Bitter Commuting

So before I moved out here I knew that I was in for some long hours of commuting, I mean this is SoCal, who doesn’t have a long commute? But I have to admit that I have been spoiled in the past. Though out undergrad and grad school the longest I ever had to commute to the universities was about 20 minutes. Hell, most of my post secondary life I have lived across the street from whichever school I was going to, and never had to live in a dorm…though the house with 8 roommates may have been even worse in some ways. Then when I started my post doc I was living further away, maybe a 30 minute commute. Until I mived in with Deirdre and found an express bus that brought the commute back to just about 20 minutes.

So I knew that it would be a bit of a shock to the system to move out to California, after all with Deirdre and I working so far apart the commute times were going to be much longer than I had ever experienced. But I was able to console myself that at least I would be able to watch the sun rise over the Pacific…oh wait, wrong coast. Well, maybe I could watch it set over the ocean, at least that will make the trip more bearable. Unlike a commute out to Fort McMurray…ooh look, another oil refinery!

Of course driving down the coast doesn’t give you much of a chance to look out over the ocean, at least not in 5 lanes of traffic moving at 80 mph (128 km/h) – incidentally I didn’t realize just how fast that was until I did the conversion. So it was a nice surprise to realize that the train that I can take down the coast actually runs a lot closer to the coast than the highway. This allows all passengers on the train a great view of the ocean and beaches.

Though I’m starting to realize that that might not be such a good thing. See, while I’m going to work on a train I see others out biking along the coast or surfing. And the way home isn’t any better, the beaches are even more packed with people enjoying the afternoon sun. At least I’m not alone in my envy of the beachgoers. Half the passengers on the train sit opposite the beach side, burying their noses in books and newspapers to avoid acknowledging what they are missing. The other half are looking out longingly at those who have the freedom to play in surf. Personally I like to console myself by pretending I see shark fins out in the ocean about to eat the bastards in the water.