June 22, 2010
Yesterday’s experiment wasn’t the best pub transit experience ever. While I remember some stress-fraught days waiting for an employer-affiliated bus to show up, they were 90% on time coming and going, and with minor exceptions, the train was pretty solid as well.
Running late seems to be par for the course for Muni, Metro and their cousins. Option A sounded pretty solid on paper. In fact, there’s no good way to figure out which of the 4 possible stops on an intersection a given bus pulls into as a first time rider. In fact, there were multiple possible stops on one of the 4 ways, so I ran around like a nutjob trying to figure out where to be. Of course I missed my first shot out and was late for my first day in the new place. Not a huge deal, but mildly frustrating. The butt burner was the fact that people requested stops EVERY block. Add on another ten minutes to a joltingly long ride.
Going home was no picnic, either. I realized that my two-stops per hour train route was really difficult to match with the bus routes/schedule. Coming into work using BART per Option B will call for matching yet another set of schedules to the BART/Muni pairing: that of the free shuttle. There’s a very conveniently located free shuttle that’ll take you to the nearby BART stations so I could avoid paying for parking since it goes the opposite direction of my current carpool. The problem is that there is one schedule, period. That shuttle would dictate which BART and then which Muni I could take afterward, no compromises.
*sigh*
And as it turns out, taking on the commute like this isn’t just time, of course it costs a lot extra as well. My costs are doubling, sometimes more than that, depending on whether I have to drive and pay for parking that day. All told, the cost of going to work now ranges from $8.50 to $12 per day!
While I’d factored about $100 into the transportation budget, that pretty much blows it out of the water. At this rate, between starting up investing again and this chunk, I’ve used up any slack in the budget found when cutting back on spending. It almost might be worth paying the equivalent cost in parking and saving myself the run/wait/run/wait aspect of the commute.
June 21, 2010
Somehow I’d almost forgotten that starting today, my office will no longer be a convenient, single train ride location. It’s not that I’d forgotten about the move, just the consequences of it such as having a new address, new business cards, and horror of horrors: having to navigate a new public transit route.
There are two options: taking the old route plus a bus (adding another 20-30 minutes)
or
taking a new route via BART and subway (almost the same total travel time).
I’m trying the first option first today since I still have Caltrain passes to use up and should only pay an extra $2 for the bus (and $3 today since I’m driving myself to the station). Sometime during the week I’ll start testing the BART routes. BART plus subway is projected to cost $4.50 each way and I might be able to take a free shuttle to and from the station depending on their and my hours of operation.
Much as I’m tempted to gripe about the doubled commute time, it’s still shorter than my former commute of an hour and twenty minutes. I do wish that San Francisco had better public transit, though, the systems are all really pricey, don’t really seem to work together all that well and the fare and schedule information aren’t clear at all. 511.org was not all it’s been touted to be.
Here’s hoping there’ll be at least one bank and one library branch within a really short walking distance.
The great thing is I happen to be moving practically next door to the temporary workplace of one of my high school friends. We might even get to see each other!
May 19, 2010
It’s amazing how much you can get done without a regular 9 to 5 taking up most of your day. Your day can start as, well-rested and refreshed, you have that leisurely cup of coffee or tea, basking in the morning sun with the paper. Work and errands are queued up, run on your schedule and so much more gets done.
Or does it?
Sometimes, after a round of several appointments and errands I’d feel terribly accomplished, but there was a sneaking suspicion that it simply wasn’t sustainable productivity. After all, it was rarely producing any income. On the flip side, getting up pre-dawn for work five days a week and squeezing in the personal stuff when and if you can feels so constrictive that the lure of the open schedule is a siren song. Of course, that alone is hardly good reason to stop working full time and I’d be unhappy if I weren’t being productive and earning money to hoard like a treasure-loving dragon.
There are days, though, that the idea of building an empire of something that is nearly self-sustaining, doesn’t require endless meetings to keep alive or keep moving, and doesn’t rely on the vagaries of a single entity for survival is awfully enticing. That and all the new Dr. Who and Caprica episodes that I know I’m missing are nibbling away at my patience. Ok, again, I know, not a valid reason. As a reforming workaholic, I claim right of not yet knowing how to balance work and play.
Have you considered the merits and drawbacks of being your own boss? If you could make an honest and respectable (however you define that number) wage, would you?
Mrs Micah recently asked Are You Ready to Become Your Own Boss?
I know that’s Nicole of RainyDaySaver‘s goal;
VH of Funny About Money is doing quite well sort of running her own show between the CopyEditor’s Desk and her community college classes;
Mrs. Money’s really liking the idea of ditching her full time position because she’s not happy with her job, thence to perhaps become a SAHM for at least a year;
On the other side of the fence, Paranoid Asteroid has no intentions of going freelance or entrepreneurial, and several people agree with her. Unfortunately I can’t find that post!
Which side of the fence do you prefer?
May 12, 2010
“When did you become Martha Stewart?”
One of my friends was suitably impressed by the dinner I prepared over the weekend and that I cook as much as I do each week. The evidence of my evolution into frugal domesticity was rather striking this weekend, come to think.
I came home from work, did more work at home, made a three course dinner with dessert, served brunch, second lunch, picked up supplies for my friends the intrepid painters, washed, dried and folded a combination of laundry for three, and made dinner again.
As I suspected, several long years ago, supporting my family financially isn’t all there is to running a household. Housekeeping is hard work. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more challenging this would be combined with having children. And pets? No wonder my parents resisted our pleas for dogs so long. Every little bit eats away at your previous time and energy.
The extra effort in having guests who are old friends would be well worth the company alone. In this case, it’s more than repaid because they’ve cheerfully taken on the task of painting the apartment (not my plan or idea, but I can’t get into that right now). All I’ve got to do is provide support services like cooking and cleaning so they can handle the stuff my shoulder and various other joints won’t allow. Our friendships don’t require currency but it’s nice that we’re good about exchanging favors like random chores or emergency break-up moving services.
As I was folding our laundry, the thought occurred to me that the next time I buy detergent and fabric softener – a long while from now as I only use a wee dash at a time, I need a different scent. Something about this combination reminds me of someone I was once fond of but am no longer. It’s strange how something as simple as a fragrance can influence future shopping habits.
May 5, 2010
I have been gainfully employed for one full month since the Long Layoff of Ought-nine through Ten.
“How does it feel, Revanche, to be a fully contributing member of society again?”
“What does that even mean? I’m exhausted, I’ve worked my toes off and frankly, I’m surprised that I’m still alive!”
Ah yes, welcome back to the American workplace, indeed.
I’d mentioned before that I work with workaholics. Idealists with a vision. Idealistic businesspeople who aren’t naive so much as complete fire-eaters with very little need to connect to human limitations. What I’m saying is it’s hard to keep up with them, much less excel and shine in the manner in which I’m accustomed. (Grump, much?) Still and all, they’re good eggs and I’m exaggerating at least a little.
It’s been kind of a rollercoaster.
Work like a swan on water: Look smooth up top, but paddle like hell underwater.
I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they pass me by.
It’s been long enough since starting my last job that I’d forgotten how much harder it would be to start a new role with the management responsibilities I’d earned over time after starting at the bottom. I assumed that my skills were applicable across the board, which they are, and completely discounted the degree of social buy-in that’s necessary to fully engage, productively, with a new team. Oh and learning an entirely new culture and system, let’s not forget that.
When you’re hired in at entry-level, people are pretty happy if you’re only sort of socialized and relieved if you’re not an utter mess. They are, however, not surprised if you fail at either or both. The attitude is frequently that the “first job out of college” is a significant benchmark: the fresh-minted new grad or the fresh to the workforce babe-in-arms can be readily excused just about anything.
When you’ve hired yourself out to the highest bidder as an experienced and seasoned veteran of the work trenches, however, it’s an entirely different story. You have to, as they like to say, “hit the ground running” and be prepared to contribute as a fully functioning member of the team in many capacities: facilitator, communicator, politician. This is not an unreasonable expectation.
What’s even better is when you’ve taken on direct reports. You really have to maintain composure because frankly, who can really respect someone they’ve yet to take the measure of who appears to be a basket-case? You can excuse the long-time boss’s befrazzlement to some degree, he or she has presumably long since earned both formal and informal authority.
It doesn’t *feel* professionally acceptable to look frazzled and confused after your first two weeks – a seasoned professional should have absorbed all the relevant details and adapted by then, no? I can almost hear Gunny Highway barking at me: “You adapt. You overcome. You improvise. Let’s move.”
I’m adapting. I’m overcoming (bit by bit). I’m improving. Let’s move.
May 1, 2010
I can’t find the picture of my dazzling BBQ pork success so will share a wonderful pork tenderloin made soe time ago. I can also recommend a nice bottle of wine only $5 at Trader Joe’s: Epicuro’s Lazio white wine.
I am up and at ’em! (Always have wondered who ’em was, though.) It’s 8:30 and the chicken stock is bubbling merrily on the stove next to the pot of eggs for the week’s snacks. I’ve just to fetch my mending basket and settle into the perfect curve of my sofa-pillow Fortress of Solitude whilst the breakfast hash browns are baking in the toaster oven.
It’s not a half bad beginning to the day.
I’ve queued up an amazing lot of workly things to do, though. The cookery was the easy part. I have loads of prep work for next week, a good chunk of freelancing to tackle, blogging to catch up on, and perhaps a meal or two to eat. Friends are in town, too, though they’re really just here to see each other and I happen to be the middle at which they meet.
P.S. Last week’s chicken soup picture? Will be duplicated today! I’m so excited. I’m making the stock first, then a super sized batch will follow using both weeks’ stock.
Also, I will be making Frugal Scholar’s Broccoli Soup this week with the head of broc bought expressly for that purpose. It will be gorgeous!
April 27, 2010
My friend asked me if I was going to buy a token something for myself when I got my first paycheck. Suggestions abounded. They sounded awfully nice but nothing really blazed up my desire. Well, a netbook, but that’s no kind of a “little” treat running between $400-500.
It’s just stuff. I just spent two weeks organizing, cleaning, and weeding out stuff with still more of it to do.
Besides that? I have a job. I’m facing down huge challenges and I’m getting paid to do what I wanted to learn how to do. I have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of at least a few people.
What object is necessary to “symbolize” my intrinsic satisfaction? By its very nature, my “accomplishment” suffices. What need do I have of obtaining an object as a reward for doing a job? [That’s what payday is for!]
I’m not above enjoying goodies like the new clothes that were necessary, and I sure don’t mind having the pocket money to have a meal out once in a while. But a reward simply for having a job? The truth is, I don’t need any rewards for doing my job. A job is a contract wherein I ply my trade and the employee pays me a fair wage for that. I’m ok with that.
