Public transportation rocks

Over the years (mostly the last few years, really) I've found myself riding the L in Chicago, trolley cars in San Francisco, NYC's Subway system AND the Long Island Railroad, the T in Boston, the Paris Metro, and S & U Bahn trains in Germany.  Oh, also some scary Czech trains, which we'll just try to forget about.  There have also been buses, some more confusing than others - as a general rule the Circulator in D.C. is a whole lot easier to figure out than any bus line in Germany:

 

I used to be so intimidated by the thought of using public transportation.  Every single ticket machine has some degree of confusion, and I was always concerned that I'd get the wrong pass or spend some obscene amount of money when $5 would really do the trick.  And that's with machines that work with you in English.  Paris had this crazy spinning wheel thing that just threw us for a loop. 

 

Well, now I think public transportation is just flippin' awesome, and I'd like to call myself a D.C. Metro aficionado.  Once you master the basics of navigation, you're good to go - they all work the same way.  Figure out what's at the end of where you want to go and just go there!  There might be some minor idiosyncrasies along the way, like the fact that a group pass in Germany covers two adults, three kids, and a dog on one ticket (or something like that - there was definitely a dog involved, because I remember being highly amused by that), but the whole thing is really pretty foolproof.

Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for hopping in your car and just going where you need to go.  Obviously, a lot of it has to do with geography.  Sorry, Dallas, but DART just doesn't quite measure up, especially in the land of trucks and SUVs where I think people take a special joy in propelling these things down the highway.  And do I fight D.C. street traffic or, alternatively, attempt to lug home Target purchases (which often includes one ridiculously heavy thing like 20 pounds of cat litter or a case of bottled water) on the Metro?  No, I do not.  I fire up the CR-V and take myself down Jefferson Davis Highway (Virginia is the South, people) to the suburbia Target in Alexandria where you don't have to pay $1 for the parking lot AND I get the joy of actually getting on a highway.  That being said, I do get my own sense of special joy from actually using my legs more, not dealing with parking, and emitting a few less carbon bad things (eeekk, environmental statement!).

I'm also going to consider BoltBus as a public transportation option.  And unlike this summer when Kerry and I had some scratchy cloth seats and questionably smelly seatmate, at this very moment I'm on my way to New York in the relative comfort of a leather (or at least pleather) seat, making use of the Wi-Fi and actually posting a blog entry while cruising down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.  It's a crazy bargain compared to the train or a flight, and when you resort to highways, it's even more of a bargain considering the ridiculous number of tolls between DC and NYC.

And now, if you'll excuse me, with the convenient aid of the power outlet located in my seat that's preventing my computer from an untimely battery death (thanks, BoltBus!), I'm going to watch a movie or possibly an episode or two of "Mad Men" on my way through New Jersey.

And now...the end is here

I did it!!  Thanks to Sarah for all of the supportive commenting and initiating of NaBloPoMo craziness; Molly, Carolyn, and Kami visiting this month to give me cool things to write about and even more importantly, some much needed friend time; my sissy for providing encouragement on even the silliest of ideas; the new camera for many photography endeavors; Trinity for his honesty in how tricky it would be to actually post something every day; and all of you awesome people who keep up with my random ramblings.

Funny what you remember

These days I'll often open an Internet Explorer window, turn away for two seconds, and not remember what on earth I planned to do with said window.  Was I going to Google...or go somewhere else?  And if I was going to Google something, what the heck was it? 

I emailed myself my parking spot at BWI as soon as I parked my car in 6C-31 around 6:00 AM last Wednesday so I'd have that information easily accessible on the Blackberry and would know where my car was when I made my way back to it around 1:30 AM this morning.  Yeah, those crazy hours may have had something to do with it, but I've definitely spent 20 minutes searching for my car at DFW, so a safety email sure doesn't hurt.  I didn't trust myself to remember.

I can't remember the last time I left my home for any kind of trip without a day-of-leaving checklist.  I don't really think I'd forget to leave out some extra food for my fur child, but I've forgotten my phone charger plenty of times (blerg!), so now that always goes on the list.  This may be because I just like to make lists, but it's also quite possible I could leave the air conditioner on forever.

I forgot to pay my rent once.  ONCE.  Because I was working crazy excessive hours and barely knew how to get myself from point A to point B, I tell myself, but I took that worry and turned it into a monthly calendar reminder.

Yet somehow...I still remember home phone numbers of childhood friends, lyrics to an excessive number of country songs that received any amount of airplay in the 90s, and several 15/16 digit credit card numbers.  I attribute the last one to too much online shopping.  In which case...happy Cyber Monday, everyone!

Flaky goodness

You think I'm going to go on this long-winded ramble about pie crust, what with the title of "flaky goodness" and all...and I mean, flaky pie crust is just one of the best things ever, but in this particular instance I'm going to use the "flaky" to refer to actual flakes. 

Flakes of snow!  I've moved to the East Coast, supposed land of blizzards and winters galore, but where do I see my first snow of the season?  Good ol' Amarillo, Texas.  See, it does snow in Texas.  People don't believe me on that one sometimes, and I just have to emphasize that's it an exceptionally large state with a vast, vast array of climates.  And up here in the Panhandle...it snows.  Happy winter, everyone, and here's hoping the Amarillo airport isn't thrown into a tizzy with the wintry mix we're receiving today.

Siblings galore

To the untrained eye, one might think I have just one sibling, a delightful gal who plays a key role in sister awesomeness.  To those in the know, I've actually had a rather large rotating cast of brothers and sisters in my life.  I daresay my dad, technology guru by day and cowboy by night, loves any number of his equine children just as much as he loves his human children*, and my human sister and I often refer to the horse crowd at our place as our brothers and sisters.  So, it's high time I introduced you to the rest of my "family."

The little girls, Dolly & Genie:

Sweet ol' Ginger, who was not too fond of the auto-assist illuminator on the camera and only wanted to be captured from afar:

The golden blur that is Nic on his way to dinner.  Also known as "Mr. Nickers" (by me, anyway) and "Pretty Boy" due to his general golden nature.

And of course, not just the ponies.  Meet Harriet, the rather faithful barn kitty who is quite proficient in killing rodents.  I know, I know, you really shouldn't name the barn kitties because their lives are a little unstable in general, but she's just the sweetest thing ever and had to be named.  Plus she looks an awful lot like Harrison.  Also not fond of the focus illuminator.  She usually looks much more pleasant and cheery.

And last but certainly not least, the faithful watchdog, Buckwheat:

So there you have it, my...slightly extended...immediate family of brothers and sisters.  Needless to say, I'm still working on the dusk/nighttime photography and assorted camera settings, and I'm skipping the editing on these pictures until they end up on my computer.  But you get the general idea.  Home, home on the range!

* Just kidding, Dad - I know the human kids are at the top of the list.  Phew.