It's holiday week.

I'd suggest slugging as opposed to driving. it may be easier to find a ride. There were barely any slugs today at Potomac Mills. guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

Dang. I missed a stretch limo this morning.

I was two seconds from catching a ride with a stretch limo. in HOV.

Summmofvabeetch.

It pulled up and took two people then took off. I got into a car that played really bad 80's songs (second time I've had this guy).

Eating Sunflower Seeds can be Hazardous

Eating sunflower seeds while driving can be hazardous if you... drop your spit cup in your lap because the wind blew it from your hand.

Because your A/C stopped working.

And all your spit shells land in your lap while you're driving in your nice dress pants; and letting them sit there for a good 10 minutes. Because? You don't want to make any sudden movements while driving getting the gross crap off of your pants and have it fly in everyone's face because the windows are wide open.

You can't see it because the inside of his pant leg is at an angle that you can't see the shells. But it was quite hilarious. You can see the OH SH*T moment after he looked down and debated whether to swipe it off his pants then or not.

Happy Friday people.

Taxis in Slug Lines only require ONE passenger

The good thing about cabs in the morning is that you don't have to wait for a second person. The drawback: they drive as slow as molasses. Late braker, and crappy alignment made for a fun ride.

The April showers that have decided to prolong their stay by two months... area drivers have not acclimated themselves to precipitation and still can't drive in the rain.



So yes, another note on the parking situations on Thursdays, you CAN wake up later and still find a spot.

Will I Keep Slugging?

In response to a comment on my last post: I was going to write a quick answer then my brain started to think... what are the pros and cons? so here goes...

Pros:

• It is cheaper to commute
• Better for your car ( I put 70,000 miles on my car in two years driving to a non slug location) driving 70 miles round trip. If I had known about slugging when I worked in Gtown previously, I would have saved miles on my old car for those years.
  
• Less stress when being a passenger for the 25 minutes. It's nice being driven around. Sleep, read, relax instead of stressing out why some dummy is letting everyone in front of them in rush hour. This is the Biggest pro for. After cost.
  
• You get exercise from walking to/from metro/commuter lot (not much but better than nothing)
• Some interaction with people. About 10% of the rides, there are conversations
• You go when you want (no set carpool). If you are late no one will get mad. If you are early, there is someone to pick you up.
  
• Faster than VRE, and you're guaranteed a seat. People are grumpy on VRE.
• Not possible to get kidnapped in the morning, there are only two exits, and another person in the car.
  

Cons:

• Weird people on the metro
• Primetime is 7am-7:20am for parking for lots. Most spots are gone by 7:10am. If you oversleep you are done for. There are overflow lots for parking though but few.
  
• Weird people / Slow driver / Crazy drivers
• You could get kidnapped on the way back home, there are multiple exit points.
• You don't really save overall commute time. People don't account the time it takes to get to the lot, then walk, and wait, then metro to their workplace.
• Bad music selection or no music at all on the radio
• Stupid things like baby seats in the middle seat, strapped to the seat belt.
• Stupid people in slug lines making up their own rules (about where they are in line) or can't facilitate rides by calling out the location of a car they are not getting in.
  

There are more but these are the ones I can think of really quick.

So yes, I'll keep slugging. It's interesting and amusing to me. Some of the things that would normally bother me, don't anymore; it also gives me something to write about and share to you all the weird people that do it.

I really think Crystal City people are more normal than Rosslyn and Pentagon slugs/drivers. And it's cheaper /faster to get to. From a slugging standpoint if you can work in Crystal City, it's the optimal destination for a slug. The Pentagon stinks for picking up and dropping of slugs. And the general population doesn't work there. So Crystal City wins on the most ideal destination for a slug.

Once you do it a couple of times, it becomes routine. You don't worry about the initial concerns because it is safe, and less aggravating. It does take a certain personality type; mainly those that aren't high maintenance. 80% of my rides are free of any annoyances. The other 15% are minor annoyances like no music, or placement of objects in the back that you have to share. The 5% are times when I think of ways to jump out of the car.

But given the population of people and the diversity of class and cultures, it's not bad.

I overslept and it is raining.

You know what that means? Probably no one slugging and everyone driving. Instead of wasting and adding the 10 minutes to look and wait before deciding that no one is coming, I went ahead and went slug-free for today. The funny thing it still takes the same amount of time to get to work.

You go out of the way and drive 10 minutes to the commuter lot. You wait from 1-15 minutes for a slug/ride.So that's a minimum of 15 minutes there (from driving to the lot and waiting with 5 minute average wait time). It takes 25 minutes to get to Pentagon in HOV. From there, it's another five to ten minutes to Crystal City or Pentagon. Right there that is 45 minutes not including metro from leaving the door of my house. The walk to my Ballston office is five minutes, and the metro ride is 10 minutes from Rosslyn. So from when I leave my house it's about an hour; if I slug it in, my cost is the gas to the commuter lot (5.2 miles each way, say 10. That's $1.20 with today's gas prices), and then $3.30 in round trip Metro tickets.

Commuter Cost from Slugging to Ballston from Woodbridge daily: $4.50
Commuter Cost from Slugging to Crystal City from Woodbridge daily: $1.20

It took me 55 minutes to get to work this morning driving solo. This means driving up Route 1 and taking the Route 1 exit past 123 (to bypass traffic on 95 where people don't know how to merge). Then getting off at Edsall - Sleepy Hollow - Wilson; to get to Ballston because it bottlenecks again at Edsall Road / $395.

Commuter cost from Driving solo to Ballston from Woodbridge daily (32 miles not including stop and go and lower mpg rate): 3 gallons of gas round trip = $7.32. with no parking fees. With parking fees / $15 / $17 / $20 depending on the car lot you park at.

This does not include a parking cost which would be $8 daily. I have someone else's parking pass. So it could potentially be $15 in commuter costs a day, if you get the early bird. If not you're paying up to $19 a day to commute.

Taking the VRE costs $7.80 each way, and metroing to Ballston from Crystal City is $4.50 round trip.

Commuting via VRE to Ballston from Woodbridge + Metro = Roughly $20.10

Math is fun.

Posessed Cars.

We got into a Chevy from Rosslyn yesterday that was possessed. The turn signal part of the car (that makes the clicking noise) was like a metronome. After she turned it off, it would go doublespeed. When we came to a stop I think she turned on A/C so we couldn't hear it as much. At first I thought it was her keys clicking but it was louder and more methodical. I think her signal had three speeds.

There was that shooting in Dale City at the OmniBus HQ so people in DC that usually take the bus were now slugging back to Woodbridge. One guy metro'd from Midtown to Rosslyn to get a quicker ride.

After I got back to Hoodbridge, there was a lady that needed a jump start parked next to me, so we grabbed them from some other commuter 10 cars down and got her good to go. I gave myself a pat on the back for not shocking myself.

Oh Yeah I Forgot...

Within the first couple weeks of me starting slugging, some car picked me up and then proceeded to drive to the Costco Gas Station (next to the commuter designated lot at Potomac Mills). Why did the guy not wait until he filled up with gas first? I could have gotten into another car and to work 10 minutes quicker!

Long Lost Friends and Fighting for Space against a Child Seat

Yesterday was interesting. A driver and a slug knew each other from being in ROTC together in high school. They talked the whole time and exchanged numbers. Pretty cool.

So I get in this morning into a car after walking by 10 cars that weren't going my way. I find a car that is showing a sign with my destination, but upside down.

Awesome!



This stupid baby seat was directly in the middle. Only a 10 year old could fit comfortably where I sat today. I think I have a permanent indention in my shoulder from the top of the baby seat, trying to make space with the baby seat.

I'd hate to see a 200 lb person try to sit there. And yes my button is unbuttoned.

White Knuckles

I got to the lot this morning and I see a Jaguar in the front, with a passenger. I give myself a mental fist pump and hope that he's going where I'm going.

He does! Another mental fist pump but as I get in, I notice how small it is. What is it with Jaguars and how small the interiors are? Isn't there a middle ground between American cars and Imports where there is a nice in between? American cars have the worst interior design known to man, and I think Jags are second worst. The back looked roomy but the front was a bit tight for me.

Then another dagger: No music. With a "luxury" car you get no exterior noise. What does this mean? Every little noise, grunt, sniffle; apparently my driver was a mouth breather. It took a whole two minutes before I couldn't take it anymore and grab my mp3 player to find out I grabbed the wrong headphones for it. They apparently fit my phone and apparently it only works in one ear.

After we jump on HOV, he jumps to the left immediately (with no cars around, behind or in front of us). So I'm thinking; oh geez, now I get to stare at everyone passing us on the right.

Annnnd I was right. One lady in a minivan almost took us off the road, and all this guy does? He flash beams her really quick like ten times. And in a Charles Heston voice, "IDIOTAS!" and then after I looked over, he bellowed a deep, "DIPSHIT!"; again in a Charles Heston voice. No other words were uttered. He was exercising his right as a slug participant to speak as few words as possible (to not encourage conversation in the car), to express his emotions. It was pure awesomeness.

I'm noticing also that he's keeping behind all cars 2.5 to 3 seconds, which is far apart for HOV standards. So people are passing us, and he beams a bus which obviously can't see anything. Why even bother beaming a bus?

As we pull off towards the Memorial Bridge exit, we see a Minivan pulled over. The same one that almost sideswiped us to get past us. She was the only passenger. Oh sweet justice.

I OWN THE ROAD!

Man, on Friday I had a guy that had a steering wheel assister on a mid sized sedan; the driver was was maybe in his late 30's. He was jamming out to some underground horrible 80's style R+B, that only women in their 50's with female Caesar cuts should listen to.



He complained about cars cutting in front of him without using signals, motorcycles jumping in front of him, and then giving little speeches after each incident.

First of all, a man with a steering assister shouldn't be driving in the LEFT lane, regardless of how old they are. Especially when you're singing along to some bad R+B, that only middle aged women should listen to. So if you want bad music, bad commentary; this is your guy. . Complaining about cars that pass you while you are in the left lane leaves you with little if any, credibility.

Sorry dude, the road isn't yours.

Weight Limit

Is there a weight limit? Is 350 pounds too much for your car?

Best of This Week.

No A/C for four or five cars as noted this week.


Getting into a Mercedes that has double floor mats. I had these in the early 80's at my parent's house lining the hallway. I didn't think these still existed. I used to pull it up and make hills for my Hot Wheels go over them and torture myself by putting my arm underneath of it to see how bad the little spikes would hurt. They hurt.

Getting into a Hyndai from a person not much older than myself with easy listening tunes from the 80's on his CD mix. After he changed it from 107.3 A man my age should not be listening to 107.3. Or wear a college class ring. You might as well wear a pinky ring.

I got into a car yesterday with someone that I thought was sick, because she kept coughing, but it was like a nervous one. I realized that it was Turrets. I didn't think people with Turrets could drive? She was very nice but I also had thoughts of us running into a concrete barrier as well.

Speaking of concrete barrier, I sat in an Audi with a guy that was pulling 85mph with the windows open on HOV. It was nice to get home quick, but man, it was pretty loud.

This morning I was walking up to the lot and I was the closest person to the first car with a woman getting ready to get into it as well. I walk up and she says, "Crystal City!" followed by Sorry! and pointed to the two women about 25 feet away.

I was like what? I look in and there's no one in there, she was saving a spot for two of the women walking up but hadn't gotten there yet. I was confused, it was like the scene in Austin Powers where the guy is screaming from 50 feet away his demise. Except she was calling that the car was filled up before anyone got there. So I turn around (since I was in between the two cars) to the car behind it since she had pretty much claimed it for the other women. At this point the other two had walked up to this van, and no one to the first car, and so I walk up and get in; wanting to bitch slap her for being an idiot.

Was she going to give me the Heisman for trying to jump in when I was rightfully next in line because she saw the other women first? Stupid people.

Two for Tuesday: No A/C

This morning the lady drove us and had no A/C on. The front seat passenger asked to roll down the window and she said it was okay. Why didn't she just turn on some air, I was about to pass out in the back from the heat!

I fell asleep all the way to the stop and got out, I didn't drool on anything.

On the ride back, I got into an Audi, with both windows rolled down as well as the sunroof. I got in the back, and a slug got in the front. We drove 2/3 of the way there before he put the windows up because it was super window. And he was pushing 85mph during some stretches. I didn't care as long as we got there in one piece. I was imagining him flipping the car though. I'm just glad he didn't have techno music on or anything.

I was out sick yesterday so no ride yesterday...