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Actual Mileage May Vary
The unseasonably warm and mostly sunny weather we've been having this month is probably a harbinger of things to come, namely a very dry, possibly hot summer, which of course means water shortages (yes if you can believe it, we actually have droughts every few years up here in to good, old, damp, mossy PNW). Still, very few of us are complaining in the short-term, since the normal alternative for this time of year is generally wet, cold and miserable. We're most of us already stooped over like little old ladies stricken with rickets or osteomalacia or whatever happens from accute Vitamin D deficiency, so we're more than happy to stretch our bones and recharge our biological solar cells any chance we get.
The Red Ranger is still on the fritz, and won't get back into the shop until after the first of the month, so I've been hoofing it around for most of the past two weeks. For some people, this will seem like a nearly insurmountable inconvenience, while others will probably scoff derisively at the amount of "sacrifice" this has entailed on my part. "Ooh, poor baby -- he had to ride the BUS!" The reality of course, as usual falls somewhere squarely between these two extremes; since I actually live close enough to my job to walk, the warm weather has been a boon, allowing me to get some semblance of daily exercise, but increasing the length of my "commute" approximately five-fold. Still, I know people out there who take 40 minutes (my average walking time) just to DRIVE to work.
Still, there are times when the convenience of having a petroleum by-product fueled, internal combustion engined vehicle has distinct advantages, particularly when distance is a factor; having to bum rides from friends to go to baby showers 30 miles away is always a bit of a hassle. And there's a sense of disconnectedness one feels, at least for a brief period, when contemplating the notion that in order to get from Point A to Point B, one must not only plan well in advance, checking bus schedules, calculating walking time, etc., etc., but that invariably the act of traveling itself becomes incredibly time-consuming. I'm lucky to live close enough into the city core to be able to get a lot of places on-foot if necessary, so really I have no reason to complain, but it's a bit of culture shock to realize that you can't just take off and go wherever you want on a moment's notice.
It just feels so, so -- UNAMERICAN!
Posted byCOMTE
on 2:20 PM
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