Commuting presents a daily set of challenges and frustrations.  There are the timid souls who don’t understand that the proper way to merge onto a highway is to accelerate into the traffic flow, rather than creeping up to the merge point, hoping that the traffic on the highway will make way and then braking suddenly when that doesn’t happen.  There are the oblivious types who are talking on their phones or, God forbid, texting, and therefore not paying the slightest attention to what they are doing.  There are the self-absorbed characters who click on their turn signals and then immediately begin to drift into the next lane, as if the simple act of initiating the turn signal gave them a magic pass that automatically cleared the way for their cars.

For my money, the worst offenders are the people who seemingly do not grasp the purpose of the passing lane.  When I took my driver’s education class and ventured out, for the first time, onto a four-lane highway, the instructor made it clear that the left lane was the passing lane.  You moved into the left lane if you wanted to pass the car or truck in front of you, and when you had completed the pass you moved back into the right lane.  This allowed traffic to flow properly.

This salutary concept evidently is lost on some people.  In their view, the left lane is simply a lane like any other, to be occupied by traffic.  If they are going to be turning left in two miles or so, they may as well get over into the left lane now, stake their claim to that spot in traffic, and continue to drive their normal speed — which typically is about 5 miles below the speed limit.  Why not?  It’s more convenient for them.  In the meantime, the traffic piles up behind them and then frazzled commuters begin to consider whether they can shoot around the car on the right — and when they attempt that maneuver the offender, shaken from his reverie, usually speeds up for some reason.  Eventually people start driving recklessly, brake lights flash, and accidents happen.  I’ve often thought that more accidents are caused by overly slow drivers that overly fast drivers.  Others agree; this website has a helpful collection of quotes that make that point.

So I say:  Slow drivers, give us a break!  Let the passing lane be the passing lane!

Getting around in Japan can get quite confusing. Both in Tokyo and Yokohama, you are circulating with a few million people each and every day! Due to the lack of English communication in both cities, a simple help of direction can lead to confusion, resulting in frustration which deminishes the joyful experiences of your trip. Here are some tips and tricks I have learned to move with the crowd. Below are some photos so you know exactly what I am describing.

Here is a JR LINE ticket station. Once you put enough money into the machine, a ticket stub will spit on and on you go. You then proceed to the stalls where you have to insert the ticket stub and REMEMBER to grab it back if you are entering the station’s train. Upon exit, the stub will not spit out of the stalls you walk through.

I’m grateful to have made it through another year… really I am.  I even blog about all the positive energy I like to put out in the world on my Life’s Passion is Life’s Purpose blog.  But in this blog… I post my frustrations with my daily commute.  Now, please don’t get me wrong… I’m thankful I have to legs, good eye sight and a job to go and from every work day.  Having said that… here’s my last grumpy blog post regarding My Work Day Commute of 2009…

WHY is the MARC train running on holiday schedule ALL week?  The holiday isn’t until Friday.  Why does this matter… oh… because I arrived and hour and a half early for my train back to DC yesterday.  Not happy about that.

WHY was there no heat on the train today?  Seriously… 24 degrees outside… turn the darn heat on.

WHY do announce a final boarding call when the train hasn’t even arrived.  Are they communicating with each other or is this a free for all?

Last my not least… WHY isn’t there at least ONE express train during rush hour?  It’s… uh… RUSH HOUR… isn’t that the one time people should have at least one express option.

OK, I’m done now… I feel better.  Happy New Year all and I’ll be back with more cranky commuter posts in 2010.

They’re sadists.

This post could’ve ended there, but I’ll elaborate a bit. It’s not cool for a busdriver to pull out and drive away when he sees you running for your life to catch his very bus in his rearview mirror. Especially not when it’s 12 mins before the next bus turns out,and it’s a freezing -10 degrees outside. Not cool at all.

So I had an idea for a new feature: My dad always told me to take notice of all the cars broken down on the side of the highway when we go driving, and when it comes time for you to buy a car, don’t buy what you saw broken down. Sounds simple, but this is good advice – We live in a day and age where you can’t really believe reliability surveys from any car manufacturer, and sometimes a really-real-world test is what you see on the side of the road.

So what spurred this? well today, it was the 2007 Nissan Versa in the right lane of the lower level of the GWB at a dead stop, which I nearly hit at 60 MPH. Bad place to stop, even with your hazards flashing. I have heard not -so-good things about the Versa, especially given Nissan’s legendary reliability of the bulletproof VQ motors. Guess I’ll keep an eye out for more of them.

So from now on, I am going to report on what I see broken down, and perhaps chart it out using some crazy Excel skills at the end of the year for a completely unscientific test.

Only twice today was I nearly sideswiped by someone texting while driving. The geniuses in Albany only recently made it illegal. It also isn’t like there is a stereotype for this – The asses on the blackberries are just as bad as the high school girls who can barely drive as is. Seriously though, this should be license suspension. But heres a great video from the other side of the pond.

What a long weekend. Logged in probably close to 500 miles of driving this weekend visiting family and friends. Traffic wasn’t that bad. I have to work most of this week, and I expect it to be light for the most part in the mornings, and a bit heavier on the way home. Holiday traffic patters are sometimes hard to call because of the amount of inexperienced drivers are on the road yield a larger percentage of accidents, which equal delays. but overall, its a lot lighter.

I am also sorry to report that i didn’t get either the X5 or the 98 Suby Legacy GT 5 speed I asked for this Christmas.

Also, be on the lookout for a huge pothole that has opened up on the ramp from the Grand Central to Clearview. it’s one of those thats barely noticeable until your on top of it, and next thing you know, you need a new rim.

Maybe I’ve been overcome with Holiday cheer but I haven’t done a cranky post about my commute in a while. I didn’t complain about the extra security during Thanksgiving that made me miss my MARC train. I didn’t fuss about the Amtrack holiday travelers that made getting in and out Union station a nightmare. I didn’t even write about the 15 inches of snow that prevented me from riding my bike and forced me to ride the metro with crowds of unhappy commuters last week. But this morning, I can’t hold back! Could it be that the Christmas spirit is gone already?

No disrespect to parents of toddlers… and I know this is how they learn… but “why” should be stricken from the English language! I’m telling you if the little hair boy with the beautiful blue eyes asks his Father “why, why Daddy?” one more time…this early in the morning… I’m gonna SCREAM!!! As one ages, patience must go out the window because I don’t remember inquisitive little children bothering me at all but this morning he is working my last nerves.

I’m seriously thinking of asking Congress to declare the word “why”, it’s meaning, translation and the expression thereof as an act of treason followed by declaring it a hate crime punishable by law!!! As you can see I’m cranky this AM!

God bless the inventor of headphones, MP3 players, and artist that make soothing music *turning up iPod really loudly*.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Everyday I make this journey. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I listen to people’s conversations. Other times I read the Internet. I open Twitter and facebook at alternate times more than 10 times for sure. I guess I’m bored after all.

Yesterday I read a piece in the telegraph about children and boredom. Essentially it said that children need to be bored to stimulate their creativity.

I don’t quite know yet what to think about it. I suppose I agree that I need external stimulation for having creative thoughts but I don’t agree that out of boredom I can create something.

We hear a great deal about Portland and Seattle, but Boulder is also a Bike Friendly community. Here’s a video of their story.–Corrie

Before the ride on the first of November, I was weighing up my options for doing this ride or going on the Fitz’s challenge. I know people who live in the Dapto area who were keen to have me around after I finished. I also thought it would be a good ride to do (as it always is). I haven’t done Fitz’s challenge yet and will definitely do it next year. I decided to do the Gong ride this year because I needed something that would remind me of the people who I rode with in Sydney. I also wanted to do it because it is a good ride.

Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club has a team in the Gong ride bust so did Pedal Power.  In the end as much as I wanted to ride with Dulwich Hill, I signed up with Pedal Power in the hope that I would meet other cyclist from the ACT. I signed up then contacted the team organiser Chris Mann. It turned out he had done some research with Google and knew something about me from Sydney cyclist and other forums.

I arranged to meet Chris and the other riders at Steel Park, St Peters in the morning around 7.30. I took myself and the Red Hybrid to Dapto the night before and got myself settled down. In the morning I got myself ready and took the down to Dapto station in time for the train to St Peters. I was expecting an older train as I was told that an old red rattler was used by city rail last time to bring riders from the Illawarra to the start point at St Peters. However we got the usual train that is used on the Illawarra, Hunter and Blue Mountains lines and it made a good difference. I got to the start point on time. I hung out and absorbed the atmosphere for a while waiting for Chris and the other riders to appear.  I know St Peters very well. I have rode through the area many times and knew some of the Cafe’s and Pubs on the lower end of King Street.

Chris finally showed up and I met the other riders. They were mostly older riders. Chris and I were the younger riders. We had the usual hiatus at the start point, getting the last-minute things done and then had the team photo. I will see if I can get any of the photos on to this site as soon as I can.  We were also delayed at the start because of safety concerns as the traffic lights along the Princes Highway were delaying riders. Everyone was also reminded about an incident that occurred earlier in the week where a cyclist using the Parramatta T-way had got involved in a road rage incident and attacked a bus driver. This incident had got a lot of media attention including the usual trolls from the Terror and the likes of John (Bong Head) Birmingham and Miranda Divine.

When we finally got underway I had a good look around for Dulwich Hill riders and only noticed some who must have one the training ride to Waterfall and were on their way back. I also enjoyed a good look at some of my old haunts around Tempe, Sydenham and later Brighton Le Sands. We rode as a group for a while before we wound up being separated.

We went through some of the best areas in the St George area and enjoyed a good run to the first rest point at Loftus. After a comfort stop I got the customary muffin and cup of coffee and got myself ready to carry on. I caught up with some people I know from my days as a St John volunteer in Sydney and caught up with them for a while before finally getting under way.

As we rode through the Shire I caught up with Chris and discussed the differences between Canberra and Sydney as regards cycling culture. It turns out Chris has done some time in Sydney and was used to commuting to the CBD with the cars doing less speed than his bicycle. He also has some family in the Illawarra and had caught up with them every so often. He has done a lot of rides in NSW and was fully aware of the cycling and road culture in Sydney. I have met Canberrans who were not aware of the differences in road rules and other issues.

We finally got to the stage where we went through the Royal National Park and it was here that the group split up again. The ride went well and I was able to make good time getting to the clearing where lunch was served.  It was here that I caught up with Brian Yap – a member of Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club and MASSBUG. He was riding his recumbent. I think his recumbent was the only one I saw that day. We discussed the ride and how Dulwich Hill was going. Apparently the Saturday Slowies Group is getting big and is more often split into 2 groups. for the ride to and from Centennial Park. I also found out that everything was fine with MASSBUG which was pleasing to hear.

After Lunch I set off down the escarpment to Lawrence Hargraves drive. I made to the lookout and then began the descent to Wollongong. It was on Lawrence Hargraves Drive that  I copped a puncture in the front tyre. It happened a the worst time and in the worst area. I was able to dismount and begin working on it although I had to put myself and the bike on the other side of the crash barrier as the police were holding back the cars at the start of the road and were letting them through in dribs and drabs. I began working on the puncture when I found that the valve on the pump had gone. Fortunately there was a guy on the other side of the road who had a pump but no spare tube. I asked him for a lend of his pump and he tossed it over. Unfortunately for me it was too high and it got caught in the tree behind where I was.  I was on the sloping side of the road and had to almost climb the tree get the pump ( I held onto a branch and jumped/swung out and got the pump) and then had to fight my way back to the bike. While  was getting the spare tube in the traffic passed and there were some interesting looks and a laugh from one of the lazy weak bastards in a XR6. I got the tyre pumped up and was joined by some of the roving mechanical helpers who were patrolling the course. I bought a new spare tube and headed off after giving the other rider his pump with the welcome news that he was lucky it didn’t go further down.  I also saw some of the Dulwich Hill riders including Simon Sharwood riding back to Sydney.

I got myself under way and eventually got on to the Sea Cliff bridge. I was eager to catch up with some of the people ahead and began to ride hard in some parts. I calmed down by the time I made it to the fruit stop at Scarborough. I got the tyre pumped up with the floor pump at the mechanics that were stationed at the Fruit stop and after a couple of bananas, I got myself under way. I began to enjoy the scenery as I went further along the beginning of the Illawarra region.

When we finally reached the outskirts of Wollongong I picked up the pace a little. We joined a bike path briefly and went through Woonona and Bellambi before reaching Fairy Meadow on the final stretches of the ride.  It was good to reach the finish. I wound up meeting Brian again and we went all out to join the DHBC group at the Five Islands Brewery. We got to the brewery as the others were leaving. I caught up with Geoff and Marion and found out that it was indeed their tandem that was in a Bicycling Australia magazine article on Mudgee.

After all of the days exertions it was good to relax with a Dapto Draught and some wedges at the brewery. After I caught up with Brian, I headed back to Dapto via the train. I got myself washed and then headed home to catch up with Mum and Dad.

Christmas Eve and there is hardly anyone else going to work. The train is lovely and quiet, and there are less carriages than normal.

Let’s see if I can blag a half day.

Last night I heard how much the food for Christmas normally costs. It seems that some things here, are more expensive. That said the meat was from a proper butcher so I would expect that.

Pic taken with a Canon S90 Aperture Mode – 1/5 @ F2 ISO 80

No, I’m not saying anyone has dandruff. However, all drivers of trucks and gi-normous campers — you might want to check if you still have some snow on the roof still.

I was behind one camper that had so much snow and plates of ice on top of it, that it was streaming fog like streams of glory while dropping big chunks of frozen snow in front of my tiny car. When you’re creating your own meterologic event, you might want to consider the other people who need to swerve around your detritis.

Once people get their presents, I will end up showing off some of the knits. One baking idea — if you’re making sugar cookies from Fannie Farmer cookbook, you might want to try adding 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. It balances out the vanilla content.

I just ran over a dog.  A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  She darted out into the road as I was completing the final leg of my drive home from work.   A 12 mile trip which today took me over an hour and a half. 

Take one winter snowstorm, dumping 8 inches of snow, ice, and crud in a major urban area, add sunglare so severe I couldn’t read street signs as I weaved and darted my way home, throw in an accident during rush hour on the major artery that takes me from work to home, and let’s not forget it’s December 23rd, so we also have last-minute shoppers, kids getting out of school early, and the official beginning of that break from work for a holiday I don’t celebrate (but am grateful for the time off nonetheless).

Finally, after detours through frightening neighborhoods, in an effort to avoid the major road which was backed up, I got back on the congested boulevard, and creeped and crawled my way back to my own safe neighborhood.  As I was heading down the final stretch, at last able to open up my sporty little car towards the optimistic 35 mph speed limit, a little dog darted out from the iron gates of one of the villa-esque mansions and hopped across the road.  I slammed on my brakes, grateful it was 33 degrees today, or else the road would have been one giant skating rink, and I heard the grinding of anti-lock brakes.

I didn’t stop in time, or, at all.  I kept driving, lest I be hit by the car behind me, on this road that doesn’t have shoulders.  But as I glanced in my rear-view mirror, I expecting to see what I dreaded, I saw instead a happy little puppy bounding back across the road in front of the next car, which had managed to stop.  Somehow she either flew between my tires, or I was able to slow enough for her to make it across the road. 

When I was a little girl, I saw our dog, Amy, a fox terrier-whippet mix, get run over in a similar fashion.  She timed her crossing to coincide with the undercarriage of the car precisely, and she narrowly missed all four wheels. 

I wanted nothing more than to escape work a little early and run home so we could get back on the road and go visit my parents for the next few days.  Instead, I was treated to a trial of patience, determination, fear, and relief.  The last thing I want right now is to get back in that car and face the still bunged-up roadways with the persistent sunglare and asshole motorists.  Yet that’s precisely where I’m going.  As long as Mr. Apron is doing the driving, as long as that little dog is okay, I think I can bear it.  But a Xanax would help, too.

So, no massive problems on the way in. A door did get stuck at one station, so back to normal.

Oh and the trams still are not running properly at my destination.

Streetwise Films produced this film on Copenhagen’s bicycle friendly streets during the Climate Change conference in December 2009. It features Mikael Colville-Andersen, Denmark’s ‘bicycle ambassador’ and editor of Copennhagenize blog.

He talks about civic pride at 37% of trips into the city being by bicycle and why not when they have a ‘green way’ into the city where all the traffic lights on that route let bicycles travel the full 6km route without a red traffic light.

Inspiring stuff.

The train services are supposedly back to normal. We shall see how the journey goes. In this country if something looks too good to be true on the trains it’s normally too good to be true.