camwyn | (no subject)

Something I learned on my trip to Alaska back in 2004 was that there are going to be occasions where you have to spend something whether you like it or not. Only thing is, you don't always recognize them, because what you're facing is actually a choice, and the choice is between spending money and spending time. I was on vacation in Fairbanks, and I could have rented a car or bought a bus ticket or whatever to get around town, but because it was vacation, I didn't have anywhere to be at any specific time most of the time I was there. So I wound up walking most places, if I wasn't riding a bike from the hostel where I was staying, and that was spending time.

I've been doing that a fair bit lately. Not so much because I was choosing between walking and the cost of a bus ticket or taxi ride- I have a monthly commuter rail pass to get me to work every day, and it's good for bus rides around Winthrop, so the money's already been spent. But I'll get to a bus stop to go somewhere in town or to go to the T station and get out of town, and I'll look at the time and I'll look at the bus schedule. And I'll go, hey, you know... bus isn't coming for however long. Once I get on, I'll be at my destination by thus and such a time. That's, say, twenty-five minutes. I've got a New Yorker's walk. I can cover a mile in twenty minutes or less. If I start walking now, I'll be at my destination in thirty minutes; that's not so much of a time expenditure, plus I won't have stood here waiting for that whole time, or wasted my time and my phone's battery power playing Anomaly: Warzone Earth. Might as well just walk it.

This actually paid off last night in the form of meeting a small cat that had been hiding under somebody's parked Jeep. She trotted out and meowed at me, a tiny little high-pitched mew, and headed for the street. I said 'hi there!' and crouched down to get a better look; she reversed course and ran towards me, and I spent the next few minutes with her rubbing her face all over my hand and headbutting my leg, or rolling on the pavement to beg for a belly rub. Eventually a car came along and she got up and ran towards one of the houses, but that few couple of minutes made the whole walk out and back worthwhile.