Eschew traffic

I rode the train today because of yesterday's newspaper.

This morning I got up, fed the cats, and brought in the newspapers. As I was taking off their protective plastic wrappers -- which we recycle to use as bags for cat poop and uneaten cat food -- I realized I had taken yesterday's NYT to work and had never read it; it was still sitting in my backpack.

I'm kind of busy these days at work, and being a contractor, I feel constrained from loafing in a really obvious way. Though obviously I do spend several minutes a day, like this one, blogging.

So I thought, jeez, I'll never read that damn paper -- unless I take the train today.

So I did. And the only problem with the train is finding a place to park. Today I found a place a little over a block away, and I had to hustle to the platform and buy my ticket there before the train arrived. But after that, I planted my butt, turned on the iPod, and opened yesterday's paper.

Riding the train doesn't save any time, but it sure saves anxiety. And also wear and tear on the clutch of my car. Unless I go home at 7:30 p.m., there's no driving home without stopping at least once on the freeway, and sometimes I drive for 10 miles at about 15 miles an hour, clutching like a madman. No, the train is so much better. Except for doing errands.