Friday, August 26, 2011

The cost of being cheap

Bottom line is I'm just too cheap to buy a parking pass for campus. I would buy a pass if I could park in one of the garages closer to my building. Not going to pay $150 for a pass that allows me to park in a lot 15 minutes away from my building though. It's a 30 minute walk from my house to my office. It's a 10-15 minute drive to the parking lots, plus a 15 minute walk from there to my building. So it doesn't even make sense to buy a parking pass.


I can take the bus for free. There's a bus that picks up fairly close to my house. Just a few blocks away actually. Thing is, that bus is NEVER on schedule. It's supposed to run every 15 minutes, but I've waiting way longer than 15 minutes before without seeing a bus. So, I have been walking to campus. I figure instead of waiting 15 min for the bus, I can just start walking. It's good for me to get a little extra activity in my day. On the days when I've needed to take the bus, it's usually because I'm wearing something that wouldn't be good for biking. White linen pants, for example. Foolishly, I've been walking in sandals that weren't meant for 30 minute walks in the heat of summer. That means blisters. Ugh.

Today I really needed to have my car on campus so I can run an errand this afternoon. That means I have to be on campus at the crack of dawn to get a coveted free street parking spot. If you arrive after 7:30am, you're doomed. Thankfully 7:25 was good enough today! Still, I don't see that happening too often!

What about biking? Well...I do that too. It's really the fastest. Takes about 15 minutes. Problem is, there are days like today when I need to be pretty dressed up. More than dressed up, I need to be NOT stinky! It's hard to be NOT stinky when biking in this heat! Next week I'll be back on my trusty bike and happy as a clam!

3 comments:

Sue Ann Blake said...

TR - where is your office? I may have a solution for you - I'll be out of town until Sunday. Sue Blake

Kevin said...

I never bought a parking pass for campus either. I would drive 20 minutes to a spot where I had a 10 minute walk. Our parking passes were about $400 a year

Unknown said...

My office is in Stone. I you have a solution, I'd be willing to give it a try!

I'm glad our passes aren't $400!