#readly commute

December 22, 2014 - Commute Day 207

Wow!! The year is really winding down. And while this was a pretty crappy year for a lot of people (and especially the world at large-- some truly terrible events everywhere...) I am incredibly grateful for the year I've had. Especially these last couple weeks have really been fabulous in terms of wrapping up various concerns hanging over my head, and I feel maybe more fresh than ever for approaching that artificial time stamp we call the new year.

7:30 - alarm

7:55 - get out of bed

8:03 - depart in Mazda. The roads are surprisingly good~! (there was snow this weekend)

8:18 - train departs. I work on my synopsis of Dystopiapiapia for a couple of the competitions I'm submitting it to. After getting it to a point I was fairly happy with, I read various stuff about the Hobbit in my Pocket app. I think most of the critics are on the same page as I am-- entertaining, strong battle orchestration, but not enough character work done to make us really care about the characters and their plight-- particularly the ones who died. 

9:26 - train arrives in GCT. I quickly buy my January pass (so I don't forget), enjoy the stress-load taken off my brain for that (and enjoy knowing that transitchek will be aiding all of my future purchases), and grab the last Citibike on my way to work. No issues there, and I enjoy listening to the 2010 WTF Louis CK episode with Marc Maron.

9:41 - arrive at the office

December 19, 2014 - Commute Day 206

GOT MY COMPUTER WORKING!! Couldn't really title the post that since it has nothing to do with my commute, but just wanted to say that I had the incredibly rare scenario of receiving two faulty motherboards in a row. The third one I got (ASUS Sabertooth 990FX) was great because it has little LEDs that tell you what slot/component is causing boot issues. To be fair, I DID have to wipe my drive and start over with Windows 8.1 (which I think is okay... I really haven't used my computer that much since swapping in the Solid State Drive), but for goodness sake, I'm just so glad to have it working now! Went to bed at like 2 AM though (just really wanted to see the startup screen. And I did!). 

7:30 - alarm

7:45 - get out of bed

8:01 - depart house with Liz in Mazda. We talk about welfare.

8:17 - train departs (ooo, early). I don't have the laptop with me since last night I brought home my new (working!) motherboard, and today I'm bringing back the second nonworking motherboard. Anyway, I spent the whole train ride reading As You Wish, and thought it strange when around page 168 or so things were starting to wind down. The movie is out, Cary is talking about how grateful he was for this experience, and then a few pages later, I see these words: 'EPILOGUE'. What? This book is like 244 pages. How are we at the epilogue so soon? It's funny-- in a real book I would just flip through the pages quickly, but with an ebook that's kind of hard. So for now-- mystery! 70 page epilogue, or some kind of bonus chapter... like Buttercup's Baby?

9:28 - the train stopped a few times, so I guess that accounts for our lateness. So weird though-- even on days when we seem to be cruising along, we never arrive close to on time. Some kind of inevitable bottleneck? 

9:30 - boo, no Citibikes. I walk to 5th and 40th (I think the 41st and Madison one disappeared!). Grab a bike, put on NPR talking about 'Patient Zero' of ebola, typhoid Mary, and HIV/AIDs (cheerful morning stuff!), and head to my office.

9:48 - arrive at office.

December 10, 2014 - Commute Day 199

Last night our pseudo-neighbor Andrew picked me up from the train station and we scoped out the upstairs of the extension in our house as a possible music room. Then I cooked risotto... or some mushy cheesy thing that had most of the same ingredients as risotto. Also, strangely, possibly the most exciting moment of my night was a finding a small plastic black thing that I thought was broke but actually wasn't and goes to the motherboard that I'm returning. So that means I don't have to worry about a restocking fee or anything like that. And... somehow I didn't feel sleepy at 12:30, so I read for like half an hour.

7:30 - alarm. Barely remember. Meant to hit snooze but hit dismiss by accident.

8:30 - ah crap. oh well. I pet the animals for a bit since I have no chance of catching the 8:42

8:55 - depart

9:13 - train departs. I didn't bring my laptop since Liz and I are going to see the NYC ballet production of The Nutcracker tonight and I didn't want to be lugging around the extra (really not much) weight of the laptop. Also after finishing Terra Neo I recognize I need to give my brain a beat to calm down. So I read feedly, the end of Adventures in the Screen Trade, and some more of Mother Night. As we got close to Grand Central I switched over to listening to the Firewall and Iceberg podcast talking about The Walking Dead midseason finale and their relative disappointment.

10:18 - train arrives. No trouble getting a citibike or parking. a little rainy.

10:34 - arrive at office. 

December 4, 2014 - Commute Day 195

Last night I saw Hugh Jackman (pictured running in the avatar for this blog) in 'The River', which I liked. I didn't want to deal with the extra weight in my bag, so I left the work laptop at work. Also began assembling my new computer, pretty late into the night. Oh, and we're driving our 2001 Nissan Pathfinder now! 

7:30 AM - alarm. Ha, nope.

8:46 - roll out of bed.

8:55 - depart in Pathfinder-- feels bumpier but safer on our road :P

9:14 - train departs. I read lots of 'Adventures in the Screen Trade' and listen to more You Made it Weird, starting a Patton Oswalt episode.

10:16 - train arrives at GCT. No problem getting a Citibike or parking (last spot at 18th Street!)

10:32 - arrive at office. 

September 19, 2014 - Commute Day 160

Okay! This week went by fast. Better start thinking about how I'm going to make the most of the weekend. Gotta really start appreciating those non-commuting hours. 

The numbers:

7:30 AM - Alarm went off. I was basically half-asleep for the hour before this, strangely thinking I overslept. Good? Maybe not. When the alarm did go off I still laid around in bed for nearly 20 minutes. Why do my pets pick the morning to be super cuddly?

8:00 AM - we depart for the train! We arrive early and hang out in the car for a bit. Liz is feeling better now. It's possible that she's developed a gluten intolerence. 

8:16 AM - catch the train. There are some clear delays going into the city. I read WIRED about the debate over what makes us fat: eating too much or what we eat? Saturated fats or calories? Also, I'm strangely distracted by the guy I'm sitting next to. A voice in my head keeps saying I should strike up a conversation with him. Maybe we might've become friends, or colleagues, or who knows? Now I never will.

9:25 Arrove in Grand Central. Grabbed a bike at 43rd and Vanderbilt.

9:45 Arrove at my office. Biking wasn't bad! It certainly becomes much less stressful once I hit the bike path on 5th around 24th street.