Some Afterthoughts

It's been a few months since I lasted posted and I wanted to share some updates.  I haven't stopped using public transportation.  I think I drove for about two straight weeks to work and realized that I wanted to take the bus again, or at least the bus up and down the 405.  Or it might have been only one week.  More than anything else, I just didn't want to deal with the stop and go the 15 miles up and down the 405.  I realized that when I took the bus going up and down the 405, I was actually calmer on my drive on the 101. This was because I didn't have to deal with the thirty minutes to hour's worth of stop and go traffic averaging a whole 5 miles an hour.  The traffic on the 101 is bad, but always seems to have a higher average speed than that on the 405.

I started driving over to the Encino Park and Ride and taking the bus a few days a week, when I didn't have things to do after work (just in case I missed the bus or it was late).  That has happened a few times.  And sometimes, I still take the Metro down to Mosaic or other events in Hollywood (especially with the Hollywood Bowl traffic at nights)!

It's interesting, because people continue to look at me funny when I tell them that I continue to use the bus.  The Commuter Express buses are awesome though - well air conditioned and generally on schedule, they are a very convenient mode of transportation.  The other thing I realized when I started driving again was the amount of time that I spend in the car not actually doing anything.  When I ride the bus, I have forty minutes to an hour to read, begin writing entries to my blogs or other projects, edit friend's work or do something else.  That is each way, so that is an hour and half to two hours each day.  And although I try to get books on CD, so I am listening to a book, I honestly feel as though I am wasting time when I am driving.

The system isn't perfect, and there have been days where the bus was late or there were issues (one morning we waited for the bus to be in the proper gear to travel down the freeway).  But it has been an experience I have really enjoyed and would suggest whole-heartedly to everyone.  Any fun stories I have, I will continue to share with you.

Take care and use the public transportation near you!  And please share any experiences you have had!       

Final thoughts for now

For many of us, when we are given the keys to our first car, it brings us freedom.  A chance to escape the rules of my parents' house for just a bit and go where we want to go. Or at least we think it does, or I did. With the ability to drive came the ability to go hang out with my friends who lived all over the city.

Over the past 7 weeks, I have met a lot of people who didn't have cars or weren't driving.  And while I met some of them in the places you would imagine, like the Metro stations or the bus stops, I met a few at places a little more difficult to get to like the beach.  So the not having the freedom of car doesn't necessarily inhibit our ability to do things, we just need to craft out a little more time to get there.

It's kind of amazing to me that I think I have been doing more things and getting to more places since I stopped driving.  I had the pleasure to go to many birthday parties, including a 90's boy-band themed scavenger hunt.  I was able to go and see a Broadway musical downtown and an amazing concert at the Hollywood Bowl.  I got to go to a party to watch the Doctor Who season finale in an area of Los Angeles I have never been before this year.  For all these and so many more experiences, I have many friends and people to thank. 

Thank you to many people in my community group and church who have given me rides to so many awesome experiences - Alethea, Ishmael, Nick, Nicole, Nikki, Rachanee, Remy, Royce and Tatiana. Thank you to others who have provided ways to movies and entertainment - Linda and Danielle. Thanks to those who came and stopped by because they knew I wouldn't be able to meet them out including everyone who stopped by for my birthday and Marleine and Emily.

Thank you to my roommate Emily and her mom, June, who provided me with rides to dinners, breakfasts and lunches.  And also to movies, shopping, parties, doctors' appointments and the ever important grocery store!  Thank you to co-workers who have taken me out to run errands - Michelle, Karen and Mickie.  And to others who have driven me to lunches - Sandy, Mickie and Eileen.

Thank you to an amazing co-worker and awesome friend, Mickie who insisted on chauffuering me to and from work so many days during this period.  I am truly thankful for her generosity and willingness to put up with my conversation on the long rides to and from work.  And for always being patient in the answering of the question - "Should we get off the 405?"

Also, many thanks to a lot of people whom I didn't get a chance to thank or barely thanked.  That would be all the metro train and bus drivers who safely got me to and from work, church or other places I needed to go.  While I realized they are doing their job, I am grateful for the fact they chose this line of work and safely take thousands every day to where they need to go.

I found out from the doctor today that I can start driving again.  While I don't think I will fully stop taking the metro anytime soon, I might not be having quite as many adventures.  I definitely plan to continue using the metro to get down to church (especially when there are concerts at the Hollywood Bowl).  And though I am excited to start driving again, the likelihood of me getting tired of driving the 405 is no doubt in the near future.  So, while this part of the journey is coming to a close, I am thankful for all the lessons learned along the way.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and not letting me experience by myself! I hope to continue posting as I have cool experiences on the metro or random thoughts from driving adventures.  My posts just might not be as frequent.  Take care and safe travels wherever you are!!        

Blissful Ignorance

On Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to go down to my church and take a free hip hop class.  One of the guys in my small group had wanted the group to go as a way to celebrate his birthday.  I had texted a few people earlier in the day, but it seemed like they were going to be a little late to the class.  Since hip hop is a type of dance that is completely out of my comfort zone, I wanted to try to get there on time.  I figured I should probably be there from the beginning or else I would be totally lost.

I wasn't exactly sure of the train schedule, but was pretty sure if I got to the station by 6:45, I would be able to get a train that would get me to the class on time.  So of course I procrastinated, not getting ready until the very last second and giving myself exactly 15 minutes to walk down to the station.  I got to the stairs leading down to the platform just in time to see the train racing away from the platform.  So I waited for the next one and got to the class about 5 minutes late.

I was confused when I first walked in because I couldn't see a lot of my group.  I put my stuff down and joined in on the song they were dancing to.  After the song finished, the instructor let us have a water break, and I found a few of my friends.  But most of the group wasn't there.  After another 20 minutes of dancing (and laughing at myself), another one of our friends walked in.  When we got the next break, he let us know that there had been a concert at Hollywood Bowl and he was late because of the traffic around there.

As the songs and dancing and sweating continued, I watched more and more of my friends arrive.  All arrived extremely frustrated because they didn't realize there had been a concert and had been stuck in traffic the entire time.  But they came in started dancing or trying to dance (like me) and started having a good time.  I felt so bad for those who came in during the last song.  And I had been completely unaware, in blissful ignorance of the frustration they had experienced because I chose to catch the Metro that night. 

We grabbed dinner afterward the class, sung happy birthday to my friend and everyone had a good night in the end.

But the night does cause me to ponder if there have been other instances where I was blissfully ignorant of a friend's sufferings.
        

Hidden Gems

This past weekend, a friend invited me to go to a beach bonfire.  I will admit, I was feeling a little on the crappy side that day, and didn’t want to go completely.   But at the same time, I didn’t want her to drive all the way over by herself.  When she stopped by to pick me up, I checked out a maps app to see how bad the freeway was looking.  It was on and off red all the way down the 101 and the 405 to the place we were supposed to go to the bonfire.  I asked if she wanted to try going the back ways, and she asked if she needed to program it in her GPS.  I told that I would be able to get us to where her written directions picked up. 

We headed up onto the canyon roads which use to be my daily drive to work.  After a few turns, I asked her if she had driven Mulholland before.  She said she hadn’t and that she her closest interaction had been on the Mulholland Drive ride at Disneyland’s California Adventure.  For those of you not familiar with California, Mulholland Drive winds in and around the huge hill between the valley and the west side.  It is one of the curviest roads that I have driven on out here.  Since I was used to driving it and not driving, I tried to point out the sites as we passed that would be interesting to tourists. Or at the least the ones that amused me!  So I began to show her my hidden gem locations of Los Angeles. 

Along Mulholland Drive between Coldwater and Laurel Canyons, there is a turn you go around and then if you are looking up (which please don’t do this while you are driving!) you can see a large blue sign with the white letter D.  I have never done the research to find out if this is true, but based on the font it looks like it could have been part of the original Disneyland sign.  When I mentioned this to my friend, she quickly agreed.  One of my other favorites along this route is a house in Beverly Hills that looks like it was torn from the pages of a storybook.   Seriously, it looks like it should be the seven dwarfs’ house from Snow White.  It’s simply amusing to me just sitting in the middle of Beverly Hills and streets full on large houses and mansions.

We ended up passing some other familiar sites along on the way too, like the place she used to go dancing at and my favorite vegan Indian place, the Samosa House.  We got to the point where we picked up her directions and found our way over to the beach.  We found a free place to park up on the street and walked down to the beach.  We started looking around for the group but weren’t seeing any familiar faces.  I asked her if she knew what lifeguard station they were by, but she wasn’t sure.  And then we realized we had no signal on our phones.  We continued walking and finally found a place where I had a bit of signal and were able to get a hold of the group.  And then we realized we were still probably a half a mile off.

We found the group and after a little while, they started a fire.  After hot dogs and smores and great conversation, I reflected on the last time I had been to beach.  It had been more than a year, I am sorry to report.  I was hard for me to believe it had been that long, because I was having such a great time.  I also reflected on how far away we were from my work, which couldn’t have been more than a couple of miles away.  I am determined that when I start driving again, I might slip out at least once a week to enjoy my lunch at the beach.  Or at least see if it’s feasible within an hour!

It was a wonderful night and the walk back to the car wasn’t too bad nor was the fast drive on the freeway back to the valley.  I can’t believe I had thought about not going! Although not at all hidden, the beach is a gem that I will be enjoying again soon!

What are your hidden gems for where you live?  Have you shared them with others?

Introductions

So, I know it's an odd title for over halfway through this exploration, but there is a good reason for this, the introductions weren't mine!

I was having dinner with a friend in the valley before we headed to our main entertainment for the evening - a concert at the Hollywood Bowl.  She asked me, "Where around here is good to eat?"  I said here are a couple fast food options, and we have a great sit down Thai place up the street.  So we headed into Summer Canteen.  (Yeah, it's an odd name for a Thai place, but don't let the name fool you - the food rocks!)  She took a look at the menu and was floored to see fish cakes.  So she insisted on getting that and also tried their lamb curry and some vegetables.  Somewhere between the fish cakes and the curry, she decided she had a new favorite Thai place not too far from her work.  And even though she was just trying it for the first time, she insisted on getting dinner.  I was just so glad that it was a place she liked!!

Then, we were trying to decide on a way to get to the Hollywood Bowl.  I suggested trying the Metro, to which she responded that she had never taken the Metro.  I thought it might be a good option since it would save us parking money and hassle of trying to get to Hollywood.  She was game, so we headed down the street to Park and Ride station.  We got down to machines, and I got her a card with money on it to get back and forth to the Park and Ride.  We walked down the stairs to the station and had to wait a few minutes.  While we waited, she read the history of the Campo de Cahuenga, the foundations of the mission that the station was built under.

When the train showed up, her first remark was that it was really clean.  I was taken aback by this. My experience in Germany has spoiled me, I am afraid.  But she went onto say that both the station and the train were very clean when compared to New York.  I knew that there were signs posted regarding no eating or drinking on the trains or you would receive a fine, but from past experience also knew that people don't always adhere to these.  We stood during the short four minute ride to Hollywood.

We came out at Hollywood and Highland and began the uphill trek to the Hollywood Bowl.  After a block, we past the place my friend had planned to park.  And that's when we began to realize how good it was we took the subway.  The cost for parking in the lot she had planned was $25.  We had paid $3 each for the subway roundtrip.  As we walked closer to the bowl, we realized there were a large number of people coming to concert. If we would have driven, there's a good chance we might have missed part of the concert or least would have spent a lot of time in traffic.   And by walking, we were being given a chance to walk off some of the calories from dinner!!  While neither one of us were wearing the best shoes for the uphill walk, it still wasn't that bad. 

The concert we went to was Hillsong United, which is a Christian praise band from Australia.  My friend wanted to go because she used to sing with the band when she lived in Australia.  Even though I wasn't as familiar with their music, it was amazing to be worshipping God in a gigantic outdoor amphitheater with thousands or other people.  The night was great, but I want it to continue to live on through the way I live my life.
  

 

When the concert over, and the last song of the night was sung by the band, we started walking back towards the metro station.  We really didn't want to stop singing though, and were singing and talking as we walked past the stacked cars waiting to get out of the parking lots.  And once again, we were thankful that we had taken the Metro.  We found that we weren't alone in our decision or our thankfulness as they were close more than fifty people waiting to head back up to the valley at the train station. It was a great night for some introductions and another awesome adventure on the Metro!


   

Lessons on Waiting and Patience

You know how they say a watched pot never boils? Pretty sure you could also say that continuously glancing in the direction of the train/bus won't make it come any faster. I have had many times over the past month where I would get to the bus or train station just in time to see it pulling away from the stop. It depends on the day, but usually it's not too much of a wait - about 10-15 minutes or so. And fingers crossed, for most of the time, it has been in good weather!

But one morning this week, instead of sitting down and waiting for the bus, I decided to stand. I was wearing jeans, a sleeveless top and a light cardigan because I knew this afternoon was supposed to be warm. The air was still slightly chilly, probably around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. (Yes, I live in Los Angeles and 60 degrees is chilly!) While I was waiting, I was staring off into the large community gardens that are near the bus stop. And then the realization came to me that this was oddly similar to Germany.

Last year my mom and I went to Germany to visit relatives and friends. Our relatives and friends lived in different cities, and we used Germany's train system to get around to each of the places we stayed at. One of the things we constantly saw from the trains but I never got a good picture of was community gardens that seemed to be just outside the large cities we passed through. They were massive and the one thing that always stood out to me as the trains zoomed past was the little almost house-looking sheds every hundred or so feet. Since we didn't actually get to visit one of these community gardens, I can only assume that tools were stored in these. But I digress; the sheds were the only difference to me between the gardens in Germany and the ones I was staring at in valley. And by focusing on this, the wait for the bus seemed so much shorter than usual.

Now, on the way home, I had a completely different experience. I decided that I wanted to sit down on the bench around the corner from the stop because the bench was in the sun and I was freezing from the previous bus ride. I was playing Sudoku on my Kindle, glancing up every few minutes to see which buses passing by. I thought the bus usually came around twenty past five. When I glanced up a few minutes earlier, I saw the bus racing down the street. I knew that if I wasn't standing at the stop, the bus wouldn't necessarily stop. But I thought I had just a few more minutes before the bus came. But with missing the bus, it meant that I had imposed an hour half wait on me for wanting to sit in the sun and play Sudoku. Kind of stupid.

During wait and the second bus ride home, I was texting different friends trying to arrange a ride to my small group for church. After one or two had turned me down, I then remembered that my roommate had told me she would be free. I gave her call, but she told me she was at work. I was able to find a ride, but when I got home, I found out that my roommate's mom had flown in to surprise my roommate for her birthday. Since she is like a second mom to me, I was overjoyed to see her. I was really sorry I missed the first bus and spent just ten short minutes with her before running off to small group.

Ironically (or just nailing the lesson home for me), the discussion at small group this week was focused on perseverance. We also discussed how both patience (holding out for the good) and endurance (holding onto the good) flow from perseverance.  I think I definitely learned a lesson this week!  And I just hope I can hold onto this lesson and ensure not to make the same mistake again anytime soon!  


 

Changing times

No matter what is going on in your life, it always feels as if something is changing, right?  Whether it be a move, new relationship or career, something is consistantly changing! And why would that be any different with the LADOT system in Los Angeles?  They are changing out the paper tickets for pre-loaded cards, so I see definitely see it as a move in the right direction!  Although, I have to say it's kind of funny, only three short weeks after I start taking the LADOT, the whole system changes.    

But, they are totally on top of things!  Yesterday, when I went to go online to look at getting bus tickets or pass for next month, the announcments were all over their website.  Even more impressive, when I got off the first bus yesterday afternoon at the Park & Ride, there were personnel there to let us know that the system was changing and handing out pamphlets explaining the changes and what to expect.  I ended up sitting in the very back of the first bus, so I was sheepishly asking the guy to repeat what he had just finished saying when I fianlly got off the bus.

So, when he was finished speaking, I went across the street and sat down for awhile.  About the time that the next bus was supposed to come, I got up and walked around to the bus stop.  After a few minutes, the guy who I asked to repeat himself walked over.  He asked me again if I had heard about the changes.  I said "Yes, you let me know about the changes when I got off the other bus".  He thought about it for a second, and asked about the two different buses I took.  He then proceeded to walk through different scenarios with me on what would be the easiest/cheapest approach.  Since I have a co-worker who is extremely generous with providing me with rides to work, and the buses I take are in two different zones (of cost & mileage), this was no easy task. 

We had almost finished the discussion when the second bus pulled up.  The doors opened, and he told the bus driver, " You had better treat her well, she is going a long way!".  I laughed as did the bus driver, and said "He always treats me well!".  I do have to say as someone who doesn't consistantly ride the bus, I felt like they totally went out of the way to make sure I had all the information at hand needed to make the best decision for myself through this change.