Car free days 25 - 28

Day 25 was Thanksgiving. I spent the day lounging, cooking, eating, and sleeping, as one should on this day. I also completed my Thanksgiving day tasking.

Day 26 was black Friday. I went out on a geohashing expedition, but was unable to reach the point due to a steep, wet, muddy, and leaf covered incline. On the expedition, I did get some food, and a friend picked me up and dropped me off. However, the friend would have had to have driven right by my apartment to get to/from the hashpoint anyways. Other than that I read.

Day 27 I read through most of the day, took a bit of a nap, and was called to see if I wanted to head out to HUB (Hopworks Urban Brewery) for dinner and a couple of drinks. I agreed, and hopped on the train to a friend's who would drive me to where the first friend called from. We then sat around for a bit watching TV, and headed down to the brewpub, where I had a delicious sandwich chock full of Italian meats, and three beers. The beers were Velvet ESB (because it is awesome), Cask Abominable (because I wanted something new), and Dark Helmet (because of the name).

Day 28 was spent completely in my apartment, sleeping, reading, TVing and the like.

Car free day 24

Completely uneventful. Went to work on transit, came back home on transit (albiet a little earlier than normal). The most interesting thing done in the day was that I spent over 2 hours cooking and preparing food, of which none of it was consumed immediately. It is all sitting in the refrigerator, waiting to be reheated at around 2:30PM or so today. Foods prepared: black bean and jicama salad, red thai curry with chicken, and spicy shrimp.

Car free day 23

It was a cold morning, with temps down around 20F. There was a dusting of snow overnight, but the most significant hazard was that there was about 1/4 of an inch of ice coating all horizontal surfaces. This made the roads and sidewalks quite slick. So, after I hopped on the train to go to work, I was once again stuck waiting for over 30 minutes for the bus to show up, since it had chains again. I'm glad it did, but that's jumping ahead in the story.

While I was waiting for the bus, there were a couple other people waiting there with me. One started up a casual conversation with me, talking about how cold it is, when the bus should arrive, or if it was even running. Then he changed the topic to a brief mention of the incident between North and South Korea. These incidents have been happening on and off for decades, and while definitely not a good thing, I don't think its a sure sign that we're about to be dragged into a war. While that may happen, it doesn't seem too likely right now. Anyways, I was about to make a comment back, basically to that effect, when the "weirdo on the bus" rule took effect. One of the other people waiting for the bus started in on a rant about how the whole system is corrupt and will soon collapse. He would make comments like "we need to change our thinking" but when asked how you would change how people think, he'd just reiterate that we need to change.

Anyways, after 15 mintues or so of listening to this guy go on and on with his rant, the bus finally pulled up. Then, as we were headed into a left turn lane to (wait for it) turn left (shocking, I know), the bus started to fishtail and slide. That is quite the interesting feeling, and I'm sure the car which was sitting in the turn lane in front of the bus was quite scared at that point. The bus driver (who retires at the end of the month, and good for him!) deftly was able to get the bus to slide into the other lane, narrowly avoiding a collision with the car. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

In the evening, I once again walked, but I headed to New Seasons to pick up the last few ingredients I would need to be able to prepare my Thanksgiving feast. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the wide variety of produce and spices. Unfortunately, however, there was no eggplant, so I will resort to using potatoes in the curry to thicken it instead.

Cree free day 22

I went into work via transit yet again. I got to the bus stop at my normal time, but the bus was over 15 minutes late. All of the regulars at the stop were wondering why the bus was so late until it pulled up with chains on the rear tires. Given that it was just above freezing at that point, and was supposed to drop pretty quickly in the afternoon, that wasn't too much of a surprise. Once on the bus, we noticed that it is much louder with the chains on, and it kinda feels like your fillings will get shaken out of your teeth. After work, I walked to the station (the temps had held warmer longer than expected, and snow was not yet falling), and then rode home. I then gathered my shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner, and rode over to the grocery store. I was able to find most of the ingredients I was looking for (I'm just missing a few now), and when I walked back to the station, a couple of flakes were starting to fall.

Car free days 20 & 21

Saturday (day 20) passed without any car use. I walked out for a couple meals, and went downtown to Henry's 12th Street Tavern to celebrate the birthday of one of my friends. Sunday (day 21) was mostly spent inside, looking out at the weather, and also watching stuff on TV/computer. I did, however, drive down to the liquor store to buy some aquavit, which I need for sf0 tasking on Thanksgiving. I didn't know about this need until today, and the liquor store which I could realistically get to via transit didn't have any in stock, so I drove down, and stopped for food while I was out. Again, my weakness breaks a rule of the car free month, and I am disappointed in myself. Though, in general, I have been very good about keeping to most of the rules, and am quite happy that I made the decision to do this experiment.

Car free days 18 & 19

Day 18 was a typical trip into work. During lunch, however, I went with a couple co-workers down into Portland to the food carts for lunch, where I had a schnitzelwich. Then, after work, I rode the train over to a friend's house for movie night, where we watched Goldfinger, my first James Bond movie ever. I then proceeded to forget my laptop bag at his place. Then, day 19 rolled around, and I had the day off. I ended up breaking one of the rules and driving to Soba to get a delicious Beef Teriyaki bowl with friends, and stopped by my friend's house to pick up my bag.

Car free day 17

Nothing new, transit in, walk back, like usual, and mostly just another average day without using the car.

Car free day 16

Nothing much new for this day. I went to work, went home, and then went to the grocery store. Though the gal who bagged my copious amounts of beverages seemed genuinely surprised when I declined her offer to help me to my car with the bags because I had walked there.

Car free day 15

I had an early morning meeting, so I woke an hour early (at 6), took the train, and walked to the office. There I consumed tea and coffee to help keep me awake. At the end of the day, I walked to the bank, walgreens, and then to Orenco Station Grill, where I had dinner and a couple beers. Then I walked to the station and headed home. It was a lot of walking, especially on short sleep, but I had no issues with it. This whole experiment has been a whole lot easier than I initially thought it would be. It seems like something I could honestly do on most days.

Car free days 13 & 14

Another successful weekend. I still haven't taken my car out for a drive at all, so I really need to do that. I made some food in my apartment, but did get out some. Saturday night I rode the train down into Portland, and walked over towards the Cascade Brewing Barrel House, but started developing rather intense (though short duration) headaches, which were spaced anywhere between about 2 minutes apart to up to 15 minutes apart. This, plus the fact that the place was packed, convinced me to walk back to the train stop, and head back up here. After that, I fixed myself a small dinner, and watched some TV before calling it a night. Sunday was almost completely within the apartment, but I walked to a fast food joint for lunch, which ended up taking me about 1 mile. I need to remember to get into work for a 7AM meeting tomorrow, so I'll be getting up early.

Car free day 12

Another normal day into work, but then I headed out early with my fellow Boca site closure survivors to bid farewell, at a small town Oregon bar, to one of our kind, who had just been laid off. Out of the couple dozen former employees when the closure was announced, there were 4 of us left who had moved up to Oregon, and by the end of the year, there will be just two of us left. It was sad to see him go, but I am glad that it wasn't me. I'm sure we'll have another farewell in a little over a month when the next of us goes. Anyways, I got a ride up to the bar, and back to the office after our farewell was over. Tomorrow I plan to head down into Portland to visit Cascade Brewing's Barrel House for some beer drinking and general autumn/winter Portland activities.

Car free day 11

Day 11 started off like any normal transit riding day. After work, however, I was in a little bit of a rush, though, because movie night started at 6PM, so I had a lot of ground to cover. I quickly walked the 1+ mile to the train station, hopped on the train to my place. Then I hopped off, got to my place, changed, grabbed a 6-pack of beer (Full Sail's Wassail), and headed off to my friend's place. I made it there a few minutes late (thanks to the train running a few minutes late itself), but not very much so. We watched Unbreakable and Strange Brew, ate pizza, and drank various kinds of beer. Then I took the train back to my place. All in all, a really good night.

Car free day 10

Another normal day riding transit into work, then heading to the grocery store afterwards to get some more food and beer.

Car free day 9

Nothing much to say. Another cool, rainy November day on which I took transit.

Car free day 8

I have yet to drive my car around to get it exercise, I will probably get around to that tomorrow. Today I took transit in, because there was a good chance of rain, and it was supposed to be (and was) quite chilly, with a high only around 50F. The ride in was foggy, but mostly uneventful.

However, once I got into work, and opened my e-mail, I was presented with an interesting twist to the day. In my inbox was a request to interview a candidate for a position in our China development center, the interview beginning at 8PM, and running until 9PM or so. I rarely go the full length, but it is very likely that, including writing my evaluation of the candidate, I will run up against that 9PM barrier.

The actual end-time is unimportant. The important thing is that I needed to be in the office from 8-9PM, because there is no way I was going to put an hour-long international call on my personal cell phone. This means that I needed to go out and get dinner from the office, and return in time for the call, ruling out going home for food. Since there is no food nearby, I decided to walk over to Orenco Station, and buy some pre-made food from New Seasons. This means that I had to walk about 2.25 miles roundtrip to get myself dinner.

I then gave the interview, and realized that the buses do not run this late, meaning that I would have to walk the ~1 mile down to the station to catch the train, which luckily DOES run this late. While this, in and of itself, is not cause for complaining (a ceiling of 3.5 miles walking in one day, while much more than I usually do, is not all that much in the grand scheme of things), but I foolishly shaved (as in razor shaved) my head this past weekend, and didn't bring a hat today. This means that I got to walk this ~3.5 miles in <45F weather with a shaved head. Oh yeah, and it rained on my for about half of the walk. At least the train came shortly after I got to the station.

Car free days 6&7

I spent a whole lot of time in my apartment this past weekend. I felt a little off for most of the day Saturday, so I ordered in some Pizza, and ate that throughout the day. On Sunday, I walked ~1 mile round-trip on two occasions to a couple of fast food places for my meals. Otherwise I ended up just watching stuff on the TV or computer. I discovered a bunch of new webcomics over the weekend, so some of the time was spent reading through archives there. I began watching the old episodes of "How I Met Your Mother". It is quite cliche, and I highly doubt I will watch these episodes more than once, but it is good for a cheap laugh now and again.

On Sunday I drank my Widmer's Private Reserve Brrrbon Ale, which tasted very much like a boilermaker all in one glass. It was delightful, but it was expensive, so I doubt I will get another. Though if I do make it up to their Gasthaus while they still have it, then I may consider getting a pint.

Car free day 5

Nothing much to say, another day of transit. Rather uneventful, but the walk back to the train was refreshingly chill.

Car free day 4

This morning, after having left my windows open overnight, I noticed how cool it was outside (about 40F) and decided that I really didn't feel like trying to bike in those kinds of temps just yet, so I opted for transit. I talked a bit with a guy who was on the train each of the 2 prior times I rode the bus, which was good for a change. I took a bit different of a walking path back to the train station, diverting through Dawson Creek Park, and a neighborhood instead of taking the most direct route. I took full advantage of quite likely the last nice day for months.

Car free day 3

Hey! That rhymes! Anyways, I decided, since today was supposed to be (and was) an absolutely clear and beautiful day, that I would take advantage of the good weather and bike into work. Since I had cannibalized the headlight off of my bike to use for a flashlight, I had to track that down before I could head out. I decided, having left my windows open overnight, that I wouldn't even need a jacket for the ride today, and proceeded to head out the door to ride my bike the 4 miles to work in 60F weather.

The part down main street was about as I had expected, quite a few cars, a bit on the windy side, and slightly harrowing at times, but mostly fine, and quite uneventful. Rather than try to cross the lane of traffic to get into the left turn lane to get onto Brookwood, I opted for using the crosswalk. Once up to Airport Road, I cut over to the multi-use path which runs through Dawson Creek Park. I proceeded to get a little turned around in there, and ended up back next to Brookwood for the second half of the trip through the park, but I should be able to keep it sorted out from now on. All in all, the ride took me about 30 minutes. A little slower than I'd like, but considering I haven't ridden my bike at all in the last months, and that there was a 10mph headwind for about half of the trip, I'm not too broken up about it.

I rode back, also in about 30 minutes, cutting over from the park to Brookwood at the library on the way. I feel awesome after having biked both ways between work. I can totally do this on any clear day with few to no issues at work.

Car-free day 2

Today started much like yesterday. I didn't want to get up, but was much more apt to get on the train/bus to get to work. It was another uneventful trip into the office, this time in foggy weather. However, on the trip home, it was sunny and pleasant outside, so I walked/sauntered the mile to the train station with my coat hung over my laptop bag, enjoying the last bits of sun we are likely to get for many weeks/months.

A TV-laden week

I've been sick for the past few days, including taking some sick time off of work. I gave up on Torchwood (again), and started watching The Office (US). Given my extra time off of work, I have now finished it (up to the latest one), and will probably put it on my DVR. Its not a show I wish to own on DVD, but its worth a few laughs, so DVR worthy. I watched the episode of Stargate Universe which my DVR missed, but have yet to watch last week's episode. I tried to start watching 30 Rock, but seem to just get annoyed by it.

I've been taking a short break from beer, due to being sick. I'll start drinking it again soon, as I am quickly getting better.

I skipped out on a couple of geohashing expeditions this past weekend, solely because I opted for napping/resting.

Car free month, day 1

And so begins the epic task. I woke up this morning at my usual time, and already knew I wouldn't be biking in on the first day. I had decided the day before that I wouldn't wake early, probably wouldn't bike, and thus would likely get to work a bit later than usual, around 8AM or so.

As I got into the shower, I was still rather tired, likely a side effect of my having been sick for the past few days, and was contemplating calling off the whole affair. As I was in the shower, waking up under the warm water, I convinced myself that I really should go through with it, and that I would take transit today. Since bus running to the office only runs once an hour, I had 15 minutes or so to kill before I should leave, otherwise I would just end up standing outside for a long time.

So I checked some e-mail, looked at the weather before I left (rather more important now), and read some webcomics. I still ended up at the train stop too early, and thus ended up waiting for the bus for 15 minutes.

After a full day at work, I decided that I felt good enough to walk the ~1 mile to the nearest train station, rather than wait for a bus. It was raining, but in general, it was a good feeling to make the walk. I had only a few minutes to wait for a train once there. After getting back home, I dropped off the laptop, and changed into some different clothes.

Immediately after changing I headed out and hopped on the next train, which I caught just as it pulled into the station, and headed one stop down to go to the grocery store. I could easily have walked over to the store, since it is only about half a mile, but I decided to be lazy and took the train. I then purchased some groceries, including 4 tall boys, bread, and some ground beef. I then headed back off to the train stop, where I had a 10 minute wait for the next train back the one stop to my place.

Based on my current mood, and tiredness, I will likely just take the train/bus tomorrow as well.

Car free month, the rules

I have decided, in my ridiculous head, that I am going to go for the month of November without driving my car. My rules to obey for this month are as follows:

1. I cannot use my car for commuting to work
2. I cannot use my car for shopping or running errands
3. I cannot use my car for going out to eat
4. I cannot have someone (by themselves) pick me up in their car. If they have other people with them, then it is allowed. The reasoning behind this is that I shall not inconvenience other people, nor shall I contribute to someone else driving alone just for my benefit. I can, however, take transit to and from someone else's place, and drive somewhere with them.
5. If I leave from work with someone (in their car) and rode transit to work, I must have them either drop me off at a transit stop on the way back to their place, or use transit from their place to home. If I rode my bike into work, I should either leave my bike there overnight and follow the transit method, or have the person drop me back off at work, and ride home.
6. I may ride with people to go out to lunch from the office, as long as they chose to drive to the office without my influence.
7. I must bike to and from work at least 5 times. It is a short (~4 mile) ride each way, so there should be no reason I cannot do this, unless I injure myself somehow.
8. I will use my car for a drive, likely just through the country, for no more than one hour, once each week, just to make sure that it still gets some exercise. I cannot get a meal, or run errands while on this drive. I can go geohashing on this drive, if desired. If geohashing, I can drive for longer than an hour, but other rules still apply.
9. The only other excusable use for my car is in an emergency.
10. I must go to the grocery store at least once a week, and I must get a six-pack of beer from the grocery store when I go. I will not sacrifice my beer habit just for the sake of going car free.

My reasoning behind using the month of November to do this experiment isn't all that strong, but still worthy. November is typically a rather cool, but not very cold, and rather wet month which shall provide me with reluctance for using bike or transit to work. However, since it is not typically very cold, it shouldn't provide so much reluctance as to prevent me from completing my task. I also thought of it mere days before October rolled in, and hadn't really thought through all of the logistics of doing it yet. November should be representative enough of the cool/cold and rainy months that my experiences should apply to being able to go car free for a good portion of the year, which will hopefully convince me to use my car less for getting to work in the future.

I will use this blog to record my thoughts and feelings about how everything is going.