As some of you may remember, Bobbo was hit by an OCTA bus while riding his bicycle two years ago tomorrow. With the settlement from that accident, the two of us were able to spend three fantastic weeks traveling through Europe. During the trip we visited six countries and relied almost exclusively on public transportation to get around, which is pretty easy considering how great the rail, bus and subway systems are over there. So when we returned to California after living car-free for almost a month to find gas prices had jumped up to $4.70/gallon in our absence, it was a bit of a shock to the system.
So today I tried something that I hadn't done in the eight years we've lived in California - I took the bus! Yep, I left the car in the driveway this morning and walked to the bus stop to see what commuting on the OCTA was like. And frankly, it was as easy as pie! Using the online OCTA trip planner I found a bus route that runs straight between our apartment and my office in Irvine, with only a ten minute walk on either end. It's a 45 minute ride, which is a little longer than it usually takes in the car, but I get to spend it listening to my iPod and reading a book instead of fuming at the guy that just cut me off on the highway, so it all balances out. Plus it saves me about $1.20 a day in gas, is better for the environment, AND I get a total of about 40 minutes of exercise walking to and from the stops.
So I guess after all this I've made my peace with OCTA. Now if we could only get Bobbo on one of those busses!
So today I tried something that I hadn't done in the eight years we've lived in California - I took the bus! Yep, I left the car in the driveway this morning and walked to the bus stop to see what commuting on the OCTA was like. And frankly, it was as easy as pie! Using the online OCTA trip planner I found a bus route that runs straight between our apartment and my office in Irvine, with only a ten minute walk on either end. It's a 45 minute ride, which is a little longer than it usually takes in the car, but I get to spend it listening to my iPod and reading a book instead of fuming at the guy that just cut me off on the highway, so it all balances out. Plus it saves me about $1.20 a day in gas, is better for the environment, AND I get a total of about 40 minutes of exercise walking to and from the stops.
So I guess after all this I've made my peace with OCTA. Now if we could only get Bobbo on one of those busses!
