There's a New Hero in Town

Look! On that bus! It's a boy! No! He's wearing a tie - it's a man! It's "Super Bus Boy" Man!

That's right, folks!

Starting in the month of June, I will be riding the bus every day to and from work. Why? Have you ever actually sat down and figured out what it costs to drive every day? Just for giggles and grins, check this little commute calculator out:

http://www.mycommute.org/site/options/calculator

So, let's see...$1700+ annually to drive or $396 annually to ride the bus...

My work place sells monthly bus passes at a discount, so I save even more (ends up being $366/year). Not only that, I contacted my auto insurance company and told them I wouldn't be driving as much and got a little over $100 off my annual bill...not much, but it all adds up.

It's not just economics either. I'm not a die-hard environmentalist, but probably much more than your typical white, christian, Republican male. There is a certain amount of hypocrisy in American culture - especially when it comes to environmental issues. I'll just do my part and let everyone else worry about themselves.

But what about the actual experience of riding the bus? The bus stops are a block from my home and a block from work - it doesn't get much better than that. The mornings are great, I catch the very first bus run (5:50AM), so it is usually empty or nearly so. The afternoons...? Well, I get off work at 3PM so the buses are usually hot and crowded with punk kids and a general mass of unhappy people. Still, it's nothing that "Super Bus Boy" Man can't handle!

Forget Jack...This Could be the House That STEVE Built!

Nothing is final yet...but...check this out:



Click on it for more details. And, yes, a further explanation will be forthcoming...in the next few weeks.

Iacta Alea Est

The die is cast.

Graduate school is out of the picture. For now, anyways. As it turns out, my one academic reference filled out the form, but never sent in an actual letter of recommendation. Even after I followed up with him about it. Ah well...no point in getting worked up over it. Over the past month I wasn't even sure if I would have gone even if I was accepted. I really do have a good thing going here and I'm not sure I am ready to give it up for more debt and being right back where I was this time last year - unemployed with a degree that didn't make much sense.

So what is on the agenda now? Well, for starters, enjoy having a job that I don't have to bring home with me, leaving time for other stuff. Enjoy getting off work in time to be home with my kids after they get home from school. Enjoy being in a home (not an apartment) that, while it's not in the best of condition, is affordable and has a fenced back yard (in all its decade-long, neglected glory). Enjoy full medical/dental benefits. Enjoy watching a 401(k) slowly grow. Enjoy the thought that I'll be getting a few more clients at work before too long.

INVICTUS
by Wiliam Ernest Henley (1849-1903)

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

And so I am.

He NEEDS this book!

Seriously. Whether it is for your son(s) or your husband. Get it. Now. Trust me. I have one for myself and my boys. It's published in British and American editions.