Monday, February 04, 2008
Bike On My Car or I'm a Deep Person
There's a bike on my car. Once again it sits on my car more than I sit on it. 1) I feel like I look really cool with an overpriced bike on my car...like people will say, "Whoa, that guy must be intense if he's riding in this stinky weather". 2) I live on a small island that is dependent on ferries for transportation to the mainland. This can be a major pain in the ass. The ride across the straight is beautiful but makes a trip to a bigger store or dentist an all day affair. Just the ferry unloading process can feel like a Costco check-out line. Car after car crawls off the boat turning your one hour and ten minute ride into a 90 minute test to not go postal. It's the sitting. The interminable sitting. In the summer you sit in the ferry line for up to 2 hours to get on the boat then up to another 1 1/2 hours on the boat as it goes from island to island dropping and picking up other people not going postal. The first few times it can be "quaint". That's what people think and it's why they buy WAY overpriced homes here (sorry Samantha you know it's true). The patina of quaint wears off eventually...somewhere after you're into year 3 or so of an astronomical mortgage. By the time I get to my car I'm really done sitting. So I fire up my car and, breathing someone elses exhaust, impatiently sit some more. And in a circuitous route I'm back to the subject of my bike on my car. Having a vehicle with a bike on it makes me too tall to get stuck over in the side lanes. It gets me into the center of the boat...the coveted middle lane. First group off the boat. So not only do I get the hell off the ferry sooner, I look intrepid doing it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Where do you put your bike on the return trip as it costs almost double on the ferry if you are over the heighth limit???? I know you don't pay THAT happily.
Thanks for the support about pricing here. It all costs more here, not just housing. Gas, food and stuff, but hey man, you live on an island and are privileged to do so. It is beautiful here with clean air, very little crime, white picket fences, knowing your neighbors AND the American Dream still alive! You gotta pay, brother, that kind of life in today's world don't come cheap! OK enough of that.
I gotta go get on my bike and ride!!! Spinning class that is, gotta sign up a week in advance to get one of those buggers...but hey, I'm sweating!
Luv frum yur sis
Aw, quitcher bitchin'! When I was a little kid, the ferry ride was over 2 hrs...and ya still had to wait for the unload, too. Granted- the "getting in line early" was not as critical- and the ferries were smaller which means less cars were loaded anyway. Y'know, James~ if you RODE YOUR BIKE on the ferry instead of carrying it around ontop of your car, you'd be FIRST on AND off the boat!
I know I'm supposed to ride the bike on and off the boat but dammit, it's cold and wet out there and I might catch my death of a cold...and wet lycra (while enhancing anyones anatomy) feels really creepy.
And yes Samantha, I am a cheap ass. The trick is to put the bike on the rack on the way to the mainland and then on the way back out to the islands when you have to pay just lay the thing willy-nilly on top of your car. It looks really sketchy, like it might fall off any second but it is free. I suppose this negates my first argument for having it on there in the first place (the cool factor) but looking cool 50% of the time is better than none of the time...like I said, I know I'm a really deep person inside.
Hey James - Can you guess who I am? I used to be your pen pal while you hung out with my sister. Your sister's were my idols. Nice to read your voice! I've never read a blog before and sure am glad I happened across yours. I enjoy your writing talents. All I have to say about the ferries is that I'm one of the nuts who actually look forward to the chance to ride one of those pokey things. I've lived on both coasts of this great nation and in between, and now that I'm back I honestly don't have that much desire to get the bleep out of here very often. Just every so often. Our first year back we did travel a lot but still loved waiting and testing our patience. Working through the challenges. Boring my kids with stories of missing the ferry because of that stupid freakin' drawbridge! Of course being mother to a six and seven year old does tend to keep you close to home. Until this year they nor my dogs influenced or hindered my exploring nature. I guess they still don't - it's work that cramps my style now (I hadn't worked when the kids were galavanting across the country). I guess I'm just saying it must suck being you! hating the ferry and living here...I do have a feeling you'll get over it. Once an islander always an islander. Hope to c u in the grocery store some day! Diane shmik7@hotmail.com
Post a Comment