My First Parking Ticket

Wow, i haven't written in so long. Lots has happened: 2 members of the carpool are moving down to the peninsula, a new carpool buddy has been secured. but most importantly, i got my first parking ticket.

the question is: whose fault is it?

Scene: monday morning 6:35. Car parked near SBS's apt (names have been changed to protect the innocent)

As i'm walking out to my car early on monday i realize my keys are at my place (7 blocks from my car) instead of with me. I wake up the OMS, and make him drive me to my place so i can get picked up by carpool, but there is no time to drive back 7 blocks, move my car another 7 blocks in the next 5 minutes. So, i beg SBS to move it for me before he leaves for work, and he obliges.

Scene: monday night 7pm

Goff and i drive by my car and i notice a familiar white envelope. Turns out someone has parked my car in the very same place that they do street cleaning on monday mornings.

so the question is: who's at fault? me for not moving my car myself and forgetting my keys, or SBS for not paying attention to a street cleaning sign a mere 20 ft away?

The Beauty of Driveways

Sometimes you don't know how good something is until it's taken away from you. Jello pudding pops, tan M&Ms, crystal clear pepsi (kidding)... But I'm going to try not to talk about food and to stick with the carpooling theme, so let's talk about my driveway.

(speaking of food, we saw someone eating a Milky Way on the way to work. i like chocolate WAY more than the average joe, but even 7am is early for that)

Not until I moved up to SF did I realize the importance of driveways. I've watched my friends go hungry b/c they can't go to the grocery store for fear of losing a spot. Or circle around for up to an hour to finally just say "fk it" and park in front of the fire hydrant across the street and take the ticket.

To make a long story short, i've had a driveway for 9 months which has allowed me to drive anywhere, come home at any time, avoid major bumper damage, pay no attention street cleaning days, etc etc. And now, thanks to World War 3 between the hot-headed Italian restaurant owner next door and my roommates/landlord (resulting in the cops coming over at midnight on tuesday to try and resolve the fight), I have been temporarily ousted to the street.

Expect some venting when i get my first ticket, first big dent (that's not my fault), or first 45 minute circling-the-neighborhood experience. i'd give it 2 weeks. keep ya posted...

People do the strangest things...

Life outside of the carpool lane is completely different...you're in standstill traffic, you're alone. but does that mean no one can see you????

a few rare things i've seen outside the carpool lane:

-flossing teeth
-full on make-up application
-writing on a blackberry (terrifying, if you think about it)
-man blowing bubbles (y'know--the one with the wand that you had when you were little) out his pickup truck window

i will keep adding to this list...

Carpool Daily Edition: morning commutes

Ah, carpooling. it's been way too long since having the luxury of rolling out of bed and into the backseat for an extra 45-50 minutes of rest. But now that i'm back from Mexico and my phone is in working order, carpooling can begin again. Today was a rare talkative day in carpool....

There are a few different versions of the morning commute:

1. NPR. Characterized by extreme tiredness and a surprising excitement about our faves steve and renee. Usual carpool jokes revolve around the inevitable traffic in Petaluma and on 680, and we make fun of the "perspectives" while vowing to write one ourselves (quite obviously not gonna happen).

2. Howard. Howard ruled the carpool days of old (the good old 5-person days). But once he ran into trouble with the FCC and ranted about it for 4 months, he became only back-up in case of an NPR fundraising campaign (too painful to talk about...). =

3. Book on tape. Only in Depold's car. Learn everything you've ever wanted to know about strawberry pickers and the history of pornography... Gotta be honest, some of my best backseat sleeps have taken place during book on tape mornings.

4. The talking days. We're actually awake enough to carry on a conversation for 45 minutes at 6:45am. Rare, but fun.

That's all I got for now. No complaints for the driver...got us to work on time and in one piece :)

A yummy drink

Banana republic:

light rum
dark rum
coconut milk
mango juice (optional)
bananas

blend with ice. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Travels to Mexico: starting at the end

I've always experienced a love/hate relationship with airports. On one hand, they get you to anywhere you need to know in a fraction of the time it would take to travel by any other method. On the other hand, airports in general are a major CF (cluster f***--a midwest term used to describe crowded annoyingness...think union square during xmas, 101N on a thurs, etc).

I just got back from a week long vacation to the Mayan riviera...yet the first story I have to tell is about my lovely Cancun airport experience with America West.

Key Players: America West, resort "guest services"

Around Saturday on my vacation, I came to the reality that I actually did have to come home at some point, and that getting in at 1am probably wasn't the best start to the week. My friends all got their airline numbers and booked their flights for an earlier time. I called guest services to do the same, and they could only provide me with one number. Unfortunately the number was for Burger King: not the most helpful.

I went to guest services and put this oh-so-helpful girl to work to try and confirm my flight / see if I could go home earlier. After watching her giggle and twirl her hair for 30 minutes, she had a lead. "there's a guy who has a direct line to america west. but he doesn't have the number." thanks a lot. She promised to get back to me later that day (needless to say, that didn't happen).

I decided to risk it and go to the airport at 9am for my 5pm flight figuring there had to be SOME way to leave cancun. after realizing that America West didn't even have their own window (y'know--where you get the boarding passes), someone finally told me not to worry--they would all arrive at 3pm.

So, instead of panicking, I had a drink and headed out to downtown Cancun--only to realize that there's a reason people hang out at their resort during the day. i tried to take the bus to the mall, but somehow ended up back at the airport.

17 short hours after arriving at the airport for the first time, I landed in lovely downtown Oakland.

All I'm trying to say is don't fly America West to Cancun. Cancun is neither America, nor West, and you shouldn't end a great vacation eating cold bocadillas con queso in an airport cafe.

im done venting. more on my trip later.

2 hours, 15 minutes

Think about all the things you would do with 2 1/2 hours on a monday night. think about it... think about it....

ok, now guess how long my commute was this afternoon??? ding ding ding! you got it!!! i mean, seriously?!?!? started out as such an innocent monday afternoon--light rain, traffic on the on-ramp... 5:20pm to 7:35pm. are you kidding me??????

TWO HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

THANK GOD i'm going on vacation tomorrow. calm, road rage, calm...

Question

How does MaxPower have so many visitors??? is there a secret to this whole blog thing???

(ie. Zack and i are jealous...teach us, o wise one)

Vacation time!!

25 1/2 hours and counting until Mexico!!! Supershuttle picks me up at 3:45 am!! In case you didn't know, i'm going to the Mayan Riviera which is an hour outside of Cancun. Going with 2 of my friends from college to an all-inclusive resort. Supposed to be 83 degrees everyday. All-inclusive includes drinks. Only see friends a few times a year. So yeah, mix all those ingredients together and you can see why i'm so excited. didn't even mind the commute this morning--that's when you know it's serious.

speaking of commuting, this blog won't be used for carpooling only. however, it does encompass a large portion of my life, so expect it to be mentioned often. carpooling annoyance of the day: how come if you leave 10 minutes late, it takes 30 minutes longer to get there?? bigger question should be, how is it possible to press snooze 5 times? oops...

like i said, the countdown to mexico begins. i'll be posting again when i come back.

wonder if you can put pictures on this thing...

My First Blog - an intro

Hi--welcome to my very first blog. My name is Lisa Robinson and I am starting a blog to talk/vent about my daily commute. I live in San Francisco and commute down to Santa Clara, bringing my daily round trip total to about 100 miles. And yes, that adds up to 2 - 2 1/2 hours in the car everyday. Aren't you jealous?

My carpool buddies and I have jointly decided to begin blogs that will record our carpooling experiences. We thought it would be a good idea to see how everyone was feeling that day, and know exactly where we stand in the carpool hierarchy. It may also be fun for you to see what 4 days a week of commuting can do to 3 normal people...

To give you a short background: My carpooling experiences began this past June since I used to live a mere 15 minute from work. Leaving at 6:45am as opposed to waking up at 7am was hard to get used to, but I'm still in that honeymoon "i love living in the city" phase. (Note: I still have to press snooze a minimum of 3 times--why can't work start at 10?). There are 3 people in our carpool, down from 5. If we keep this up and you keep reading, you'll know more about commuting and the 3 of us than you ever imagined (or wanted).

That's all for now. I'll be commuting Monday, but then on vacation for the next week. Watch for my blog to reappear after Presidents Day weekend. Hope you're excited :)

Zack's blog: http://drivingdownthe101.blogspot.com/