You're Doing It Wrong

C-Tran (Vancouver public transportation) did the Yellow Line (Portland metro public transport) a big favor when it raised its rates on the first. I’ve haven’t followed the story too closely but I think C-Tran is run by monkeys because they can’t do anything right.

Back in November they had a measure on the ballot to increase whatever tax it is that they get a piece of but they were asking for more than double of what they get now (or something like that — it was a huge increase). I did my homework before I voted and went back and forth on this one before I decided to support it. But shocker: it totally lost. They asked for too much. And supposedly they haven’t had an increase in forever, but too bad. Plan better.

So then they’re going to show us and cut half the routes and no more weekend service and tons of people get laid off and so forth like this. AND they raised the rates and no more transfers.

I don’t use C-Tran although I did take the express bus to Portland one day and I can report that it totally rocked, as in, was super speedy but that day Bob dropped me off. The problem is getting from the house to the express bus and if it takes me 20 minutes to take the neighborhood bus to the express bus that’s not buying me much. However, I had expected it to be my back up plan if I couldn’t make the park-n-ride.

No more. It would cost me $1.25 to take the neighborhood bus to downtown Vancouver. No transfer. Then $3 to take the express bus to Portland. If you’re slow at math, that’s $7.50 round trip.

Just kidding. That’s $8.50 round trip. You can find all day parking for less than that. I feel bad for the people who have no other choice.

Meanwhile, on Monday the people at the park-n-ride waiting for the train had doubled ($1.40 1-way, $1.35 if you buy 10 tickets at a time) and the overflow lot, which normally has fewer than 10 cars, was over half full. Today’s paper reports that C-Tran has 25% fewer riders. Double shocker.

When I was at the theater yesterday this silver Volvo pulls up in front of the ticket booth and parks in the red zone so a lady can buy some advance tickets. This probably bothers me more than it should but what if everybody thought they were too important to use a parking space and had to park in the red zone? It’s not like it’s red for no reason.

So I got in line behind her, silently judging. Some buckethead is sitting in the front seat of the Volvo text messaging — he’s an adult. Couldn’t he drop her off then park or was it going to be too brutal for her to walk 50 feet back to the car? Not like it was raining or the parking lot was full.

She’s wearing a leather coat and carrying an expensive purse. Meanwhile, there’s a couple of kids and mom/guardian type person standing by the ticket window looking at the choices and trying to figure out what to see. Volvo lady is waiting for her card to go through and she turns to one of the kids and holds out a tissue and says, “Don’t worry I didn’t use it.”

The kid takes the tissue and stands there looking at her.

“So you can pick up your gum,” she says.

There’s a fresh hunk of chewed gum on the sidewalk by his feet.

She’s not bitchy about it, more like she’s saving from him from humiliation. “I wouldn’t hand you a used tissue,” she says as she puts her card and tickets in her purse.

The kid picks up the gum and stands there. Volvo lady and her expensive purse stride back to the car.

The mom/guardian says, “Well, throw it away.”

I’m thinking of the lady in the Volvo: you are okay after all.

And here’s what I got:

Recent top 10 list for searches ending up at my page:

ozzy   
soaked
bad plastic surgery pictures  
cranberries   
george cousins
hemp  
orcas-books olympia   
agoura chargers       
agoura hills dance    
baby racoon crying

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Any guesses to what “baby racoon crying” was looking for?

The new office is on the 18th floor. We’ve only been there 2 months and already people have come to wash the windows inside and out. I don’t know if it was the same people.

I have a little vertigo problem with heights. Nothing that prevents me from enjoying my office but when the guys were hanging off the side of the building washing the windows, I couldn’t even look at them without feeling like I had to throw up.

Also, I’m not sure they washed anything. They were out there and back and forth but the window looks every bit as dirty as it did the first day I looked out of it. I know I said I couldn’t watch, but wouldn’t I have heard a squeegee or that squeaky sound windows make when you rub them with a damp towel?

I came in one morning and all my toys were moved on the window sill. I thought maybe I did something wrong and toys against the window were some sort of security problem or might compromise the integrity of the glass. When I mentioned later that my toys had been moved, I was informed that people came in to do the windows.

The next time I was in the lunch room I saw a memo taped to the door that announced the inside windows were going to be cleaned and I was sad to realize that I’m now one of those people who doesn’t even bother reading the memo.

The view I have is down Second.

Almost every day I see an emergency vehicle stopped on second with its light flashing. Almost every day. I think it’s a government building. In fact, I know it’s a government building because one day a bunch of protesters set up shop right there in the middle of the street.

We could see the protest from the window and watch the helicopters circle and then load up the “live feed” on the Internet and watch the footage. How meta is that?

Man, netflix burped.

I have a Wonderfalls disc (super fantastic show that only aired 4 episodes. It’s hilarious and worth your time and effort), a Buffy disc which includes one of the best episodes ever, Hush which includes Joss commentary track. The very last Angel disc which is concurrently tragic and a relief. Gotta get on with my life.

Then we have household hero Almodovar film Bad Education which we’ve been sitting on. Tonight we finished Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. So basically every single disc in the house is something for me to watch.

I just went through the queue and fixed it so the next 6 movies are Bob things. I have to get caught up and I need to do other things. I ditched the last 2 episodes of Alias (no big loss there) but we’ve got season finales coming up next month and I don’t want a bunch of discs piled up as well.

RE: Harold and Kumar

We watched about 30 minutes of this the other night and although we chuckled out loud a couple of times we were tempted to stick it back in the envelope. We finished watching it tonight and I have to say, it’s really stupid, but it’s really hilarious. Probably not for everyone, but seriously, after a long day and a couple glasses of refreshing adult beverages. You’ll laugh out loud.

You know I’m trying to be a good sport about this public transportation thing and I keep telling myself I don’t really hate it but it majorly sucks ass.

This morning I could see the train coming up as I pulled into the parking lot (this after some nightmare from hell clog getting on the freeway — it took 20 minutes to just get on the freeway) so I flung away my dignity and ran up to the platform. And nothing makes a girl feel sexier than running to catch a train with a backpack filled with yoga clothes bouncing off her shoulder and a sack filled with plastic cartons holding lunch bumping off her knees.

I made it but only because I didn’t validate my ticket. So at the next stop I looked for the ticket validator and didn’t see it so I stayed on the train. At the next stop I got off, found the validator and by the time I was ready to get back on, doors closing. SOL. Sit there for 10 minutes.

It sucks. It’s almost worth paying the $500+ for the annual pass just so I don’t have to dick with the tickets. The reason I don’t go for the monthly or annual pass is because with the 4-day work week, doesn’t make $en$e.

Tomorrow I’m taking a writing workshop with goddess and personal heroine Lynda Barry at Lewis and Clark College. It starts at 9am and I did the homework on the Trimet website and looks like a holy mothereffer pain in the ass journey. Car to park-n-ride, train to downtown, bus #1 to whatever then get off and find other bus to L&C. And according to the schedule they come only like once, every other lifetime.

Public transportation makes me cranky.