Going to work is fun!

Yeah I know, you probably think I'm crazy. I've thought about it often, and it really is. Getting there isn't half the fun; in San Francisco, it's all the fun. At least on most days. My commute is pretty nice. It's about 30 minutes to downtown, either by bus or by motorcycle, although by motorcycle is more reliable. (I could tell you hell commute stories. It once took me two hours to get to work because of a bomb scare on Muni and an earthquake on BART.) As I love to say though, I dodge clueless Asian drivers, SUV-driving power bitches, crazy homeless people running through the streets, cars darting across traffic, and nearly getting killed. But thank God I don't have to deal with Muni. I truly do hate them.

Let me give you an example. I ride a motorcycle to work. I don't ride Muni enough to get a monthly pass. I kept getting a CommuterCheck (money taken out of your paycheck tax-free for use towards transit fares), so I had a bunch pile up. I can use them on BART and Muni, and I was running low on Muni tokens. (I can't use them on direct fares, I have to get tokens.) So in the Market Street subway, there were 2-3 places in each station you could buy BART and Muni tickets/tokens/passes/whatever. Then Muni decided not to get along with them, and suddenly they stopped selling Muni anything. You could only get them at random vendors throughout the city, assuming they took CommuterChecks and assuming they sold the tickets/tokens/passes/whatever you needed. Then like a month later, Muni sets up a makeshift tent in each station you could buy them, but only between the hours of 12 and 6, and assuming you don't get there during her random lunch hour. Then they closed all those down. Then like a month later, they set up a single booth in Powell station, again only open from 12-6 yada yada yada.

"I need 3 bags of tokens please."

"I can only sell you 2." Apparently because of the possible fare hike, people have been hoarding them and they won't make new ones.

"But I have a CommuterCheck for $30."

"I can only sell you 2. And I can't give you change. Would you like a map?"

"I don't need a map, I need Muni tokens."

I walked away. Man I hate Muni.

So anyways, happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Today I was riding my motorcycle into work. I realized how much I love doing that. My day starts out looking out of Twin Peaks onto downtown San Francisco and the East Bay, the Castro and Noe Valley. I stroll down Upper Market, twisting down the turns, til I get to the Castro, wave at the homos going off to work (like me), go down Market Street along side the street cars and bicycle couriers. I turn off Dolores, this time under the 13th Street overpass and by the homeless encampments. I drive up Folsom, past the leather bars and sex shops, into the heart of SoMa, watch the cute cubbies go off to their graphic design/webmaster jobs at SoMa dot coms (those that are left), the Bay Bridge on the horizon, into the Financial District, dodge SUV-driving power bitches coming off the Bay Bridge, pull up into the garage and enjoy $4 a day worth of monitored parking. I then walk three blocks to my office, listening to the iPod to start my day.

Good times. :-)

I don't know why I enjoyed it so much today. It was fairly overcast, a little foggy, a little cooler. I think I enjoyed the normalcy of it, the fact my life was returning to normal. My PM class ends on Saturday, and after Tuesday, my classwork eases tremendously. Whew. Life returns to normal. :-)