arc of time

so here is the truth: i like commuting in the cold. i don’t know why, but there is something so urban about taking public transportation in the cold weather. wearing a scarf, standing at a bus stop, staring at the other riders as you walk past them in the train station exchanging that look of ‘knowing’ that you are doing something most people scoff at, there is just something so intrinsically city about that.

of course remembering the marta cold rules is critical to surviving the winter. the number 9 was absolutely scorching hot when i boarded it. speaking of the number 9, i have riders in my complex now. two brothers who are taking marta to school somewhere. i certainly intend to investigate further to see if i can get the scoop. the 140 i am on right now is also jacked up hot. the t.e.a.c.h. kids didn’t get their own bus so we have both a super crowded vehicle and the driver has jacked the heat up. always pays to remember the marta cold rules.

plus, i will take it any day over sweating in a muggy five points station in the middle of august. NOTHING is worse than that.

well, per my resolution, i managed to get up and catch the #9 that runs by my house around 6:25 am this morning. i partially accomplished this by letting my car get so low on gas that i couldn’t make it to the train station this morning without stopping at the bp. this had the effect of forcing me to get up early anyway, so once up i might as well have made it to the bus.

the truth is i much prefer to ride the bus in the morning. driving in the morning, even the short hop to the inman park train station sucks. i would much prefer to just sit, drink coffee and be whisked away to the five points train station.

thus, i am renewing the commitment. back on the #9 in the morning and all week. seriously, who needs to drive anyway. the whole point of this marta thing is to spend as little time in the vehicle as possible. i seem to have forgotten about that recently.

and no fighting moreland ave traffic on the way home either. thank god for that.

we have a new driver on the #140 headed home in the evening, on the run that goes past my office around 16:15. she hates the route, btw, although that tidbit isn’t important to the post, having complained pretty loud to us on her second or third day that traffic along the #140 route was insane. and i can’t say that i disagree. the light at old milton parkway and north point parkway could be one of the most absurd locations in the city.

she also told the t.e.a.c.h. kids that if they weren’t at a stop she was “going to leave them on the side of the road.” not a bad start.

well anyway, yesterday afternoon on the way home from work, she keyed her microphone and told the assembled passengers that she wanted to ask them a question. i figured someone had done something to tick her off, but actually she just wanted to know if we wanted her to come by the stops on time or late.

silly question.

she then proceeded to explain that she ran on-time, that’s how she did her route, but the driver before her liked to leave from his staging area at windward parkway 10 minutes late (very true, i’ve waited on that dude before) and she was messing him up be leaving on time. i’m still not sure i catch the logic in all of that, but apparently her straw poll of the bus was designed to bolster her argument for the on-time theory of route running.

call me convinced.

also, speaking of clean commuting, the folks over at the clean air campaign passed this fun little video along. apparently a carpool wrote it one day and sent it in and the clean air campaign helped turn it into a video. it’s very clever so enjoy….