car commute, rip
For one year, I commuted daily — 43 miles each way, and often through stop-and-go (and sometimes just stop) traffic. Some images and impressions of the commute I no longer commute.
Tanker truck with “Inedible” on back
10/1/08: If I hear one more person say “at least it’s a pretty drive!” I am going to jam my Frequent Filler gas card into their eye. But I’m not really that violent. And I made up the Frequent Filler gas card.
4-Way Meat Markets. This photo was commented upon by my friend Ted: “I don’t know what all the fuss is over this place, I left alone!”
6/20/08: In the morning, I witnessed a sedan that was driiiiiifting to the back and to the forth. I assumed it was an elderly type or a cell phone type, but as I passed this guy, holding my breath, I took a quick look at the driver. Youngish. Something about the set of his shoulders, his hunched gripping of the wheel, said “fucked up and hanging onto control by a thread.” I kept an eye on him in my rear-view mirror as he floated into the bicycle lane for several minutes, before swerving two lanes into the fast lane, nearing creaming a motorcyclist, who was quick-thinking enough to swerve, himself.
Best logo award goes to Leo’s Sewer & Drain
5/2/08: I may have been speeding, but the guy behind me was really speeding, roaring up to my bumper and staying there. He was a big man on a big chopper and, before I could move to let him by, he passed me in a flash. Once he was in front of me I got a good look at him. He was so exaggerated, so Kustom Kulture-y, that I ceased, immediately, to be intimidated:
Postscript: No scolding, please, about the dangers of photographing while driving. I’ll listen to you only when you’ve driven 20,750 miles in my shoes car.
Related hamblinks:
um, I have to go there, cause it is a beautiful drive… but I understand the sentiment…. so does this mean you moved just outside Santa B or ?
Don’t you miss the inedible four-way meat markets?
i’m… sailing….. away.
set an open course… for the virgin sea.
i’ve got to … be free… free to face the life… that’s ahead of me.
on board, i’m a captain. so climb aboard. we’ll search for tomorrow, on every shore.
and i’ve tried, oh lord, i’ve tried……… to carry on.
never forget: “poultry in motion”
Thank god for Moya and her caching. Restored comments below:
1. andrew says:
August 27th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
I made that drive this evening in the Deputy to see Toots and the Maytals at the Majestic Ventura Theater. The trip took half a tank of premium! At least it was a pretty drive.
2. moya says:
August 28th, 2008 at 8:45 am
i love this retrospective — mostly i love the fresh-air idea that you are now spending 43×2-miles more time funneling your intense creativity into other channels besides the car! i myself am looking forward to getting myself out of the car and walking onto city streets (and yes, even muni) if current prospects change my commute (hope for the best!). nevertheless, i do have my own “fond memories†of commuting. the “Hillsborough 4 miles†sign telling me to smoke (i finally talked back to it successfully). the amazing wind and water storms blowing the car horizontally across lanes. and some of the scenery on 280 is indeed lovely, when the light strikes it just right. and there have been times when slogans on trucks have made me laugh out loud (â€Poultry in motion†still gets me every time!).
thanks for this retrospective;
-m
ps: now that texting-while-driving is all the vogue (ME? never), i’d like to see a sampling of things people find important enough to text while at the wheel.
pps: did i mention i have driven over 200k on my car?
3. cloudy says:
August 28th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I am so glad you are not doing that commute anymore. Mine is only 12 miles one way, but it can take an hour, a few times it took TWO HOURS! I am amazed I have not been in an accident yet. Once I tried calling 764-HERO to report a bad driver, but found out that is just to report people violating the HOV lane. What.Ev.