bus!

Bubba loves buses.  It sounds like "buthsssss"  (emphasis on the 's') when he talks about them.  And he talks about them everyday.  "Mama choo-choo.  Daddy choo-choo.  ee-yee buthssssss.  ee-oh buthssss."  And then he talks about the bus at school, the bus he saw on the street, etc.  You get the picture.  Today, I rode a buthsssss to work.  I took my usual train, but it was raining pretty hard, and I had left the umbrella at home (I didn't want to carry it on the plane, and I thought Ben and Bubba could use it this weekend).  I also had my laptop in my backpack (which does do a good job of keeping water out in general, but it's not waterproof or anything).  So I got off my train at my normal stop, and ran a block to catch the bus.  He was already there when I got off the train, but he saw me running.  I felt good to have made it.  The guy behind me wasn't so lucky.  The driver took off just as he was knocking on the door. 

I think all of the commute operators were crabby today.  The train operator got on the intercom at Sunset (which is the busiest stop on my route), after we had been there for less than a minute and said, "Ladies and gentlemen:  your commute is being delayed because someone is blocking the door."  It was pretty abrupt and I found it kind of rude, but it got the job done.  As soon as he made the announcement, the doors closed and off we went.  I had been warned by coworkers when I first moved here that by January or February, people get really grouchy around Portland.  Too much rain is the theory, but it's probably not enough sun.  Which might sound like the same thing, but it's not.

What I found from my train-bus commute into work is that It doesn't really cut any time out of my commute.  Walking 14 or 15 blocks takes me about the same time as it does for a bus to drive it while stopping every few blocks.  I also discovered that there's a lot of walking involved in riding a bus.  Like...6 blocks of walking.  An alternate route that would take more time but require less walking is taking the train another stop or two further than normal and catching the trolley which stops right in front of the parking lot of my building.  I just don't think that's really necessary.

Overall, I like the walk into work.  This week, the birds are back, and they sing to me on my way in.  If I wasn't walking through a downtown residential area wearing rainboots, I'd almost feel like a Disney princess in the mornings.  Also, and this is key.  Walking to work affords me the opportunity to cash in on Portland's generosity.  I found a nickel yesterday.  So far this week, that's 10 cents.  If you add in Ben's "earnings," we're up to $2.43 found on the streets in Oregon (except for 1 penny in Omaha's airport and 2 pennies in Seattle, WA).  Not only does taking the train and walking save me at least $80 a month in gas, but it pays me, too!