The light changed before I could cross the street. I sadly wave at the south end of the last northbound express bus of the day. That means I have 15 minutes to people watch until the local bus meanders to this stop and ample time to goof off on the "milk route" home. Such is the plight of the commuter. Well, such is the plight of the commuter who isn't very good at watching the clock!
The bus driver just informed us that there are not one, but two wrecks on the I-5 bridge ahead which means no getting home by the usual route. Time for a scenic tour of north Portland side streets. This has the makings of an epic commute for the record books.
This will be totally boring, but I must chronicle the first epic commute of my fledgling blog....
6:20 I leave my desk
6:31 I missed the express bus
6:45 I am picked up by the local bus
7:02 The bus driver tells us about the wreck. My handy KGW traffic app verifies the problem. It usually shows green, yellow or red. It is showing black.
7:07 The bus driver bails on to the side streets, backtracks to Portland and then heads east on I-84. Yay for freeway speed. The commute has abated on this side of town.
7:17 We make it to I-205. I pause to enjoy a somewhat hazy view of Mt. Hood.
7:20 I hum Roll on Columbia as we cross the river and enter Washington.
7:22 Now heading back west towards Vancouver on Hwy 14. I'm actually glad now that I missed the regular bus, because that driver sounds like he is hopelessly bogged down in the I-5 tangle. It is a nice compensating error.
7:28 We pass historic Fort Vancouver and begin the meander through the local stops in downtown Vancouver.
7:32 On to I-5 for the home stretch to the park and ride. I should have tweeted this instead. I am sure all three of you who are going to read this would be waiting anxiously for the next update.
7:44 We arrive at the bus stop only 24 minutes late. Good job driver.
Thank goodness tomorrow is work at home Wednesday.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
On The Late Bus
There was an extremely heavy gravity field surrounding my pillow this morning. I was unable to pull myself away until an hour after my alarm had buzzed. I am fortunate that I can flex my start time at work and their is a commuter bus that runs every 15 minutes from 5:30 to 8:00.
There are consequences to being a sluggard.
The early bus sails from Vancouver to Portland in less than 25 minutes. I usually still have coffee in my travel cup when I'm unceremoniously dumped on the curb along the transit mall. With every subsequent bus, there are more commuters clogging the freeway and the bus time is longer. With my extra morning bus time, I finish my coffee, look at the scenery, play Words with friends and begin a blog entry.
Off the bus, work, work, work.
Waiting now for the late bus home. Because of the stellar weather today, I pulled a light summer skirt out of the back of my closet. A strong breeze allows me to provide a minute of entertainment to other commuters by doing my best Marilyn Monroe blowing skirt imitation. A poor imitation at best, since Marilyn was not fat and brunette, nor did she wear sensible sandals.
A slow roll home, but no bus ride tomorrow. I will be hiking in the Columbia Gorge on my first federal furlough day.
There are consequences to being a sluggard.
The early bus sails from Vancouver to Portland in less than 25 minutes. I usually still have coffee in my travel cup when I'm unceremoniously dumped on the curb along the transit mall. With every subsequent bus, there are more commuters clogging the freeway and the bus time is longer. With my extra morning bus time, I finish my coffee, look at the scenery, play Words with friends and begin a blog entry.
Off the bus, work, work, work.
Waiting now for the late bus home. Because of the stellar weather today, I pulled a light summer skirt out of the back of my closet. A strong breeze allows me to provide a minute of entertainment to other commuters by doing my best Marilyn Monroe blowing skirt imitation. A poor imitation at best, since Marilyn was not fat and brunette, nor did she wear sensible sandals.
A slow roll home, but no bus ride tomorrow. I will be hiking in the Columbia Gorge on my first federal furlough day.
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