I'm so excited to report that my "Why I Ride" profile I submitted to Metro was posted today to the Source blog. I've appreciated reading the different profiles about why people choose to ride Metro or in some cases choose not. I've also thought the suggestions provided by many of those profiled have been useful and constructive. My main suggestion (despite being a daily rail user) is to improve the quality of the bus system in LA. The infrequency, unreliability and lengthy trip times of the current bus system make them a choice for only those without any other option.
The bearded man and I discussed yesterday why we love where we live so much yesterday. And despite the cute neighborhood of shops and cafes the real reason we love it is our commute. We both manage to have 20 minute commutes to our workplaces. The key thing in the future will be a) always considering our commute when we choose where to live and b) being willing to move if the job is worth it so that we can live approximately halfway between both of our jobs. This also means that purchasing a home does not work with this philosophy, because that will essentially root us in one place. As much as I would love to be able to rip out the carpet in my living room or throw large outdoor BBQs in a big backyard it does not outweigh all the extra time I have added to my day by not driving.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Adventures in Crafting- Favors
I like to craft. Growing up in the Girls Scouts I would spend time making handmade Christmas ornaments and using rubber stamps on just about anything. In Junior High I got into scrapbooking and most recently have tried my hand at sewing. The problem with all of these is that I don't like mistakes and once I've screwed something up (in my mind) I tend to just give up on the whole project.
Once engaged though it became evident that crafting and DIY (do-it-yourself) are super popular ways to make your wedding feel personalized and help save some dough. I decided I would only craft things that a) I couldn't find somewhere online for a decent price or b) didn't exist and would be forced to create myself. So far I've taken on two major craft projects for the wedding: favors and invitations.
Our favor idea came from one of my favorite Christmas gifts- a pint glass with a rectangle of chalkboard paint that lets you put your name on it infinite amounts of times. Here's the inspiration:
So I decided to do a test run and try my hand at making my own. The bearded man and I picked up 6 Vanlig pint glasses at Ikea for $3.99. We then headed over to a true Los Angeles gem- Jill's Paints to pick up primer and chalkboard paint. We decided to go with a foam roller at the suggestion of the friendly staff at Jill's and picked the only green shade that we liked from the selection at hand. The primer, chalkboard paint and foam rollers came to about $45. I randomly taped up some rectangles on each glass and got to priming. Here's what they looked like after Step 1:
I decided to leave them over night to dry before adding the first coat of green chalkboard paint. I didn't love it with the first coat so I waited another 24 hours before adding a second one and voila:
I'm really pleased with how they came out and have already put them through the dishwasher once to see how they hold up. Next we'll be buying the remaining 200 (YIKES!) pint glasses at a restaurant wholesale supplier and getting to work. I might reconsider this as a good idea around #150, but oh well I'm in for the long haul now!
Once engaged though it became evident that crafting and DIY (do-it-yourself) are super popular ways to make your wedding feel personalized and help save some dough. I decided I would only craft things that a) I couldn't find somewhere online for a decent price or b) didn't exist and would be forced to create myself. So far I've taken on two major craft projects for the wedding: favors and invitations.
Our favor idea came from one of my favorite Christmas gifts- a pint glass with a rectangle of chalkboard paint that lets you put your name on it infinite amounts of times. Here's the inspiration:
Image courtesy of Incredible Things
Unfortunately those cost $4 each and black does not go with my color scheme. (Side note: I don't really have a color scheme, I have a color- green.)So I decided to do a test run and try my hand at making my own. The bearded man and I picked up 6 Vanlig pint glasses at Ikea for $3.99. We then headed over to a true Los Angeles gem- Jill's Paints to pick up primer and chalkboard paint. We decided to go with a foam roller at the suggestion of the friendly staff at Jill's and picked the only green shade that we liked from the selection at hand. The primer, chalkboard paint and foam rollers came to about $45. I randomly taped up some rectangles on each glass and got to priming. Here's what they looked like after Step 1:
I decided to leave them over night to dry before adding the first coat of green chalkboard paint. I didn't love it with the first coat so I waited another 24 hours before adding a second one and voila:
I'm really pleased with how they came out and have already put them through the dishwasher once to see how they hold up. Next we'll be buying the remaining 200 (YIKES!) pint glasses at a restaurant wholesale supplier and getting to work. I might reconsider this as a good idea around #150, but oh well I'm in for the long haul now!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
New Year's Resolutions
No I'm not starting early for 2011, but I was about to write out a To Do list when I came across my 2010 New Year's Resolutions. I'm so glad I kept this, because it's fun to see which of those things I've crossed off, which I still haven't done and those I completely forgot about even promising to do.
1. Exercise 3x/week and go to yoga 1x/week.
I haven't kept this up consistently throughout the year, but this was by far my healthiest year yet. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I'm not commuting 45 min or more each way to work and have an extra 90 minutes a day to spend at yoga or working out. Funny enough I also canceled my gym membership this year, because with 2 people and 1 vehicle having to drive to a separate location to work out was not convenient. Instead I've switched to yoga classes down the street from my train station, running outside and Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred at home in the living room.
2. Take a trip to a different continent.
This was one of the worst years for traveling. Although the bearded man and I managed to fit in a lot of shorter trips: Grand Canyon, Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco (twice), San Diego; there was no international travel. Our last trip of the year will be to another national park which is great since we'll probably not be able to fit one in next year with the wedding.
3. Consolidate IRAs.
A major fail on this one, especially since it's been on my list for 2 years! I hate dealing with the paperwork, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and get this done by the end of the year. Due to my plethora of jobs, I have about 5 disparate accounts all just languishing.
4. Cook food I like.
I have to hand it to Real Simple for all of the awesome easy recipes with a few ingredients. The bearded man and I cooked through all 20 of the dinners listed in their 4-week menu plan for dinner. I would say we enjoyed more than 75% of them and there are some we have already made again! I also need to credit again my lack of a commute for my ability to cook more often.
5. Organize apartment/purge.
We have a constant "outbox" where we put stuff that we want to give away and every so often I go through my wardrobe to look for items I no longer wear, are worn out or don't fit. The best plan I can think of for doing this is Apartment Therapy's Home Cure, which just finished but there are awesome short videos to lead you through it. Coupled with the book makes it easier than you might think.
6. Invest in home furnishings/art.
Only made modest progress on this one. We bought a big mirror for the living room and finally framed our favorite photo from a trip to Brazil, but that's it. The majority of our walls are still just plain old white. As for furnishings we purchased a chest for the living room to hold the pull-out bed sheets/blankets, a liquor cabinet/board game holder, and some new throw pillows, but that's about it.
7. Run two half marathons.
I ran three this year, so here's one resolution officially checked off complete.
8. Finish college scrapbook.
I have made so little progress on this one that I wonder if I'll ever want to finish it, but I think I'll make the commitment to finish this one and then maybe go for easier digital versions in the future (Shutterfly, Costco photobooks, etc.) I just never want to take the time to get out all of the supplies, make the necessary amount of mess and clean it up.
So out of 8 resolutions I've managed to do at least most of them a little and 3 of them completely. Guess it's time to start thinking about some new goals for 2011, maybe blogging a little more frequently?
1. Exercise 3x/week and go to yoga 1x/week.
I haven't kept this up consistently throughout the year, but this was by far my healthiest year yet. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I'm not commuting 45 min or more each way to work and have an extra 90 minutes a day to spend at yoga or working out. Funny enough I also canceled my gym membership this year, because with 2 people and 1 vehicle having to drive to a separate location to work out was not convenient. Instead I've switched to yoga classes down the street from my train station, running outside and Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred at home in the living room.
2. Take a trip to a different continent.
This was one of the worst years for traveling. Although the bearded man and I managed to fit in a lot of shorter trips: Grand Canyon, Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco (twice), San Diego; there was no international travel. Our last trip of the year will be to another national park which is great since we'll probably not be able to fit one in next year with the wedding.
3. Consolidate IRAs.
A major fail on this one, especially since it's been on my list for 2 years! I hate dealing with the paperwork, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to try and get this done by the end of the year. Due to my plethora of jobs, I have about 5 disparate accounts all just languishing.
4. Cook food I like.
I have to hand it to Real Simple for all of the awesome easy recipes with a few ingredients. The bearded man and I cooked through all 20 of the dinners listed in their 4-week menu plan for dinner. I would say we enjoyed more than 75% of them and there are some we have already made again! I also need to credit again my lack of a commute for my ability to cook more often.
5. Organize apartment/purge.
We have a constant "outbox" where we put stuff that we want to give away and every so often I go through my wardrobe to look for items I no longer wear, are worn out or don't fit. The best plan I can think of for doing this is Apartment Therapy's Home Cure, which just finished but there are awesome short videos to lead you through it. Coupled with the book makes it easier than you might think.
6. Invest in home furnishings/art.
Only made modest progress on this one. We bought a big mirror for the living room and finally framed our favorite photo from a trip to Brazil, but that's it. The majority of our walls are still just plain old white. As for furnishings we purchased a chest for the living room to hold the pull-out bed sheets/blankets, a liquor cabinet/board game holder, and some new throw pillows, but that's about it.
7. Run two half marathons.
I ran three this year, so here's one resolution officially checked off complete.
8. Finish college scrapbook.
I have made so little progress on this one that I wonder if I'll ever want to finish it, but I think I'll make the commitment to finish this one and then maybe go for easier digital versions in the future (Shutterfly, Costco photobooks, etc.) I just never want to take the time to get out all of the supplies, make the necessary amount of mess and clean it up.
So out of 8 resolutions I've managed to do at least most of them a little and 3 of them completely. Guess it's time to start thinking about some new goals for 2011, maybe blogging a little more frequently?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
SF vs. LA Transit
So the SF Giants have managed to make it all the way to the World Series, take down the un-hittable Cliff Lee and win the first of four games to be crowned Champions of Baseball. But how does the Bay Area's transit system match up to LA's?
1. The airport: SF's rail line picks you up at the airport. LA makes you take a shuttle that can be confusing and time consuming. 1 point SF.
2. Price: This is tough, because it depends what system you are using in SF. There are two main transit operators: BART- the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni which is the local bus and light rail provider within SF proper. BART's prices are based on geographical distance with a heavy premium for the airport. It cost $8.10 from SFO to Civic Center station (approximately 25 minute trip). The Metro line is $1.50 per ride with no transfers, so if you happened to only take the Green Line to the LAX shuttle it would only cost $1.50. If you had to transfer a day pass might save you some money and runs $5.00, still cheaper than BART. Muni though can be significantly cheaper than Metro, because it allows on and off privileges for 90 minutes for $2 and we managed to go from brunch, to Golden Gate park and to lunch all on one fare. Metro does not allow transfers and taking four buses would have cost $6.00 at a $1.50 per ride. 1 point for SF for Muni's transfers, 1 point for Metro for non-geography based fares.
3. Convenience: Now here's where SF really stands out from LA. First, BART has a paper fare card that can be reused, reducing the number of times you have to visit the fare machine. Times for when the next BART or Muni will arrive are available online and via the iPhone. In the station, times are listed for the next arrival of a train (soon to be available in LA, but should have been around for awhile now). Metro only recently created an iPhone app, but it still does not provide real-time updates for bus/rail arrivals and there is no mobile version of bus/rail schedules (only a painfully slow-loading PDF version). 1 point for SF
4. Style: Now I know this is not as important, but I do want to at least give props to LA for not putting carpet and fully upholstered seats on their rail like BART. I always worry about the number of germs and nastiness that must be living in them. Also, MUNI has weird seat set-ups in their buses with seats facing each other that seem like space wasters. Plus, the public service ads in MUNI paled in comparison to the beautiful Metro ad campaigns.
1 point for LA
Final tally: SF, 3 vs. LA, 2. Looks a lot like our baseball season, they're better than us, but not by much. And with today's approval of the expansion to the Westside, we'll start being able to build a system in the near future that can compete with our Northern neighbors.
1. The airport: SF's rail line picks you up at the airport. LA makes you take a shuttle that can be confusing and time consuming. 1 point SF.
2. Price: This is tough, because it depends what system you are using in SF. There are two main transit operators: BART- the Bay Area Rapid Transit and Muni which is the local bus and light rail provider within SF proper. BART's prices are based on geographical distance with a heavy premium for the airport. It cost $8.10 from SFO to Civic Center station (approximately 25 minute trip). The Metro line is $1.50 per ride with no transfers, so if you happened to only take the Green Line to the LAX shuttle it would only cost $1.50. If you had to transfer a day pass might save you some money and runs $5.00, still cheaper than BART. Muni though can be significantly cheaper than Metro, because it allows on and off privileges for 90 minutes for $2 and we managed to go from brunch, to Golden Gate park and to lunch all on one fare. Metro does not allow transfers and taking four buses would have cost $6.00 at a $1.50 per ride. 1 point for SF for Muni's transfers, 1 point for Metro for non-geography based fares.
3. Convenience: Now here's where SF really stands out from LA. First, BART has a paper fare card that can be reused, reducing the number of times you have to visit the fare machine. Times for when the next BART or Muni will arrive are available online and via the iPhone. In the station, times are listed for the next arrival of a train (soon to be available in LA, but should have been around for awhile now). Metro only recently created an iPhone app, but it still does not provide real-time updates for bus/rail arrivals and there is no mobile version of bus/rail schedules (only a painfully slow-loading PDF version). 1 point for SF
4. Style: Now I know this is not as important, but I do want to at least give props to LA for not putting carpet and fully upholstered seats on their rail like BART. I always worry about the number of germs and nastiness that must be living in them. Also, MUNI has weird seat set-ups in their buses with seats facing each other that seem like space wasters. Plus, the public service ads in MUNI paled in comparison to the beautiful Metro ad campaigns.
1 point for LA
Final tally: SF, 3 vs. LA, 2. Looks a lot like our baseball season, they're better than us, but not by much. And with today's approval of the expansion to the Westside, we'll start being able to build a system in the near future that can compete with our Northern neighbors.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
L.A. ranked #4 among workers using transit
A recent release from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey listed the LA Metro region #4 in terms of the number of workers using transit, but the percentage of workers using transit LA is still lagging behind at 6.2%. I think there may be several reasons for the lack of more transit riders, but here's a few:
1. Employers are more willing to subsidize parking rather than transit. Until parking becomes a scarcity it is a difficult sell. Metro has already put in place reduced transit fares for employers through its B-Tap program. Unfortunately, Metrolink's sizable expense results in employer reimbursements' accounting for a very small portion of the cost. In other cities such as SF, DC and NY the cost of a monthly parking spot can equal rent on a small studio.
2. Many of public transit riders in LA are not workers, but rather students, elderly and of course those people who don't ride i.e. the unemployed. Not that other Metropolitan areas don't have the same types of riders, but I think LA has a disproportionate amount of non-working riders. I would be interested to see how LA matches up against other areas when all transit riders are considered.
3. LA has several areas where the majority of workers are headed. Traveling to DTLA via transit is very doable, but other city centers: Century City, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Westwood, Burbank, etc. are so spread apart that having reliable, frequent trips for workers is difficult.
The reasons I ride transit have a lot to do with the fact that my transit is subsidized by my employer; I work in DTLA at a transit hub, i.e. Union Station; and I learned how to ride transit from my time at USC where parking costs over $300/semester (parking scarcity). Take away one of those and I might be with the other 93.8% of workers in the LA Metro area- stuck in traffic, in a car by myself, listening to NPR and cursing.
1. Employers are more willing to subsidize parking rather than transit. Until parking becomes a scarcity it is a difficult sell. Metro has already put in place reduced transit fares for employers through its B-Tap program. Unfortunately, Metrolink's sizable expense results in employer reimbursements' accounting for a very small portion of the cost. In other cities such as SF, DC and NY the cost of a monthly parking spot can equal rent on a small studio.
2. Many of public transit riders in LA are not workers, but rather students, elderly and of course those people who don't ride i.e. the unemployed. Not that other Metropolitan areas don't have the same types of riders, but I think LA has a disproportionate amount of non-working riders. I would be interested to see how LA matches up against other areas when all transit riders are considered.
3. LA has several areas where the majority of workers are headed. Traveling to DTLA via transit is very doable, but other city centers: Century City, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Westwood, Burbank, etc. are so spread apart that having reliable, frequent trips for workers is difficult.
The reasons I ride transit have a lot to do with the fact that my transit is subsidized by my employer; I work in DTLA at a transit hub, i.e. Union Station; and I learned how to ride transit from my time at USC where parking costs over $300/semester (parking scarcity). Take away one of those and I might be with the other 93.8% of workers in the LA Metro area- stuck in traffic, in a car by myself, listening to NPR and cursing.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A New Topic for a Bit
As much as I love writing about transit, it's been getting a little tedious. Mostly because I tend to travel the same route 5 days a week and except for the occasional rant or transit-related news item there isn't much for me to write about. But I have been ditching my usual reading of transit and policy blogs/articles for a much different topic- Weddings.
The bearded man and I got engaged a couple days after our 4 year anniversary. He couldn't do it on the actual anniversary date, because I'd be "expecting it and it wouldn't be a surprise." So instead he chose to wait to a random rainy Saturday after coming home from brunch with his Dad. There was no grand gesture, but it made me laugh and I started cursing once I realized what was actually happening. So fast forward 7 months and we are now 6 months away from our wedding date- 04.02.11. And interestingly enough my dependency on public transit has affected some of my wedding planning decisions- so this blog won't totally lose its feel. But since I've managed to already change it once, I thought why not one more time? This will be a whirlwind of activity and I thought that it might be fun to invite the internets in on the fun/chaos.
Thanks for putting up with me!
-Juice
The bearded man and I got engaged a couple days after our 4 year anniversary. He couldn't do it on the actual anniversary date, because I'd be "expecting it and it wouldn't be a surprise." So instead he chose to wait to a random rainy Saturday after coming home from brunch with his Dad. There was no grand gesture, but it made me laugh and I started cursing once I realized what was actually happening. So fast forward 7 months and we are now 6 months away from our wedding date- 04.02.11. And interestingly enough my dependency on public transit has affected some of my wedding planning decisions- so this blog won't totally lose its feel. But since I've managed to already change it once, I thought why not one more time? This will be a whirlwind of activity and I thought that it might be fun to invite the internets in on the fun/chaos.
Thanks for putting up with me!
-Juice
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Constructive Tweeting
I had a bummer experience on Metro last Friday. After leaving a little early to be able to purchase some breakfast on my way to work, I arrived with a good 3 minutes to purchase my one-way pass with my pre-paid token. The first machine I used ate my token. I put it in and nothing happened, no ticket, no returned token. Now instead of being a smart Metro rider, I decided to try the same machine again. I thought maybe my first token was stuck and the second would jar it. Bad idea as my second token was promptly swallowed up.
The Mission Gold Line station only has two machines for each direction. The other was being used by what I could only assume was an infrequent Metro rider, as she used at $20 bill to purchase her $1.50 pass and spent several moments trying to count up her $1 coins. Luckily, she finished up her transaction in time for me to put my 3rd token in the second machine and retrieve my fare with time to run to the train. So after $4.50 spent in tokens I finally had valid proof of fare. Needless to say I was not pleased and promptly fired off a tweet to @metrolosangeles. I received a reply tweet a few hours later that I should call the 323.Go.Metro customer service line to report what had happened or use the intercom located next to the ticket machines in the future. Unfortunately, neither of these options would work for me, because the Customer Service line has notoriously interminable wait times (over 20 minutes) to reach an agent and I was not going to miss my train just to talk to someone on the intercom. Plus, I feel that Twitter is a great forum to receive real-time information from customers about service issues and relay the information to whomever needs to know and if @metrolosangeles is not the appropriate Twitter handle to respond to, I suggest the Customer Service folks at 323.Go.Metro to start their own.
I guess to add icing on the cake, when I exited at Union Station I was greeted by no less than 6 Sheriff officers asking for proof of fare. If I had been someone who could not afford to waste 3 tokens or who only had exact fare I would have been fined despite my good faith effort. I made sure to relay to them the problem at Mission Station's ticket machine and they did seem to be at least mildly interested in the information.
For better or worse, my tweet was posted on Metro's Source blog. I hope to be listed under compliments in addition to rants one day, because no one likes a Debbie Downer.
The Mission Gold Line station only has two machines for each direction. The other was being used by what I could only assume was an infrequent Metro rider, as she used at $20 bill to purchase her $1.50 pass and spent several moments trying to count up her $1 coins. Luckily, she finished up her transaction in time for me to put my 3rd token in the second machine and retrieve my fare with time to run to the train. So after $4.50 spent in tokens I finally had valid proof of fare. Needless to say I was not pleased and promptly fired off a tweet to @metrolosangeles. I received a reply tweet a few hours later that I should call the 323.Go.Metro customer service line to report what had happened or use the intercom located next to the ticket machines in the future. Unfortunately, neither of these options would work for me, because the Customer Service line has notoriously interminable wait times (over 20 minutes) to reach an agent and I was not going to miss my train just to talk to someone on the intercom. Plus, I feel that Twitter is a great forum to receive real-time information from customers about service issues and relay the information to whomever needs to know and if @metrolosangeles is not the appropriate Twitter handle to respond to, I suggest the Customer Service folks at 323.Go.Metro to start their own.
I guess to add icing on the cake, when I exited at Union Station I was greeted by no less than 6 Sheriff officers asking for proof of fare. If I had been someone who could not afford to waste 3 tokens or who only had exact fare I would have been fined despite my good faith effort. I made sure to relay to them the problem at Mission Station's ticket machine and they did seem to be at least mildly interested in the information.
For better or worse, my tweet was posted on Metro's Source blog. I hope to be listed under compliments in addition to rants one day, because no one likes a Debbie Downer.
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