Stuff and Goings On
So, what’s new with all of you?
I know, I know, delusions of grandeur, thinking more than three people read this. Actually, I know how many people read this, but I’m trying to be cheery here. Give me a break.
Anyway. I have some good news. Very small, but I’ll take small victories when I can get them. I’ve been keeping very quiet about this, because I don’t want to jinx myself, but now that things have moved on to the next stage, I thought I’d put it out there. Back in mid-May, I applied for another job here at the agency. One that would involve working downtown, but would also mean a promotion and the potential for more promotion. Last week, I found out that I’ve made the short list of candidates for the position. I’ve told my new boss (the one they just hired here where I’m working now, not the one I want to go work for), that I’d put my name in the ring for the other job, and she’s quite supportive about it. So, now it’s more waiting to find out if they’ll call me for an interview.
In knitting news, I’ve been moving along on the MMarioKKnits QAL shawl. I’ve gotten to the point of the “paisleys” in the pattern, and moved up a needle size. I can usually manage 2 rows during my lunch hour, and then a couple more once I get home, provided I’m not too exhausted. Still not sure about the color, though. I don’t know that I have anything I can wear it with and not clash horridly. We’ll see. I’m thinking about adding an extra repeat of this last pattern section, to make it really huge and dramatic. I guess I should wait and see what my rough estimate of the blocked size will be once I actually finish the repeat for the first time.
I also started the Goddess Knits Anniversay Mystery Shawl KAL. This will be a circular shawl, starting from the center out. The first clue came out on Friday the 13th, and gave you 4 options to choose from. I started out working one option, screwed it up, ripped it all out, and then couldn’t decide which option to actually knit. I ended up pulling up an online random number generator, and picking which ever one came up the most often out of 50 tries. That ended up being option A. I cast on for that on Friday and finished it up on Saturday. Now I’m patiently waiting for the next clue.
The local news stations have all been pushing the “Dump the Pump” day story, encouraging people to use public transportation. I decided to see what my commute would be like if I only used public transportation. I know I bitch about traffic all the time. And gas prices keep going up. It made me curious enough to do the math.
My journey would be as follows (all times are approximate, based on posted schedules):
- Walk from house to local bus stop. 15 minutes.
- Local bus to regional transportation center. 28 minutes. Cost $1.00.
- Bus from regional transportation center to nearest metro station. 34 minutes. Cost $2.50
- Metrorail to station nearest office. 11 minutes. Cost $2.65.
- Shuttle bus from metro station to office. 25 minutes.
My grand total for a one way trip would be approximately 113 minutes (not counting any waiting times between buses/trains/shuttles) and would cost me $6.15. My daily time would be about 226 minutes (that’s 3.75 hours) and $12.30. Monthly cost would add up to about $246.00. My agency does, however, offer a transit subsidy for people who take public transportation. That would bring my out of pocket costs down to $131 a month (based on 20 working days per month). This would make my daily cost $6.55.
Currently, driving to work takes me about 40 to 45 minutes each way (so, 80 to 90 minutes round trip), with some days better and some days worse. Based on the mpg of my car (and that’s based on what I actually use, not the number they use to sell the car), it takes me about a gallon of gas to get back and forth to work each day. As of this morning, the cost was $3.95/gallon at one of the local gas stations (and not the cheapest).
So, let’s look at that side by side, shall we?
Driving Public Transportation
90 minutes 226 minutes
$3.95 $6.55
Can you see why I still drive every day?