have been obvious since I always got carsick. There were a couple unpleasant events, but for the most part it was manageable! You'd be surprised how many sailors get seasick.

This morning's commute:
Hattie (age 2) cries uncontrollably. She wants a "barn" (this is Hattie for "bar"). I hand her an oatmeal bar. Hattie breaks her bar in half. She's now uncontrollably crying and screaming, "Uh-oh, barn!" I put her bar back together. She calms down, then decides to tear her bar in half again. Crying and screaming "Uh-oh, barn!" resume. Cora (age 4) begins screaming at me to get Hattie to stop screaming. I put Hattie's bar back together. Hattie stops crying. Cora starts belting out "Let It Go." Hattie again rips bar in half and begins crying uncontrollably. Cora still belting out "Let It Go." Hattie drops both halves of bar on the floor. Cora finishes belting out "Let It Go." Hattie stops crying. The car is quiet for nearly 5 seconds. Hattie says, "Uh-oh, Hattie. Poopy."

CatchVonnegut said:

This morning's commute:
Hattie (age 2) cries uncontrollably. She wants a "barn" (this is Hattie for "bar"). I hand her an oatmeal bar. Hattie breaks her bar in half. She's now uncontrollably crying and screaming, "Uh-oh, barn!" I put her bar back together. She calms down, then decides to tear her bar in half again. Crying and screaming "Uh-oh, barn!" resume. Cora (age 4) begins screaming at me to get Hattie to stop screaming. I put Hattie's bar back together. Hattie stops crying. Cora starts belting out "Let It Go." Hattie again rips bar in half and begins crying uncontrollably. Cora still belting out "Let It Go." Hattie drops both halves of bar on the floor. Cora finishes belting out "Let It Go." Hattie stops crying. The car is quiet for nearly 5 seconds. Hattie says, "Uh-oh, Hattie. Poopy."

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I fold.

CatchVonnegut said:

This morning's commute:
Hattie (age 2) cries uncontrollably. <Snip> The car is quiet for nearly 5 seconds. Hattie says, "Uh-oh, Hattie. Poopy."

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Oh lor..... you win.

shakeysix said:

Oh yeah. I remember those commutes. Damn, Catch, I'm feeling for you. Love the names though. I had an Aunt Hattie --is it short for Harriet or Hedwig? --s6

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Thanks! It's actually just Hattie. While I'd love to take some of the credit for them, my wife is one heckuva a baby namer. Not that she'll be getting any more opportunities.

Sounds like you guys enjoyed my commute more than I did. Today was a fun one. In other news, I drank at lunch.

The school where I teach is on an Army post, so every morning I have to go through the security gate. You stop, show your ID to the guard and they usually wave you through.

Throughout the day, they randomly select cars to search, to be sure we aren't bringing illegal things on post.

When this happens, they make you pull off to the side, get out, open doors, hood, trunk, glove box, etc., and they inspect. Once they made me open my lunch bag.

They ask you: "Do you have any guns, knives, explosives, things that will stick me, poke me, hurt me?"

So every morning, when pulling up at the gate, we all wonder if this is our day to be searched. It is especially a problem for me as I am one that gets out of bed at the last possible instant. If even one tiny thing goes wrong (such as being selected for a search), I will be late.

Larry M said:

Once they made me open my lunch bag.

They ask you: "Do you have any guns, knives, explosives, things that will stick me, poke me, hurt me?"

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Next time, tell 'em there's a knuckle sandwich in your lunch.

Well where I live, the four seasons are called almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction. For some reason, the city started construction in almost winter. So the commute to work (2x a week) is bit of a mess. They're putting new water lines in so the main road to work is all dug-up on the side.

During winter and still winter we have to deal with pot holes.

It's a pretty boring route. 10-12 minute drive.