Missing Commuting

Haybales
Originally uploaded by Snak Shak

I've been liberated from labor for a month now and as the line from "Office Space" goes, "I wouldn't same I am missing work". In fact, I feel pretty good.

Ironically, what I miss most about not working is what many people probably like least - the commute.

My commutes were physical and gave me experiential insight into myself and human behavior in general. I either rode my bike or waited for a bus in whatever Mother Nature had to throw at us (the Bomb Cyclogenesis was very memorable. I rode for that one).

Mostly it was a bike commute (March - November, more or less) but I would supplement with a bus if the weather was bad or my energy was low.

Both modes were pleasant enough. The ride first thing in the morning kick started my brain and gave me an energy edge at least through lunch, and the ride home was a good way to decompress from the stress and frustration of the office.

The bus was less redemptive but had its good points. I had a bus friend or two that I would chat with, and I enjoyed reading on the bus. Bus riding is also a real-time Anthropology project, too. People amaze me. I have gotten more than a few "Bus Tales" posts out of the 14 route.

Riding the bus has also taught me how to deal with waiting. I think most Americans are bad at waiting; the Russians could probably out-wait us to no end. Good thing that's not an olympic event or a step towards world domination.

I ginned up a faux commute this week to get away from contractors at the house; I went to the LRT trail and 26th Street to do some in-the-field work for a Cycle Twin Cities post, then grabbed a mural tag on the way home.

10 miles before 8:00 is a nice gentle way to start the day. It's interesting that getting to and from work is a bigger deal to me than work itself. That's probably the geographer in me leaking out.