Observations

Things have been going quite swimmingly for the past week and half. I feel less tense when I arrive at work or home, I finished up reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut at the end of last week, and I’ve jumpstarted my brain every morning with the morning paper’s Sudoku puzzle.

I’ve observed something about the whole commute though: It feels like the afternoon trip is shorter, but it’s all in my perception. See, I look at my watch when I leave my apartment in the morning and predict, with stunning reproducibility, that it will take 65 minutes until I reach the door of my building at work. In the evening, it always feels shorter because it feels like I’ve ended my trip once I’ve stepped off the escalators at the metro station, even though I still have about 10 minutes more walking.

Questions and Answers

Keacher posed an interesting question in the comments section a few days ago. He asks:

What will be your strategy for non-work errands, like going to the grocery store? Planning to do any cycling?

Luckily, a fairly large grocery store is literally on the opposite side of the block from my apartment building. Had I chosen an apartment on the other side of the building, I could look out my window into its parking lot.

As for other errands, there are a good number of shops in the immediate area, and I could always bite the bullet and pay the more expensive prices for things like laundry detergent and household stuff at the grocery store.

One thing I looked into last week was a car sharing service called ZipCar. It starts a $7/hour, but includes all gas, insurance, and 180 miles per day.  Also, part of the perks of working at a large corporation include a waived annual fee, no application fee, and no minimum monthly usage.

There are at least a dozen “home” spots for ZipCars surrounding the Metro station. They work through a reservation system, but I haven’t heard any reviews on how available or easy it is to get one. Still, a nice and cheap alternative to taxicabs or bugging friends to borrow their car.

Biking is another good alternative, but not one I’ve really considered. Work is about 13 miles away via bike trails, according to Google Maps’ beta. I consider that a bit far, especially since I’m considering the mere increase in walking to be a step up in physical activity.  I really should get back to a gym :-/

Applicability

Looking at my chosen 30 day window and my upcoming calendar, I’m torn.

On one hand, any 30 day window will be just as applicable in terms of 5 of 7 days of no car. That’s the majority of my week, and it feels like many other errands can be done immediately after work on my way home. For example, I detoured tonight to cash a few checks at the bank.

However, my weekends are filled with out-of-town plans. I have no representation of what a carless, non-guest-hosting weekend will be like by the end of the 30 days. Now please, don’t chalk this up to any kind of complaint. I love being busy and having things to do on the weekend, especially now that grad school is over. My current plans and situation are just not conducive to an accurate test. So it goes.