I Quit

Yesterday was my last day.

It was the final day that I drove home from work.

Today, and every day in the foreseeable future, I will be taking the subway to work. I used to ride the Metro every day, when I first got my job in downtown Washington, DC. However, after working at the job for about a year, my name had moved up on the parking spot waiting list all the way to the top. And for a per-paycheck deduction of first $30 every two weeks, and more recently $46.15, I got my very own place to park my car.

When I lived in College Park, my drive time was about an hour. Total mileage was roughly 11 to 12. I moved to Silver Spring, and my commute time shrunk to about 45 to 50 minutes for a 9 mile drive. And currently, from my new place in downtown Silver Spring, its about a 30 to 35 minute drive for about a 7 mile drive. For those of you who live in the DC area, I imagine the travel times are understandable. However, for those who don't live near such congestion, I bet it could be cause for some indigestion.

I will no longer have drive my beloved car at speeds slower than the growth rate of my facial hair. Nor will I be the victim of signal-less turners. Or entitlement drivers. I will not burn gasoline at rates barely into the double digits on a gallon. However, I will no longer get to eat breakfast in my car or enjoy some quality radio morning shows.

The best part of this new arrangement is that my job-related transportation expenses are now zero. My workplace provides an excellent benefit of $100 free in Metro fare and my estimated monthly cost would be around $95 since I no longer need to park at the station. So now I don't need to pay just to get to work.

Also, now I will be able to do some reading again. Although it will be school related, I now get nearly an hour of time (25 minutes each way) I can devote to it that I couldn't before. This should hopefully help me stay on top of things.

As I now will be taking a different line than I did when I did my first Metro-rider stint, I will get to learn about the best platform positions, and which side of the train the doors will open on at each station. It really is quite an art which I had mastered. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don't need to change trains at any point in my journey now, so the process will not be nearly as involved as it used to be.

Here's to the Metro riders...I'm back.