I always either take the bus or get Zipcarred to/from the airport. Last night I arrived after a looooong day of travelling (3 flights, 15 hours in the air) and I decided to take a taxi. I was tired of schlepping my bags and didn’t have the energy to dodge the crazies at the 3rd and Pike busstop.
$50 later, I was back at home on the Hill. Seriously, fifty freakin’ dollars! (Ok, it was $44+tip.) Is this typical or did my driver push the “overcharge the tired traveller” button?
I rode the 43 from Miller Park to Broadway this weekend and caught one of the “back-to-base” runs. These are the inbound 43s that make a left turn onto Broadway and head back to their home in the ID rather than continue down Olive. What’s tricky is that these buses often only display “Capitol Hill” rather than “Downtown via Capitol Hill,” and many people don’t catch this subtle difference. Instead, they end up getting dropped off at Denny and Broadway and have to schlep back to Broadway and John to catch another bus.
Of course, all (or at least most) of this is avoided when the driver announces this deviation. But in my experience, only about half of 43 drivers do this. Instead, the driver continues to pick up folks, giving no announcement, and then makes that left-hand turn which infuriates the novice (or just unaware) passengers.
On my most recent bus, I felt particularly bad for the two men who got on at 11th and John (!) and were “in a rush to get downtown to the symphony.” Yet, in typical Seattle fashion, I didn’t say anything to them. Sorry guys.
It’s that time of year when it gets dark by 5pm. As an “post-work runner”, this means that it’s back to running in the dark. And the rain. And the cold. Ugh.
My adaptations: 1) I stick with the same path so I know what to expect on each block and at every intersection; 2) I try to wear clothes that are light colored; and 3) I assume that cars can’t see me. My bad habits: 1) I wear my iPod; and 2) I refuse to wear blinkies.
I’m wondering how the rest of you post-work runners adapt. Do you dig out the blinkies? Do you join a gym? Do you become a morning person? Or do you just stick with your same routine?
I noticed this poster this morning, which reminded me that I saw something similar near the intersection of 21st and Republican (or so) yesterday. Any thoughts about the meaning? I have no clue.
For the past two Saturdays, I’ve canvassed on Capitol Hill for the Obama campaign. I think it’s clear to anyone who lives here that Obama could easily claim 185% of the vote, and the volunteering efforts reflect that. In fact, the volunteer-to-undecided-or-sporadic-voter ratio is almost amusing. For example, in one precinct our team had fewer than 10 addresses to visit today! (And that would have been halved if another team hadn’t partied too hard last night.) My only disappointment was that the I-5 Shores couple with ages listed as 105 and 96 year old wasn’t home.
I rode the bus with a colleague yesterday and we had a good laugh about our (relatively) identical Capitol Hill residential trajectories.
CHR 1.0: Basic apartment, west of Broadway
CHR 2.0: Nicer apartment, between Broadway and 15th, possible co-hab
CHR 3.0a: Similar nice apartment, east of 15th, can’t afford to buy but want something “quiet”
CHR 3.0b: Condo or small house, east of 15th, first home purchase and want something “quiet”
Feel free to share your CHR!
It’s finally Voters’ Pamphlet time! I received mine yesterday and immediately geeked out and skimmed through it. My impressions thus far:
Over the weekend, someone placed a Darcy Burner yard sign in the 18th & Republican traffic circle. This is curious since our part of Seattle is in the 7th, not the 8th, Congressional District of Washington (see map). But could it be that there are enough 8th-ers who drive through Capitol Hill to warrant a yard sign? Or is this like our own version of the Great Schlep where we’re supposed to tell all of our friends and grandparents on the East Side why they should vote for Darcy?
I see cruiser bikes all over Capitol Hill. The problem is that they’re never actually moving. Instead they are locked up (and usually rusting away) or clogging up apartment building bike rooms. Unless your entire life is isolated to a few north-south streets, our hilly ‘hood is less-than-ideal for cruising around in a steel tank with limited gearing. So why are there so many cruisers clogging up prime bike parking real estate? Do all of those California transplants drag their beach bikes with them when they move? Or are cruisers one of those impulse buys that “seemed like a good idea at the time”?
p.s. J, just a thought, but how about adding some questions to the census to empirically test this. e.g., “What kind of bike do you own?” and “How often do you ride your bike?”
My Hillcats 2008 t-shirts are scheduled to be delivered today! But — dum da dum dum — the package was shipped UPS which means there is about a 2% chance of me actually receiving it at my residence. See, my experience with UPS is that they pretend apartment buildings don’t even exist. I have been home, with my name clearly labeled on the building’s (functioning!) buzzer, and still received the infuriating little yellow post-in on the front door. “Sorry, we missed you!” No, you’re not! You didn’t even try, freakin’ UPS!
We’ll see what happens today.