The Commute

I know it hasn't been that long but considering the events of today, I thought I would just do a post dedicated to my commute :)

So this is my trusty steed:

It's a 1987 Schwinn that I found on Craigslist from a guy who used to be a bike mechanic (so it was in perfect condition, score)!

So anyway, first day of the commute was a BLAST! ...That was a total lie, there was a torrential downpour the ENTIRE time and I got lost because of all the construction. It would have been miserable but I left early enough that I still got there with time to spare (and dry off in the bathroom).

Other than that, I've perfected my ride there and can do it in under 20 minutes (faster than riding the bus!) but then I always wander on my way back, I don't think I've come straight back once.

Now for today. It was raining when I woke up so I checked the weather to see if it would continue. It said 10% for the next few hours but then 70% for the afternoon so I decided today was going to be my first day riding the bus! I've been avoiding it for a while because I have rather long list of bad memories using public transportation (usually because I can never get off at the right stop):

• When I was a freshman at Calvin, I took the Rapid to visit my friends at Grand Valley. The ride there was fine and took about an hour but on the way back, I got off at the wrong stop, ended up walking around downtown Grand Rapids alone for an hour in January, just missed my bus and had to wait another hour for the very last bus of the day.
• Then there was Mexico. One of the first days in Merida, I couldn't find the bus stop because it had changed due to construction. I suck at speaking Spanish so I couldn't understand anyone's directions and they couldn't understand the problem. It was kind of horrifying.
• I once tried to use the Rapid to get to Grand Valley on a Saturday but the website information did not properly reflect the actual bus schedule so when I got to the central station, I thought I was stranded and had a mini meltdown.   
• And then there's today: I got off at the wrong stop again and was running behind so I thought walking would be faster than waiting to see if the bus I needed would come. I didn't think it would be a problem because weather.com said there was only a 10% chance of rain. WRONG! It was once again, a torrential downpour the entire time I was walking. Luckily when I showed up to work looking like a drowned rat, everyone else was too.

That being said, I'm glad I was forced to use the bus today because maybe now I won't be so hesitant to take it to Meijer (except why go to Meijer when there is a KROGER on the way to work?!).