Commuting

Commuting. Let me just say that commuting sucks. That’s about as basic and plain as I can make it really. Driving, 45 minutes one way, every single work day, for the last almost 4 years, really sucks. The mileage is rotten as well. It’s 35 miles one way, and that’s just to get to work. Add in another 5-10 miles for driving around at lunch, and with the way gas prices are right now, it all adds up to something rather dreary. I pay a lot for gas. This morning, I filled up, and I have a small semi-economical 4 cylinder car, and the tank is not that large (15 gallon) and it added up to over $30. Just for a comparison, when I first moved down to NC in the summer of 1999, it would normally take me under $12 to fill up my car with the same sized tank, then again, gas prices were below a dollar, whereas now, they’re closer to 2 and ½ dollars. Yikes! Ouch! It hits the wallet pretty hard when you have to fill up your car 2 times during the week. Once at the start of it, and then again towards the end of it. If only it were possible to ride my bike to work, but that’s just a pipe dream really. I’ve done it a couple of times, and never have I been more frightened of riding on a road then when I rode my bike to work. The roads between my house and Roxboro, NC are filled with rabid backcountry redneck drivers who think it is their God given right to take the entire lane, and to throw things at you as they pass. If they don’t throw anything at you, normally they’ll yell something very appropriate like, “FAG!” or “WHY DON’T YOU GET OFF THE FUCKING ROAD YOU QUEER!” Anything that they do yell at you is almost always followed by some sort of homosexual derogatory statement. They think anyone riding a bike in tight shorts must be a gay homosexual. This is always very funny and entertaining to me, because for one thing, I know that I’m not gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that (Seinfeld reference). And second, the same guys who yell these things at you invariably have some sort of sticker on their car representing their man-love for Dale Earnhardt Jr. or some other NASCAR driver who they worship and would probably do cartwheels for if they were ever to actually meet them somewhere. I think there is just a lot of latent homosexuality seething in the South. These guys will just keep it under wraps because they live in the Bible Belt and all. Don’t want to disappoint God or anything like that. I mean come on, does anyone remember Deliverance for crying out loud??

Going back to the original point before I got off on a very weird tangent there, commuting. I’d rather not do it if I could. Unfortunately it has become a rather large part of my life now. 9 hours at work. 1.5 hours in the car. 10.5 hours total each day just for work, add in another 8-9 hours of sleep, and I’m looking at free time only in the range of 6-7 hours each day, and I’m not really sure where all of that goes at times. Ideal situation for me, living where I live, and working somewhere in town. I could wake up later, ride my bike to work, and leave the car parked for the most part during the week. I think my frame of mind would be so much better if that were the case. Alas, manufacturing jobs are never located within an actual town. They’re always on the outskirts, or placed into some location that is far away and out of the way for most normal people, because people don’t want a manufacturing location plopped down into their backyard. And of course in America where the car is King, it’s never a problem to find people to staff these locations, because dumb-asses like me, are willing to drive 40-45 minutes every morning to get to work. In my own defense, if you’ve ever been to Roxboro, you’d know why I live in Chapel Hill instead of close to work. Sure, I could like very close to where I work, but I’m pretty sure I’d either have to commit myself to a mental institution after residing in this town for about 1-2 months, or I’d just commit some sort of ritual suicide to get away from it. It’s very depressed and depressing around here, as much as I can tell from just working here. I don’t think it’s very conducive for, well, anything. The one upside to it though, is that (for those who know baseball) Enos “Country” Slaughter was from Roxboro. He’s the one famous resident from this town. Of course, that’s one more famous person than Mexico Maine ever had, as far as I know (are there any famous people from Mexico Maine?? And no, Randy Judkins doesn’t count (http://www.randyjudkins.com/). Anyone who juggles balls for a living I don’t think can be considered “famous” by any stretch of the imagination.

The other thing that really bothers me about commuting is the traffic. This isn’t any run of the mill traffic that you’d think about really, and for the most part, my drive is more or less unimpeded. Meaning, I don’t have a stop and go situation in the morning, but the people I have to drive behind. It’s infuriating. I’d almost rather be stuck in gridlock. Driving to work involves me going through some back roads in Orange and Person counties in North Carolina. Driving these back roads along with me are dump trucks, little old ladies, and people who just don’t seem to know how to drive their cars anywhere near the legal and posted speed limit. 55 means you can drive 55, or if you’re feeling so obliged, maybe even a little faster (which is helpful). Also, in my lifetime of driving, I had never had a windshield get broken until I started driving to Roxboro from Chapel Hill. In the time span that I have been doing this drive, I’ve managed to have 4 windshields broken. 4!! This is really unacceptable, and it all stems from the gravel pit that lies off of Route 57 that I travel, and the dump trucks that pick-up loads of gravel from said gravel pit. They drive slow, and sometimes in the afternoon, the road is a little backed up, and it’s hard to pass someone. Going 35 mph when all you want to do is to get home is hair pulling and head banging frustrating. So you get closer to the truck to pass, and you see it. One small rock bounces from the bed of the dump truck, and it’s like it’s in slow motion traveling through the air. You see its spin, and its roll, and then, SMACK! Spider webs in the windshield, again… Then we have the folks who won’t drive 55 on a 2 lane back road, even though the road is straight and very non-technical in its nature. Then as we careen and wind through the countryside at a safe 45-40 mph, and we approach a small stretch of a 4 lane divided highway, their speed all of a sudden jumps up to well over 65, therefore preventing me the chance to pass. As soon as the road goes back to 2 lanes, their speed drops back down into the “frustration zone” of things. People should really just learn how to use their cruise control, and things would be so much easier in the long run. Well, at least for me it would be. I mean, if everyone drove like me, the world would be a much better, and safer I might add, place to be in. Because hell, I’m a very good driver (channeling Rainman over here). I also have the biggest problem with people pulling out in front of me. One second, I’m cruising along doing 65 or so down the back roads. I see someone waiting at an intersection to move into traffic. This will almost, without a doubt, happen before I get to the intersection. This means, slamming on of brakes, and me slowing down to accept the other car into my lane. I wouldn’t have so much a problem with this happening if for; 1. It didn’t happen to me every single day, and 2. There wasn’t 4 miles of empty road behind me. So instead of waiting another 5 seconds for me to pass, these complete moronic assholes decide that they need to be on the road, in front of me, NOW! I almost always give them the horn, and or the finger, and if they’re really lucky, sometimes both.

If only I had a surplus transporter from Star Trek to get me to and from work, now that would be something. On another note about the transporter from Star Trek… Did you know Gene Rodenberry (Star Trek creator) came up with the transporter idea because he didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of creating landing and taking off sequences for the Enterprise during the weekly show. It’s a true story, but I digress, I’m just a trivia geek. I just wish that the physicists would figure that one out sooner rather than later.