monogodo

I'm not a very punctual person, and I never have been. The importance of being on time was never stressed to me while growing up.

I currently live across the street from where I work. It takes 5 minutes from the time I lock my door to the time I clock in at work. I'm rarely on time. Usually I'm late because I'm surfing the internet. I get to reading a site, and before I know it, I've got 5 minutes to shower, get dressed, and head to work.

I need to change my ways. Come mid-December, I won't have the leeway that I currently have. Because of job changes, I'll be working at a different location, for a manager that may not be as lenient as my current one is regarding tardiness. To add to the difficulty, I'll be relying on public transportation to get to work, so if I miss the bus, I'll have to wait longer for another bus, which will make me even later.

I just checked the DART website. To arrive at work on time (7:25am), I have three options:

• Bus #210, departing 7:15am, arriving 7:22am, walk .25 miles to work (a couple blocks away).
  
• Bus #008, departing 7:05am, arriving 7:12am, walk .07 miles to work (across the street).

The #8 bus would be best, because it would minimize my walk. Not that I'm lazy, I just don't want to worry about being caught in the heat of Texas summer or when it's raining. The problem is, the next #8 bus doesn't go that way until 7:30am, arriving at 7:37am.

I guess I should shoot for the 7:05 #8 bus. If I miss that, take the 7:15 #210. The average person walks at 3mph. I tend to walk faster than that, say 4mph. I should be able to cover ¼ mile in less than 4 minutes. Arriving at the stop at 7:22am, then walking to work, I should arrive at 7:26am. I'm glad to know I've got a back up plan, although I'd rather just arrive 18 minutes early.

Coming home I'm not as worried. I haven't even figured out which bus I'll need to take. I'm even considering walking home. It's only about a mile. If the weather is nice, and I've got decent shoes, it would be healthier than riding the bus. And at my walking pace, I'd be home in 15-20 minutes.

Ok, I just checked the routes for the return home. I'd have to catch the #8 bus at 4:31pm, which would get me .11 miles from home at 4:40pm. The next busses leaving that area aren't until almost 5pm.

Maybe I should check into working 8a-5p instead of 7:30a-4:30p.

Nope, that won't work. There's one bus there that leaves at 7:40, and arrives .25 miles away at 7:46. The next one leaves at 7:55, and arrives across the street at 8:02. That might work. The problem is going home. The earliest bus leaving that area is at 5:17pm, followed by another at 5:21. They arrive .11 miles from home at 5:24 and 5:30, respectively. I'd be able to walk home faster.

The more I look at the bus schedules, the more I realize why I don't like riding busses. Maybe it'll be best to save up and get me a scooter. I figure I could get one for $1500. A monthly DART pass is $40. Or maybe not. It would take 38 months (not counting gas & other incidentals) for the cost of the scooter to break even with the cost of a DART pass. And to break even on the DART pass vs. paying per trip, I'd have to ride the bus both ways every day 16 of the 22 (on average) days of the month. That means I can only walk home 12 days, I'd have to ride the bus home 10 times. Although, the convenience of using a pass vs. cash makes up for some of the cost. Then there's always the yearly pass option -- $400 for a year. That would save $80.

Crap, why can't this be easier?