Thinking inside the bus
I was playing board games on Saturday at the local Piteria - there is a regular Saturday board gaming group that meets and since I like board games and the people there are patient and never yell at me for not immediately getting the rules I go every now and again. I’m slow with rules but when I finally get them I really like the games and can play fairly well.
Right, what’s the point of this post?
Ok so I was talking with the Master of the Gaming Group who I shall refer to as Master R. Why is this person the Master? Well anyone who arrives to a gaming group with no less than three iMac boxes filled with games is really into games. When they know how to play and stomp you at every game in their possession = Master.
So I was talking with Master R. and he mentioned he doesn’t own a car. What?! Oh that’s right he, does own a car but takes the bus everywhere.
“But I’m way out in the middle of nowhere. The city doesn’t go out that way.” Says I.
“Oh, you rules ignorant fool. You can take route X to route Y, transfer at P to double back through Y and transfer again to B to meet the M bus which is always late by five minutes and the one you really want, but instead of standing on the street corner for twenty minutes you might as well enjoy the ride on P and B which takes you by the beautiful lake pond where you can watch the ducks and swans. Hey, it’s your turn. Pay attention! ” *smack*
“All right! Do you have any hearts?”
Blink. Blink. “This is San Juan, there are no hearts.”
Later at home I looked up the bus routes in the area and to my surprise there is a park and ride not fifteen minutes from my house.
It takes 45 minutes to get to work. If I took the park and ride it would take 45 minutes. But I won’t have to drive through traffic and could sleep, read, or just hang on the bus for the ride.
The only consideration is it worth the $41.25 per month to use the bus twice a day Mon-Fri? Would it really save that much gas? It would definitely save on the wear and tear on my car.
I’m still looking into it and will be riding the bus this week on a trail run and see how long it really takes and how difficult it is to transfer to the other bus. I don’t have to work for another week so I’ll see how it goes.
BTW - San Juan is a great game.
Good luck with taking the bus. It sounds more pleasant than driving to work. Just think of the reading, crossword puzzles, journaling, etc. that you could do…. and new people you might meet for characters in a book.
It does sound pleasant but I did the numbers.
Gas will have to be 4 dollars a gallon before it makes economical sense to switch to the bus. I’m not really saving any money this way. Although I am saving my car somewhat and it would keep me from side trips on the way from work.
I am curious about the down time while getting to and from work aspects of this plan though. Imagine the recovered time each week.
I never got to ride the bus this week either. String trimmer issues from last week and unexpected visitors and all that. No biggy though. Well I’m off to throw some discs around to replace my walk tonight.
I forgot about the side trips- planning erands and grocery shopping, etc on the way home from work would be more cost effective. Sounds like you are far from stores, etc.