Thursday

Rush Hour

First of all why the hell is it called Rush Hour when there are so many damn cars that you can't move at a snails pace, let alone rush?

I got off work and decided taking a stupid cab home was a good idea since it's cold and I'm lazy. Normally a cab costs me $10 including a $2 tip, from anywhere downtown. I take cabs maybe 3 times a week - if I work late, if I go out or if I'm really lazy.

In my mind this is equivalent to owning a car, probably even a lot cheaper. Once you factor in gas, insurance and the price of parking downtown Calgary ($475 a month if you're lucky or $20-$30 a day in most parkades) I'm actually saving money.

I haven't taken a cab during rush hour before and now I know why:



Please note the road closure, buses, pedestrians and fucking cranes in the detour we had to take and the extra $7 not even including tip yet that I had to fork over today.

Okay so it's not a large amount of money but it's almost twice what I normally pay and it took an extra 20 minutes to get home! For three blocks detour! When it normally takes 5 minutes and you're sitting in a cab almost fifteen minutes later, three blocks from your departure point, I can tell you, you are kicking your own ass for being so stupid.

I think I'd rip my hair out if I lived in LA.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

$10 cab fare??? That's friggin' cheap. I gotta pay like 3 or 4 bucks just to get into the cab.

paperback reader said...

The upside of LA traffic is that you can call everyone you know on your ride home.

Some Guy said...

I didn't understand what the hell you were talking about until I saw your informative visual aid. I like the crane the best. It looks a little like a dejected swan.

Chele said...

your visual aid took this post to a whole other level, I love it.
as for traffic...I learned to find the zen in it...have to when you live in Bangkok

words...words...words... said...

If you lived in LA, your hair would look like mine...like you dipped a bald head in glue and then on a pet groomer's floor.

I always thought it was cute that Canadians called parking garages "parkades". The first time I heard the term I got excited thinking that I could park my car and play Pac-Man without leaving the building.

ÄsK AliCë said...

whatigotsofar - it's still $3 just to get in - that's how close I live! That's why it should take 5 minutes, not half an hour!

Pistols - now that's multitasking

some guy - I'm not even sure what those machines are called with the scoopy thing? Crane sounded right

Chele - I can imagine! I guess next time I'll try meditation

www - Don't think I'll be moving there anytime soon then ;> My spell-checker doesn't recognize the word either and I was like wtf? Then I realized it's a Canadianism.

BloodRedRoses said...

I think you should make drawings for every post. I particularily enjoy the crane.

Amazing.

megabrooke said...

gaaaaahd, i hate traffic so f'king much. i was stuck in heaps yesterday and i wanted to shoot myself.

Del-V said...

Traffic does suck. Every time it rains in DC you can expect major delays and tons of accidents.

And it's raining today.

The Alleged Ringleader said...

LOL I love your little traffic chart, haha!
Girl I sit in traffic for an hour EACH way everyday I work :(
It sucks but damn if I had to take a cab it would be like $150 each way!!!

Rahul said...

I don't drive in LA.

I just sit in a car and it magically ends up somewhere.

miss milly said...

I adore the chart, it depicts Calgary traffic so perfectly. MY personal best was literally sitting on Deerfoot northbound BEFORE SETON BLVD, on a Friday @ 9am for 3 HOURS while they were still rounding up those horses that got loose. It was neat to drive by and see the make shift corral in the middle of the road.

I think we need a pict-o-gram.

= AWESOME.

I did get a photo of a doode standing on the roof of his truck though.

Anyhow, this also relates to another story about Calgary cab drivers, I got in one to take me to Shawnessy from Chinnook and the bugger started to drive to the NE.

$50 not well spent that day.

Carmen said...

I totally get you... this city's construction schedule is going to be the end of me. I think they know when I am going to get in my car and purposly shut down roads on my route.

Oh - and that are some damn fine machines you drew there!

katrocket said...

I thought this post was going to be about my man Geddy Lee, or maybe Jackie Chan. Thank god for that awesome diagram or I would have been really disappointed.